MANKATO, Minn. --- The Minnesota State soccer team will host Missouri Southern to open the 2021 regular season. The Mavericks take on the Lions Saturday at 3:00 p.m., at The Pitch.
Our History: The 2019 season marked the school's 25th season playing women's soccer. The Mavericks are 352-124-37 (.722) in 513 contests since their inception as a varsity sport in 1995. Minnesota State concluded its 12th season in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in 2019 and owns a 143-18-11 (.831) record in 172 games during conference play.
Over the course of its history, MSU has claimed 10 regular season conference championships, including five NCC 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 their last official season back in 2019. MSU owns a 10-11-5 overall record in NCAA postseason play.
Top Returner: Junior forward Jenny Vetter is the Mavericks top retuning scorer for the 2021 season. The Mankato, Minn., native netted a pair of goals during one official match last spring vs. Minot State (March 5) to add to a career total of 62 points (26-10--62) in 32 matches during her time at Minnesota State. Back in 2019, Vetter led the Mavericks in goals (20), points (47), game winning goals (10) and shots on net (70), all while concluding the season second on the team with seven assists.
Awards and honors Vetter earned for her efforts during the 2019 campaign included being named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team, being named to the USC All-American First Team the D2CCA All-American Second Team, the D2CCA Central Region Player of the Year, the NSIC Offensive Player of the Year and the NSIC Tournament MVP. Vetter was also named to the D2CCA All-Central Region First Team, the USC All-Central Region First Team, the CoSIDA All-District Team, the All-NSIC First Team, the NSIC All-Tournament Team and the NSIC Fall All-Academic Team.
Setting Records: Throughout the course of the 2019 campaign, the Mavericks had multiple single-season records broken.
Junior Jenny Vetter broke single-season records for shots attempted (144) and game winning goals (10). Her 10 game-winning goals were also the most scored in NCAA Division II and the 12 recorded in Vetter's career are fourth most all-time at MSU. She also wrapped up the season with the third most goals scored (20) and the fourth most points collected (47) in a season at MSU. Vetter had a career match on Oct. 13, 2019, in a 5-0 win over Sioux Falls where she scored two goals and had three assists for seven points. Her assist and point totals are tied for second and sixth most in a match at MSU, respectively.
Junior Brynn Desens set a single-season assist record at Minnesota State in 2019 with 16 helpers, breaking the previous mark of 14 (Emily Morris in 2014). Desens also had a three-assist match in 2019, which tied for second most helpers in a match.
Sophomore Allie Williams used the 2019 campaign to storm on the scene with the Mavericks, she tied for fourth most points scored by a freshman with 25.
Looking Back at 2019: In 2019, the Minnesota State women's soccer team finished the season 19-4-1 (12-3-0 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) and made its way to the NCAA Quaterfinals before dropping a contest to then #2 Grand Valley State.
The 19 wins marked the second most matches won in a season in program history for the second season in a row. Along the way, the Mavericks won their fourth consecutive NSIC Tournament Championship and made their ninth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Minnesota State was also in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll in all 12 releases of the poll with its highest ranking coming in at No. 2 on Sept. 24, 2019. The Mavericks finished the 2019 season ranked #5 in the poll, marking the highest ranking MSU has ever received to finish out a year in the program's 25-season history.
Minnesota State had one of the best offenses among NCAA DII programs in 2019 — the Mavericks scored 69 goals and dished out 61 assists for a total of 199 points. As a team, MSU had the eighth most goals per match (2.88), the seventh most assists per match (2.54) and seventh most points per match (8.29) in NCAA DII during the 2019 campaign.
An Improvised Spring: Last spring, the Mavericks improvised in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic by competing in an unofficial spring season which featured several exhibitions and one official match vs. Minot State on March 5. The Mavericks prevailed 3-0 over the Beavers in the contest, which saw Jenny Vetter net a pair of goals while Brynn Desens scored the other marker aside from providing an assist. Junior midfielder Nadia Lowery also had a helper for one point.
Scouting Missouri Southern: The Lions open their season on Friday in Mankato with a nonconference match vs. the Upper Iowa Peacocks at The Pitch. The Lions concluded the 2019 season sporting 3-14-1 overall record and 2-8-1 record in the MIAA.
Facing Missouri Southern: In the all-time series that dates back to 2003, Minnesota State holds a 2-0 advantage over Missouri Southern. In their first meeting back on Aug. 29, 2003, the Mavericks prevailed to win 5-3 before claiming their second victory vs. the Lions, 6-0, back on Sept. 8, 2019.
Looking Ahead: After taking on MSSU, the Mavericks travel to Central Missouri for one match, Sept. 10, before heading to Northwest Missouri State for another, Sept. 12.
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