MARSHALL, Minn. - The Southwest Minnesota State soccer team (3-2, 1-2) will travel north this weekend to take on Minnesota Duluth on Saturday, Sept. 22 and St. Cloud State on Sunday, Sept. 23. The Mustangs will look to rebound after dropping two close games to the University of Mary and Minot State last weekend. FREE VIDEO STREAM
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OPPONENTS AT A GLANCE
St. Cloud State (2-3-1, 1-2) is coming off two road NSIC losses to Upper Iowa and Winona State. SCSU failed to find the back of the net all weekend as Upper Iowa and Winona State shutout the huskies. In six games this season, SCSU has scored just seven goals while allowing nine. SCSU has been out-shot by the opponent 73-93. The Huskies have scored only one goal in the first half this season with the other six coming in the second half. SCSU is a physical team as the Huskies rank second in the NSIC with 71 fouls, with an average of 11.83 per game. Freshman, Caroline Henderson leads SCSU with five points, two goals and assist on the season so far. The 2012 squad returned 14 letterwinners from the 2011 team that advanced to the NSIC Tournament Final.
Minnesota Duluth (0-3, 1-4) is also coming off two road NSIC losses to Upper Iowa and Winona State. Like SCSU, the Bulldogs failed to score a goal all weekend while giving up four goals, two to Upper Iowa, two to Winona State. UMD has been shutout three times this season, and has only mustered five goals in five games. UMD's only win came in the season opener vs. Northern Michigan as the Bulldogs rolled to a 4-0 victory. UMD is being out-scored and out-shot on the season 5-11 and 55-72. UMD has five athletes with a goal but Jennifer Smith leads with three points.

SERIES HISTORY
vs. St. Cloud State – SMSU trails series 4-13-1 but the Mustangs have taken the last two games including one earlier in the season.
vs. Minnesota Duluth – SMSU has never defeated Minnesota Duluth as the Bulldogs have taken all 19 contests since 1996. SMSU hasn't netted a goal against Minnesota Duluth since August 27, 2005, as the Bulldogs have shutout the Mustangs in five straight games. Minnesota Duluth has out-scored SMSU 87-10 in the 19 game series history. The Mustangs have come close to a victory twice in history, as the two teams went to overtime in 1999 and double overtime in 2005.

HIGH-FLYING OFFENSE
The Mustangs are ranked second in the NSIC with a 2.40 goal average. SMSU has scored 12 goals in five games so far this season, only Minnesota State, Mankato boasts a higher goal average with 2.50.

THE MUSTANGS ON PAPER
The Mustangs find themselves in the middle of the pack in the NSIC and looking at the stats, SMSU is playing well. In their first five games, the Mustangs have scored 12 goals, while only allowing six and they have out-shot opponents 62-59. 

ROAD WARRIORS
SMSU will continue on the road this weekend during its longest stretch away from home. Last week the Mustangs traveled to North Dakota to take on U-Mary and Minot State. This weekend SMSU will head north to play Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 22-23. This will be the only back-to-back road weekends for the Mustangs as they will return to the Regional Event Center Sept. 29-30 to take on Minnesota, Crookston and Bemidji State.

LUCKY NUMBER THREE
SMSU is has three wins on the season and the Mustangs have scored three goals in each win.

EXTENDED HOMESTAND
SMSU will play in the friendly confines of the Regional Event Center five games in a row in a stretch from Oct. 13-26. SMSU will welcome Northern State and MSU Moorhead to town on the 13th and 14th, while Minnesota State, Mankato and Concordia-St. Paul will visit the 20th and 21st, with Augustana closing out the homestand on the 26th.

FRESH FACES
A total of 16 freshmen faces entered the Mustang soccer program along with three transfer student-athletes in 2012. 12 of 16 freshmen have logged playing time already this season.

YOUTH MOVEMENT
Freshmen, Miranda Cadena, Kendahl Fisher, Lauren Douglas, Megan Kilroy, and Danica Requejo have started all three games for SMSU. Four other freshmen have started for SMSU, with eight others in total logging minutes. In the game vs. University of Sioux Falls, head coach TJ Buchholz started seven freshman, and four sophomores.

GOLDEN PIPELINE
The 2012 squad features eight players hailing from the state of California. Of the 26 players on the roster, 10 players are from The Golden State.

LAST WEEK'S RECAP
SMSU traveled seven hours to North Dakota this past weekend to take on the University of Mary and Minot State. SMSU struggled on the road trip as the Mustangs allowed five goals in the losses to the Marauders and Beavers. SMSU allowed both U-Mary and Minot State to come out of the gates quick with early goals as the Marauders scored twice in the first six minutes and Minot State scored midway through the first half.

SMSU would make things interesting late as the Mustangs mounted comebacks in both games. SMSU closed the gap to 3-2 vs. U-Mary and 2-1 vs. Minot State but couldn't convert on scoring opportunities late in both games. The two losses dropped SMSU to 3-2 overall, 1-2 in NSIC play, the first blemishes to its season record.

HISTORY LESSON
2012 marks the 17th season of Mustang women's soccer at Southwest Minnesota State. SMSU owns an all-time record of 90-189-20, including 55-85-13 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play.