FARGO, N.D. - The North Dakota State women's soccer team will officially open up the 2021 regular season on Thursday at home against the University of Idaho in non-conference action. North Dakota State will host the Vandals in the first of two home games this week at Dacotah Field.

The Bison and Vandals will meet for the first time on the soccer pitch since 2013, when the Bison defeated Idaho 3-2 in what was also the first official game at Dacotah Field. Kickoff against the Vandals is set for 8 p.m. and the game will be streamed online through NDSU All Access.

The game was originally scheduled for Friday evening, but was pushed to Thursday in an announcement earlier Wednesday afternoon.

The Future is Now

• As North Dakota State begins the 2021 season, the Bison bring back a wealth of experience, with 174 of the 176 starts in the spring returning.
• The Bison return 17 of the 20 goals from last season, including four freshman goal scorers (Olivia Lovick, Jess Hanley, Kelsey Kallio and Aliya Owens) that combined for half of the goals, finding the back of the net 10 times in 16 games.
• The group of four freshman goal scorers, along with fellow freshman Katrina Patscot and Abby Wilkinson, combined for 15 of NDSU's 24 assists on the season.  
• In total, the Bison return 17 of 20 goals and 23 of 24 assists. The senior core of Ellie Schneider, Brookelyn Dew and Danielle Algera all had two goals each last season and tallied six total assists.

The Series with Idaho

• Friday's season-opening match against Idaho will be the fifth meeting all time between the Bison and the Vandals, but the first meeting since September 6, 2013.
• In the last meeting, the Bison picked up their first win against Idaho in the series and also officially opened up the Dacotah Field era with a thrilling 3-2 victory.
• Idaho claimed the first three meetings in the series, two of which came in neutral-site competitions before the teams agreed to a home-and-home series for the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
• Three of the four games in the series have been decided by one goal. Two of the four games were decided by a 3-2 score line. 

2021 Season Attendance Policy

• With the return to a traditional fall season for the Bison women's soccer team, and matches being played with the standard Dacotah Field layout, attendance to Bison home soccer matches is once again open to the general public. 
• Fans are strongly encouraged to wear masks to Bison soccer games and maintain social distancing where possible with the COVID-19 Pandemic still impacting our community.

About Idaho

• Idaho soccer was picked to finish fourth in the Big Sky Conference ahead of the fall 2021 season.
• Four Vandals earned Big Sky accolades, while head coach Jeremy Clevenger was named the Coach of the Year in the Big Sky after the spring season. 
• Idaho went 5-3 in Big Sky play during the spring, earning a spot in the conference tournament after clinching the No. 2 spot in the Northwest Division. The Vandals were edged by Northern Arizona, 1-0, in the semifinals of the Big Sky tournament last season.
• The majority of last year's squad returns for the Vandals this season. Twenty-two letter winners are back, including eight starters. Idaho did lose its leading scorers and First Team All-BSC players, Myah Merino and Kaysie Bruce.
• Two-time all-conference player Taylor Brust returns to anchor the Vandal back line, while Margo Scholesler, who was named Big Sky Honorable Mention following a stellar freshman campaign, is also set to return.  

Last Time Against Idaho

• NDSU opened up the Dacotah Field era by defeating the Idaho Vandals, 3-2, in a hard fought match Friday evening (Sept. 6, 2013). Anisha Kinnarath tallied a brace, scoring two goals, including the game-winning penalty kick while Lauren Miller also added a goal in the winning effort for the Bison.
• NDSU didn't waste much time finding the back of the net after the match kicked off. Kinnarath controlled a perfectly placed short corner kick from Amy Yang and blasted it to the lower right corner of the net just six minutes into the match to give the Bison the early 1-0 lead.
• Kavita Battan had an answer for the Vandals though in the 32nd minute, sliding a cross-kick from Amada Pease to the lower left corner of the goal for the equalizer.
• The Bison were the first to break through in the second half. Lauren Miller controlled the ball on the left side of the box from 20 yards out and placed it perfectly in the lower right corner of the net to give NDSU the 2-1 advantage in the 65th minute. 
• The Bison made it 3-1 just two minutes later when a penalty-kick was awarded on a hard foul in the box by the Vandals. Kinnarath stepped up to the spot and drilled it past Idaho goalkeeper Torrell Stewart to complete the brace.
• The Vandals cut the Bison lead to 3-2 after another penalty-kick was given, this time on a hard foul by NDSU in the 77th minute. 
• NDSU out shot the Vandals in the match, 8-6, including a 6-4 advantage in shots-on-goal. The Bison also controlled the corner kicks, ending the match with a 6-1 advantage.
• Sierra Bonham went the full 90 in goal for the Bison, tallying two saves in the winning effort to improve her record to 2-3 on the season.

Picked Fifth in Summit League

• North Dakota State was picked fifth in the Summit League preseason coaches poll, announced by the league on Tuesday. The Bison received 44 points in the vote, slotting them into the same position they closed the 2020-21 season conducted this past spring.
• The Bison are coming off of a 7-8-1 campaign in the Summit League in the spring, which featured season sweeps of Omaha and Western Illinois, as well as wins against Kansas City, North Dakota and Oral Roberts.
• Denver, who won the regular season and conference tournament, along with making a trip to the NCAA Tournament second round, was picked first in a unanimous selection. South Dakota State was picked second, receiving one first place vote (coaches can not vote for own team) and was selected second in every other poll.
• Omaha (62 points) edged out South Dakota (58) for third, while Kansas City came in sixth behind the Bison with 37 points.

Lovick, Schneider Named Summit League Players to Watch

• Olivia Lovick and Ellie Schneider were tabbed as players to watch in the Summit League.
• Lovick was named to the 2020 Summit League All-Newcomer team after leading the Bison with 14 points and six goals scored, playing in all 16 matches, including 13 starts as a freshman. She had a season-high five shots against South Dakota State and her four points against Western Illinois were the second-most in a match for the Bison last season.
• Schneider played a team-best 1,260 minutes last season, recording two game-winning goals. The senior started all 16 matches and was third on the team with seven points this spring.

The Rookies

• The 2021 summer saw the arrival of six true freshman who join Mike Regan's fourth edition of the Bison women's soccer program.
• Josie Fieldman, a midfielder from Minnetonka, Minn.; Bella Grandbois, a forward/midfielder from New Hope, Minn.; Katie Pagel, a defender from Aurora, Colo.; Gabby Sangillo, a midfielder from Goodyear, Ariz.; Loretta Wacek, a forward from St. Paul, Minn.; and Olivia Watson, a forward from Moorhead, Minn. all have settled in to Fargo and the women's soccer program. 
• All six freshman signed for the Bison on signing day in November of 2020.

The Transfer

• With a bulk of the spring 2020 squad returning and six true freshman joining the Bison, Regan and staff welcomed in just one transfer this summer, Payton Jo Armijo.
• Armijo joins the Bison from Cal State Northridge, where the Bakersfield, California native appeared in 34 matches over two seasons as a midfielder. She has a goal and three career assists, logging over 1500 minutes during her time with the Matadors.

Schneider Named to CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team

• Defender Ellie Schneider was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team in June, following her performance in the classroom and on the pitch this spring. Schneider is the first Bison since 2011 to be selected to the team. 
• Starting all 16 games for the Bison during the spring season, Schneider was third on the team with seven points. She recorded two goals and three assists. Schneider scored the game-winning goals against Western Illinois (Feb. 19) and Omaha (Feb. 28) and has a 3.96 GPA in Biological Science.

Lovick, Hanley Return Looking to Build On Summit League All-Newcomer Team Honors

• Olivia Lovick and Jess Hanley were named to the Summit League All-Newcomer team this spring.
• Lovick led the Bison with six goals on the season, while also being the team leader in points with 14. Of her 24 shots on the season, 12 came on goal. She also added a pair of assists. Lovick ranked seventh in the Summit League with six goals and seventh with 14 points. 
• Hanley finished the year with two goals and five assists, tying the team lead in assists. She ranked second on the team with nine points. Hanley ranked fifth in the league in assists.
• It is the eighth time NDSU has had multiple selections to the Summit League All-Newcomer or All-Freshman team.
• Heading into the fall 2021 season, NDSU has five former all-newcomer or all-freshman team selections on the roster, including Lovick, Hanley, Danielle Algera (2017), Lavin Douglass (2019) and McKenna Strand (2019).

Head Coach Mike Regan

• Mike Regan is in his fourth season at the head coach of the Bison. Regan was named head women's soccer coach at North Dakota State on Jan. 19, 2018.
• The Bison have had five All-Summit League selections in Regan's first three years, including four first team selections. 
• NDSU has also had four All-Summit League Freshman Team/All-Newcomer Team selections and two Summit League All-Tournament Team picks. 
• In 2019, Monica Polgar was named to the United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-Region Team and was picked for the Summit League All-Academic Team.
• 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.
• 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 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. 
• He holds a National 'A' Coaching License from the United States Soccer Federation.

On the Horizon

• North Dakota State will remain at home for their second game of the opening week, as the Bison welcome in Baylor University for the first time to Dacotah Field.
• The Bison and Bears will meet for just the second time on the soccer pitch, and for the first time since August 29, 2009, when the Bison made 11 saves in a 0-0 tie after double overtime in Waco, Texas.
• Kickoff against the Bears is slated for 1 p.m. and the game will be streamed online through NDSU All Access, as well as being aired on Bison 1660.