Scene Setter
    The North Dakota State women's soccer team opens the 2020-21 campaign with a pair of weekend matches against Kansas City. The matches were originally scheduled to be played in Kansas City, but due to temperatures below freezing, they were moved to Fargo. The two teams will face each other at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 12 and at 12 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 14. Both matches will be played in the Dacotah Field Bubble.
 
2021 Spring Season Attendance Policy
    For matches played in the Dacotah Field Bubble during the 2021 spring season, fans will not be allowed due to space limitations from the Covid-19 Pandemic.
 
NDSU in Season Openers
    The Bison are 16-9 all-time in season openers. Last year, the Bison beat St. Mary's 1-0 on August 23, winning the season opener for the second-straight year. NDSU is 6-4 in the last 10 years in the season opener. The Bison are 9-3-1 all-time in the Summit League opener.
 
The Series with Kansas City
    NDSU owns a 3-0-2 lead in the all-time series that dates back to a 5-1 NDSU victory in Fargo on Oct. 25, 2009. The Bison won the last two meetings, with the most recent victory being a 2-1 win on Oct. 21, 2012. NDSU is 2-0 against the Roos in Fargo.
 
Rewinding to 2019

• NDSU finished the season with an 8-7-3 overall record and a 3-3-2 Summit League record. The Bison missed the Summit League Championship for the first time in 10 years.
• Elyse Huber finished the season with 11 goals, tied for the fourth most in school history. Huber also had five game-winning goals, tied for the second most in school history.
• Monica Polgar closed her illustrious Bison career in the net with 110 saves, one shy of tying the school record.
• Polgar finished her career ranked third in school history in saves (317), third in wins (34), first in shutouts (21) and third in goalie minutes played (5,801).

 
25 Years of NDSU Soccer
                The 2019 season marked the 25th season of soccer at NDSU. In the first 25 years of NDSU soccer, the Bison owned a 248-184-31 (.569) all-time record, including a 131-43-8 (.742) mark in home matches. In six seasons at Dacotah Field, the Bison are 35-17-3 (.664). 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 18 of the 25 seasons played.
 
North Dakota State Notes

• NDSU returns four players that scored a goal last season, including a pair of goals from senior Brookelyn Dew.
• For the first time in 36 matches, NDSU will have a new goalkeeper in the net. The Bison have four goalkeepers on the roster this year that will become the first player to step in the net for the Bison other than Monica Polgar since the 2017 season.
• The Bison return seven starters and 13 letterwinners from the 2019 team.

• The Roos opened the season with a non-conference match on Feb. 6 at Saint Louis, dropping a 4-1 match to the Billikens.
• Hayden Burnett gave the Roos a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute with a goal that was assisted by Rileigh Kuhns and Anna Jennings.
• Saint Louis held a 30-4 advantage in shots, including 11-3 in shots on goal.

 
NDSU Picked Seventh in Summit League Preseason Poll
    The North Dakota State women's soccer team is picked to finish seventh in the Summit League Women's Soccer Preseason Poll, announced Tuesday, Jan. 26 by the league office.
    NDSU finished fifth in the standings last season, missing the conference tournament for the first time in 10 years. The Bison received 25 points in the poll, sitting three points ahead of Omaha and four points behind North Dakota. Defending league champion Denver was picked to repeat with seven first place votes and 63 points, while South Dakota State was picked second with 58 points and the remaining two first place votes. Oral Roberts (45 points), South Dakota (41) and Kansas City (32) rounded out the top five.
    The top four regular-season finishers will qualify for The Summit League Women's Soccer Championship, which will be played in Omaha April 15-17.
 
Last Time Out
    A goal in the 70th minute gave Summit League Champion Denver a 1-0 victory over the North Dakota State soccer team in the season finale on Nov. 3, 2019.
    NDSU ended the season with an 8-7-3 record overall and 3-3-2 Summit League record. In the 25th season of NDSU soccer, the Bison finished with a winning record for the 18th time in school history. The Pioneers took an 11-4-3 overall and 7-0-1 record into the Summit League Championship as the top seed.
    In the 70th minute, Macee Barlow found Mary DeWalt for her first goal of the season. The Pioneers finished with a 15-2 advantage in shots, with both NDSU shots coming in the first half.
    Elyse Huber and Daniella Jasper had the two shots for NDSU. Huber finished the season with 79 shots, tied for the third most in school history. Monica Polgar recorded eight saves in the net, as she finished the season with 110. Her total was one shy of tying the school record.
 
Bison Women's Soccer Earns United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award
    The North Dakota State University women's soccer team earned the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award for exemplary performance in the classroom during the 2019-20 academic year.
    The Bison posted a 3.63 team GPA for 2019-20, extending an impressive run of earning the Team Academic Award for the 18th time in the past 19 years. The 2019-20 school year was the 20th time the Bison have won the award since it was introduced in 1996.
    To qualify for the award, a team must have a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher for the entire academic year.
 
Strand, Douglass Named to Summit League "Players to Watch" List
    Bison sophomores McKenna Strand and Lavin Douglass were named to the "Players to Watch" list by the league coaches. Both players were selected to the Summit League All-Freshman Team last season. Strand appeared in 17 matches, including seven starts. Douglass started 16 of the 18 matches she played in, while scoring a goal against South Dakota.
 
Last Time Against Kansas City
    Sophomore Anisha Kinnarath and freshman Meghan Johnston scored goals to secure a crucial 2-1 Summit League victory for the Bison against Kansas City on Oct. 21, 2012. Sierra Bonham recorded four saves to earn her sixth victory of the season. Kinnarath led all players with seven shots and three shots on goal. Johnston, senior Jordyn Wallenborn and junior Katie Tallas also notched two shots in the match.
 
Head Coach Mike Regan
    Mike Regan begins his third 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
    NDSU will be back in the Dacotah Field Bubble next weekend for a pair of matches against Western Illinois. The two teams will square off at 6 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 19 and at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 21.