OPENING KICK
After going 5-0 in its five-game homestand, The No. 18 Southwest Minnesota State University soccer team will travel north to take on Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston this weekend. SMSU will first battle Bemidji State on Saturday at 1 p.m. and follow with a game versus Minnesota Crookston on Sunday at 1 p.m. SMSU sits atop the NSIC standings with a perfecto 8-0 overall record and 5-0 conference record.
OPPONENTS AT A GLANCE
BEMIDJI STATE -- The Beavers are 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The Beavers boast conference wins over Minnesota Crookston, Concordia-St. Paul and Wayne State but have suffered losses to then-No. 8 Minnesota State, and Augustana. BSU is coming off a 3-0 win over Wayne State. BSU has scored a total of 15 goals this season and are led by Sarah Stram, who has netted five of her own. BSU has won four out of the five games in which Stram has scored a goal in this season. Bemidji State is 3-1-0 at home this season. Jim Stone is in his 10th season as head coach of the Beavers.
MINNESOTA CROOKSTON -- The Golden Eagles have an overall record of 2-5-1 and NSIC record of 0-4-1 after settling for a 1-1 double overtime tie at Wayne State College this past Saturday and dropping a 2-0 decision at Augustana College this past Sunday. UMC is led by Nikki Hammond who has scored two goals for four points. Rachel Halligan has scored one goal and added one assist for three points. Lexie Gauger has a 1.36 goals against average and a .808 saves percentage. Head coach for UMC is Joe Allaniello.
RECAP: LAST WEEK
For the third and fourth straight game, the No. 18 Southwest Minnesota State soccer team shutout a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponent. The Mustangs blanked both the St. Cloud State Huskies and Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs.
On Saturday versus SCSU, Danica Caudillo ended the 0-0 tie in the 82nd minute when she beat SCSU's Brittany Plombon on a one-on-one. SCSU's defense held the potent SMSU offense scoreless for the majority of the game but broke late to give SMSU its third straight victory over the Huskies dating back to the 2012 season. Caudillo's goal was her first of the season.
On Sunday, Alex Pantze scored a goal and tallied an assist in SMSU's 3-0 victory over the University of Minnesota Duluth. The victory was SMSU's first ever over UMD in program history. SMSU was 0-21 against UMD coming into Sunday's game. It was the fourth consecutive shutout of the season for the Mustangs and goalkeeper Brienna Dehkes.
With the shutout, Dehkes and the defensive crew extended its scoreless streak to 389 minutes dating back to Sept. 13. Dehkes picked up the victory in the net for SMSU and improved her season record to 8-0, 5-0 in the NSIC. Dehkes made three saves on 11 shots faced.
A WIN OVER BEMIDJI WOULD...
-Be SMSU's first win over BSU since 2008 (1-0)
-Be SMSU's first road win over BSU since 2004 (4-3)
-Give SMSU a 11-5-3 all-time series record
-Give SMSU TJ Buchholz his 21st win as head coach
-(SHUTOUT) Give Brienna Dehkes her fifth shutout of the season -- tying Sonya Smith's single season record (2012)
A WIN OVER MINNESOTA CROOKSTON...
-Give SMSU its second straight win over the Golden Eagles
-Give SMSU a 15-2-1 all-time advantage over UMC
-Give head coach TJ Buchholz his second win over UMC in three years (1-0-1)
-(SHUTOUT) Be SMSU's third consecutive shutout over UMC dating back to 2011
