What's on Tap: No. 14 Minnesota State soccer continues Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play with three home matches this week. Minnesota State faces Concordia-St. Paul on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m., Minnesota Crookston on Friday at 1:00 p.m., and Bemidji State on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
 
Looking Back at Last Week: Minnesota State (6-1-0, 4-0-0 NSIC) defeated Sioux Falls 3-0 on Friday at The Pitch and Southwest Minnesota State 5-0 on Sunday in Marshall, Minn. With the two shutouts, Minnesota State ranks tied for third in NCAA DII in shutout percentage (.857). The Mavericks are in third place in the NSIC standings with 12 points.

NSIC Offensive Player of the Week: Senior midfielder Lexi Pszanka was named the NSIC Offensive Player of the Week after scoring the game-winning goals in Minnesota States' 3-0 and 5-0 victories over Sioux Falls on Friday and Southwest Minnesota State on Sunday, respectively. Her two goals and four points tied for the NSIC lead last week, and her two game-winning goals led the conference. Pszanka tallied five shots and a .400 shot percentage.   

Starting With Defense: With its two shutouts last weekend, Minnesota State has recorded six shutouts in seven matches this season. The Mavericks are tied for third in NCAA DII in shutout percentage (.857). Minnesota State, which limited Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State to a combined nine shots (three shots on goal), ranks sixth in NCAA DII in goals against average (.284).
 
Balanced Attack: Minnesota State's eight goals last week were scored by seven different student-athletes. They are: senior midfielder Lexi Pszanka, junior forward Morgan Cottew, senior midfielder Jenny Hoerter, junior midfielder Maddy Burandt, junior forward Lauren Kizlik, freshman forward Molly Sarafolean and freshman forward Zoe Wright. Pszanka's goals were both game winners, and Sarafolean and Wright each garnered their first collegiate goal.
 
All-Time Mavericks: Junior forward Morgan Cottew is tied with Nicole Dooher (2010-12) for ninth in program history with 26 career goals. Cottew is also 11th in career points at Minnesota State with 65 — one point behind Emily Moris (2011-14), who is in 10th place with 66 points. Sophomore goalkeeper Ryann Rydeen is eighth is program history with nine shutouts. Seventh place is held by Nicki Imhoff (1997-99) and Nicole Johannson (2005-07), who are tied with 10.
 
Scouting Concordia-St. Paul: The Golden Bears (5-1-1, 3-0-1 NSIC), who are in fifth place in the NSIC with 10 points, come to The Pitch having defeated Southwest Minnesota State 2-1 on Friday and Sioux Falls 1-0 on Sunday.
 
Junior midfielder Jordan Rowan-Stafford, who scored the game-winning goal against Southwest Minnesota State and had an assist on the game-winning score against Sioux Falls, leads the Golden Bears in assists (3) and points (7), and is tied for the team lead in goals (2).
 
In 2016, Minnesota State defeated Concordia-St.Paul 1-0 on Oct. 10 in St. Paul, Minn. The lone goal was scored by junior forward Morgan Cottew.
 
Scouting Minnesota Crookston: The Golden Eagles (0-7-0, 0-5-0 NSIC) dropped matches at Minot State (8-0) on Friday and at home against University of Mary (4-1) on Sunday. Minnesota Crookston, which is in 16th place in the NSIC, is led by Jessica Withrow in goals (2) and points (4).
 
The Mavericks and the Golden Eagles met once in 2016, with the Mavericks prevailing 4-0 on Oct. 2 in Crookston, Minn. Junior forward Morgan Cottew and sophomore forward Taylor Kenealy each scored for Minnesota State.  
 
Scouting Bemidji State: The Beavers (7-0-0, 5-0-0 NSIC) are undefeated in 2017 and are in first place in the NSIC with 15 points. Last week, Bemidji State garnered a pair of 1-0 victories over University of Mary and Minot State on Friday and Sunday, respectively. The Beavers come to The Pitch after first facing Concordia-St. Paul in a road match on Friday.
 
Junior forward Rachael Norton leads Bemidji State in goals (6), points (14) and game-winning goals (3).
 
Minnesota State lost to Bemidji State 3-1 in a regular-season match on Oct. 1, 2016 in Bemidji, Minn., but Minnesota State defeated Bemidji State 3-0 in the NSIC Soccer Tournament on Nov. 4, 2016 in Minot, N.D. In their NSIC Tournament match, senior midfielder Jenny Hoerter and sophomore midfielder Alesha Duccini each scored for the Mavericks.  
 
Looking Ahead: The Mavericks continue NSIC play with a match at Wayne State at 2:00 p.m., on Oct. 6 in Wayne, Neb., before coming home to face Augustana at 1:00 p.m., on Oct. 8 at The Pitch.