Women's Soccer | 8/24/2016 4:10:00 PM

North Dakota State at CSUN
Friday, August 26 | 7 p.m. CT (5 p.m. PT)
Matador Soccer Field | Northridge, Calif.
Live Stats | Live Video

North Dakota State at UC Riverside
Sunday, August 28 | 9 p.m. CT (7 p.m. PT)
UC Riverside Soccer Stadium | Riverside, Calif.
Live Stats

NDSU Notes (PDF)

NDSU soccer on Twitter: @NDSUsoccer

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Quick Notes:

• The North Dakota State University women's soccer team travels to California for its first road tests of the 2016 season Aug. 26-28. The Bison will take on CSUN in Northridge, Calif., Friday, Aug. 26, at 7 p.m. CT (5 p.m. PT) before facing UC Riverside in Riverside, Calif., on Sunday, Aug. 28, at 9 p.m. CT (7 p.m. PT).
• NDSU went 1-1-0 in the first weekend of regular season action Aug. 19-21, falling to Drake, 1-0, before shutting out Northern Iowa, 2-0.
• North Dakota State returns seven starters from last season's Summit League regular season championship team, including six All-Summit League honorees.
• The Bison welcome back reigning Summit League Offensive Player of the Year Lauren Miller and Freshman of the Year Britney Monteon.
• North Dakota State finished last season with a 13-6-1 overall record and went unbeaten in Summit League play for the first time in program history at 7-0-1.

The Series Against CSUN
    Friday's match at CSUN will mark the first-ever meeting between the Bison and Matadors on the soccer pitch.

The Series Against UC Riverside
    Sunday's contest at UC Riverside will be the third meeting in the all-time series. The Highlanders lead the series, 2-0, after defeating the Bison at home last season, 1-0. It was NDSU's only home loss of 2015.

Scouting CSUN

• CSUN enters the weekend at 1-0-1 overall after playing to a 1-1 draw in double overtime at Oregon State Aug. 21 and winning at Portland State, 1-0, on Aug. 19.
• Seniors Camille Watson and Sylvia Trinh scored the two goals for the Matadors in their season-opening matches last weekend.
• Senior Taylor Hobson dished out an assist in CSUN's match at Portland State.
• Junior goalkeeper Jovani McCaskill is 1-0-1 in-goal, allowing one goal while making 10 saves for a goals-against average (GAA) of 0.45. She has one shutout in 200 minutes between the pipes.
• CSUN was picked to finish tied for third with Cal State Fullerton in the Big West Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• Junior forward Cynthia Sanchez and senior forward Kourtney Kutscher were named to the Big West Women's Soccer Preseason All-Conference Team.
• Last season, CSUN went 11-8-1 overall and 4-3-1 in Big West play.
• Through two matches, the Matadors are averaging one goal per game while allowing 0.50 goals per game.
• CSUN is under the direction of 11th season head coach Keith West (87-93-17 record at CSUN).

Scouting UC Riverside

• UC Riverside enters the weekend at 0-1-1 overall after falling at San Francisco Aug. 21, 2-1, and playing to a scoreless draw in double overtime at San Jose State Aug. 19.
• The Highlanders will face South Dakota on Friday before battling the Bison Sunday.
• Senior Taylor Dragoo scored the Highlander's lone goal last week.
• Junior goalkeeper Alanna Guzman is 0-1-1 in-goal, surrendering two goals with 13 saves for a GAA of 0.90. She has one shutout in 200 minutes between the posts.
• UC Riverside was picked to finish sixth out of nine teams in the Big West Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll. Senior midfielder Blanca Barrio was named to the Big West Women's Soccer Preseason All-Conference Team.
• The Highlanders compiled an overall record of 11-9-0 and a Big West mark of 5-3-0 last season.
• After two matches, UC Riverside is averaging 0.50 goals per game while giving up one goal per game.
• The Highlanders are under the leadership of fifth season head coach Nat Gonzalez (34-38-8 record at UC Riverside).

Catching Up with The Herd

• The Bison kicked off the 2016 season with a 1-1-0 record last weekend, dropping their regular season opener against Drake, 1-0, before claiming a 2-0 shutout win over Northern Iowa.
• Senior midfielder Amy Yang and senior forward Autumn Muckenhirn scored NDSU's two goals in the victory against Northern Iowa Sunday, while senior midfielder Lauren Miller and freshman forward Mariah Haberle dished out the assists on each goal. Muckenhirn's goal was the first of her collegiate career.
• The Bison outshot Northern Iowa, 16-9, and tallied an 8-3 advantage in corner kicks.
• NDSU freshman goalkeeper Monica Polgar earned her first collegiate win after allowing no goals and making a match-high five saves.
• In NDSU's season-opening loss to Drake, the Bison surrendered what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 67th-minute of the match.
• Through two matches, Yang and Muckenhirn have scored goals, while Miller and Haberle have tallied assists. Yang leads the team with three shots on goal, while Haberle has two and four other Bison each have one.
• Polgar is 1-1-0 between the posts with one shutout. She has given up one goal while making eight saves in 180 minutes for a GAA of 0.50.
• As a team, NDSU is averaging one goal per game while holding its opponents to 0.50 goals per game.
• For the first time in program history, North Dakota State was picked as the preseason favorite in The Summit League preseason coaches' poll.
• The Bison welcome eight newcomers in freshmen Monica Polgar (GK), Mariah Haberle (F), Anna Triller (MF), Laura Powell (D), Emily Boyer (MF), Julia Densmore (D) and Leah Emerson (F), and transfer Malley O'Brien (MF).
• North Dakota State returns 92 percent of its scoring from last season.
• The Bison return every player who netted a game-winning goal in 2015.

The Previous Meeting with UC Riverside

• Despite an 18-11 advantage in overall shots, the Bison fell to UC Riverside, 1-0, on Sept. 27, 2015.
• The Highlanders Blanca Barrio netted what proved to be the game-winning goal on a penalty-kick in the 26th-minute of the match.
• The loss turned out to be NDSU's only home setback of the season.

Looking Back at 2015

• The Bison tallied a 13-6-1 overall record and went unbeaten in Summit League play at 7-0-1 for the first time in program history, claiming the league's regular season championship for the first time since 2009.
• The 13 wins marked the most victories since the 2011 season.
• NDSU went a perfect 4-0-0 at home in Summit League competition.
• The Bison has a program record nine student-athletes earn All-Summit League honors, including Offensive Player of the Year Lauren Miller, Goalkeeper of the Year Sierra Bonham and Freshman of the Year Britney Monteon. In addition, head coach Mark Cook was voted The Summit League Coach of the Year.
• Miller and Amy Yang were named to the NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region Third Team.
• Miller, Yang and Meghan Johnston were voted to The Summit League Academic All-League Team.
• Miller set a new NDSU single-season record for goals (18) and points (41).
• Bonham tied the NDSU single-=season record with 111 saves.

Head Coach Mark Cook
    Mark Cook is in his fifth 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.
     Cook led NDSU to its first Summit League regular season title since 2009 with a 7-0-1 Summit League record in 2015. It was the first time in program history the Bison finished league play unbeaten. NDSU qualified for its seventh consecutive Summit League tournament and advanced to the tournament championship match for the second time in three seasons before falling to South Dakota State to finish the season at 13-6-1 overall. A program record nine student-athletes earned All-Summit League honors, including Goalkeeper of the Year Sierra Bonham, Offensive Player of the Year Lauren Miller and Freshman of the Year Britney Monteon. In addition, Cook was voted The Summit League Coach of the Year. Miller, along with Amy Yang, were named to the NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region Third Team to become the first Bison to be named NSCAA All-Region since 2003 and the first for North Dakota State in the Division I era.
     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.

On the Horizon
    The Bison travel to Grand Forks, N.D., to take on the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks on Friday, Sept. 2, at 4 p.m. before traveling to Pullman, Wash., to face Washington State on Sunday, Sept. 4, at 9 p.m. CT (7 p.m. PT).