Match 16: Denver (7-7-1, 3-2-0 Summit League) at North Dakota State (7-6-2, 3-1-2 Summit League)
Friday, Oct. 24, 2014 | 7 p.m.
Dacotah Field | Fargo, N.D. 
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Complete Weekly Match Notes (PDF)

This Week in NDSU Soccer:
 
NDSU Closes Out Home Slate With Match Against Denver
        NDSU women's soccer will host the defending Summit League champion Denver Pioneers in the final home match of the season on Friday, Oct. 24, at Dacotah Field at 7 p.m. The Bison are coming off a pair of 1-0 shutout victories over South Dakota State and Fort Wayne last weekend and will look to increase their lead in The Summit League standings.  
 
The Series against Denver
Friday's Summit League match against the Denver Pioneers will mark just the third meeting in the all-time series and the first meeting in Fargo. The Bison trail in the series 0-2-0 after falling at Denver last season, 2-1, and in The Summit League tournament championship match, 5-1, in Fort Wayne, Ind.
 
About Denver
The Pioneers enter the week with an overall record of 7-7-1 and a Summit League mark of 3-2-0 after claiming a couple of 1-0 shutout wins over Western Illinois and South Dakota last weekend ... Denver is 5-3-0 at home, but just 2-4-1 on the road this season ... The Pioneers are currently in third place in The Summit League standings with nine points, one point behind second-place South Dakota State and two points back of the Bison ... Denver is led by Jocelyn Loomis with three goals and two assists for eight points, while Anna Willis also had three goals to go along with one assist for seven points. Nine different players have netted at least one goal for the Pioneers this season ... Pioneer goalkeeper Tina Vargas has appeared in nine matches this season and has started the last six. She has allowed eight goals and made 11 saves for a goals-against average (GAA) of 1.19. Vargas has a 4-2-0 record between the posts with three shutouts ... As a team, Denver is averaging 1.13 goals per game and allowing 1.24 per game. The Pioneers lead The Summit League in corner kicks with 71.
 
Catching Up with the Bison
NDSU enters Friday's match with an overall record of 7-6-2 and a Summit League record of 3-1-2 after beating South Dakota State and Fort Wayne by identical 1-0 scores last weekend ... The Bison are 4-2-0 at home and 3-4-2 on the road this season ... NDSU currently leads The Summit League with 11 total points ... Against South Dakota State last Friday, Lauren Miller netted the game-winning goal for the Bison in the 38th-minute, a shot from distance, and the Bison defense held the Jackrabbits scoreless the remainder of the match to seal the win. NDSU goalkeeper Sierra Bonham posted four saves in the match ... At Fort Wayne last Sunday, Anisha Kinnarath provided the game-winning goal for NDSU in the 28th-minute, a shot from about 10 yards out. The Bison defense secured the victory, holding Fort Wayne scoreless the remainder of the match. Bonham posted a match-high eight saves for NDSU ... On the season, Miller leads NDSU in goals (8), game-winning goals (4) total points (17), shots (32) and shots on goal (20), while Amy Yang paces NDSU in assists with five and has two goals for nine total points. Kinnarath has four assists with two goals for eight points Eight Bison have scored at least one goal this season ... Miller's four game-winning goals is the most in The Summit League ... Bonham has played and started in all 15 matches for NDSU, allowing just 14 goals and making 67 saves for a GAA of 0.92. She has a 7-6-2 record between the posts with a team-and Summit League high four shutouts and a .827 save percentage ... As a team, the Bison are averaging 1.33 goals per match while limiting their opponents to just 0.93 per match. NDSU leads The Summit League in GAA (0.90) and is tied for first with South Dakota in goals allowed (14).
 
Bonham Named Summit League Defensive Player of the Week
        North Dakota State's Sierra Bonham was named The Summit League's Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week for her performance Oct. 13-19.
        Bonham earns her second Defensive Player of the Week honor this season and of her career after posting a pair of league shutouts for the Bison. The junior collected four saves in Friday's 1-0 win over previously league unbeaten South Dakota State. She added eight saves in North Dakota State's second 1-0 league victory of the week coming at Fort Wayne. For the week, she had a perfect GAA and save percentage and registered 12 total saves.
 
NDSU Tabbed Third in Summit League Preseason Poll
        The North Dakota State University women's soccer team was picked to finish third in The Summit League's preseason poll. Reigning league champion Denver was selected as the preseason favorite in a vote of the league's nine head coaches. South Dakota State was second followed by the Bison at third. Oral Roberts was fourth followed by Western Illinois at fifth and Fort Wayne at sixth. IUPUI, Omaha and South Dakota rounded out the poll at seventh, eighth and ninth.

Head Coach Mark Cook
           Mark Cook is entering his third season at the helm of the North Dakota State soccer program after being named head coach on Jan. 25, 2012.  He is the fourth head coach in the 17-year history of the program.
        Last season, Cook led NDSU to an overall record of 9-10 and a third place finish in The Summit League with a record of 4-3. The Bison advanced to The Summit League tournament championship match with a 2-1 upset win over South Dakota State before falling to Denver to finish runner-up in the event. It was NDSU's fifth straight appearance in the league tournament.
        Cook came to NDSU after serving as the Director of Coaching at the Minnesota Thunder Academy for 11 years, where he grew a four-team program into one of the premier club programs in the Twin Cities with 65 teams in 2012.
        He graduated from Alfred (N.Y.) University in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in communications. He was the starting goalkeeper at Alfred for two years.
 
The Opposing Coaches
Jeff Hooker - Denver
        Jeff Hooker is in his 23rd season as the head coach of the Denver women's soccer program.
        The Pioneers have recorded at least eight wins in all of his 22 seasons, including 13 or more wins in each of the last seven seasons. Since 2006, the Pioneers have gone 138-29-14 (.788) overall and 71-7-5 (.876) in the conference play, while becoming the first team in history to win four-straight SBC Tournament titles and berths in the NCAA Tournament. Hooker's teams compiled a school-record 19 wins in 2006, 2008 and 2010.
        In addition to his responsibilities with the women's program, Hooker headed the men's soccer team during the 1996 and 1997 seasons with an overall mark of 20-12-4.
        A native of Walnut, Calif., Hooker was revered as one of the finest prep players in the nation and was selected to the Junior National Team in 1983. When the team toured Mexico, Hooker started at striker, scoring in his first-ever international contest in the Youth World Cup. His collegiate playing career at UCLA was limited because of national team commitments in the under-19 World Cup, but he was able to play 51 games during his three-year stint with the Bruins, recording 20 goals and 11 assists. Hooker was also a member of the 1984 Olympic soccer team and remained a prominent member of the U.S. National Team through 1987.
        Hooker graduated from UCLA in 1987.
 
Up Next
        NDSU will conclude the regular season with a Summit League match at Oral Roberts on Friday, Oct. 31, at 7 p.m. in Tulsa, Okla.