Mankato, Minn.— The Mavericks will play Augustana on Friday, Oct. 8 at 4 p.m., in Sioux Falls, S.D. MSU will then head to Nebraska to square off with Wayne State at 1 p.m., Sunday.
Looking ahead: MSU will continue its NSIC home schedule against Minnesota, Crookston on Friday Oct. 16 and Minnesota State, Moorhead.
Weekend Recap: The Mavericks collected two wins this past weekend. Minnesota State punished Southwest Minnesota State beating them 9-0. The Mavericks struck early when Nicole Dooher scored her third goal of the season in the first five minutes, which was assisted by Laura Leber. The Mavericks received a penalty kick the Leber pounded into the back of the net. Shortly after Leber's goal, fellow MSU senior Jessie Audas scored as Courtney Vallarelli earned the assist. MSU Freshmen Ashley Sykora scored with five minutes left to play in the half, with the assist going to Sydney Temple. The Audas and Sykora goals mark their second goals on the season. The Mavericks put up an impressive 11 shots on goal in the first half, while the Mustangs earned two. Adding ten more shots on goals the second half, MSU did plenty of scoring. Leber scored her second goal of the game and second of the season. Leber had two goals and a assist on the day. With little time before the Mavericks struck again, Brittany Henry passed it to Vallarelli in front of the Mustangs goal, helping Vallarelli score her second goal of the season. Vallarelli would end the day with a goal and two assists. Minnesota State freshmen Tori Meinhardt came crashing down into the box putting a header into the back of the SMSU goal at 75:04. In the last five minutes of the game, sophomore forward Brittany Henry scored twice, giving her three goals on the season. Henry had five shots on goal in the match, while the Mavericks had 21 in the game. Temple and Vallarelli got the assists.
Freshman goalkeeper Brittany Cygan earned her first career win and shutout as a Maverick. MSU entered 22 players throughout the match.
Last Sunday Minnesota State capitalized on a 2-1 overtime victory over North Dakota. UND scored on a penalty kick to help the Fighting Sioux go ahead 1-0 early in the second half. MSU applied the pressure with 14 shots in the second half, that led to an unassisted Nicole Dooher goal in the 83rd minute. Minnesota State sophomore Brittany Henry scored the game-winning goal in the second overtime at 104:11, with Cassie Weik gaining the assist. Henry was named NSIC Offensive Player of the Week. She has three goals and a assist to cap off the weekend. This was Henry's second Player of the Week award, with the first coming last season.
About Augustana: The Vikings come into the match with 3-5-2 overall and 2-2-1 in the NSIC. Augustana is 2-0-1 at home, while it averages .80 goals per game this season. Augustana has scored eight goals spread between three players -- Katie Shandri has scored four goals, Stacy Dally has three and Katie Bowman has one. Amanda Wagner and the Vikings have given up ten goals on the season. Wagner has started every game in the net for Augustana and holds a .867 save percentage. Every game for the Vikings this season has ended with a one goal difference, including six overtime games. Augustana is currently on a two game skid, with two overtime losses to Winona State and Upper Iowa. Augustana coach Brandon Barkus is in his fifth season as the head women’s soccer coach.
MSU/Augustana History: The Mavericks own the 13-game series 11-2. MSU is coming off a 3-1 win in 2009 against the Vikings. Minnesota State had outscored Augustana 57- 6 in the matches. MSU holds a 5-2 record while playing the Vikings in Sioux Falls, S.D. The largest margin of victory was in 2001, when MSU beat Augustana 10-0.
About Wayne State College: The Wildcats are 3-3-3 this season, with a 0-2-3 record in the NSIC. Wayne State is lead by senior forward Megan Dias, who has seven goals this season. Dias is tied for NSIC lead in goals coming into the weekend, yet hasn't scored in the last four games. Other star players for the Wildcats include junior Kelsey Meyer, who has three goals and four assists... Liz Israelsen who has collected three goals and a assist. Emily Walker tends the nets and owns a 1.53 goals against average. Wayne State is coached by Molly Grisham, who enters her second season for the Wildcats.
MSU/Wanye State History: The Mavericks have a perfect 5-0 record against the Wildcats. Wayne State has never scored on MSU, with Minnesota State outscoring 26-0 in the five matches. The last time the two teams played was in 2009, when the Maverick claimed a 2-0 victory.
Seniors, Seniors: This year’s senior class is smaller than it has been in previous years, but it does not lack in the leadership department. Leading the way for the Mavericks is senior forward Laura Leber (Council Bluffs, Iowa), an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District V First Team Member and a NSIC All-Conference First Team member. Leber is tied in third on the MSU all-time goals list with 34, and sits fifth in points with 78. If Leber has the same type of season as last year (11 goals, 25 points) she could move up to second in goals and third in points, in the MSU history. With a team filled with youth, the Mavericks look toward their four seniors for leadership in the 2010 season. Joining Leber at forward is Ann Kincaid, who had six goals last season. Two Omaha, Neb., natives, midfielder Jessie Audas and defender Emily Petrovich, give experience to the Mavericks with each playing in over 60 matches in their career.
The fresh-o-more offense: The Maverick underclassmen are leading the offense for the team this season. Sophomores Nicole Dooher and Brittany Henry along with Freshmen Courtney Vallarelli , Ashley Sykora, Tori Meinhardt own 13 of the 17 MSU goals this season. Seniors Laura Leber and Jessie Audas are the only seniors to own points.
Third times a charm: The 2010 season marks the third year all three coaches have been on the sidelines together. Besides McGahey, Gretta Arvesen and Stephanie Clark-Swanson have helped guide the Mavericks to the NCAA tournament every year since since they started in 2008.
