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RECORDS: The game between Minot State and Southwestern Oklahoma State will commence the 2014 season for the Minot State Beavers. SWOSU opened their season on Friday, Sept. 5 against another Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponent, No. 15 Minnesota State.

COACHES CORNER: Jason Spain is in his fifth season as head coach of the women's soccer program at Minot State. Spain has done impressive work in his four seasons with the team, sporting a highly successful 42-27-9 record. Last season, Spain led the Beavers to their second consecutive birth in the NSIC postseason tournament. In 2012, the Beavers won the NSIC tournament and claimed the automatic bid into the NCAA Division II tournament. SWOSU is led by Mark Persson, who's in his sixth year with the Bulldogs. Before taking over in 2009, SWOSU women's soccer had combined to win three games in the previous two years. By 2012 Persson, took his program to the NCAA Division II tournament and ended the regular season with a 20-1-1 record.

RANKINGS: The National Soccer Coaches Association of America preseason poll will not be released until Sept. 9, but the Beavers were selected to finish No. 8 in the NSIC this season by the conference coaches. SWOSU was selected to finish No. 1 in the Great American Conference for the third consecutive season.

2013 AT A GLIMPSE: The Minot State Beavers entered the 2013 season with high expectations after making their first ever appearance in the NCAA Division II national tournament in 2012. After starting the season with only one win in their first eight games, the Beavers settled in and found a rhythm in the heart of the NSIC season. Minot State went 4-2-1 in the month of October and finished out the regular season strong in November winning both of their contests. The Beavers entered the NSIC tournament as the No. 8 seed and lost to eventual champion and No. 1 seed Minnesota State. Chloe Melton (So, F, Fleet, England) and Emilie Rebelo (Jr., CM, Sacramento, Calif.) served as two of the top three scorers for the Beavers in 2013, and they both return for the 2014 campaign.

NOTING THE BULLDOGS: The Bulldogs enter 2014 coming off their most successful seasons in program history. In 2012 and 2013, the Bulldogs combined to go 16-1-2 in all GAC games and they brought in their only conference championships the past two years. 2014 will be a true test for the Bulldogs, though, as they lost nine seniors from the 2013 team, seven of them starters. SWOSU will look to Courtney Flores and Ashlee Beitinger to bear much of the load in 2014. Both were All-GAC selections in 2013.

SERIES HISTORY: Minot State and Southwestern Oklahoma State have played each other just once in their programs' history, and the stakes were quite high. The two teams met in the 2012 NCAA Division II Central Regional on the campus of Central Missouri. After claiming a 2-0 at the half, SWOSU cruised to a 3-0 victory to move on in the 2012 NCAA tournament. This was the first appearance for both programs in the NCAA Division II postseason tournament.

REDSHIRTS RETURN REVITALIZED: With two dynamic players sitting out to redshirt during the 2013 season, the Beavers are excited to welcome Jamie MacFarlane (Sr., F, Saskatoon, Sask.) and Jamie Council (Sr., F, Atascadero, Calif.) back out onto the pitch in 2014. Council has 12 goals in her career for the Beavers while MacFarlane has eight.

GEM IN THE ROUGH: After initially being recruited to play forward for the Beavers, junior Gemma Biasetta (Albequerque, N.M.) made a complete 180 last season and started 14 games as a goalkeeper. She transitioned well into her new position, allowing 1.45 goals per game, good for 9th in the NSIC.

REBEL-O WITHOUT A CAUSE: Junior Emilie Rebelo (Jr., CM, Sacramento, Calif.) has improved in each of her first two seasons with the Beavers, and she's primed for a breakout year in 2014. The one-time U-19 Portuguese national team call-up led the Beavers in shots in 2013. She also scored four goals and dished out two assists from the middle of the park.

DEFENDING THEIR TURF: The Beavers backline looks to be one of the biggest strengths for Minot State in 2014. Kelli Creese (So., D, La Verne, Calif.), the team's only All-NSIC selection in 2013, and Taylor Bachman-Williams (Sr., D, Minot, N.D.), who started all 18 games in 2013, will lead the backline as they hope to recapture a conference championship like they did in 2012.

LOOKING FOR REVENGE: After a heartbreaking 3-0 loss to SWOSU in the 2012 NCAA Division II Central Regional, the Beavers look to gain revenge in the second ever match-up between the teams. The Bulldogs took their success from the 2012 season into the 2013 season, so the Beavers face quite the test in Weatherford, Okla. on Sunday.

BY THE NUMBERS
1: The Beavers averaged exactly one goal per game in 2013. In order to get back to the NCAA tournament, they'll have to get more production offensively.

203: Minot State proved to be one of the more aggressive teams in the NSIC in 2013 collecting 203 fouls over the course of the season. They managed to only go in the referee's book 10 times though, receiving 10 yellow cards.