MINOT, N.D.- The Minot State soccer team will start up conference play this week as they travel to the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs Friday night at 6 p.m. They wrap up conference play opening weekend at the Saint Cloud State Huskies Sunday at noon. 
 
Last Time Out: The Beavers are fresh off of a weekend trip to Salt Lake City, Utah where they split on the weekend first narrowly losing to the 13^th-ranked Westminster College Griffins 1-0. The Beavers played spoiler for the Colorado Mesa Mavericks in the second game of the weekend, as the Beavers came back to tie the game 1-1 with a minute left in regulation thanks to freshman Lainey Sandberg scoring her first collegiate goal. MSU then continued to net the overtime goal to secure the victory 2-1 thanks to heroics from junior Chloe Allan.
 
Top Performer: Allan has paced the Beavers through three games scoring twice. She is also currently 3^rd on the team in shots with seven, closely following Mel van Walstijn (nine), and Sofia Lewis (eight).
 
Facing the Bulldogs: The Beavers and 'Dawgs have faced off 7 times since 2013 when MSU first joined the NSIC. The Beavers have the edge on UMD 5-2, which included a five-game winning streak to get the Beavers to where they are now. In the last meeting back on Nov. 3, 2019, the Bulldogs slipped away from Minot State 1-0 in Duluth. 
 
Scouting Minnesota-Duluth: The Bulldogs are off to a rough start to their year as they currently hold an 0-3 record while giving up 11 goals on the season thus far. Their last game was a 2-1 home loss to the Rockhurst University Hawks. 
 
UMD has two players that have scored a goal so far this season, sophomore forward Jackie Jares, and freshman midfielder Emilia McGiffert. They're currently paced in shots by senior defensemen/midfielder Holly Kaboord who has seven. The Bulldogs are backstopped in goal by senior Sophia Grenz who has started all three games, allowing 11 goals while making 28 saves. 
 
Facing the Huskies: The Beavers and Huskies have squared off 10 times dating back to 2010 before MSU became an NCAA division two school. Even still the Beavers own the record against SCSU 7-3 including a four-game winning streak from 2016-2018. MSU has dominated in Saint Cloud, Minn. having a 4-1 record on the road there. The last result took place back on Nov. 1, 2019, when the Huskies took the 2-0 win in Minot. 
 
Scouting Saint Cloud: The Huskies are off to a not so hot start of their season too as they hold an 0-2 record. They fell both times on the road two weekends ago at the Northern Michigan University Wildcats 3-0 and at the Michigan Tech Huskies 1-0. To start their conference play they'll be playing the University of Mary on Friday before battling the Beavers on Sunday.
 
Saint Cloud currently has no goal scorers yet this season, however they have a tie between two players for most shots which is between senior midfielder Karlie Valdez and senior forward Nicole Friis each with three shots. SCSU has had freshman goaltender Evie Kohn backstopping the net, allowing four goals while making 10 saves on the season so far. 
 
Looking Ahead: Following the road trip to the east side of Minnesota, the Beavers will make their third straight road trip, this time to the west side of Minnesota. They travel to the Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs Friday Sept. 24, with kickoff set for 3 p.m. MSU concludes their long road trip with a trip to the University of Sioux Falls Cougars Sunday Sept. 26 with a kickoff set for noon.