OPENING KICK
The No. 18 Southwest Minnesota State University soccer team concludes its five-game homestand with Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference games versus St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth this Saturday and Sunday. The Mustangs are fresh off of the first ever national ranking in the program's 18-year history and will be looking to close out the homestand unscathed by going 5-0 at The Schwan Regional Event Center.
The Mustangs (6-0, 3-0) sit atop the NSIC standings through three conference games but will be tested this weekend by St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth. On Saturday, SMSU will look to extend its winning streak over the Huskies to four straight games dating back to 2011. On Sunday, the Mustangs will be thirsty for its first defeat of Minnesota Duluth in program history. SMSU has been unsuccessful in 21 games dating back to SMSU's inaugural season in 1996.
OPPONENTS AT A GLANCE
ST. CLOUD STATE -- The Huskies are off to a 3-3-0 overall start but have struggled out of the gate in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action as SCSU is 0-3-0. The Huskies have seven goals in six games and have fired a total of 62 shots. The Huskies are allowing opponents to score on average 2.0 goals per game and have allowed 128 total shots.  Kara Dahmen leads the Huskies with two goals, four points, 16 shots and seven shots on goal. At the helm for the Huskies is sixth year head coach Becky McCabe. McCabe is 48-37-12 at SCSU and owns a career record of 79-60-17. The Huskies are searching for their fifth consecutive NSIC playoff appearance under McCabe.
MINNESOTA DULUTH -- The Bulldogs are off to a 4-1-0 overall start, including a perfect 3-0-0 record in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play. The lone loss the Bulldogs have to show for is a 3-1 loss to Division I member North Dakota State. The Bulldogs were impressive this past weekend by defeating Upper Iowa, 2-0 and Winona State, 2-1. The Bulldogs finished the 2012 season 8-7-3, 7-5-3 in the NSIC, and clinched the No. 8 seed in the NSIC Tournament. UMD has scored 11 goals on 73 shots fired for an average of 2.20 goals per game. Greg Cane enters his 23rd season at the helm of the Bulldogs.
RECAP: LAST WEEK
Southwest Minnesota State went 2-0 this past week in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action versus Minot State and The University of Mary. The SMSU offense exploded for a total of six goals over the weekend, while the defense stood stout by not allowing a single goal and giving up just seven shots on goal.
On Saturday, SMSU erupted for four second half goals to cruise to a 4-0 victory over Minot State. Minot State, which won the NSIC tournament last season and advanced to the NCAA tournament, dropped to 0-2-2 overall, 0-1-1 NSIC.
Following a scoreless opening half, SMSU broke through early in the second half as
Miranda Cadena scored in the 47th minute off a pass from
Autumn Hayes to give SMSU a 1-0 lead. Cadena added her second goal of the game 20 minutes later – her fourth of the season – to extend the lead to 2-0.
Morgan Weyer-Coates pushed the lead to 3-0 just moments later off an assist from
Kendahl Fisher in the 68th minute, before
Megan Haninger closed the scoring with a goal off a free kick in the 72nd minute to give SMSU a 4-0 lead.
Justine Hauck scored a pair of goals, while Brienna Dekhes made five saves to lead Southwest Minnesota State to a 2-0 victory over the University of Mary on Sunday afternoon.
Despite playing the first half into a stiff south wind, SMSU was able to push across the game's first goal as Hauck buried a shot in the 16th minute to give SMSU a 1-0 lead into halftime.
With the wind to their back in the second half, the Mustangs took advantage in the early minutes as Hauck took a pass from
Kendahl Fisher and put the ball past U-Mary goalkeeper Shelby Buttron to give SMSU a 2-0 lead in the 48th minute.
The shutout was the second straight for Dehkes and her third this season. SMSU has outscored its opponents 14-3 this season. SMSU ended the game with 17 shots, including nine on goal, while U-Mary had a total of six shots.
NSIC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Southwest Minnesota State University soccer players
Megan Kilroy and
Brienna Dehkes have been named Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Player of the Week for their performances this past weekend. Kilroy was named the NSIC's Defensive Player of the Week, while Dehkes saved her way to NSIC Goalkeeper Player of the Week honors.
Dehkes, a native of Elk River, Minn., improved her season record to a perfect 6-0 with her shutout performances over Minot State and the University of Mary in SMSU's two NSIC victories this past weekend. Dehkes turned away all seven shots on goal that she faced as she and the Mustang defense blanked its opponents for the second and third times this season. It was the first shutouts for Dehkes since the season opening 1-0 win over Fort Hayes State on Sept. 6.
Kilroy, a native of Paramount, Calif., was a defensive force to be reckoned with this past weekend as her aggressive play in the middle helped shutout Minot State and the University of Mary offenses in Southwest Minnesota State's two NSIC victories. Kilroy fronted a defense that allowed no goals, and just 11 shots -- including only one shot in the second half of each game. Kilroy and company kept the ball out of SMSU's defensive side of the field and allowed the Mustang offense to attack all weekend as SMSU allowed just six corner kicks with goalkeeper
Brienna Dehkes making all seven saves. Kilroy is a primary reason why the SMSU defense has given up just three goals in its first six games.
Dehkes and Kilroy are the first Mustangs to be named player of the week this season.
