Match 5: North Dakota State University (4-0-0) vs. Iowa State University (2-2-0)

Sunday, Sept. 7, 2014 | 1 p.m. CT

Dacotah Field | Fargo, N.D.

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This Week in NDSU Soccer:
 
NDSU Hosts Big 12 Foe Iowa State Sunday at Dacotah Field
        The North Dakota State University women's soccer team will look to start the season 5-0-0 for the first time in program history when it hosts Big 12 foe Iowa State on Sunday, Sept. 7, at Dacotah Field. First kick is slated for 1 p.m.
 
The Series against Iowa State
Sunday's match against the Iowa State University Cyclones will mark the fifth meeting in the all-time series that dates back to 1996. The Bison currently trail Iowa State in the series, 0-3-1. The last time the two programs met was back in 2010 with the Bison and Cyclones playing to a scoreless draw in double overtime in Omaha, Neb. ... NDSU is 0-3-3 against opponents from the Big 12 Conference ... Sunday's match will be the first time a Big 12 opponent has visited Fargo in NDSU women's soccer history.
 

About Iowa State
The Cyclones enter the week with an overall record of 2-2-0 after splitting a pair of matches last weekend against USC and Saint Louis. Iowa State lost to the USC Trojans, 3-1, before posting a 2-1 victory against the SLU Billikens ... Prior to facing the Bison Sunday, the Cyclones will face in state rival Iowa on Friday, Sept. 5, in Ames at 7:30 p.m. ... Through its first four matches, Iowa State is paced in scoring by Koree Willer and Adalie Schmidt, who have each tallied two goals. Schmidt also has an assist and leads the team in total points with five ... Maribell Morales leads Iowa State in assists with two ... Schmidt has a perfect 1.000 SOG percentage with three out of three shots taken being on goal ... Hayley Womack has taken a team-high four shots with one being on target ... Starting goalkeeper Andrea Swanson has a goals-against average (GAA) of 1.67 after allowing five goals in 270:00 between the pipes. She has made 11 saves and has a record of 1-2-0 in goal ... As a team, Iowa State averages 2.00 goals per game while limiting its opponents to 1.50 per game.  The Cyclones are outshot by their opponents, on average, 13.5 to 8.5.  
 

Catching Up with the Bison
The Bison enter the week with an overall record of 4-0-0 after defeating Air Force, 2-1 in double overtime, in Colorado Springs before beating Northern Colorado by an identical 2-1 score in Greeley. The Bison are 4-0-0 for the first time since the 2005 season ... Through NDSU's opening four matches, Lauren Miller leads the team and Summit League in goals (7) and total points (14). Amy Yang is tied for the league lead and leads the team in assists with four. Miller also leads the Bison in game-winning goals with three in four matches ... Miller netted game-winning goals in both of NDSU's victories last weekend. At Air Force Friday, Aug. 29, she scored the game-winning goal in the second overtime period off a deflection. In NDSU's win at Northern Colorado Sunday, Aug. 31, Miller netted the game-winner in the 79th minute off a Yang assist ... Miller scored all four of NDSU's goals last weekend against Air Force and Northern Colorado ... NDSU goalkeeper Sierra Boham made 11 saves in the match at Air Force Friday, four shy of her career-high set last season at Western Illinois ... Ten of those saves occurred in the first half. She posted four saves at Northern Colorado Sunday ... For the season, Bonham is a perfect 4-0-0 in goal with one shutout and 15 saves. She has a GAA of 0.55 and has allowed two goals in NDSU's four matches ... As a team, NDSU is averaging 3.25 goals per game while limiting its opponents to just 0.50 goals per game. The Bison are outshooting their opponents, on average, 16.0 to 11.2.  
 

NDSU Women's Soccer Sweeps Summit League Player of the Week Awards
       North Dakota State's Lauren Miller and Sierra Bonham were named The Summit League's Women's Soccer Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for their performances Aug. 25 – Sept. 1.
       Miller captures her fourth career Offensive Player of the Week award after scoring all four of North Dakota State's goals in a pair of victories last week. In Friday's win at Air Force, the sophomore netted the game-winner in the third minute of the second overtime period to seal the 2-1 win. She added the first goal of the game for the Bison in the fourth minute of the match. In NDSU's 2-1 triumph at Northern Colorado Sunday, she scored the game-winner in the 79th minute after tallying the opening goal of the contest in the 65th minute. On the year, Miller has scored a league-high seven goals in four matches and needs just three more to equal her total from last season.
       Bonham earns the first Defensive Player of the Week honor of her career after posting a pair of 2-1 wins for North Dakota State. In Friday's double overtime win at Air Force, the junior recorded 11 saves, with 10 being in the first half, and a .917 save percentage. She added four more saves in Sunday's victory at Northern Colorado. For the week, Bonham had 15 saves with a 0.93 GAA with an .882 save percentage to improve to 4-0-0 on the season.

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 Coach
Tony Minatta - Iowa State
        Tony Minatta was named the fifth head coach in Iowa State soccer history in December of 2013 after leading the Iowa State soccer team during its first Big 12 Tournament appearance since 2007 as the interim head coach.
        Minatta, who served as an assistant coach at Iowa State the past two seasons, helped return Cyclone soccer to the Big 12 Tournament with a fourth-place conference finish, the highest for ISU since 2007. Iowa State finished the 2013 season in the top five in the Big 12 in shots (289), assists (25), assists per game (1.25), saves (93) and shutouts (7). In his first year on staff, Minatta guided the Cyclones to their first 10-win season since 2005 and the second-most goals scored (37) in a season in program history.
        Minatta came to Iowa State after serving as the assistant director of coaching at the Fort Collins (Colo.) Soccer Club since 2005.
        Minatta served in the United States Marine Corps from 1993-1996 where he was a recipient of the Navy Achievement Medal and attained the rank of sergeant. He earned the Navy Achievement Medal for his outstanding leadership during a 1996 overseas deployment.
        Minatta graduated from the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in English.