What Lies Ahead:  Eighth-ranked Minnesota State (10-1-1) hits the road this week for two of its final four Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference road games left. Saturday the Mavericks try to  extend its nine-game winning streak to ten games as they face MSU Moorhead  (7-3-1, 3-3-1 NSIC) at 1 p.m. Sunday MSU with play Minnesota, Crookston (3-9-0, 2-5-0 NSIC) at 1 p.m.  

Recapping the Past Weekend: The Mavericks gained three shutout wins last week as it beat USF 7-0, Wayne State 4-0 and Augustana 3-0. In Tuesday's win against the Cougars MSU's Nicole Dooher notched a hat trick in the first 27 minutes of the game. Lauren Somers, Ashley Sykora and Katrina Waltz all scored their first goal of the season in the match. The seventh MSU goal was marked as an OWN goal.
    Against Wayne State junior Brittany Henry scored her sixth game-winner of the seaon in the eighth minute of the game. Courtney Vallarelli scored six minutes into the game before Brianne West found the back of the net. Senior Sarah Schellinger scored her first goal of the season in the 4-0 win.
    In its second meeting this season, MSU beat Augustana 3-0 inits second win over the Vikings this season. Sophomore forward Courtney Vallarelli got things going on the right track as she beat the goaltender just over five minutes into the game for her first goal of the season. Sophomroe Tori Meinhardt dominated the pitch as she scored a career-high two goals in the game. Junior Brianne West assisted all three MSU goals in the win as  she now sits fourth in the nation for assists with ten this season.   

Scoutin' the Dragons:   MSU Moorhead (7-3-1, 3-3-1 NSIC) comes into the match on a two game winning-streak after beat Northern State and Minnesota, Crookston. The Dragons have scored 21 goals and let up 11 goals in their 11 games this season. The Dragons average 4.38 shots on goal per game this season.
    Sophomore Amanda Wurdeman leads the offense with five goals and two assists this season, including two game winners. Also with two game winning goals is junior Jordyn Wallenborn, who has five goals and one assist this season. In the nets the Dragons have split time between sophomores Victoria Hoffman and Carole Brascheyko. Hoffman owns a 3-1 record with a .856 save percentage and 0.65 goals against average. Brascheyko is 2-2-1  with a .744 save percentage and a 1.34 goals against average. The Dragons are coach by Rollie Buloch.

MSU/MSU Moorhead History: The Mavericks dominate the series 7-2, winning the last six games over the Dragons. Minnesota State has shutout MSU Moorhead the past four games, while MSU has scored 17 goals. Last season MSU beat the Dragons 3-0 as Brittany Henry had two goals and Nicole Dooher scored the third.

Scoutin' the Golden Eagles: Minnesota, Crookston (3-9-0, 2-5-0 NSIC) dropped its last game to MSU Moorhead 0-2 last weekend but beat Northern State 1-0 and U-Mary 2-0 on the weekend before. The Golden Eagles have been outscored 22-5 and average 3.08 shots on goal in their 12 games this season.
Minnesota, Crookston has ten yellow cards and two red cards in 12 games. Sophomore Nikki Hammond has four of its five goals this season as three have been game-winners. Freshman Jessica Ramirez has a goal and two assists this season with a team-high ten shots on net. Richard Jones is the head coach of the Golden Eagles.

MSU/ Minnesota, Crookston History: The teams have met four times as Minnesota State has captured all four wins, including  two shutout victories. The Mavericks have outscored the Golden Eagles 30-2 in the games. MSU beat UMC 7-1 last season as Dooher and junior Lianna Morrow are the only current Mavericks to score in that win. In the Mavericks 8-1 win in 2009, MSU's Henry scored twice and senior defender Sarah Schellinger scored once.

The Henry Factor: Junior forward Brittany Henry is currently tied for first in the nation  with Andrea Carpenter of Abilene Christian, each have six game-winning goals  this season.

Giving A Helping Hand: Junior Brianne West is ranked fourth in the country in assists as she has ten. The Omaha, Neb., native has had two three-assist games this season with the latest one coming against Augustana (10/8). Fellow Juniors Cassie Weik and Nicole Dooher both have five assists this season.
 
Streaking Through the NSIC: Minnesota State is currently on a nine-game winning streak. During the steak MSU has outscored opponents 35-4, recording six shutouts. In the NSIC the Mavericks hold a perfect 7-0-0 record outscoring opponents 25-2 and owns five shutouts. The last time MSU had nine wins was in 2007 when is comlined 14 wins in a row.


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