Complete Release (PDF)

Southwest Minnesota State will travel to Vermillion, S.D. on Wednesday, Sept. 3, to take on the University of South Dakota at 4 p.m.

THE RECORDS
SMSU is 0-2 after a road trip to Colorado.  USD is also 0-2.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
South Dakota: The Coyotes are 0-2 after a 4-0 loss to Creighton and a 7-0 road loss at Wyoming.  USD is in its first year as a transition NCAA I program after competing in the now defunct North Central Conference in NCAA II last year.  Sarah Halbach (F, Sr.) leads the team with four shots.  Ann Opsahl (GK, Sr.) leads the goalkeepers with 12 saves in the net.

SERIES HISTORY
USD leads the all-time series 8-1-0, including 3-1-0 in games played in Vermillion.

MUSTANG NOTES
Head coach Amy Olson is in her first season at SMSU and has a record of 0-2 at Southwest.  The Mustangs return 11 letterwinners and six starters, led by sophomore defender Tatum Borstad, who netted three goals and had two assists as a freshman.  Heather Holmes (F, Jr.) returns for her junior season after scoring a pair of goals and assisting on two others.  Ashley Elbers (D, Jr.) scored her first career goal last year.  This season, Liz Judkins (MF, So.), Jena Tiemeyer (MF, Sr.) and Kelly Fitzgerald (F, Fr.) lead the team with two shot attempts each.  Judkins has a team-high two shots on goal.  Freshman goalkeeper Courtney McCarthy leads the way with a 2.94 GAA, making eight saves in 12 attempts.

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 0-0-0 at SMSU.

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).

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.