Mankato, Minn. --- The No. 13 Minnesota State soccer team earned the top seed in the NCAA Central Region Tournament and will host the first two rounds. Fourth-seeded Augustana and fifth-seeded Central Oklahoma will travel to Mankato, Minn., to play in the first round on Friday at 1:00 p.m., at The Pitch. After their first round bye, the Mavericks will play the winner of Augie and UCO on Sunday at 1:00 p.m., in the second round.

Looking Back at Last Week: The Mavericks went 2-0-1 in the NSIC Tournament and now have a record of 17-3-1 (12-3-0 NSIC), to win their fourth straight tournament championship and eighth overall. MSU tied U-Mary 1-1 and won in penalty kicks 6-5 in the first round, defeated Augustana 3-0 in the semifinals and bested Concordia-St. Paul 3-0 in the final.

Sophomore Jenny Vetter scored the lone goal against the Marauders, a goal against the Vikings and two more goals against the Golden Bears on the week, being named the NSIC Tournament MVP. Senior Alesha Duccini, sophomore Brynn Desens and freshman Allie Williams each scored a goal in the tournament.

Senior Alexa Rabune (15-2-1) picked up a big shootout win and then two more shutouts on the week, making a total of eight saves. 

D2CCA All-Central Region Teams: Three Mavericks were selected to the D2CCA All-Central Region Teams with Alesha Duccini and Jenny Vetter receiving first team nods, while senior Taylor Kenealy was selected to the second team. Vetter was also named the Central Region Player of the Year, which is the first time a Maverick has received that honor.

This is the second time in her career that Duccini has been named to a D2CCA All-Central Region Team, while it is the first for Vetter and Kenealy. Duccini and Vetter will now advance to the nation ballot for possible All-American honors. The national ballot will be revealed on Dec. 11.

NCAA Central Region Tournament: The Mavericks, Vikings and Bronchos will play out the top half of the central region bracket in Mankato, Minn. The other side of the central region bracket is filled out by second-seeded Central Missouri (17-2-1), third-seeded Concordia-St. Paul (17-2-2), sixth-seeded Northeastern State (14-4-3) and seventh-seeded Southwestern Oklahoma State (13-4-3). UCM will host the other half of the bracket and play SWOSU in the first round, while the Golden Bears and Riverhawks will square-off in the first round as well. 

NSIC All-Tournament Team: Minnesota State had five players selected to the all-tournament team following the championship match. Seniors Bri Ciaccio, Alesha Duccini, Taylor Kenealy and Alexa Rabune were selected along with Jenny Vetter being the MVP.

This is Duccini's third time being selected to the all-tournament team and was the MVP during the 2017 season. Rabune has been selected twice in her career and this was the first time Ciaccio, Kenealy and Vetter were selected. 

All-NSIC Teams: Six Mavericks were selected to all-conference teams based on the regular season play. Alesha Duccini and Jenny Vetter, who was also named the NSIC Offensive Player of the Year, were selected to the first team. Taylor Kenealy and sophomore Nadia Lowery were named to the second team. Brynn Desens collected third team honors, while Bri Ciaccio was an honorable mention selection.

In conference play, Vetter paced the NSIC in shots (86), points (31), goals (12), and game winning goals (8) and was fifth in assists (7) on her way to being selected NSIC Offensive Player of the Year.

Duccini has been selected to an All-NSIC team all four years in her career, including the last three being on the first team. This was the first time being named to an all-conference team for Vetter, Kenealy, Lowery, Desens and Ciaccio.

Minnesota State Season Records: Offensively, multiple Mavericks have cracked the top 10 in season records at MSU this season. Jenny Vetter broke the single season records for game winning goals at nine and shots taken at 119, is tied for third with 19 goals scored and has the fifth most points in a season with 45. Brynn Desens is currently tied for sixth with 12 assists on the season. Allie Williams is tied for the fourth most points as a freshman with 24. 

In net, Alexa Rabune is in a number of top 10 lists for the second year in a row. She currently has the fourth best save percentage (.877), has the fifth best goals against average (.498), has the eighth most saves (15) and is tied for the tenth most shutouts (8).

Minnesota State Career Records: Two current Mavericks are in the top 10 all-time more game winning goals. Jenny Vetter is tied for fourth with 11 and Alesha Duccini is tied for seventh most with nine. 

Two players have also played in a lot of matches and minutes as a Mavericks in their four year career at MSU. Taylor Kenealy is tied for the second most matches played all-time at 88 and sits in 10th for minutes played at 5,614, while Alesha Duccini currently has the seventh most minutes played at 5,987.

Alexa Rabune is also in multiple career record categories by having the second most wins (41) and shutouts (26), the fourth most saves (197), then the sixth best goals-against average (.73) and save percentage (.831).

Scouting Augustana: The Vikings currently have a 15-4-1 (12-1-1 NSIC) record and finishing second in the NSIC during the regular season. Last week, Augustana defeated Southwest Minnesota State 4-1 on Wednesday in the first round of the NSIC Tournament before falling to Minnesota State 3-0 on Friday in the semifinals.

Senior Grace Behm currently leads the Vikings in goals and points on the season by scoring eight goals and collecting an assist for 17 points. Sophomore Claudia Pueschner has started all 20 matches for Augustana on the season, going 15-4-1 with a 0.95 goals-against average, .862 save percentage, 106 saves and eight shutouts.

Facing Augustana: The Mavericks have a 27-2-0 record against the Vikings all-time. Minnesota State has defeated Augustana twice this season, 2-1 in the regular season and 3-0 in the conference tournament.

Scouting Central Oklahoma: The Bronchos currently have a 14-4-3 (7-4-0 MIAA) record and finished fourth in the MIAA during the regular season. Last week, Central Oklahoma won its conference tournament by defeating Fort Hays State 3-0 in the first round, Central Missouri 1-0 in the semifinals and then tied Northeastern State 1-1, gaining the 3-1 shootout win for the championship.

Junior Kelsie Eason leads the Bronchos in goals and points on the season by scoring 17 goals and collecting nine assists for 43 points. Junior Kaitlyn Asher started 18 of the 21 matches for Central Oklahoma on the season, going 11-3-3 with a 0.71 goals-against average, .800 save percentage, 52 saves and seven shutouts.

Facing Central Oklahoma: The Mavericks have a 3-1-0 record against the Bronchos all-time. Minnesota State's only loss to Central Oklahoma came last season in the second round of the NCAA Tournament where MSU lost the last game of the season 3-1 in Edmond, Okla.

Looking Ahead: The winner of the second round match will advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament. The third and fourth rounds will be played on Dec. 6-8, after taking a week off for Thanksgiving in between. The third and fourth rounds will feature the two remaining teams from the Central Region and the two remaining teams from the Midwest Region. Those matches will be be hosted by the highest remaining seed in the Central Region.