MANKATO, Minn. --- Fourth-seeded Minnesota State will take on the Central Missouri Jennies in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at 3 p.m. in Topeka, Kansas. 

Last Time Out: 
Minnesota State finished the regular season with wins over Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State by finals of 4-0 at the Maverick All-Sports Dome on Oct. 27 and Oct. 29. The last time the Mavericks scored eight goals in one weekend was against Sioux Falls and SMSU on Oct. 21 and Oct. 23 of last season.

The Mavericks came into the NSIC Tournament as the second seed behind St. Cloud State matching up with seventh-seed Concordia-St. Paul. For only the second time in program history, the Mavericks fell to CSP at home by a final of 2-1. This was the first time in program history the Mavericks failed to reach the second round of the tournament while members of the NSIC.

Minnesota State fell behind early as CSP's leading scorer Katie Anderson notched the first tally of the game for CSP in the 30th minute. The Golden Bears jumped on the Mavericks in the first half outshooting Minnesota State 6-3 while both teams landed two on net.

The key to Minnesota State's success this season has been scoring first. When MSU notches the first goal of a game, the purple and gold are a dominant 11-1-1 while winless at 0-2-1 when its opponents strike first.

Senior Allie Williams was able to knot things up at one in the 75th minute after a successful penalty kick for her team-leading seventh goal on the season.

CSP was able to take advantage of a misplay in the defensive zone in the 81st minute to put home the game-winning goal.

Minnesota State will head into the NCAA Tournament as the fourth seed in the Central Regional bracket. Joining the Mavericks in NCAA tournament play are NSIC opponents [3] St. Cloud State and NSIC Tournament Champions [6] Bemidji State as they match up against one another in first-round action.

Facing UCM: 
Heading into the 19th matchup with Central Missouri, the Mavericks are 7-9-2 against the Jennies. UCM finished second in the MIAA behind Washburn in the regular season standings. The Jennies lost 3-2, in the 2023 MIAA Women's Soccer Championship match Saturday, Nov. 11 against Emporia State.

In MSU's previous matchups with UCM, the Mavericks netted a 1.94 goals against average per match. In the last five matches against the Jennies, the Mavericks own a 3-2 record while outscoring UCM 12-8. Most recently, Minnesota State took down Central Missouri on September 9th by a final of 1-0 at The Pitch.