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Southwest Minnesota State (1-10-0, 1-6-0 NSIC) continues its seven-game road trip this weekend as it travels to Wayne State (0-13-1, 0-7-0 NSIC) on Saturday, Oct. 18 and Augustana (8-3-1, 5-2-0 NSIC) on Sunday.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Wayne State: The Wildcats enter Friday winless on the season.  Valerie Robinson (MF, Jr.) has scored five of WSC's eight goals this season.  Rachel Fuchs (GK, Jr.) and Emily Walker (GK, So.) have split time in goals this season.  Fuchs has a 3.51 GAA and .635 save percentage, while Walker as a 4.95 GAA and .600 save percentage.  The Wildcats have been outscored 18-0 in their past three games, including a 10-0 loss to No. 3 Winona State.
Augustana: The Vikings have won three of their past four games and eight of their past 10 games this season.  However, they lost 5-0 to No. 3 Winona State on Sunday on the road.  Katie Shandri (MF, So.) leads AC with seven goals and 16 points.  Stephanie Goos (MF/F, So.) has a team-high seven assists and also has a goal.  Kate Timmons (D, Fr.) has scored three goals, while Lisa Shirk (D, So.) has two goals and four assists.  In goal, Lisa Javorski (GK, Sr.) is 6-2-0 with a 1.20 GAA and .820 save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
SMSU leads the all-time series against WSC 9-7-1.  However, the Wildcats hold a 4-1-1 edge in games played in Wayne, Neb.  AC leads the all-time series against SMSU 5-3-1 after defeating the Mustangs 2-0 in a non-conference game on Sept. 13 in Marshall.  The two teams have split three matches for a 1-1-1 all-time series record in games played in Sioux Falls.

MUSTANG NOTES
No. 16 Minnesota State, Mankato scored four first half goals and went on to defeat Southwest Minnesota State 4-0 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference soccer on Friday in Mankato.

MSU held a 33-6 shot advantage including placing 11 on goal.  MSU goalkeeper Shelia Reynolds stopped three SMSU shots to earn the shutout.

Courtney McCarthy suffered the loss in goal for SMSU recording seven saves.

HEAD COACH AMY OLSON
Southwest Minnesota State University director of athletics Chris Hmielewski announced on Dec. 28, 2007, that Amy Olson would be named the new head women's soccer coach at SMSU.  Olson, who is the third head coach in the program's 12-year history, replaces Jill McCartney who resigned following the 2007 season.

Olson completed her fourth season as head coach at NCAA Division I South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, S.C., in 2007.  Prior to taking over the helm at South Carolina State, Olson spent two seasons as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Prairie View A&M University where she helped start its women's soccer program.  During her two years at Prairie View A&M, Olson also coached a pair of club teams in Minnesota, the West Side Soccer Association in St. Paul and the Minneapolis Soccer Association in Minneapolis.

Olson's teams had tremendous success in the classroom, as South Carolina State's Academic Progress Rate (APR) was a perfect 1,000.  On the field, SCSU had five players earn postseason honors from the United Soccer Conference in 2007.

Olson has a record of 1-10-0 at SMSU and 1-6-0 in the NSIC.

FIRST-YEAR HEAD COACHES AT SMSU
Olson is in her first year as the third head coach in SMSU history.  Jen Zebroski posted a 1-13 overall record and 1-3 record in the NSIC in 1996, the first year of the program.  SMSU's lone win that season was a 4-2 victory over Bemidji State on the road in the fourth game of the season.  Jill McCartney took over in 1998 and went 7-11 and 3-3 in the NSIC, including shutout wins over Wayne State, Minnesota, Crookton, Viterbo (Wis.), Minnesota-Morris and Northern State (twice).

OLCHEFSKE'S FIRST CAREER SHUTOUT
Kendra Olchefske was tremendous in the net for the Mustangs, making nine saves for her first career shutout in a 1-0 win over Bemidji State on Sept. 20, including two saves in the final two minutes of the game.

Olchefske made a save with 1:58 remaining.  The Beavers got two more chances moments later as Olchefske made a save on a breakaway with 1:06 left and a Southwest teammate blocked another shot just seconds later to stop the run.

OLCHEFSKE AMONG NSIC'S LEADERS
Kendra Olchefske is currently fifth in the NSIC in saves per game at 7.29.  She has 51 saves in seven conference games.  Her 51 saves rank third in the conference.

FRESHMAN FIRSTS
Freshmen Kelly Fitzgerald and Brittany Oehlerking each scored their first career goals in a 4-3 double overtime loss at NCAA Division South Dakota on Wednesday, Sept. 3.  Fitzgerald found the net at 5:16 in the first half and again at 20:17 as she scored twice.  Oehlerking scored her first career goal 18:08 into the game.

Courtney McCarthy scored her first two career goals in two games on Oct. 4-5.  Her first came to tie the score at 1-1 on Oct. 4 against Northern State, 24:42 into the game.

MUSTANGS PICKED 12TH IN NSIC
The Southwest Minnesota State women's soccer team was picked to finish 12th in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference preseason coaches poll.  Minnesota State, Mankato was picked to win the conference with 164 points, including nine first-place votes.  SMSU had a total of 34 points in the poll.

Winona State was picked second, just nine points behind MSU after winning the regular season conference title a year ago.  University of Mary's Megan Wilson was chosen as the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, while Winona State's  Heidi Woerle was selected as the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.