THIS WEEK

The Southwest Minnesota State University soccer team (0-3-4 overall, 0-3-1 NSIC) returns home for a pair of games, starting with St. Cloud State at 3 p.m. on Friday night before hosting Minnesota Duluth at 1 p.m., on Sunday afternoon.

    LAST WEEK

SMSU dropped a pair of 1-0 decisions on the road against Minot State and UMary last weekend. 

The Beavers broke the tie in the 51st minute on Friday, as Chole Allan scored off a pass from Anabel Noches.

The Mustangs fired 14 shots, nine shots on goal, but could not find the back of the net. 

On Sunday, UMary scored the game winner in the 26th minute off a penalty kick from Jessica Lemmon.

    ABOUT SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE   

The Mustangs are 0-3-1 in conference play.

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 seven games. 

Rachel Hicks has started five games in net for the SMSU, recording two clean sheets, and has 21 saves on a .875 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 five starts.

Sydney Johnson has played in five games, assisting on the first goal of the season in the season opener.

Ciarra Valdez is one of four players to start every game, taking a shot and playing 541 of 630 minutes. 

Brooke Wetterstrom, who has played in every game, has 10 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 St. Cloud State will meet for the 27th time in program history, with St. Cloud State holding a 15-9-3 advantage.

Their first meeting came in 1996, while their last meeting came in October of last year, when the two teams tied 0-0 in St. Cloud.

Sunday will mark the 31st match-up between SMSU and Minnesota Duluth, as the Bulldogs lead the series 24-6.

Their last match-up came a season ago, as the Mustangs defeated UMD 2-1 in Duluth.

    SCOUTING St. CLOUD STATE

Gretta Arvesen enters her ninth season as head coach of the Huskies.

SCSU has opened the season 2-4-1 and 1-2-1 in conference, beating Winona State and tying Upper Iowa last weekend.

The Huskies were picked to finish seventh in the NSIC preseason coaches poll

SCSU is led by Megan Kirby, who has netted three goals, including two game winners, and Evie Kohn, who has allowed seven goals and made 18 saves in seven games this season.

    SCOUTING MINNESOTA DULUTH

Greg Cane is in his 29th season as the head coach of Minnesota Duluth. 

The Bulldogs are 2-1-1 in conference after defeating Upper Iowa and losing to Winona State last weekend

UMD was picked to finish 11th in the NSIC preseason coaches poll.

The Bulldogs are led by Jackie Jares, who has three goals and an assist, and Abbie Gotham, who has allowed seven 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 109-158-20 in 287 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 468 games compiling an all-time record of 154-281-33. 

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