Setting the Scene: The Southwest Minnesota State soccer team will be back home this Saturday, Sept. 10 to host St. Cloud State University in a non-conference match-up set for 12 p.m. at the Regional Event Center. Both SMSU and SCSU will start the Northern Sun Intercollegiate action next Saturday, Sept. 17 in St. Cloud as the two teams face-off for round two.

The Match-ups: St. Cloud State and SMSU will be contending for the 16th time this Saturday. Their first meeting was back in 1996 with the game result in favor of the Huskies 12-0. SCSU leads the all-time series against the Mustangs 12-2-1) The last contest between these two teams was Sept. 19, 2010 when St. Cloud shutout the Mustangs winning 2-0.

The Mustangs enter the match with a record of 1-1, while the Huskies are 0-2 on the season.

Last Time Out: SMSU traveled to Billings, Montana over the Labor Day weekend where they were matched against Montana State Billings, a 2010 NCAA tournament participant, on Saturday and Colorado Christian University on Sunday. MSUB scored two first half goals and finished up with a 3-0 win over SMSU. The Mustangs finished with five shots on goal while the Yellowjackets managed 24 shots on goal.

Then, on Sunday SMSU took a 1-0 victory over Colorado Christian after Vanesa Corona made a shot in the 74th minute of play to end the scoreless game. SMSU freshman Sonya Smith, made her first career start in goal, earned the shutout, stopping eight shots on goal. CCU controlled the first half of the match shooting 18 times but then dropped to only 4 shots in the next 45 minutes as SMSU dominated the field.

Goose Egg: The last time Southwest Minnesota State shutout an opponent was on Oct. 31, 2009 against Minnesota, Crookston. The Mustangs defeated the Golden Eagles 2-0 in Crookston.

Weekly Honors: Freshman goalkeeper #Sonya Smith# earned Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference  Defensive Player of the Week honors for her shutout performance in SMSU's 1-0 win over Colorado Christian on Sept. 4. Smith is the first Mustang soccer player to earn an NSIC player of the week honor since Ellen Diekemper earned offensive player of the week on Oct. 2, 2007.

Watch us on NewMedia TV: All SMSU home soccer matches will be available via web streaming at http://nmtvsports.com

We'll Do it Live: Live statistics will be available for all SMSU HOME games. CLICK HERE for live stats.

Returning Veterans: SMSU returns 10 players from the 2010 roster with playing experience at SMSU. The Mustangs return a core of five seniors, including last season's leading goal scorer Kelly Fitzgerald and All-NSIC selection goalkeeper Kendra Olchefske. Brittany Oehlerking, Alyssa Lavorata, and Amber Williamson each have contributed to the Mustang soccer program during their careers. SMSU also returns three sophomores and three juniors from 2010.

California Connection: Transfer student-athlete Vanesa Corona and freshman Kailey Fernandez both call the state of California home. Corona is a transfer from Cypress College in Cypress, Calif. who scored 21 goals in two seasons at Cypress College. Fernandez comes to Marshall via Villa Park High School in Orange, Calif. She led her team in goals and was named the team's defensive MVP as a senior.

Seeing Double: Twin sister's Shayna and Sonya Smith from Anoka, Minn. join the Mustangs for their freshman season in 2011. They join a team that is no stranger to sibling connections. Current Mustang sophomore Whitney Borstad played one season with her older sister Tatum Borstad, SMSU's all-time leader in minutes played, who played with her older sister Kayla Borstad during her senior season in 2007.

What Happened in 2010: SMSU finished the 2010 season 1-11-4 overall, including 0-9-4 in NSIC play. Kelly Fitzgerald led the team scoring four goals while adding one assist for nine points on the season. Goalkeeper Kendra Olchefske was named All-NSIC third team in 2010. Olchefske finished the 2010 season ranked second in the NSIC with 8.69 saves per game.

The Coach: TJ Buchholz is in his first season as head coach at SMSU in 2011 with a record of 1-1, 0-0 in NSIC play.  Buchholz was named the fourth head coach in program history on April 19, 2011.  Buchholz has nine seasons of head coaching experience at the collegiate level. He came to SMSU after spending the 2010 season as assistant women's soccer coach at NCAA Division I California-Riverside.  Prior to UC-Riverside, Buchholz spent two seasons (2008-09) as the head women's and men's soccer coach at Wartburg College (Iowa) and seven seasons (2001-07) as head coach of the men's program at Northwestern College (Iowa).  He also served one season as the Northwestern head women's soccer coach (2007).

According to the Coaches: Southwest Minnesota State was picked to finish 14th in the NSIC preseason poll in 2011. Winona State was picked as the preseason favorite for the second consecutive season.

1. Winona State (12) 168
2. Minnesota Duluth (1) 146
3. Minnesota State (1) 141
4. Augustana 122
5. University of Mary 115
6. Bemidji State 111
7. St. Cloud State 102
8. Upper Iowa 92
9. Wayne State 80
10. Northern State 62
11.Concordia-St. Paul 53
12. Minnesota, Crookston 31
13. MSU Moorhead 29
14. SMSU 22

History Lesson: 2011 marks the 16th season of women's college soccer at Southwest Minnesota State. SMSU owns an all-time record of 83-177-19, including 50-75-12 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.

Stay Connected: Stay connected with SMSU soccer all season long at www.smsumustangs.com The Mustangs are also on Facebook and Twitter.

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