Match 1: North Dakota State University (0-0-0) vs. University of North Dakota (0-0-0)

Friday, Aug. 22, 2014 | 7 p.m.

Dacotah Field | Fargo, N.D.

Live Stats | Live Video (PPV) | NDSU Stats | UND Stats | NDSU Notes (PDF) | UND Notes

Match 2: North Dakota State University vs. Presentation College

Sunday, Aug. 24, 2014 | 6 p.m.

Dacotah Field | Fargo, N.D.

Live Stats | Live Video (PPV) | NDSU Stats | NDSU Notes (PDF)

Social Media: @NDSUsoccer | @NDSUathletics

This Week in NDSU Soccer:
 
NDSU Hosts North Dakota, Presentation College to Open 2014 Regular Season
        The North Dakota State University women's soccer team will host North Dakota and Presentation College to begin its 2014 regular season this weekend. The Bison will welcome UND to Dacotah Field Friday, Aug. 22, for the regular season opener before entertaining the Saints of Presentation College Sunday, Aug. 24.
 
The Series against North Dakota
        Friday's regular season opener against North Dakota will be the 10th meeting in the all-time series that dates back to 1999. The Bison and UND are currently tied in the series, 4-4-1. Last season, NDSU fell to North Dakota in Grand Forks, 4-2. NDSU's last win in the series occurred in 2012 when the Bison defeated UND, 3-0. The Bison are  2-1-1 at home and 2-3-0 in Grand Forks against North Dakota. Friday's match will mark the first time UND has traveled to Fargo since the 2011 season when the Bison and North Dakota played to a 2-2 draw in double overtime.
 
The Series against Presentation College
        Sunday's match against Presentation College will mark the first-ever meeting between the Bison and the Saints on the soccer pitch.
 
About North Dakota
        UND enters Friday's regular season opener after dropping a pair exhibition matches at Minnesota, Aug. 15, and against Viterbo in Grand Forks, Aug. 18, by 3-0 scores.
        Last season North Dakota posted an overall record of 2-16-1 and a Big Sky Conference mark of 1-8-0. Sophomore Zoe Foster, who scored a team-high four goals with one assist for UND last season, returns to the pitch for the 2014 campaign. Senior goalkeeper Kristi Hestdalen, the saves leader in the Big Sky Conference last season, also returns for North Dakota. In 2013 she started all 19 matches, compiling an overall record of 2-16-1 in goal and made 131 saves while allowing 52 goals for a goals-against average (GAA) of 2.71.
        As a team, UND averaged just 0.74 goals per game last season while allowing 2.74 per game from its opponents.  
    
About Presentation College
        Presentation College's match against the Bison Sunday will mark the third and final exhibition match of the season for the Saints. Presentation faced Western Iowa Technical Community College in its exhibition season opener and will take on Sheriden Community College Aug. 21 in its second exhibition match before facing NDSU Sunday.
        Last season the Saints posted an overall record of 3-13. Presentation scored only 18 goals and gave up 68 to its opponents. The top returning offensive player for the Saints is sophomore Hanalysa Thompson, who scored one goal and dished out a team-high five assists last season. Freshman Brooke Skuta will be the new starting goalkeeper for PC this season. 
    
Catching Up with the Bison
        The Bison posted a perfect 2-0-0 record in exhibition play to start the 2014 season. NDSU defeated Jamestown, 4-0, in its season-opening exhibition contest Saturday, Aug. 16, before edging Bemidji State in its second and final exhibition match, 2-1, Tuesday, Aug. 19.
        Against the Jamestown Jimmies Saturday, Lizzie Lukas, Olivia Norman, Tiana Khamvongsa and Genna Joyce netted goals for the Bison. Lukas, Lauren Miller and Anisha Kinnarath also each contributed an assist in the match for NDSU.
        Tuesday, in the exhibition finale with the Beavers, Kinnarath and Miller found the back of the net for North Dakota State. Jaclyn Scanlan and Kinnarath also had assists for the home side.
 
Looking Back at 2013

• North Dakota State completed the 2013 season with an overall record of 9-10 and a Summit League mark of 4-3.
• The Bison advanced to the championship match of The Summit League tournament before falling to 14th ranked Denver, 5-1.
• NDSU's Lauren Miller and Anisha Kinnarath were selected to the All-Summit League first team with Miller being named the league's Freshman of the Year. Sierra Bonham and Steph Jacobson garnered second team all-league honors while Amy Yang and Miller were named to the league's freshmen team.
• Miller led the team in goals (10), assists (7), points (27) and shots (53) while Kinnarath was second on the team in goals (9), assists (3), points (21) and shots (49).
• Bonham posted a record of 8-9 in goal for NDSU with a goals-against average of 1.78. She made 102 saves and posted four shutouts between the pipes.
• The Bison averaged 1.32 goals per game and scored 25 goals in 190 shot attempts. 

 
Previewing 2014

• NDSU returns nine starters from last season's Summit League tournament runner-up team, including four All-Summit League performers in Lauren Miller, Anisha Kinnarath, Sierra Bonham and Amy Yang.
• The Bison were picked third out of nine teams in The Summit League's preseason poll released Wednesday, Aug. 13.
• North Dakota State welcomes seven new student-athletes this season in freshmen Jenna Zaeske, Cydney Coffey, Anna Reinholz, Brittany Mueller, Mia Johansson and Sam Verbeke along with junior transfer Audrey Mascal.
• The Bison return 88 percent of their goal scoring from last season.
• Entering 2014, NDSU goalkeeper Sierra Bonham is ranked third in program history in career saves with 209 and saves per game with an average of 5.97.
• After just one season, NDSU forward Lauren Miller is already ranked third in NDSU history in career points per game with an average of 1.42 and goals per game with a 0.53 average.  

 
No Place Like Home
        NDSU's match against North Dakota will mark the third match of a four match homestand to kick-off the 2014 campaign. The Bison will finish the homestand with a match against Presentation College Sunday, Aug. 24, at 6 p.m.
        North Dakota State will play nine home matches this season, including a showdown with Big 12 foe Iowa State on Sept. 7.
 
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
Matt Kellogg - University of North Dakota
        Matt Kellogg begins his second season at the helm of the University of North Dakota soccer program in 2014.
        Prior to arriving at North Dakota, Kellogg spent the previous three seasons as head women's soccer coach at NCAA Division II Ferris State University. Prior to that, he served as assistant women's soccer coach and recruiting coordinator at a pair of NCAA Division I schools, Morehead (Ky.) State University and the University of Kentucky.
        Kellogg is a 2000 graduate of Butler University in Indianapolis, where he earned a bachelor's degree in marketing and was a two-year letterwinner on the soccer team. He also participated in track and field for one season. Kellogg earned his master's degree in sports administration from Western Michigan in 2005.
    
Jacob Plocher - Presentation College
        Jacob Plocher enters his first season as the head coach of both the Men's and Women's Soccer programs at Presentation College.  He comes to PC after having coached at Kansas Wesleyan, William Penn University and West Plains High School in Missouri.
        He earned a BA in Wellness, Recreation and Physical Education, as well as a Master of Business Leadership Degree from William Penn.