MATCHUPS: Minot State will travel to Minnesota Crookston on Thursday to play at the UMC Soccer Field at 4 p.m. Then the Beavers return home to host the NSIC-leading Bemidji State on Sunday at Herb Parker Stadium at 1 p.m.
RECORDS: The Beavers had a good start in conference play beating both Augustana and Wayne State to improve their record to 3-1. The Golden Eagles won their first conference game of the season last week while losing their second NSIC matchup to move their record to 2-4. BSU also started off hot in conference play winning its first three games to improve its record to 5-1.
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 five seasons with the team, sporting a highly successful 68-39-12 record. Last season, Spain led the Beavers to their fourth-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. In 2015, Spain took his team to its second NCAA Division II tournament appearance and coached his team to the first NCAA postseason win in MSU's Division II history. He also coached the Beavers to Minot State's first ever top 25 appearance since joining the Division II level in 2015. Joe Alianiello is in his fifth season as the head coach of the Minnesota Crookston soccer program. During his time as the head coach, Alianiello has coached his team to play tough defensively as they have set records twice in his four years for the least amount of goals allowed in school history. UMC has been knocking on the door of the NSIC Tournament the past two years under his leadership as they finished just one spot out of earning a spot in postseason play. Jim Stone is in his 14th season as the head coach of the Bemidji State soccer program. Prior to joining BSU the program had an overall record of 13-80-3. Since joining, Sone has led his team to a winning percentage of .545 amassing 127 wins. Before being hired as the BSU head coach he served as the head girls' varsity coach at Spring Lake Park High School.
RANKINGS: Minot State earned its highest ranking in program history, and the highest Division II ranking in school history this week when it was voted the No. 16 team in the country the September 20 NSCAA Coaches poll. Bemidji State received votes in the poll while Minnesota Crookston did not.
NOTING THE MSU BEAVERS: Minot State earned a spot in the top 25 by defeated Augustana and Wayne State over the past weekend by a total of 5-1. It was the first time the Beaver had beaten the Vikings since the 2013 season and was a meaningful game as Augustana had beaten Minot State twice last season including a game that forced MSU out of the NSIC Tournament. Augustana was also selected to finish first in the NSIC Pre-Season Coaches' Poll.
NOTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES: Minnesota Crookston ranks among the top schools in the NSIC in two categories. They are tied at the top for most saves this season with 43. With three goalkeepers with significant time this season those saves are spread out between Lexie Gauger (25), Olivia Puttin (10) and Jacqueline Burke (7). The Golden Eagles also rank as the No. 3 team in corner kicks attempted with 27. With an average of 4.5 corner kicks per game that is an area the team may try to take advantage of as Minot State has allowed five corner kicks to its opponents per game.
NOTING THE BSU BEAVERS: Bemidji State sits atop the NSIC with three wins and no losses on its record. They are one of just two team to remain undefeated in conference play with the other being Minot State. BSU ranks second in the conference with 3.6 goals per game while ranking third in goals allowed per game at 0.8. Bemidji State is led by senior Bayley Ertl who has tallied a season total of 11 points on four goals and three assists which puts her third in the conference.
SERIES HISTORY: Minot State is 3-2-1 against Minnesota Crookston and 5-4 against Bemidji State in two series dating back to 2010.
LAST TIME OUT: The Beavers defeated the Golden Eagles last season 1-0 in a tough fought game. The game winning goal came from a corner kick assisted by
Ashley Franco. Minot State won twice (4-1, 3-1) against Bemidji State last season including a game the ended BSU's year in the NSIC Tournament.
NSIC SCORING SYSTEM: The standings in the NSIC this year have changed from previous seasons. Now, each win awards a team three points, while a tie results in one and a loss does not provide any. The conference has gone away from winning percentage as the lone marker in where teams sit in the standings and now use this points system to determine the winner of the regular season conference title.
NSIC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Both
Ninfa Ramirez and
Yesenia Piceno were honored for their performances last week as they earned NSIC Offensive Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively. Ramirez scored three goals over the weekend while Piceno led a defensive attack that stopped any opposing player from scoring. Ramirez leads the Beavers with 13 points this season while Piceno leads the team in minutes played at 356.
CHASING RECORDS: Seniors
Ninfa Ramirez and
Chloe Melton are currently in the top 10 in career points, goals and assists and will be moving up the ranks this season. Sophomore
Ashley Franco is already in the top 10 in assists after just one season with the team. Ramirez also has just one season of experience with Minot State. Junior
Maritssa Perez is also in the top 10 for career assists.
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KEEPER QUESTIONS: Minot State needed to replace starting goalkeeper
Celene Johnson who logged nearly every minute in 2015.
Leila Torres was the Beavers back up last season totaling 359 minutes. Torres make six saves and allowed just one goal in 2015, going 1-0-0. Torres and redshirt freshman
Erin Rafferty have emerged as MSU's top two in fall camp and coach
Jason Spain has played them both equally in the first four games so far this season as each has around 185 minutes each. Torres holds a record of 2-0 with six saves while Rafferty is 1-1, but has 10 saves. Each goalkeeper also has a save percentage over 0.830.
MELTON REACHES TOP 5: With a goal and assist in the game against Augustana, senior
Chloe Melton earned a spot in MSU's top 5 in career points with 31. Melton had been a well-rounded offensive player over the years as she has 10 goals and 11 assists. She said after the game that she is happy to help the team win, but ultimately she does not care who scores the goals this season.
BY THE NUMBERS
1: Assist recorded by sophomore
Ashley Franco this season to move her into a tie for fifth most assists in MSU history.
3: Games won by Minot State at home this season. The Beavers have a five-game home win streak dating back to last season.
20: Corner kicks taken by the Beavers this season. They have allowed 16 corner kicks to opponents so far.
