What's on Tap: The No. 25 Minnesota State soccer team begins its regular season against Missouri Southern with a neutral site match. The match will be played at Swope Park Soccer Village in Kansas City, Mo., at 1:00 p.m., on Sunday.

Looking Back at the Preseason: The Mavericks won both exhibition matches during the preseason against NCAA DIII institutions. Minnesota State defeated UW-La Crosse 4-0 on Aug. 23 in La Crosse, Wis., and Luther 5-0 on Aug. 27 at The Pitch. 

Against UW-La Crosse, sophomore forward Jenny Vetter netted a hat trick in the match with senior forward Dakota Wendell scoring the other goal. Five different Mavericks scored against Luther with that being Vetter, sophomore forward Lauryn Smith, junior defender Molly Sarafolean, sophomore forward Nadia Lowery and sophomore forward Sydney DePrenger finding the back of the net.

Senior Alexa Rabune, freshmen Mackenzie Rath and Ava Blackney all saw time in net for the Mavericks throughout the preseason.

Up Front: The Mavericks return the leading scorer from 2018 in senior forward Dakota Wendell. Wendell had 17 goals and seven assists for 41 points in 23 games during her junior campaign. Wendell racked up the accolades last season including being named to the D2CCA All-American First Team and the CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic All-America First Team. In addition, Wendell has been named to the 2019 NSIC Preseason Players to Watch list along side senior midfielder Alesha Duccini. 

Duccini, junior forward Molly Riley and sophomore forward Jenny Vetter also return as contributors to the Maverick attack. Duccini had four goals and four assists for 12 points in 21 games with two game winning goals. Riley also had 12 points last season on five goals and two assists in 23 games played. Vetter scored four goals with two of the being game winners and added three assists for 11 points. 

Defense: Minnesota State will look to replace at least half of the back line with two seniors graduating from last season that led the defense to 12 shutouts and 0.70 goals allowed per game. Senior defender Taylor Kenealy and sophomore defender Kelly Friedrich will return as main contributors to the back line from last season. Junior defender Molly Sarafolean will also make a transition from the front line to the back line and will look to be a main contributor as well. 

Scouting Missouri Southern: Missouri Southern finished with a record of 7-8-3 last season, finishing ninth in the MIAA with a 3-6-2 conference record and failing to make the conference tournament. Sophomore forward Bailey Belcher returns as the Lions' leading scorer from last season. She led the team with six goals, including three game winning goals, and 13 points, while adding an assist. Senior Luz Galindo returns as the main goaltender from last save, making 16 starts (6-5-2) and having a 1.30 goals-against average and a .768 save percentage with three shutouts.

Facing Missouri Southern: The Mavericks have won the only matchup with the Lions in a 2003 face-off. Minnesota State prevailed over Missouri Southern 5-3 in the match.     

Looking Ahead: The Mavericks wrap up their nonconference schedule by hosting a round robin weekend at The Pitch. Bemidji State, Central Missouri and Grand Valley State will travel to Mankato, Minn., for a nonconference showcase. Bemidji State and Grand Valley State will begin with the first match on Sept. 13 at 1:00 p.m., with Minnesota State and Central Missouri following at 4:00 p.m. BSU and UCM will then square off on Sept. 15 at 11:00 a.m., with MSU and GVSU wrapping up the weekend at 2:00 p.m. All four teams come into the season ranked in the top-25 poll with GVSU being No. 1, UCM at No.7, BSU at No. 18 and MSU being No. 25.