FARGO, N.D. - North Dakota State will hit the road and head to the Twin Cities for the first of two games to wrap up the regular season. The Bison will begin the road swing at St. Thomas on Sunday, October 19. Kickoff between NDSU and the Tommies is set for 1 p.m. at South Field.
 
Game Coverage
Sunday's match will be streamed live on the Summit League Network and also have live statistics. Links to live video and stats are available at GoBison.com/coverage.
 
Series History
North Dakota State and St. Thomas will meet for the 5th time in series history on the soccer pitch, with all four previous meetings coming since St. Thomas joined the Summit League beginning in the 2021 season. NDSU holds a 2-1-1 lead in the series, including a 2-1 win last year in Fargo on the final day of the regular season to clinch the 2024 Summit League Regular Season Championship.
 
The Bison are 1-0-1 against the Tommies at South Field, with the teams tying 0-0 in the last meeting in St. Paul in 2023. NDSU won 2-1 in St. Paul in the first-ever meeting between the two sides, on Halloween in 2021.
 
Last Time Against St. Thomas
North Dakota State soccer claimed the 2024 Summit League regular season championship on October 27 with a 2-1 victory over St. Thomas in the regular season finale.
 
Trailing 1-0 in the second half, Morgan Russmann sparked a come-from-behind win with the first of two goals. Russmann took a header from Gabrielle Garrett, then flicked a ball past a defender, before firing a right footed shot into the corner to tie the game at 1-1 in the 61st minute.
 
Five minutes later, the Bison would be awarded a penalty following a handball in the box from the Tommies. Russmann would step up and convert the spot kick to put the Bison in front with her 11th goal of the season and eighth in league play.
 
Russmann's 11th goal gave her the NDSU freshman record in the D1 era for goals in a season, passing Lauren Miller's 10-goal season in 2013.
 
Bison Goal Scorers
Morgan Russmann scored her team-leading fifth goal of the season against Kansas City. Kendall Stadden and Isabel Garcia are second with four goals each this season. Russmann has a pair of game winners along with one each from Stadden and Garcia.
 
Russmann scored her 15th career goal against Denver. Stadden recorded her first career brace at South Dakota and Garcia also found the scoresheet against the Coyotes.
 
Hannah Arnold has two goals this season, along with four assists. Tyreese Zacher and Gabrielle Garrett have each added one goal and multiple assists. Mikayla Carkhuff, Cora Still, Chloe Birch and Loretta Wacek have also chipped in key goals, with Wacek scoring at South Dakota for the first time since returning this season from an ACL injury in 2023.
 
Russmann Moves Up in NDSU Top 10
Morgan Russmann scored her fifth goal of the season against Kansas City, continuing the move up the charts in NDSU's Division I history. The Bettendorf, Iowa native now has 16 career goals, surpassing Michelle Gaffaney (2008-11) and Holly Enderle (2015-18) at 15 and moving into a tie for sixth with Mariah Haberle (2016-19) and Olivia Watson (2021-24).
 
Second Half Goals
14 of NDSU's 21 goals have come after halftime, with six in the opening 15 minutes of the second half, and five in the final 15 minutes.
 
Goals in the Build-Up
NDSU has scored 21 goals this season, with only two coming directly off a set piece. In the other 19 goals, NDSU has 28 assists, often stringing together build-up play to lead to breakthroughs.
 
Goal Involvements
Eight new Bison have contributed to at least one goal this season with 16 total Bison involved in goals via scoring or assisting, surpassing last season, which had 13 different Bison contribute in goal involvements.
 
Defensive Core
Veteran leaders Amaya Garrett, Ellie Sanchez and Tyreese Zacher have combined to start 47 times this season for the Bison on the back line, providing stability and experience. The trio has combined for 135 career starts.
 
Mulberry Cracks Top 10 in Saves
Payton Mulberry made five saves in the win over South Dakota, moving into the NDSU Top 10 all-time, surpassing Renee Keller (77, 1995) as she reached 79 for her career. Since moving into the top 10, Mulberry has grown her career saves to 90. The next spot on the Top 10 list is 100 saves held by Karli Kopietz, 2005.
 
Bison White Coats
Bison junior nursing majors Amaya Garrett and Cora Still received their nursing white coats in a ceremony earlier this season. The ceremony marks a student's entry into the nursing profession at the beginning of clinical training.
 
Looking Ahead
North Dakota State will wrap up the regular season next week, making the longest trip of the Summit League schedule this season, traveling to Tulsa, Oklahoma to take on Oral Roberts. The Bison and Golden Eagles are set to meet on Thursday, October 23, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. at Case Soccer Complex.