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Southwest Minnesota State (0-4-0, 0-0 NSIC) hosts Bemidji State (6-0-0, 0-0 NSIC) and Minnesota Duluth (0-6-0, 0-0 NSIC) to open the conference season this weekend at Mattke Field at the Regional Event Center.  Saturday's game will be against BSU at 1 p.m.  Sunday's game against UMD will also begin at 1 p.m.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Bemidji State: The Beavers enter the weekend with a perfect 6-0-0 record, including two wins over Jamestown (N.D.) by a combined score of 7-1.  BSU also defeated NSIC foes Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota State Moorhead in non-conference games.  Ashlee Ellefsen has been outstanding, scoring seven goals and adding three assists for a team-high 17 points.  Jamie Ford has added four goals and a team-high four assists.  Jenny Stromberg has scored two goals, while Analey Skog has assisted on three goals and scored another.  Samantha Ross has allowed just one goal, while playing in all six games for a 0.24 GAA and a 6-0-0 record.

Minnesota Duluth: The Bulldogs enter the weekend 0-6-0 and have had trouble scoring goals, netting just four all season.  However, their defense has been solid, allowing no more than two goals in any games so far.  All six games have been decided by one goal.  Maria Leider has led UMD with two goals in four shots.  Becky Anderson and Brittany Brown have each scored as well.  Anderson also has one assist.  Hannah Bengtson has a 1.77 GAA in five games, including a .735 save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY
SMSU leads the all-time series with BSU 9-2-2.  However, Bemidji State is 2-0-2 in the past four meetings.  Southwest is 4-0-2 in games played in Marshall.  SMSU is 0-15-0 all-time against UMD.  The Mustangs lost the past meeting with the Bulldogs 6-0 in Marshall in 2006.

MUSTANG NOTES
The Southwest Minnesota State soccer team lost 2-0 in a non-conference game against Augustana on Saturday at the Regional Event Center.  SMSU falls to 0-4-0, while Augie improves to 3-1-1.

Jenna Doerneman scored her first goal of the season for the Vikings at 22:12 as she headed a corner kick from teammate Stephanie Goos into the back of the net.

Katie Shandri scored the other goal of the game for Augustana, her fourth of the season, on a penalty kick at 72:12.

Kendra Olchefske made one save on the day for SMSU.

Tatum Borstad and Liz Judkins each recorded a shot on goal for Southwest.

Saturday's game marked the first-ever SMSU soccer game in the Regional Event Center.

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 0-4-0 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).

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.

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.