MANKATO, Minn. --- #21 Minnesota State is the second seed in the 2018 NSIC Soccer Tournament and starts by hosting seventh seeded Concordia-St. Paul on Wednesday at The Pitch, beginning at 3:00 p.m.

Our History: The 2018 season marks the school's 24th season playing women's soccer. The Mavericks are 328-119-36 (.716) in 483 games since their inception as a varsity sport in 1995. Minnesota State is in its 10th season in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and owns a 131-15-11 (.869) record in 157 games during conference play. Over the course of history, MSU has claimed 10 regular season conference championships, including five NCC championships and five NSIC championships. The Mavericks have also won six NSIC Tournament championships in the 10 years of being in the conference. Minnesota State made its 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament last season. The Mavericks own a 7-8-4 overall record in NCAA postseason play, wining twice on shootout occasions and losing three times.

Looking Back at Last Week: The Mavericks (15-2-1, 13-1-1 NSIC) went 2-0 in the last week of the regular season, collecting one shutout along the way. Minnesota State defeated Augustana 2-0 on Friday in Sioux Falls, S.D., and Wayne State 3-1 on Sunday at The Pitch.

Regular Season Finished: The Mavericks finished with the same amount of wins overall and in the conference than they did the year before. Minnesota State finished second in the conference, only behind Bemidji State. 

Junior Dakota Wendell had three goals throughout the weekend. She finished the regular season with 14 goals and 34 points, both pacing the team and are second in the NSIC. Senior Morgan Cottew (8) and junior Alesha Duccini (4) each also scored a goal on the weekend. Cottew's goal came from a penalty kick after Wayne State was called with a hand ball in the box. Duccini's goal came in the 2-0 win over Augustana and was also the game-winning goal.

Sophomore Molly Sarafolean and freshman Jenny Vetter both collected their third assist of the season in the 3-1 win over Wayne State.
 
Junior Alexa Rabune was in the net 180 minutes for the Mavericks this week. Rabune picked up her ninth shutout of the season with a win over Augustana. She currently has a 0.65 goals-against average and a .812 save percentage so far this season.

NSIC Tournament: Postseason begins this week with the NSIC quarterfinals beginning on Wednesday. The eighth seeded team, U-Mary, will travel to Bemidji, Minn., to take on the top seeded Beavers at 1:00 p.m. The seventh seeded team, Concordia-St. Paul will travel to Mankato, Minn., to face the second seeded Mavericks at 3:00 p.m. The sixth seeded team, Winona State, will travel to Sioux Falls, S.D., to face the third seeded Augustana at 3:00 p.m. The fifth seeded team,  St. Cloud State, will travel to Minot, N.D., to take on the fourth seeded Minot State at 5:00 p.m. If the Mavericks were to win on Wednesday, they would play the winner of Winona State and Augustana.

Regional Rankings: The second edition of the NCAA DII regional rankings came out last Wednesday and the Mavericks remained in fourth in the Central Region.

Scouting Concordia-St. Paul: The Golden Bears (10-5-3, 7-5-3 NSIC) finished the regular season in seventh in the NSIC. CSP has lost three of its last six matches since the Mavericks defeated them on Oct. 9. That includes going 1-1 last weekend, defeating Wayne State 1-0 on Friday and losing 2-1 in double overtime to Augustana on Sunday. The Mavericks are undefeated against Concordia_St. Paul, going 16-0-0 since their first match in 2002.

Junior Jordan Rowand-Stafford paced the Golden Bears' offense, starting in 16 of 18 matches. She has scored six goals with one assist while totaling 13 points. Junior Emily Nelson has started in seven out of the last eight matches for Concordia-St. Paul, making 28 total saves, garnering a 0.46 goals against average and posting six shutouts on the season.

Facing Concordia-St. Paul: On Oct. 9, The Mavericks defeated the Golden Bears 3-1 in St. Paul, Minn. CSP got on the board first, but goals from sophomore Molly Riley, Vetter, and Wendell gave MSU the victory. This was also head coach Brian Bahl's 100th win as Minnesota State head coach.

Looking Ahead: If the Mavericks were to win in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, they would advance to the semifinals of the 2018 NSIC Soccer Tournament. MSU would then face the winner of Winona State and Augustana at the highest seed remaining's field at a time to be determined. If Bemidji State were to win, the rest of the tournament would be hosted in Bemidji, Minn. If Bemidji State loses and Minnesota State wins, the rest of the tournament would be hosted in Mankato, Minn.