The North Dakota State women's soccer team will officially begin their 2013 regular season Friday, Aug. 23 and Sunday, Aug. 25 when they travel to Minneapolis to participate in the Minnesota Golden Gopher Tournament. The Bison will face Belmont (Tenn.) in the opener at 4:30 p.m. Friday before battling the host Gophers at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. 

The series against Belmont:

When the Bison and the Belmont Bruins meet in the regular season opener Friday, it will mark the first meeting between the two teams in North Dakota State soccer history. 

The series against Minnesota:

The Bison's match against the Golden Gophers of Minnesota Sunday afternoon will mark the fifth meeting all-time between the two teams. NDSU trails in the series 0-4-0 with the last meeting occurring in 2009, a 4-0 loss to the then 19th-ranked Gophers. 

About the Belmont Bruins:

The Bruins opened their 2013 season by splitting a pair of exhibition matches against Middle Tennessee State and Samford. Belmont defeated Middle Tennessee 1-0 on a goal from Emily Jones Aug. 16 before falling to Samford 1-0 Aug. 18.

Last season Belmont posted an 8-9-2 overall record and were 4-4-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Bruins return Katie Proud, who was second on the team in goals-scored last year with three and also 2012 co-assist leader Alison Alcott.   As a team the Bruins averaged a goal-per-match on 11.8 shots-per-match last season. Defensively, Belmont allowed 1.16 goals-per-match. 

About the Minnesota Golden Gophers:

The Golden Gophers opened their 2013 season with a 3-2 win over Green Bay in an exhibition match Aug. 16. Minnesota got goals from Ashley Pafko, Katie Thyken and Taylor Wodnick in the match.

Minnesota is coming off an 11-7-2 campaign last season, finishing fourth in the Big Ten Conference with a record of 6-4-1. The Golden Gophers return their second-highest goal scorer from last season in Katie Thyken, who tallied seven goals. As a team Minnesota averaged 2.20 goals-per-match on 16.9 shots-per-match. Defensively, they held their opponents to 1.25 goals-per-match. 

Catching Up with the Bison:

The Bison wrapped up their 2013 exhibition slate by splitting matches against Creighton and Bemidji State. NDSU fell to Creighton 2-1 in their season-opening exhibition match August 17 in Rosmount, Minn. before shutting out Bemidji State 2-0 in their home opener August 20. The match against Bemidji State marked the first official soccer match at historic Dacotah Field on the NDSU Campus. Lizzie Lukas scored the lone goal for NDSU in the Creighton exhibition match Aug. 17 and also added the second goal in the exhibition match against Bemidji State Aug. 20 with Lauren Miller scoring the first goal and providing the assist on Lukas' second goal against Bemidji State.

NDSU tabbed Fourth in Preseason Summit League Poll:

North Dakota State was picked to finish fourth for the second year in a row in The Summit League preseason coaches poll. League newcomer Denver was the preseason pick to win the league. Fort Wayne was tabbed second while Western Illinois was third and the Bison fourth. South Dakota State finished just two points behind NDSU to come in fifth while Nebraska-Omaha was sixth. IUPUI and South Dakota rounded out the poll tied for seventh.

Head Coach Mark Cook:

Mark Cook is in his second season as the head coach of the North Dakota State University Bison women's soccer team. Cook led the Bison to an 8-10-0 overall record and a third place finish in The Summit League with a record of 5-3-0 in his inaugural season as the bench boss last year. He also led the Bison to their fourth straight bid to the conference postseason tournament with the third place finish in 2012.

Cook came to NDSU after serving as the Director of Coaching at the Minnesota Thunder Academy for 11 years, where he transformed a program with just four teams to one of the premier soccer club programs in the Twin Cities with 65 teams as of 2012. Under his leadership, Minnesota Thunder Academy placed almost 85 percent of all club graduates in collegiate soccer programs.

He graduated from Alfred (N.Y.) University in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in communications. 

The Opposing Coaches:

Heather Hanson - Belmont University Bruins

The Belmont Bruins are led by third year head coach Heather Hanson. Hanson carries a record of 17-7-3 as the bench boss for Belmont. She was previously spent 12 seasons as the head coach of the East Tennessee State University soccer program. Hanson graduated from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro with a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1994. 

Stefanie Golan - University of Minnesota Golden Gophers

The Minnesota Golden Gophers are under the direction of second season head coach Stefanie Golan. In her inaugural season in 2012, Golan led Minnesota to an overall record of 11-7-2. She came to Minnesota from the United States Military Academy at West Point, where she was the head coach for the Black Knights for three seasons. Golan graduated from Duke University with a degree in political science. 

Up next:
The Bison will trek east to New York to face Hofstra and St. John's in a pair of non-conference matches. NDSU will play Hofstra Friday, Aug. 30 before taking on St. John's Sunday, Sept. 1.