THIS WEEK
-The Southwest Minnesota State University soccer team (0-0-2) heads to St. Joseph, Mo., to take on Missouri Western State (0-2-0) at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 2.
LAST WEEK
-The Mustangs opened their season, taking on East Central (Okla.), and Nebraska-Kearney last weekend in Kearney, Neb.
-East Central took a 1-0 lead and opened the scoring in the second half to go up 2-0, but goals by Kirsten Wetterstrom and Selena Prolic leveled the match and led to a 2-2 tie.
-Rachel Hicks was the star against UNK, saving all four shots on goal that she faced, leading to a 0-0 tie and a clean sheet in her Mustang debut.
ABOUT SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE
-The Mustangs are 0-0-2 after one week.
-Selena Prolic and Kirsten Wetterstrom lead the team offensively, each accounting for a goal.
-Brooke Wetterstrom has also helped shoulder the offensive load, putting pressure on the defense to the tune of six shots and five shots on goal.
-Sydney Johnson has distributed the only assist so far.
-Katie Oatman has held down the defense this season, leading the team in minutes and has started both games thus far
-Rachel Hicks and Julianne Arballo have each started a game in net for the SMSU, combining for 1.00 goals against and a shutout.
FRESH FACES
-10 newcomers made their Mustang debuts over the weekend.
-Rachel Hicks was solid in net for SMSU, making four saves en route to a clean sheet against UNK.
-Sydney Johnson played in each game, assisting on the first goal of the season in Friday's 2-2 tie against ECU.
-Ciarra Valdez was one of six players to start both games, taking a shot and playing 170 of 180 minutes.
-Brooke Wetterstrom, who also started each contest, leads the Mustangs with six shots and five shots on goal.
-Haley Mason, Hannah Walburg, and Lenee Chavez all started a game while playing in each of them.
SERIES HISTORY
-SMSU and Missouri Western State will meet for the second time in program history.
-Their first meeting came last season, as the Griffons scored a goal in overtime to take a 1-0 result in Marshall.
SCOUTING MISSOURI WESTERN STATE
-Leah Stringer enters her third season with the Missouri Western soccer program and her first season in 2022 as the interim head coach.
-MWSU was 9-8-2 last season, and have started this season 0-2
-The Griffons was picked to finish fifth in the MIAA preseason coaches poll
-MWSU is led by Jaden Skinner, who has scored the only goal thus far, and Keeley Kroonenberg, who has started each game in net.
2022 OUTLOOK
-The Southwest Minnesota State soccer program returns 18 letter winners from a youthful 2021 team that finished 4-11-2 overall and 3-10-2 in conference play but closed the season going 3-5-2.
-First-year head coach Clay Glasgow, fielding a roster that includes a pair of seniors, six juniors, 12 sophomores, and eight freshmen, welcomes back 100% of goal scoring from a year ago, led by Alex Lotts and Abbey Hoisington.
-Lotts, the junior striker from Champlin, Minn., returns after tying for the team lead with four goals and also led the team with four assists.
-Hoisington, the senior forward from Chantilly, Va., scored four goals on 19 shots on goal.
-Sophomore forward Kirsten Wetterstrom returns after earning All-NSIC second team honors a season ago, scoring three goals on a team-high 32 shots.
-Senior defender Katie Oatman is back to patrol the back line after leading the team with 1419 minutes played last season.
-Sophomore Julianne Arballo is the lone returner in net for the Mustangs after going 2-2-1 last season while allowing 1.85 goals against average.
SMSU PICKED 13TH IN NSIC PRESEASON POLL
-SMSU was voted 13th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll
-Kirsten Wetterstrom and Katie Oatman were named NSIC Players to Watch
-Minnesota State was picked to top the conference, with Bemidji State, Augustana, Concordia-St. Paul, and UMary rounding out the top five.
SMSU IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
-SMSU's lone NCAA Tournament appearance was made in 2013.
-SMSU is 2-1 in the NCAA tournament all time, outscoring teams by a score of 5-4.
SEASON OPENERS
-SMSU is 5-19-1 all-time in season openers following this season's 2-2 tie against East Cetnral (Okla.)
SMSU ALL-TIME IN THE NSIC
-The 2022 campaign marks the 25th season SMSU has competed in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
-SMSU has an all-time record of 109-155-19 in 281 conference games, finishing with a winning conference record in nine seasons.
MUSTANG HISTORY
-Southwest Minnesota State is in its 27th season of soccer in 2022 and 26th season of competition.
-SMSU has played 462 games compiling an all-time record of 154-278-31.
-SMSU?has made 14 NSIC tournaments, and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament in 2013.
-SMSU has recorded four winning seasons in program history
