Mankato, Minn. --- The No. 13 Minnesota State soccer team will host No. 4 Central Missouri in the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Tournament. The top-seeded Mavericks and the second-seeded Jennies of the central region will play on Friday at 1:00 p.m., at The Pitch. 

Looking Back at Last Week: The Mavericks now have a record of 18-3-1 (12-3-0 NSIC), after winning their second round matchup against Augustana 1-0 on Nov. 24. MSU initially earned a first-round bye in the NCAA Tournament after earning the number one seed in the central region.

Sophomore Jenny Vetter continues to have an amazing season after scoring the lone goal in the match for her 20th goal of the season. Her NCAA leading 10th game winning goal this season came after sophomore Brynn Desens sent a long pass from midfield towards the box, then Vetter split two defenders and beat the goalkeeper to the low left corner. Desens now has 13 assists on the season, which is the fourth most in the NCAA.

Senior Alexa Rabune (16-2-1) picked up here ninth solo shutout of the season after making four saves in the win. 

NCAA Tournament: Along with the Mavericks' match on Friday, Minnesota State will be hosting another Sweet Sixteen match beforehand. From the midwest region, top-seeded Grand Valley State will play seventh-seeded Indianapolis on Friday, beginning at 10:00 a.m., at The Pitch. The winner of each Sweet Sixteen match will meet in the Elite Eight match on Sunday at 1:00 p.m., with a chance to the 2019 NCAA DII Soccer Tournament Final Four in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Dec. 12-14. 

NCAA Central Region Review: On the top half of the bracket, the Mavericks earned a first round bye and then played the fourth-seeded Augustana Vikings in round two. The Vikings defeated the fifth-seeded Central Oklahoma Bronchos 2-1 in the first round. MSU went on to defeat Augie 1-0 in round two to reach the Central Region Final in the Sweet Sixteen.

On the bottom half of the bracket, second-seeded Central Missouri defeated the seventh seeded Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs 4-1 in the first round. In the final first round match, the third-seeded Concordia-St. Paul Golden Bears topped the sixth-seeded Northeastern State Riverhawks in a shootout after initially tying 1-1 in double overtime. The Jennies also advanced to the Central Region Final in the Sweet Sixteen after winning their second round match over the Golden Bears 2-0.

CoSIDA All-America: Jenny Vetter has been named to the CoSIDA All-America First Team after her outstanding performances on the field as well as in the classroom. Along with her 20 goals, seven assists, 47 points and 10 game winning goals, Vetter has a 4.0 GPA while majoring in Biology. The 20 goals scored are the most by a Maverick since Amber Dusosky had 28 back in 2000. Dusosky was the only other MSU soccer player to top 20 goals in a season, doing it twice in 2000 and 2002. Vetter will be the fifth Maverick women's soccer player to be named to the All-America First Team, joining current senior Dakota Wendell as the most recent selection last season. 

Records to Watch: Brynn Desen is closing in on the single season assist record at MSU. She currently has 13 on the season and the single season mark is 14, which Emily Moris set back in 2014.

Taylor Kenealy only needs to play in one more match to tie the all-time record for most matches played in a career. Currently sitting at 89 matches played, Kenealy only trails Emily Moris who played in 90 matches from 2011-14.

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 10 and shots taken at 133. She is also third with 20 goals scored and has the fourth most points in a season with 47. 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 (.883), has the fifth best goals against average (.47) and is tied for the eighth most shutouts (9).

Minnesota State Career Records: Two current Mavericks are in the top 10 all-time more game winning goals. Jenny Vetter is fourth with 12 and Alesha Duccini is tied for seventh most with nine. 

Two players have also played in a lot of minutes as a Mavericks in their four year career at MSU. Alesha Duccini currently has the seventh most minutes played at 6,077, while Taylor Kenealy sits in ninth for minutes played at 5,704.

Alexa Rabune is also in multiple career record categories by having the second most wins (42) and shutouts (27), the fourth most saves (201), then the sixth best goals-against average (.71) and save percentage (.834).

Scouting Central Missouri: The Jennies currently have a 19-2-1 (10-0-1 MIAA) record and finished on top of the MIAA standings during the regular season. Last week, Central Missouri won its first and second round NCAA Tournament matches to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. UCM first took down Southwest Oklahoma state 4-1 before besting Concordia-St. Paul 2-0.

Junior Makayla Toth leads the Jennies in goals and points on the season by scoring 18 goals and collecting eight assists for 44 points. Sophomore Lindsey Johnson has started 21 of the 22 matches for UCM on the season, going 18-2-1 with a 0.80 goals-against average, .825 save percentage, 80 saves and nine shutouts.

Facing Central Missouri: The Mavericks have a 5-7-2 record against the Jennies all-time. Most recently, Minnesota State defeated Central Missouri in a nonconference match earlier this season in Mankato, Minn., by a score of 2-0.

Looking Ahead: If the Mavericks win their next two matches, they would qualify to go to the 2019 NCAA DII Soccer Tournament Final Four in Pittsburgh, Pa. Semifinal matches will be played on Thursday, Dec. 12 and then the Championship will be played on Saturday, Dec. 14.