MANKATO, Minn. --- Ranked No. 25 in this week's United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll, third-seeded Minnesota State (15-2-2, 12-1-2 NSIC) travels to Bemidji State for the remainder of the 2021 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference postseason tournament after defeating fifth-seeded University of Mary (9-7-3, 8-5-2 NSIC), Wednesday at The Pitch.

The Mavericks are set to take on second-seed Augustana in Bemidji, Minn., at Chet Anderson Stadium in the semifinal round, Friday at 11:00 a.m. The NSIC Championship Game is set for Sunday at 2:00 p.m. The other two remaining teams, first-seed Bemidji State and fifth-seed Concordia-St. Paul, go head-to-head at 2:00 p.m., Friday.


NSIC Tournament: The NSIC Tournament is an eight-team single-elimination tournament held on three days from Nov. 10-14. The top four seeds each hosted first-round contests before the highest remaining seed, top-seed Bemidji State, earned the right to host the Friday semifinal games and Sunday's NSIC Championship Game. Among the other NSIC foes that made the tournament this year were fourth-seed Minot State, sixth-seed University of Mary, seventh-seed St. Cloud State and eighth-seed Northern State.


Facing Second-Seed Augustana: In 31 all-time meetings between the Mavericks and Vikings, MSU holds a 28-3 advantage over AU. In the last match earlier this season on Sept. 19, 2021, the Mavericks were shutout by the Vikings 1-0 in Sioux Falls.


Facing First-Seed #6 Bemidji State: The Mavericks are 13-3-3 in the all-time series vs. Bemidji State. Over the course of 18 matches between the two in-state rival schools, the Mavericks have outscored the Beavers 62-12. In the last meeting, the MSU and BSU tied 2-2.


Facing Fifth-Seed Concordia-St. Paul: MSU is 18-1-1 in the all-time series vs. Concordia-St. Paul. In the last meeting, which was last week to conclude the regular season, the Mavericks and Golden Bears played 110 minutes without a winner as the match concluded in a scoreless draw.


All-Conference Honors: Seven Maverick soccer players were named to the 2021 NSIC Soccer All-Conference Teams and junior forward Jenny Vetter was selected as NSIC Offensive Player of the Year, as announced by conference officials Thursday.

Vetter and junior midfielder Brynn Desens were named to the first team, while junior midfielder Nadia Lowery, junior defender Kelly Friedrich, sophomore goalkeeper Mackenzie Rath, sophomore defender Libby Spangler and freshman forward Maille Mathis were named to the second team.


Regional Ranking: The Minnesota State women's soccer team remained No. 5 in the final edition of the NCAA Central Region Rankings. The NSIC, the Mid-America Athletic Association (MIAA) and the Great American Conference (GAC) make up the 35-team NCAA Central Region. The top eight teams in the region will advance to the NCAA Central Region Tournament on Nov. 9 & 11 and Nov. 16 & 18.  Automatic bids are granted to the winners of the MIAA, GAC and NSIC postseason tournaments, with the remaining five spots awarded on an at-large basis. The NCAA women's soccer selection show will be streamed online on Monday, Nov. 15 at NCAA.com at 5:00 p.m. CST.

MSU received the fifth spot in the rankings after putting together a 14-2-1 in-region record to conclude the regular season. Central Missouri topped the rankings, with Bemidji State, Emporia State and Central Oklahoma following in second, third and fourth, respectively.


Last Time Out: The Mavericks are 15-2-2 overall and finished 12-1-2 in the NSIC for a third-place finish after a scoreless tie on the road at Concordia-St. Paul to conclude the regular season, last Friday.

The Mavericks, who finished third in the NSIC standings, enter the semifinal round of the postseason tournament riding a 14-game unbeaten streak with 11 shutouts during that span.


Doesn't Get Vetter Than This: Junior forward Jenny Vetter is the Mavericks' leading scorer in goals and points this season with a scoring line of 16-3--35 in 19 matches. Now with 19 career game-winning goals after scoring in overtime against Minot State (Oct. 22), Vetter sits tied for first at MSU all-time in game-winners with Korey Kronforst (2012-15) and leads NCAA DII this season with seven game-deciding goals. Vetter is currently fourth on MSU's all-time scoring list with 42 goals in her Maverick career. She also stands at seventh with 97 career points (42-13--97) in 66 matches at Minnesota State.


Feel the Rath: Sophomore Mackenzie Rath picked up her 10th career shutout in the round-one NSIC Tournament victory over the Marauders where she made three saves in the match. Rath has earned NSIC Goalkeeper of the Week twice this season (Oct. 11 and Oct. 25) and has played the most minutes out of any other goalkeeper on the Maverick roster with 1,193. Rath now sports a 10-1-2 record which is backed by the NSIC's best save percentage (.927 - 1st in NCAA DII) and goals-against average (.326 - 3rd in NCAA DII).

As a unit, the Mavericks' goalkeeping corps, comprised of Rath and a pair of freshmen in Clare Longueville and Ava Blackney, is among the best in the conference with 13 total shutouts this season, including nine during the Mavericks' current 14-game unbeaten streak. MSU owns the NSIC's best goals-against average (.541) and shutout percentage (.667) as well as the second-best save percentage (.884) in the conference.


Marvelous Mathis: Freshman forward Maille Mathis leads Maverick rookies with 13 points this season which ranks second on the team in scoring overall. In 19 matches, Mathis has made five starts and is tied for the team-lead in assists with five. Mathis is also among the Mavericks' most prolific shooters this season, attempting 30 shots (fourth on the team) with 14 on goal (fourth on the team). Two weeks ago (Oct. 31), Mathis scored a career-high two goals in a match against Southwest Minnesota State, the Mavericks held on to win 2-0.


Bahlling Out: With the Mavericks' 2-0 victory over SMSU, Oct. 31 at The Pitch, head coach Brian Bahl now stands alone as the MSU's all-time winningest soccer coach after passing former head coach Chris Miskec (142 victories from 1996-07). He owns a 144-20-14 record all-time at the helm of the Mavericks.


Our History: The 2021 season marks Minnesota State's 27th year playing women's soccer. The Mavericks are 367-126-39 (.727) in 532 contests since their inception as a varsity sport in 1995. Minnesota State is in its 13th season as members of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and owns a 155-19-13 (.873) record in 185 games.

Over the course of its history, MSU has claimed 10 regular-season conference championships, including five North Central Conference championships and five NSIC championships. The Mavericks have also won eight NSIC Tournament championships in 12 years of existence in the NSIC. Minnesota State made its 14th appearance in the NCAA Tournament during its last official season back in 2019. MSU owns a 10-11-5 overall record in NCAA postseason play.


Looking Ahead: The Mavericks' NCAA postseason fate relies on the outcome of the NSIC Tournament. 
 

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