THIS WEEK
The Southwest Minnesota State University soccer team (0-1-4) heads north for a pair of games, starting with Minot State at 7 p.m. on Friday night, before going to Bismarck to face off with UMary at 1 p.m., on Sunday afternoon.
The match against Minot State will be broadcast on BEK Sports, while both matches can be found on the NSIC Network
LAST WEEK
SMSU opened its conference slate with a loss to Upper Iowa and a tie against Winona State.
After being tied at the half, the Peacocks scored the only goal of the game in the 70th minute to win the match.
The Mustangs trotted out with pressure from the start against Winona State, as Kirsten Wetterstrom sent a pass into the box from the right corner that would be deflected by Alex Lotts and onto the foot of Brooke Wetterstrom, who scored the first goal of her career, 39 seconds into the game put the Mustangs in front 1-0.
WSU leveled the match in the 33rd minute, as a corner kick by Jaida Wiege snuck into the top right corner of the goal after deflecting off a Mustang foot, bringing the match to its final score of 1-1.
ABOUT SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE
The Mustangs are 0-1-4 after two weeks.
Selena Prolic, Brooke Wetterstrom, and Kirsten Wetterstrom lead the team offensively, each accounting for a goal.
K. Wetterstrom, Alex Lotts, and Sydney Johnson have each distributed assists.
Katie Oatman has held down the backline this season, leading the team in minutes and has started all five games.
Rachel Hicks has started four games in net for the SMSU, recording two clean sheets, and has 17 saves on a .895 save percentage.
FRESH FACES
10 newcomers made their Mustang debuts this season.
Rachel Hicks has been solid in net for SMSU, recording two clean sheets in four starts.
Sydney Johnson played in two games, assisting on the first goal of the season in last Friday's 2-2 tie against ECU.
Ciarra Valdez is one of four players to start every game, taking a shot and playing 400 of 450 minutes.
Brooke Wetterstrom, who has played in every game, has eight shots and six shots on goal. She also scored her first career goal against Winona State.
Haley Mason, Hannah Walburg, Tessa Borwick, and Lenee Chavez have all recorded at least one start.
SERIES HISTORY
SMSU and Minot State will meet for the 12th time in program history, with Minot State holding a 9-2 advantage.
Their first meeting came in 2010, while their last meeting came in September of last year, when the Mustangs dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker in the 89th minute.
Sunday will mark the 20th match-up between SMSU and UMary, as the Marauders lead the series 15-4.
Their last match-up came a season ago, as UMary scored the lone goal in the 60th minute to take a 1-0 victory in Marshall.
SCOUTING MINOT STATE
T.J. Perez enters his first year as interim head coach of the Beavers.
MISU has opened the season 1-2-2 and 1-1 in conference, beating St. Cloud State and losing to Minnesota Duluth last weekend.
The Beavers were picked to finish sixth in the NSIC preseason coaches poll
MISU is led by Brooklyn Casey, whose lone goal this season was a game winner, and Maddie Kindred, who has allowed eight goals and made 26 saves in five games this season.
SCOUTING UMARY
Sarah Cook enters her 11th season as the head coach of UMary.
The Marauders are 4-0-1 this season and 1-0-1 in conference after defeating St. Cloud State and drawing against Minnesota Duluth last weekend.
UMary was picked to finish fifth in the NSIC preseason coaches poll.
The Marauders are led by Rio Spruenken, who has a goal and four assists, including a game-winner, and Madisyn Waltman, who has allowed just two goals and made 16 saves in five starts.
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 Central (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 109-156-20 in 285 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 466 games compiling an all-time record of 154-279-33.
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
