MATCHUPS: Minot State will play in the first round of the NCAA Division II Tournament on Friday, November 11 with a matchup against the 4-seeded Central Oklahoma. If MSU wins that game they will then play in the second round against 1-seeded Central Missouri.

RECORDS: The Beavers went 1-1 in the NSIC Tournament to move its record to 16-2-1. Central Oklahoma went 2-1 in the MIAA Conference Tournament and now hosts a 14-6-1 record while Central Missouri went 3-0 in the same tournament to improve its record to 19-1.

COACHES CORNER: Jason Spain is in his seventh season as head coach of the women's soccer program at Minot State. Spain has done impressive work in his six seasons with the team, sporting a highly successful 68-39-12 record. Mike Cook is in his 19th season with Central Oklahoma. Cook has led the Bronchos to a 265-95-27 record over his 18 years at the school while hosting a 353-117-28 overall record as a Division II head coach. Lewis Theobald is in his 10th year as the head coach of Central Missouri. He has coached the Jennies to a 151-25-18 record in his first nine seasons winning the regional Coach of the Year award three times.

RANKINGS: Central Missouri is the No. 3 team in the country according to the November 8 NSCAA Division II Poll. Minot State fell out of the top 25, but still received votes while Central Oklahoma did not receive votes.  

SERIES HISTORY: This will be the first time Central Oklahoma and Minot State will have played each other. The Beavers are 0-4-1 against Central Missouri in a series dating back to 2012.

NOTING THE BEAVERS: Minot State was able to defeat its NSIC Tournament first-round opponent Upper Iowa in an exciting 3-1 game where senior Chloe Melton scored the first ever hat trick in NSIC Tournament history. Melton now has 34 points (13 goals, 8 assists) on the season making her just the third ever Beaver to score more than 30 points in a single season. Ninfa Ramirez, who has accomplished the 30+ point feat both of her years playing for MSU assisted on all three of Melton's goals. Melton also scored the lone goal for MSU in a 1-2 double-overtime loss against Augustana in the second round.

NOTING THE BRONCHOS: Central Oklahoma has led its opponents in nearly all statistical categories this season including having out-shot their opponents almost two-to-one. The Bronchos have been a much better first-half team this season out-scoring their opponents 22-10, 22-5 if you don't count the five goals they gave up against Central Missouri in their last game. In the second half, however, UCO has only a two-goal lead on opponents only out-scoring them 18-16.

NOTING THE JENNIES: Central Missouri had their revenge against Central Oklahoma last week in the MIAA Tournament. The Bronchos were the only team to have defeated the Jennies this year as the only mark on their 19-1 record. UCM went on to shutout UCO in 7-0 fashion in the MIAA Championship, scoring five goals in the first half. That isn't uncommon for Central Missouri, however as they have nearly out-scored its opponents 20-to-1 throughout the year. The Jennies use a balanced attack with eight players having scored at least five points or more this season.

NCAA TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE: As the fifth-seeded team in the Central Region the Beavers received their third overall and second-straight NCAA Tournament bid. In 2012, Minot State earned the auto-bid as the winners of the NSIC Tournament. That year they lost 0-3 to Southwestern Oklahoma State in the first round. Last season, like this year, MSU received an at-large bid into the tournament. Last season the Beavers faced two familiar opponents as they defeated Winona State 1-0 in the first round before falling to Central Missouri 0-2.