Scene Setter
    The North Dakota State Bison women's soccer team (3-0-1 overall, 0-0 Summit) returns home for a pair of Family Weekend matches against Hawaii (1-2-1, 0-0 Big West) and Chicago State (0-4, 0-0 WAC). NDSU will face Hawaii on Friday night at Dacotah Field, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. The Bison will face the Cougars on Sunday at 1 p.m. NDSU will also honor its five seniors prior to the match with Chicago State on Sunday.

The Series with Hawaii
    The all-time series with the Rainbow Wahine is even at 1-1. The previous two matches were played in Waipahu, Hawaii. Last year, the Rainbow Wahine beat the Bison 2-0. In 2011, NDSU earned a 3-2 victory in the second match of the Ohana Hotels and Resorts No Ka Ol.  

The Series with Chicago State
    Sunday afternoon's match will mark the first meeting between the two schools.

Last Time Out
    A goal by senior Elyse Huber in the 86th minute gave the North Dakota State soccer team a 1-0 victory over New Hampshire Sunday afternoon in the championship match of the TD Bank Classic, hosted by the University of Vermont.
    The Bison improved to 3-0-1 on the season, while New Hampshire dropped to 2-2. With Sunday's win and the win over Vermont on Friday night, the Bison earned the first set of road weekend non-conference wins since beating Air Force and Northern Colorado in 2014.
    The two teams were scoreless at the half. New Hampshire had a 9-6 advantage on shots in the first half, while both teams had three shots on goal. 
    Huber's goal in the 86th minute was her third of the weekend, as she was named the TD Bank Classic MVP. Kate Swanis earned the assist on the play, her second of the season. Laura Powell, Ellie Schneider and Dani Stuber joined Huber on the all-tournament team. 
    Huber finished with six shots, including four on goal. Marian Taiwo, Schneider and Swanis each had a shot on goal. Monica Polgar finished with seven saves, as she moved to 3-0-1 on the season. The victory was the 29th career win for Polgar, as she moved into third in school history in victories.
    New Hampshire had a 16-11 advantage in shots. Both teams finished with seven shots on goal.

Bison Soccer Ranked in United Soccer Coaches Regional Rankings    
    The North Dakota State women's soccer team made its first appearance of the year in the United Soccer Coaches regional rankings this week. The Bison entered the United Soccer Coaches West Region poll at number 10 after a 3-0-1 start to the season. NDSU is one of two Summit League teams ranked in the poll, as Denver moved up from seventh to second after a 3-0-1 start to the year. At 3-0 on the year, Brigham Young is the top team in the region. 
Huber Named Summit League Offensive Player of the Week 
    North Dakota State senior soccer forward Elyse Huber has been named the Summit League Offensive Player of the Week. The Bison have now won back-to-back offensive awards from the league, with senior Mariah Haberle being named in the first week.
    Huber tallied the first three goals of her NDSU career to garner the offensive award. NDSU won the TD Bank Classic Championship thanks in large part to Huber, who accounted for the game-winning goals in victories over Vermont and New Hampshire. She scored twice against the Catamounts in the 3-0 victory to open the tournament, then scored the decisive goal in the 86th minute in a 1-0 victory over the Wildcats.

North Dakota State Notes

• Senior Elyse Huber notched her first goals as a Bison last weekend at the TD Bank Classic. Huber had the game-winning goals against Vermont and New Hampshire to lead the Bison to the title.
• Senior Monica Polgar moved into third in NDSU history with a pair of wins in the net last weekend. Huber now has 29 career victories.
• Senior Mariah Haberle scored the lone goal for the Bison in each of the first two matches of the year. Haberle now has 15 career goals.
• Senior Monica Polgar ranks third  in the nation with 30 saves this season, while also ranking 26th in keeper minutes played with 380.
• NDSU ranks 21st in the nation, and leads the Summit League, with 7.5 saves per match.
• The Bison rank sixth in the nation in save percentage at .968, while also ranking eighth in goals-against average at .237.
• Huber ranks sixth in the nation with 3.33 shots on goal per game, while ranking fourth in the country with a pair of game-winning goals.
• Polgar's 237 career saves are the 16th most by an active player at the NCAA Division I level. Polgar also ranks 19th among active players with 4.65 saves per game.
• NDSU has won five-straight road games dating back to last season, the fifth longest streak in the nation. 
• The Bison return six starters and 13 letterwinners from last season's team, including a first team all-league selection in Haberle.
• NDSU opened the exhibition season with a 3-0 victory over Viterbo (NAIA) on Aug. 14. The Bison scored all three goals in the second half.
• In the final exhibition match of the season, defending Big Ten Tournament Champion Minnesota beat the Bison 3-0 in St. Paul. 
• The Bison return six starters from last season in Haberle, Sydney Johnson, Laura Powell, Dani Algera, Maddie Burnstein and Polgar.
• NDSU has 10 newcomers entering 2019, including nine freshman and one senior transfer. The freshmen are Paige Goaley (F), Grace Sjoberg (D/MF), Eden Taylor-Wineera (MF), Taylore Simmons (MF/F), McKenna Strand (D), Kate Swanis (MF), Lavin Douglass (MF), Regan Ostler (MF) and Paris Walsh (D). Elyse Huber (F) is a senior transfer from Nebraska. 

 
About Hawaii

• Hawaii enters the match with a 1-2-1 overall record. The match with NDSU is the first of three-straight against Summit League opponents, as they will face North Dakota on Sunday and South Dakota State on Tuesday.
• This will be the furthest East the Rainbow Wahine have played since playing at Louisiana Tech in 2011.
• Alexis Mata ranks 23rd in the nation with 23 saves this season. She also ranks 19th with nearly 389 minutes played in the net.
• Michaela Rentner ranks 28th in the country in shot accuracy at .750. As a team, Hawaii ranks 16th at .630.

About Chicago State

• The Cougars are 0-4 entering Friday night's match at North Dakota. 
• Chicago State will face a total of five Summit League schools this season. Purdue Fort Wayne defeated the Cougars 1-0 on Aug. 30. In addition to playing NDSU and UND, the Cougars will also face Oral Roberts and Western Illinois.
• The Cougars defeated Northern Illinois 3-0 in an exhibition match on Aug. 18.
• Judith Sorribes ranks eighth in the nation in saves with 27.

25th Season of NDSU Soccer
The 2019 season marks the 25th season of soccer at NDSU. The Bison own a 243-177-29 (.573) all-time record, including a 127-42-7 (.741) mark in home matches. In six seasons at Dacotah Field, the Bison are 31-16-2 (.653). Pete Cuadrado is the all-time leader in wins with 93 in nine seasons as head coach from 2003-11. The Bison have had a winning record in 17 of the 24 seasons played. 

Haberle Named to Summit League "Players to Watch" List
    Bison senior Mariah Haberle was named to the "Players to Watch" section by the league coaches. Haberle, an All-Summit League First Team selection last season, started all 16 matches with seven goals and two assists on the season. Haberle had four game-winning goals for NDSU last year.

NDSU Soccer Picked Third in Summit League Preseason Poll 
    The North Dakota State women's soccer team was picked to finish third in the 2019 Summit League Women's Soccer Preseason Poll, announced Monday, Aug. 12 by the league office.
After finishing third in the 2018 standings, the Bison received 41 points and are picked to finish in the same spot. With 63 and 57 points respectively, 2018 Summit League co-champions Denver and South Dakota State are picked for the top two spots in 2019. Denver received seven first place votes, while the Jackrabbits received the other two.
The top four regular-season finishers will qualify for The Summit League Women's Soccer Championship, which will be hosted by reigning regular-season co-champion SDSU in Brookings, S.D., Nov. 7 and 9. 

Radio, TV Coverage Announced for NDSU Women's Soccer
    A pair of NDSU women's soccer matches will air live on the radio and one match will be televised live during the upcoming season. NDSU's regular season home opener against Saint Mary's Aug. 23 and the regular season home finale against North Dakota (Oct. 31) will air live on Bison 1660 AM. The home match against South Dakota on Oct. 6 will be televised live on MidcoSN with Alex Heinert calling the action.

Head Coach Mike Regan
    Mike Regan begins his second season at the head coach of the Bison. An assistant coach for teams in the Missouri Valley and Big Ten Conferences over the previous six seasons before coming to NDSU, Regan was named head women's soccer coach at North Dakota State on Jan. 19, 2018.
    Regan came to NDSU after two seasons as a Big Ten assistant coach at Indiana University in Bloomington. Prior to Indiana, he was an assistant coach at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, for four seasons where he was part of the 2015 Missouri Valley Conference championship team and the 2015 MVC Coaching Staff of the Year. Drake made four consecutive MVC tournament appearances.
    Before joining Drake, Regan was the head coach for the North Iowa Area Community College men's soccer team for five seasons, where he posted an impressive record of 74-17-6 and was named the NJCAA/ICCAC Men's Soccer Coach of the Year three times.
    Regan also has extensive coaching experience at the youth level. He is currently a staff coach with the U.S. Youth Soccer Region II Girls Olympic Development Program and served as the head coach of the Iowa ODP '98 age group for three years. Regan holds a National 'A' Coaching License from the United States Soccer Federation.
    Regan earned a bachelor's degree from Waldorf College in 2009 and a master's degree from California University of Pennsylvania in 2011.

On the Horizon
    The Bison will hit the road next week for a pair of matches in Iowa. NDSU will face Drake on Friday, Sept. 13 in Des Moines before traveling to Waterloo for a match with Northern Iowa.