OPENING KICK
The Southwest Minnesota State soccer team will start the 2015 season on the road as it faces Fort Hays State (Kan.) on Friday night at 6 p.m., and Washburn (Kan.) on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.

OPPONENTS AT A GLANCE
FORT HAYS STATE—Fort Hays State, a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, will open up its 2015 season against SMSU after finishing 2014 with a 13-5-2 overall record and 10-2-2in loop play.

WASHBURN—Washburn, a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, will open up the 2015 season facing Minot State on Thursday night before playing SMSU on Sunday. The Ichabod finished the 2014 campaign 0-17-1 overall and 0-13-1 in the MIAA.

SERIES HISTORY
FORT HAYS STATE—Southwest Minnesota State will meet Fort Hays State for the third time in program history. SMSU and FHSU are split 1-1 in the series that started in the 2013 season. The Mustangs suffered a season-opening loss to the Tigers last season in Marshall but took the first game of the series in 2013 in Hays, Kans.

WASHBURN—SMSU will face Washburn for the third time in program history and the first time since 2006. The Mustangs will look for its first series win as the Ichabod won the first two contests.

HEAD COACH
Erin Kasmarik-Mallett begins her first season as head women's soccer coach at Southwest Minnesota State in 2015. She was named to the position on July 23, 2015. Kasmarik-Mallett, who becomes the fifth head coach in program history, comes to SMSU after serving as the head boys' soccer coach at Brookings (S.D.) High School for two seasons (2013-14) and has also served as an assistant women's soccer coach at South Dakota State University. She has also coached several club teams in the state of South Dakota since 2010.