MINOT, N.D.- The Minot State soccer team (9-2, 8-0 NSIC) will look to stay undefeated in conference action. In order to do so they have to go through one of the bigger hurdles they've faced in conference action in the Augustana Vikings (6-3-2, 5-1-2 NSIC) Friday Oct. 15 at 4 p.m. in Sioux Falls. They wrap up the weekend with a stop in Nebraska against the Wayne State Wildcats (3-6-2, 3-4-1 NSIC) Sunday Oct. 17 at noon. A weekend sweep of Augustana and Wayne State would ensure a new record of consecutive games won for the Beavers soccer program at 11, breaking the old record of 10 games in a row. 
 
Last Time Out: The Beavers took the homecoming weekend sweep to remain undefeated in NSIC action. They took the first game of the weekend over the Northern State Wolves 2-0 Friday night. The Sofia connection sparked the Beaver offense in the first half as Sofia Lewis netted the first goal of the game only four minutes into the game, assisted by Sofia Galvez. The Beavers would go into halftime with the 1-0 lead. Chloe Allan put the Wolves to bed with a goal in the 73^rd minute, thanks to a great setup by Lewis. Maddie Kindred faced 14 shots in net for the Beavers, while only having to physically stop six of them. The Beavers shot 17 times with eight of those shots reaching the net in some capacity. 
 
The homecoming conclusion Sunday had the Beavers holding their breath. The winless Dragons of Minnesota State Moorhead came in with stout defensive play not allowing the Beavers into the net. Thankfully a penalty on the Dragons in the goalkeeper's box allowed a Beaver penalty kick by University of North Dakota transfer Daisy de Boer to hit the back of the net in the 81^st minute to break the tie, de Boer's first career Beaver goal. The lone goal would be the determining factor of the 1-0 win for the Beavers to stay undefeated in conference play. As mentioned earlier the Dragon defense was very stout against the determined Beaver offense, as the beavers shot 30 times towards the net with 16 of those making it on net. To combat the Dragon defense, the Beaver defense didn't allow the Dragons hardly in their goalkeeper zone at all, let alone even past midfield, as the Dragons were only able to muster one shot the entire game.
 
The Beavers moved up one spot in the United Soccer Coaches central poll. The Beavers moved up to #6 in the region thanks to a loss by the Ouachita Baptist Tigers who were directly ahead of the Beavers. Other NSIC programs ranked in the central region poll are the Bemidji State Beavers (10-0-1 overall) at #2, Minnesota State-Mankato Mavericks (8-2-1 overall) at #4, and the University of Mary Marauders (7-1-3 overall) at #7. The Beavers still get to play all three opponents still this season. 
 
Top Performer: Why not the Beaver defense? The Beavers have held opponents to seven goals on the season out of 11 games on the year. That's good for a 0.64 goals per game average opponents score on the Beavers. They have posted six shut out games so far on the season (thanks as well to phenomenal work by Kindred in net), including four straight shutout games. Redshirt freshman Jordan Tenpas and true freshman Shaye Taylor have been anchors for the Beaver defense and look to continue to grow in their positions as they will be around for a few more years. Tenpas and Taylor are only the start of the outstanding defensive play the Beavers have contributed this year. 
 
Facing the Vikings: The Beavers have struggled to find wins against the Vikings. The Vikings currently own a 9-3 record over the Beavers and are currently on a five game-winning streak over MSU. The last meeting was a neutral-site match in Mankato, Minn. with Auggie coming out on top 2-0 this past March. The last Beaver win came back on Sept. 17, 2016, when MSU posted a 3-0 win here in Minot. 
 
Scouting Augustana: Auggie has bounced back from a sluggish start to the season by winning three straight games. Their only loss in conference play came by the hands of Bemidji State, however they do own a 1-0 win over the MSU Mankato Mavericks who are (again a quick reminder) ranked ahead of the Beavers in the regional polls. Their last weekend matchups resulted in a 4-0 win on the road at Sioux Falls and a 2-0 win on the road to Southwest Minnesota State. 
 
Augustana as a team has allowed only nine goals the whole season, while scoring 24 so far. They have shot 224 total shots on the year averaging over 20 shots per match. Senior Alexis Legg, and senior Carlie Kray have net four goals apiece. Sophomore Annika Bard has net three goals on the year, while two players have net two goals, and eight players have scored one goal on the season. Junior Sylvia Fehr has recorded nine assists on the year and ranks highly among D2 in assists. Kray is the leading shooter for the Vikings as she has recorded 16 shots on the year, followed closely behind by senior Morgan Kierstead with 15 shots on the year. Sophomore Jillian Barkus has led the way for Auggie in net allowing only nine goals while making 41 saves on the year. Senior Savannah Ellender was honored last week as the NSIC Defensive Player of the Week. 
 
Facing the Wildcats: The Beavers record against the Wildcats has been the opposite of MSU's record against Augustana. The Beavers currently own a 6-1-1 record over Wayne State. Unfortunately, the sole loss came in the most recent matchup back on Sept. 27, 2019, when the Wildcats took the 2-1 win in the final seconds of the match in Nebraska. 
 
Scouting Wayne State: The Wildcats are coming off a solid weekend with a win on the road 3-2 over Southwest Minnesota State and a tie on the road at Sioux Falls 1-1. 
 
The Wildcats have scored 14 goals on the season while creating 118 shots, while their opponents have scored 19 goals while making 125 shots. Wayne State is averaging almost 12 shots per game. The Wildcats are paced by senior Madison Kemp who currently has three goals on the season. Junior Payton Haliburton, junior Skylar Steuckrath, and senior Megan Phillips each have recorded two goals, while five other Wildcats have scored once. Phillips is the leading shooter with 22 total shots, 11 on goal. The Wildcats have played all three of their goalkeepers in at least two games. They seem to go with sophomore Katherine Hageman most frequently, who has allowed nine goals on 28 saves. 
 
Looking Ahead: Following the brief road trip, the Beavers will head back to the Herb for a date with the Minnesota State Mankato Mavericks (8-2-1, 6-1-1 NSIC) Friday night Oct. 22 at 5 p.m. They will conclude a brief home stand Sunday Oct. 24 at noon with a matchup against the Golden Bears of Concordia St. Paul (6-4-1, 5-2-1 NSIC).