Mankato, Minn.—Fourth-seeded Minnesota State takes on fifth-seeded St. Cloud State, Wednesday in the first round of the 2010 NSIC women's soccer playoffs.  The match will be played at The Pitch on the campus of MSU at 2 p.m.

Looking ahead: The winner of the match will travel to the highest remaining seeds home field for the semifinals and finals for the NSIC tournament.

About St. Cloud State: SCSU finished 7-5-1 in the NSIC and 10-7-1 overall. Alexandra Pafko leads the Huskies with nine goals and two assists.  All of Pafko's goals are game-winning goals. Pafko has recorded 26 shots on goal.  Mary Morhardt sits second on the team in points with a total of ten, including three goals and four assists. SCSU uses  two goalkeepers, Molly Bender and Kenzie Hanzlik. The two combine for a .833 save percentage this season. Bender has a 5-2-0 record and shows a 0.64 goals against average, which is second in the league. St. Cloud averages 1.42 goals per game, giving up 0.82 goals per game.  Averaging 14.2 shots on goal per game, .592 percent of the Huskies shots reach the net. Twelve of 18 Husky games have been decided by one goal or less. SCSU is 4-1-1 in its last six games. Last weekend St. Cloud tied Wayne State 1-1 and beat Augustana 2-1. The Huskies have played to a record of 4-2 on the road in the NSIC this season. St. Cloud won in a 6-5 shootout last season in the first round of the NSIC tournament. Becky Heiberger-McCabe is in her third year at the helm for SCSU.

MSU/SCSU History: The Mavericks own the series 17-5-1. The two teams met once this year in Mankato, Minnesota State prevailed 1-0. In the last ten matches, the Mavericks have won nine, allowing St. Cloud to score only three goals and shut St. Cloud out seven of the ten games. In 2008, the schools met in the first round of the NSIC tournament, as MSU won 1-0. In the 23 meeting Minnesota State has outscored the Huskies 60-23, ten of the games have been decided by one goal and 15 have been decided by two goals or less.

Weekend Recap: The Mavericks went 1-1 this weekend with a 3-2 win over UMD and a 1-0 loss to Bemidji State. On Saturday, Minnesota State came out firing first against the Bulldogs, with a goal by Brittany Henry.  With the wind at her back, Henry put along shot in the upper right corner the net. This gives Henry ten goals for the season, with the assist going to Laura Leber. The Bulldogs retaliated in the 29th minute with a goal by forward Dani Potter and assisted by Becky Anderson. The goal deflected off Brittany Cygan's hand and trickled to the back of the net. At the end of the first half MSU outshot UMD 5-3. Maverick forward Leber excited the crowd when she scored in the 66th minute with Nicole Dooher earning the assist. This was Leber's sixth goal of the season and 40th of her career. As time was running out, the Bulldogs Abby Serreyn scored an unassisted goal to knot things up at two with 4:02 left on the clock. After regulation play MSU outshot UMD 11-10. Both teams had quality scoring chances in overtime, but Dooher was able to end the game and chalk up three more points in the standings for MSU. The goal came off a Cassie Weik free kick, which the Mavericks earned after a yellow card was given to Kelsey Gratz of Minnesota Duluth.

MSU and BSU both failed to score in the first half with the Mavericks outshooting the Beavers 10-4 on Sunday. Early in the second half Bemidji State scored at 49:45 on a rebound by Bri Scanlan after a scrum in front of the Maverick net, this would be the only goal of the match. Minnesota State ended the game with 12 shots on the Beaver goalkeeper Samantha Ross, including eight in the second half. MSU forward Nicole Dooher ended the day with three shots on goal. Minnesota State goalkeeper Brittany Cygan made nine total saves on the weekend including five against the overtime win over UMD. Cygan now owns a 1.27 goals against average and a .756 save percentage


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 40, and sits fourth in points with 92. 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 70 matches in their career.

The Fresh-O-More Offense: The Maverick underclassmen are leading the offense for the team this season. Sophomores Nicole Dooher, Brianne West, Cassie Weik, Lianna Morrow and Brittany Henry along with freshmen Courtney Vallarelli, Cassie Weik,  Ashley Sykora, Brianne West and Tori Meinhardt own 26 of the 37 MSU goals this season. Seniors Laura Leber, Jessie Audas and Ann Kincaid are the upperclassmen who have scored.

Some Defensive Love: Goaltenders Brittany Cygan and Chelsey Eley along with the back line of defenders Marissa Santana, Cassie Weik and Emily Petrovich have provided solid defense for the Mavericks, holding a 1.31 goals against average. The group allows and average of only 10.2 shots per game and 5.22 average shots on goal per game.

Home Sweet Home: The Mavericks have found success at home in NSIC play, owning a 6-1 record. MSU has outscored oppenents 26-5 in those seven games.

Third Time's a Charm: The 2010 season marks the third year all three coaches have been on the sidelines together. Besides Peter McGahey, Gretta Arvesen and Stephanie Swanson have helped guide the Mavericks to the NCAA tournament every year since since they started in 2008.

NCAA Appearances: The Mavericks have made five appearances in the NCAA tournament (2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009).