Women's Soccer | 8/19/2015 11:36:00 AM

Match Central

Weekly Match Notes (PDF)

Friday, Aug. 21 at Minnesota
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Sunday, Aug. 21 at No. 14 Wisconsin
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NDSU Travels to Minnesota, No. 14 Wisconsin to Open Regular Season          
The NDSU women's soccer team will kick off the 2015 regular season with a pair of road matches at Big Ten Conference foes Minnesota and Wisconsin. NDSU will face the Golden Gophers in the regular season opener Friday, Aug. 21, at 7 p.m. in Minneapolis, before trekking to Madison, Wis., for a 1 p.m. showdown with the NSCAA preseason No. 14-ranked Wisconsin Badgers Sunday, Aug. 23.
 
The Series against Minnesota
Friday's regular season opener at Minnesota will mark the sixth meeting in the all-time series that dates back to 2004. The Gophers have won all five of the previous meetings in the series leading up to Friday's match. The last time NDSU and Minnesota met on the pitch was during the 2013 season with the Golden Gophers defeating the Bison in Minneapolis, 4-1. 
 
The Series against Wisconsin
Sunday's match against Wisconsin will be the third meeting in the all-time series that dates back to 2004. NDSU trails the Badgers in the series, 0-2. The last time the two teams met was in 2009 when Wisconsin beat the Bison in Madison, 1-0.
 
About Minnesota

• Minnesota enters Friday's regular season opener against the Bison after defeating Drake, 8-0, in an exhibition match in Minneapolis on Aug. 15. 
• Minnesota was picked sixth in the Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Last season, the Golden Gophers compiled an overall record of 11-9-1 and finished 7-5-1 in Big Ten Conference play, tying for fifth-place in the league with the Iowa Hawkeyes.
• The Golden Gophers return their two top offensive players from last season in juniors Josee Stiever (6 goals, 5 assists, 17 points, 13 shots on goal, 2 game-winning goals) and Simone Kolander (5 goals, 8 assists, 18 points, 19 shots on goal, 1 game-winning goal).  
• U-M also returns its primary goalkeeper from 2014 in junior Tarah Hobbs. Last season, Hobbs played in 20 of 21 matches with 19 starts and tallied a 1.00 goals-against average after allowing 21 goals in 1,899:26 minutes with 96 saves. She finished 2014 with a record of 9-8-1 between the pipes with eight shutouts.
• As a team, Minnesota averaged 1.57 goals per game last season while limiting its opponents to 1.14 per game.
• Minnesota is under the direction of fourth season head coach Stefanie Golan (33-24-5 at Minnesota, 66-42-15 career record).

    
About Wisconsin

• Wisconsin enters the week after playing to a 1-1 draw in an exhibition match against Marquette on Aug. 13 in Madison. The Badgers, who are ranked 14th in the NSCAA Preseason Poll, will face Western Michigan in their regular season opener on Aug. 21 before taking on the Bison on Aug. 23.
• Wisconsin was tabbed third in the Big Ten Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Last season, the Badgers posted an impressive 19-3-2 overall record and finished second in the Big Ten at 9-2-2. Wisconsin captured the Big Ten tournament championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament before falling to Central Florida, 3-2.
• The Badgers return NSCAA Second Team All-American and All-Big Ten First Team selection Rose Lavelle (3 goals, 10 assists, 16 points, 34 shots on goal, 2 game-winning goals) and All-Big Ten First Team honoree Kinley McNicoll (9 goals, 9 assists, 27 points, 31 shots on goal, 1 game-winning goal).
• Wisconsin's Lavelle is on the 2014 MAC Hermann Trophy watch list and is ranked the No. 2 player in college soccer by Top Drawer Soccer entering 2015.
• As a team, Wisconsin averaged 1.83 goals per game while holding its opponents to just 0.42 per game.
• The Badgers are under the direction of ninth season head coach Paula Wilkins (87-55-21 at Wisconsin, 206-74-32 career record).

    
Herd Quick Hits

• Entering Friday's regular season opener in Minneapolis, the Bison are coming off a 2-0 exhibition win over Viterbo and a 2-2 draw at NSCAA preseason No. 23 Kansas.
• In NDSU's shutout victory over Viterbo, freshman Britney Monteon and Roxy Roemer scored the two NDSU goals, while junior Amy Yang and freshman Holly Enderle provided a pair of assists.  
• In the Bison's draw with the Jayhawks, freshman Mallory Fenske and senior Gaby Arnquist scored for NDSU, while Lauren Miller dished out two assists, and senior goalkeeper Sierra Bonham tallied a match-high nine saves.
• Three of NDSU's four exhibition goals were scored by freshman.
• North Dakota State is 4-2-2 in exhibition play dating back to 2010.
• NDSU is 14-6-0 all-time in regular season openers.
• The Bison welcome back eight starters and 13 letterwinners from last season's team, including All-Summit League performers in Sierra Bonham, Lauren Miller, Meghan Johnston and Amy Yang.
• NDSU welcomes seven newcomers in freshmen Hanna Norman (D), Roxy Roemer (MF), Holly Enderle (F), Mallory Fenske (D), Taylor Turner (D) and Britney Monteon (F), and transfer Julia Edelstein (GK).
• Seven of the Bison's first nine matches will be played away from the friendly confines of Dacotah Field. NDSU's lone home matches during that span will be the regular season home opener on Aug. 28 with St. Cloud State and against North Dakota on Sept. 11.
• NDSU was picked third out of nine teams for the second consecutive year in The Summit League Preseason Coaches Poll.
• North Dakota State returns 77 percent of its goal scoring from last season.

 
Rewinding to 2014

• The Bison compiled an overall record of 8-8-2 and a Summit League mark of 4-2-2 last season, finishing fourth in the league.
• NDSU qualified for The Summit League Women's Soccer Championship for the sixth consecutive season.
• The Bison had five student-athletes named All-Summit League, including Sierra Bonham, who was named the league's Goalkeeper of the Year after compiling a 0.94 goals-against average with 5.1 shutouts and a .827 save percentage. Bonham was the first-ever NDSU student-athlete to earn the honor.
• Bonham as well as Lauren Miller were selected to the All-Summit League first team, while Meghan Johnston, Anisha Kinnarath and Amy Yang were named second team all-league.
• Miller led the team in goals (9), points (19), shots on goal (23) and game-winning goals (5), while Yang dished out a team-high five assists.
• NDSU averaged 1.22 goals per game and netted 22 goals on 196 shot attempts.

 
Head Coach Mark Cook
Mark Cook is in his fourth season at the helm of the North Dakota State soccer program after being named head coach in 2012.  He is the fourth head coach in the 20-year history of the program.

Last season, Cook led the Bison to an 8-8-2 overall record and a fourth place finish in The Summit League with a league mark of 4-2-2. North Dakota State made its sixth consecutive appearance in The Summit League tournament and had five student-athletes named All-Summit League, including goalkeeper Sierra Bonham, who was named the league's Goalkeeper of the Year after compiling a 0.94 goals-against average with 5.1 shutouts and a save percentage of .827. Bonham was the first-ever NDSU student-athlete to earn the honor.

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.

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.
 
Up Next
NDSU hosts St. Cloud State at Dacotah Field for its 2015 regular season home opener on Friday, Aug. 28, at 7 p.m.