FARGO, N.D. - The North Dakota State women's soccer team will head back out on the road to wrap up non-conference play, as the Bison travel to Idaho and Montana to face a pair of Big Sky foes before Summit League action gets underway. The Bison take on Idaho on Friday, September 16 in Moscow, with kickoff slated for 8:30 p.m. CT, before a trip to Missoula to take on Montana on Sunday, September 18, with kickoff set for 11:30 a.m. CT. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
Series History
Friday's meeting with Idaho will be the sixth all-time meeting between the two sides dating back to the first meeting in 2007, but just the second-ever meeting in Moscow. Idaho leads the series 4-1-0, including a win in Fargo in the opener last season. The Bison lost in their only trip to Moscow, 2-0, in 2012. Prior to last season's clash in Fargo, the two teams had not met since NDSU won 3-2 in Fargo in the 2013 season. Four of the five meetings have been separated by just one goal.
 
The Bison will also face Montana for the sixth time on Sunday, with the Green and Gold holding a 3-1-1 advantage over the Grizzlies dating back to the first meeting in 2005. NDSU is unbeaten in the last three meetings, with the two teams playing out a 1-1 tie in 2019 in Fargo. The Bison are 1-1 all-time in Missoula, winning 4-0 in their last trip in 2011. The Bison also beat Montana 3-0 that season in Fargo, the last win for the Bison in the series.
 
Bison Recover From Defeats With Back-to-Back 1-0 Victories
After having their unbeaten run snapped at five games (3-0-2) with a pair of losses, North Dakota State picked up a pair of 1-0 victories last week in Fargo. The Bison opened up the home schedule at Dacotah Field with a win over Green Bay, as Olivia Watson scored her second goal of the season in the 73rd minute, while Abby Wilkinson made three saves. On Sunday, senior Lavin Douglass scored in the 80th minute and senior Sofia Howe made four saves to cap off a senior day victory over Drake.
 
Heely Named Peak Performer of the Week
Ashleigh Heely was named the TicketSmarter Summit League Women's Soccer Defensive Peak Performer of the Week on Monday. Heely anchored the back line of both shutout victories last week as the Bison defeated Green Bay and Drake in a pair of 1-0 games. Heely played all 90 minutes in both games at center back, and led the Bison defense that allowed just seven total shots on goal over 180 minutes. The honor is Heely's first and is also the first for the Bison since the final week of the regular season last year when Aly Cole received Defensive Player of the Week honors.
 
Back-to-Back Cleansheets, Again
The Bison recorded back-to-back cleansheets last weekend, the third and fourth shutouts of the season. It is the second time that the Bison have recorded back-to-back shutouts this year, as NDSU played Southern to a scoreless draw before a 2-0 win over Utah Tech six days later.
 
Coming in Pairs
NDSU's results thus far this season have come in pairs over the weekend. The Bison started the season with back-to-back ties in Louisiana against Tarleton and Southern, before jumping into the win column in St. Paul with wins over Utah Tech and Chicago State. The Bison then dropped both games in a weekend trip to Wyoming and Northern Colorado, before opening up the home schedule with wins against Green Bay and Drake last weekend.
 
Douglass Caps Senior Day With First Game Winner
You couldn't write a much better script for senior day then to score your team's game winner. Lavin Douglass did that in the 80th minute, scoring her first career game-winning goal in the process. The goal was the fourth of her career, as she has now scored a goal in each of her four seasons in Fargo.
 
Watson Adds Another Game Winner
After two goals as a freshman last season, Olivia Watson picked up her first game-winning goal earlier this year, as she scored her first goal of 2022 to open the scoring in the 2-0 win against Utah Tech. Last weekend, Watson added her second goal of the season, scoring another game winner, to lift the Bison over Green Bay.
 
Coming in Pairs (Part Two)
Olivia Lovick scored her ninth and then 10th career goals earlier this season, scoring in back-to-back games. The junior has scored every one of her goals in either back-to-back games, or with a brace. She has a pair of two-goal games, with her other six goals coming in back-to-back clusters.
 
Not Your Typical Goaley
Paige Goaley has scored two goals this season, tied for the team lead. She didn't wait long to jump into the scoring action, finding the net 37 seconds into her official return, after missing two full seasons with a leg injury. Early strikes have become the theme for Goaley, as she also headed in her second goal of the year in the third minute against Chicago State.
 
Last Time vs Idaho
NDSU fell in the 2021 season opener to Idaho, falling on a penalty kick goal for the Vandals late in the first half. The Bison were even with Idaho through the first half hour, but a foul at the top of the penalty area was called and the Vandals were awarded a penalty kick in the 37th minute. Idaho's Margo Schoesler tucked the penalty into the left corner past Abby Wilkinson for the only goal of the game. Wilkinson was perfect the rest of the way, finishing the game with five saves. The Bison were outshot 16-7 in the game. The Vandals had six shots on goal to three for the Bison.
 
Last Time vs Montana
The Bison took the lead in the first half but were pulled back in the second half en route to a 1-1 tie at Dacotah Field. The Bison struck first, as current Bison senior Kate Swanis found Mariah Haberle for a goal in the 30th minute. Haberle tucked away her goal into the bottom right corner from the top of the box. It was the first career assist for Swanis. In the 65th minute, Alex Coyle scored for the Grizzlies off an assist from Taylor Stoeger. The goal came off a corner kick in a scramble in front of the net. Montana had a 22-8 advantage in shots, while holding a 9-3 advantage in corner kicks.
 
Back-to-Back First Cleansheets
In the 0-0 tie against Southern, senior goalkeeper Sofia Howe picked up her first career shutout. The Chula Vista, California native saw six shots from the Lady Jaguars and made two saves over 90 minutes to record her first collegiate cleansheet. In the next game for the Bison, true freshman keeper Payton Mulberry stopped four shots in her collegiate debut against Utah Tech, as she pulled off her first collegiate shutout in her first-ever start.
 
Wacek's First is Bison Game Winner
Sophomore Loretta Wacek broke a 1-1 tie in the 67th minute against Chicago State with her first collegiate goal. Taking a pass from Lavin Douglass and firing a right-footed shot into the back of the net, Wacek gave the Bison a lead they never relinquished, picking up her first game-winning goal as well. As a freshman, Wacek picked up an assist in the second minute of her starting debut.
 
Kallio Scores, Moves to Top of Active Assists List in Trip Home
Kelsey Kallio, from the suburbs of the Twin Cities, broke an 18-game goal less streak in St. Paul earlier this season, as she connected on a cross in the second half against Utah Tech to double the Bison lead in the win with her second career goal.
 
Kallio then took over sole possession of first on the active assist list for NDSU two days later against Chicago State, as she recorded her first-career, two-assist game. Kallio whipped in a pair of corner kicks, with Paige Goaley and Jess Hanley heading in goals in the 3rd and 77th minutes against Chicago State. Kallio now has eight career assists.
 
Howe In Top 10 For Career Saves
In her final appearance of the 2021 season, Sofia Howe moved into the top 10 in career saves in NDSU's history. Howe currently sits with 73 as a Bison, four behind Renee Keller for ninth overall. Howe is also sixth in NDSU's DI era, with Karli Kopietz next on that list at 100.
 
Goaley Strikes NDSU's Fastest Goal
Paige Goaley scored 37 seconds into the season opener against Tarleton, scoring her first career goal and etching her name into the Bison record books, with the fastest goal in NDSU's program history. The goal broke the previous record of 39 seconds held by Lisa Leach, set on October 18, 1997 at Minnesota State-Mankato. The DI era record was 52 seconds into a match by Britney Monteon against Fort Wayne on October 22, 2017.
 
The Perfect Hat Trick
After missing the last two seasons due to injury, junior Paige Goaley made her long-awaited return to the pitch a thrilling one in the preseason exhibition against Viterbo. Goaley not only scored a hat trick, but completed the feat of the "Perfect Hat Trick" as she scored her first goal with her right foot, her second goal with her left foot, and then finished it off with a header for her third and final goal. Goaley scored all three of her goals in a 26-minute stretch.
 
Team Captains
Head coach Mike Regan announced that senior Dani Stuber and junior Paige Goaley will serve as the team captains in 2022. Stuber is in her fifth season with the Bison, while Goaley is in her fourth year. Both players are making their full returns in 2022 after missing considerable time with injuries.
 
NDSU Receives United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award
The Bison earned the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award over the summer, being recognized for their exemplary performance in the classroom during the 2021-22 academic year. To qualify for the award, a team must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 or higher for the entire academic year. The Bison posted a 3.43 team GPA for 2021-22.
 
Picked Ninth in Summit League
North Dakota State was picked ninth in the Summit League preseason coaches' poll. The Bison received 17 points in the vote, slotting them one spot below where they finished the 2021 season. The Bison finished eighth last season after a 3-6-0 record with wins over Oral Roberts (picked 6th), St. Thomas (picked 8th) and North Dakota (picked 10th).
 
Lovick, Nead Named Summit League Players to Watch
Olivia Lovick and Alicia Nead were named Summit League Players to Watch in the league preseason release. Lovick and Nead, both juniors on the Bison squad, headline a returning group of seven starters and 19 letter winners from last season.
 
Lovick, a forward for the Bison, played in all 16 games with 14 starts in 2021, logging 1,162 minutes on the pitch. She recorded two goals, both against Oral Roberts (Oct. 1) in a 3-2 victory and assisted on one goal, setting up the game-winner in the final minute of a 2-1 victory over North Dakota. Lovick is the top returning goal scorer overall for NDSU with eight career goals and three assists in two seasons.
 
Nead also played in all 16 games with 11 starts in the midfield for NDSU, logging 835 minutes last season. Nead scored her first career goal in 2021, scoring the game winner in the final minute of a victory against UND. She also assisted on one goal in the 3-2 win against ORU.
 
Who's Back?
The Bison return seven starters from the 2021 squad, as well as 19 letter winners. Olivia Lovick is the top returning goal scorer, with eight career goals. Lavin Douglass and Jess Hanley also return with three goals each. Hanley, along with Kelsey Kallio, are the top returning assists leaders with six career assists each.
 
NDSU also returns two goalkeepers with considerable experience in Abby Wilkinson and Sofia Howe. Wilkinson started the season in goal for the Bison in 2021 before an injury sidelined her. Howe finished out the year in goal. How has 67 career saves and Wilkinson has 31, along with one cleansheet.
 
Head Coach Mike Regan
Mike Regan begins his fifth season as the head coach of the Bison. NDSU has had five All-Summit League selections in Regan's tenure, 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.
 
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 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.
 
Higgins Joins Staff
Chris Higgins, who joined the Bison from Loras College, will serve as an assistant and will work with the goalkeepers, a role he held at Loras, as he helped guide the women's program to the NCAA Division III Final Four last season. Prior to his coaching career, Higgins was an NAIA Academic All-American goalkeeper at Ashford University, where he was also the AII-League First Team and Goalkeeper of the Year. Higgins helped lead Ashford to the NAIA Final Four in 2013.
 
Up Next
The Bison will open up Summit League play on the road next week with a trip to Denver on Friday, September 23, before closing out the weekend on Sunday, September 25 at Omaha.