2014 Summit League Women's Soccer Championship Opening Round
No. 4 North Dakota State (8-7-2) vs. No. 1 South Dakota State (9-7-1)
Thursday, Nov. 6, 2014 | 3 p.m. MT (4 p.m. CT)
CIBER Field | Denver, Colo.

Media Coverage: Live Stats | Live Video | TV: Altitude Sports (Richard Fleming, play-by-play; Brian Crookham, color commentary) | Tournament Web Site
Notes: NDSU (PDF) | SDSU (PDF)
Social Media: @NDSUsoccer | @NDSUathletics | #SummitWSOC

This Week in NDSU Soccer:

NDSU Begins Summit League Tournament Play Thursday in Denver Against Top-Seeded South Dakota State
            The North Dakota State women's soccer team will begin play in its sixth consecutive Summit League Women's Soccer Championship on Thursday, Nov. 6, at 3 p.m. MT (4 p.m. CT)  against top-seeded South Dakota State at CIBER Field in Denver, Colo. The Bison are the No. 4 seed in the single-elimination, four team tournament. 
 
Series Records

• No. 1 seed South Dakota State: Thursday's semifinal match against SDSU will mark the 19th meeting between the Bison and Jackrabbits in the all-time series and the second meeting this season. The Bison lead the series, 9-7-2.  NDSU defeated the Jacks in Fargo on Oct. 17, 1-0.  NDSU is 1-0-1 all-time against SDSU in Summit League tournament play. North Dakota State defeated the No. 2 seed Jackrabbits last season, 2-1, and tied SDSU, 1-1, in double overtime in the 2010 tournament, winning the match on penalty-kicks, 4-3.
• No. 2 seed IUPUI: If the Bison advance and face second-seeded IUPUI in the title match, it will mark the 12th meeting in the all-time series between the Bison and Jaguars. NDSU leads the series, 7-4-0, after defeating IUPUI, 1-0, in Fargo on Oct. 5. NDSU has won the past five meetings against IUPUI, with the last loss occurring during the 2009 season in The Summit League tournament in Brookings, S.D., 0-1. The Bison are 0-1-0 in Summit League tournament play against the Jags.
• No. 3 seed Denver: If the Bison advance and face third-seeded Denver in the championship match, it will be the fourth meeting between the Bison and Pioneers in the all-time series and the second meeting this season. The Bison are 0-3-0 in the series after falling to Denver in Fargo on Oct. 24, 0-1. NDSU is 0-1-0 against the Pioneers in The Summit League tournament after falling in the championship match last year, 1-5.

Catching Up with the Bison
North Dakota State enters Thursday's opening round contest as the No. 4 seed after finishing the regular season with a Summit League mark of 4-2-2 and an overall record of 8-7-2 ... NDSU finished the regular season with a 4-3-0 record at home and were 4-4-2 away from Fargo. The Bison didn't play a neutral site match ... The Bison are 3-3-1 in Summit League tournament play dating back to their first appearance in 2009.
After the completion of the regular season, Lauren Miller leads NDSU in goals (9), game-winning goals (5) total points (19), shots (36) and shots on goal (23), while Amy Yang paces NDSU in assists with five and has two goals for nine total points. Anisha Kinnarath has four assists with two goals for eight points. Eight Bison have scored at least one goal this season ... Miller's five game-winning goals are the most in The Summit League and rank 21st nationally in the latest NCAA statistics ... Goalkeeper Sierra Bonham has played and started in all 17 matches for NDSU, allowing just 15 goals while making 78 saves for a GAA of 0.88. She has a 8-7-2 record between the posts with a team-and Summit League high five shutouts and a .839 save percentage. Bonham ranks second all-time in NDSU program history in career saves with 287 ... The five shutouts is a new career-high for Bonham ... As a team, the Bison are averaging 1.24 goals per match while limiting their opponents to just 0.94 per match. Through the regular season, NDSU leads The Summit League in GAA (0.85) and goals allowed (15).
 
About South Dakota State
South Dakota State enters Thursday's match as the top seed after claiming The Summit League regular season title with a league record of 5-2-1 and an overall tally of 9-7-1 ... SDSU posted a 7-1-0 record at home, 2-5-1 away mark and was 0-1-0 in its lone neutral site match of the season ... Diane Potterveld leads the Jackrabbit offensive attack with a team-and Summit League-best and new SDSU school record 11 assists. She also has netted six goals for 23 total points. Alyssa Brazil paces the Jacks in total goals with seven, while Shelby Raper has five goals, respectively. Six other Jackrabbits have netted at least one goal heading into Thursday's match ... Through the regular season, South Dakota State ranks second in The Summit League in points (88), goals (30), goals per game (1.76), assists (28) and assists per game (1.65).
 
About IUPUI
IUPUI enters its opening round showdown with Denver as the No. 2 seed after wrapping up the regular season with a Summit League record of 5-3-0 and a 7-9-3 overall record. The Jaguars are the number two seed by virtue of their 2-0 victory over Denver during the regular season ... The Jags completed the regular season with a home record of 5-2-2 and were 2-7-1 away from Indianapolis. IUPUI didn't play at a neutral site.
Entering the tournament, IUPUI has won five of its last six matches ... Krissy Kirkhoff and Tori Minnich lead the Jaguar offensive attack. Kirkhoff has a team-high nine goals and 19 total points and also has one assist. Minnich has found the back of the net seven times while dishing out a pair of assists for 16 total points. Kelli Shepler-Tucker leads the Jaguars in assists with six. Seven players have netted at least one goal for IUPUI ... Goalkeeper Catherine Schmidt has played in 15 matches, making 11 starts. She has allowed 16 goals and made 67 saves for a GAA of 1.23. Schmidt has played 1170:39 minutes between the pipes, compiling a 6-4-3 record with two shutouts ... Through the regular season, IUPUI ranks second in The Summit League in total shots (260), fouls (202) and offsides (42). Jaguars are third in points (79), goals (26), goals per game (1.37), assists (27) and assists per game (1.42).
 
About Denver
Denver enters its opening round match against IUPUI as the No. 3 seed after completing the regular season with a Summit League record of 5-3-0 and an overall mark of 9-8-1 ... Denver posted a 6-3-0 record at home and were 3-5-1 on the road during the regular season. The Pioneers did not compete at a neutral site ... Denver has a balanced attack, with six players tallying at least two goals. Jocelyn Loomis leads the team in goals with four and total points with 11 and is tied for the team lead in assists with Francesca Garzelloni with three. Fourteen Pioneer players have dished out at least one assist ... Goalkeepers Tina Vargas and Cassidy Ray have split time in goal for Denver this season. Vargas has played in 12 matches, allowing 10 goals while making 14 saves for a GAA of 1.03. She has a team-best five shutouts in 876:08 minutes with a 6-3-0 record. Rey has seen action in nine matches, allowing 13 goals while making a team-high 30 saves for a 1.45 GAA. She has two shutouts in 804:39 minutes with a 3-5-1 record between the pipes ... After the completion of the regular season, Denver ranks second in The Summit League in goals allowed (23), goals-against average (1.23) and shutouts (7) and leads the league in corner kicks (90).
 
Summit League Weekly Awards
            Junior forward Lizzie Lukas was tabbed the Summit League Co-Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Aug. 22-24 after she recorded a hat trick in an 8-0 win over Presentation College on Aug. 24. The South St. Paul, Minn., native scored goals in the sixth, 23rd and 52nd minutes of the match.
            Junior goalkeeper Sierra Bonham was named the league's Defensive Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 13-19 after she posted a pair of league shutouts for NDSU. Bonham collected four saves in a 1-0 win over South Dakota State on Friday, Oct. 17, before tallying eight saves in the Bison's 1-0 shutout victory over Fort Wayne on Sunday, Oct. 19.
 
Head Coach Mark Cook
           Mark Cook is entering his third season at the helm of the North Dakota State soccer program after being named head coach on Jan. 25, 2012.  He is the fourth head coach in the 17-year history of the program.
        Last season, Cook led NDSU to an overall record of 9-10 and a third place finish in The Summit League with a record of 4-3. The Bison advanced to The Summit League tournament championship match with a 2-1 upset win over South Dakota State before falling to Denver to finish runner-up in the event. It was NDSU's fifth straight appearance in the league tournament.
        Cook directed the Bison to an 8-10 record in his first season, tying for third place in The Summit League and earning the school's fourth straight bid to the conference tournament.
        Cook came to NDSU after serving as the Director of Coaching at the Minnesota Thunder Academy for 11 years, where he grew a four-team program into one of the premier club programs in the Twin Cities with 65 teams in 2012.
        He was responsible for all aspects of the club's operation, including the hiring and training of all coaches, coordinating college recruitment programs, recruiting players for the elite girls program, overseeing all competition and practice schedules, and managing the budget.
        Under his leadership, Minnesota Thunder Academy placed approximately 85 percent of all club graduates in collegiate soccer programs.
        In addition to his role at MTA, Cook was the assistant varsity coach at Bloomington Jefferson High School. The team advanced to the 2010 Minnesota Class 2A quarterfinals and in 2011, he was named the Minnesota Class 2A assistant coach of the year.
        Cook served as the head coach for the MTA 94 Elite Clubs National League team from 2007-11. He guided the team to five straight Minnesota State Cup titles, two berths in the ECNL quarterfinals, the 2007 USYSA Region II title and the 2010 USYSA national finals.
        He was the head coach of the club team Bangu Tsunami Stars for five years prior and led the team to four Minnesota State Cup championships, the 2005 U.S. Club Soccer national finals and the 2003 USYSA Region II semifinals.
        Cook served as the head coach at the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, Minn., from 1998-2002 and led the Stars to the 2002 Class A state title and the 2000 and 2001 state finals. He was named the 2002 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) North Region Coach of the Year.
        He was an assistant at Holy Angels for five years prior to taking the head coaching position and was named the 1997 and 1998 Minnesota Class A assistant coach of the year.
        Cook holds the United States Soccer Federation 'A' coaching license, the highest certification available in the U.S.  He also has the NSCAA Premier License and Director of Coaching Diploma.
        He graduated from Alfred (N.Y.) University in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in communications. He was the starting goalkeeper at Alfred for two years.