What's on Tap: No. 16 Minnesota State soccer team continues its conference regular season with a weekend of away games starting with Minnesota Duluth in Duluth, Minn., on Friday, Sept. 21st at 7:00 p.m. The second game of the weekend will be against St. Cloud State in St. Cloud, Minn., on  Sunday, Sept. 23rd at 1:00 p.m. 

Looking Back at Last Week: The Mavericks (4-1-0, 2-0-0 NSIC) went 2-0 last week in their first two conference games defeating Winona State 3-1 on Friday and Upper Iowa 4-0 on Sunday.

Three Goal Weekend: Sophomore forward Molly Riley (3) scored her first three goals of the season with one coming against Winona State and two against Upper Iowa. The three goals and six points are career highs, five games into the season.

Also scoring for the Mavericks last week were junior midfielder Alesha Duccini (1) and sophomore forward Molly Sarafolean (2) against WSU. Scoring in the game against UIU were senior forward Morgan Cottew (1) and junior midfielder Dakota Wendell (3).

Cottew (2), Duccini (2) and freshman forward Jenny Vetter (2) each picked up an assist in the WSU game. Vetter added another assist in the UIU game along with Wendell (1), senior defender Morgan Seemuth (1) and freshman forward Nadia Lowery (1).

Junior goalkeeper Alexa Rabune was in the net all 180 minutes for the Mavericks this week. A relatively quiet weekend in net as Rabune only faced five total shots on goal making four saves. Rabune also picked up her second shutout of the season against UIU.

Career Records: Cottew moved up in the points career record category here at MSU over the weekend. The senior forward is now ninth in career points (79) and remains ninth in goals (31) and game-winning goals (7). Rabune has also moved up the career record board in a few spots. The junior goalkeeper is now tenth in career wins (11), saves (71), shutouts (8) and save percentage (.789) while also being eighth in goals against average at 1.03.

Scouting Minnesota Duluth: Minnesota Duluth (2-4-0, 1-2-0 NSIC) went 1-1 last week defeating Minnesota Crookston 3-0 on Friday and losing to No. 14 Bemidji State 2-1 on Sunday. This will be the Bulldogs' first home match of the 2018 season, playing their first six matches on the road. All-time, MSU is 20-8-4 against UMD.

Freshman midfielder Julia Osbone is leading the way in goals for the Bulldogs with two goals while primarily coming in as a sub. Senior goalkeepers Carlye Wright and Sisley Ng have split tie in the net for UMD, owning a combined 1.49 goals against average, picking up 26 saves and two shutouts on the year. 

Facing Minnesota Duluth: Last year, Minnesota State went 1-0-1 against Minnesota Duluth. The first match up came in the regular season when MSU defeated UMD 1-0 in overtime with Cottew scoring the game winner. The second meeting came in the first round of the NSIC Tournament when the game ended in a tie to force a shootout. The Mavericks prevailed winning the shootout 8-7, advancing to the semi-finals and ultimately winning the 2017 NSIC Tournament.

Scouting St. Cloud State: St. Cloud State (2-3-1, 2-1-0  NSIC) went 1-1 last week losing to No. 14 Bemidji State 3-2 on Friday and defeating Minnesota Crookston 1-0 on Sunday. The Huskies defense only allowed one shot in the 1-0 win over the Golden Eagles. All-time, MSU is 25-6-1 against SCSU.

Senior forward Maria Kass, junior forward Hannah Marion and senior defender Maria Witte are all leading the Huskies in goals with two each. Freshman Zoe Welsh has been in goal five of the six games for SCSU making 27 saves, garnering a 1.71 goals against average and posting one shutout on the season.
 
Facing St. Cloud State: The Mavericks squeaked out a 1-0 win in the matchup from last season. Junior midfielder Alesha Duccini scored the only goal for Minnesota State in the 8th minute to defeat St. Cloud State. 

Looking Ahead: The Mavericks continue their conference schedule with  road matches against Minnesota Duluth on Sept. 21st at 7:00 p.m., in Duluth, Minn. and St. Cloud State on Sept. 23rd at 1:00 p.m., in St. Cloud, Minn.