Match Central

Weekly Match Notes (PDF)

Friday, Oct. 9 at Denver (0-9-1, 0-1-0 Summit League)
CIBER Field | Denver, Colo. | 7 p.m. MT (8 p.m. CT)
Live Stats | Live Video (PPV) | TV: Altitude Sports 2

Sunday, Oct. 11 vs. South Dakota (4-9-0, 1-1-0 Summit League)
Dacotah Field | Fargo, N.D. | 3 p.m.
Live Stats | Live Video (PPV)

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This Week in @NDSUsoccer:
 
NDSU Treks to Denver for First Summit League Road Test of Season, Hosts South Dakota
The North Dakota State University women's soccer team (7-5-0, 2-0-0 Summit League) will travel Denver on Friday, Oct. 9, for its first league road test of the 2015 season before returning home to Dacotah Field on Sunday, Oct. 11, to host South Dakota.

The Series against Denver
Friday's match at Denver will mark the fourth meeting in the all-time series. The Bison trail DU in the series, 0-3-0, after falling to the Pioneers at home last season, 1-0.

The Series against South Dakota
Sunday's contest against the Coyotes will be the 11th meeting in the all-time series. The Bison lead the series, 8-1-1. Last season, NDSU and USD played to a 2-2 draw in double overtime in Vermillion, S.D.

Herd Quick Hits

• The Bison enter the weekend at 7-5-0 overall and 2-0-0 in Summit League action after posting a pair of 1-0 shutout wins over Omaha and Oral Roberts.
• Through 12 matches, Lauren Miller has a team and Summit League-high nine goals and 22 points. Amy Yang and Britney Monteon lead the team and are tied for second in the league with five assists, while Miller is second on the team and tied for fifth in the league with four assists.
• Goalkeeper Sierra Bonham has started all 12 matches for NDSU, compiling a 7-5-0 record with four shutouts. The Red Deer, Alberta, native ranks second in The Summit League in saves with 68 and fourth in GAA at 1.30. Bonham has allowed 16 goals in 1,110:52 minutes between the pipes.
• As a team, NDSU is averaging 1.92 goals per game while holding its opponents to 1.33 per game. The Bison boast a 55-38 advantage in corner kicks taken through 12 matches.  
• Through 12 matches, NDSU leads The Summit League in goals (23), goals per game (1.9) and assists (22).
• The Bison welcome back eight starters and 13 letterwinners from last season's team, including All-Summit League performers in Sierra Bonham, Lauren Miller, Meghan Johnston and Amy Yang.
• NDSU welcomes seven newcomers in freshmen Hanna Norman (D), Roxy Roemer (MF), Holly Enderle (F), Mallory Fenske (D), Taylor Turner (D) and Britney Monteon (F), and transfer Julia Edelstein (GK).
• NDSU was picked third out of nine teams for the second consecutive year in The Summit League Preseason Coaches Poll.
• North Dakota State returns 77 percent of its goal scoring from last season.

About Denver

• The Pioneers enter Friday's match with an overall record of 0-9-1 and a Summit League tally of 0-1-0 after falling at South Dakota Oct. 4, 4-1. Denver has dropped its last seven matches.
• Denver was picked to finish first in The Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• Stella Norman leads the Pioneers offensively through 10 matches with two goals and four points.
• Goalkeeper Cassidy Rey has started all 10 matches in goal for the Pioneers, tallying a 0-9-1 record with one shutout in 882:07 minutes. Rey has surrendered 18 goals and made 35 saves for a 1.84 GAA.
• As a team, Denver is averaging just 0.20 goals per game while surrendering 2.00 per game to its opponents. The Pioneers are being outshot, on average, 12.7 to 7.4.  
• The Pioneers are under the direction of 24th-season head coach Jeff Hooker (315-123-41 record at Denver).

About South Dakota

• Entering the weekend, South Dakota is 4-9-0 overall and 1-1-0 in Summit League play after defeating Denver, 4-1, on Oct. 4 in Vermillion, S.D.
• The Coyotes were picked to finish seventh in The Summit League Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• Through 13 matches, the Yotes are led by Corey Strang and Sammie Villwock with three goals each. Strang and Danielle Anderson lead the team in assists with three each.
• Goalkeeper Sydney Hardin has started eight of 11 matches in goal for USD. She has a 4-5-0 overall record with two shutouts and has surrendered 18 goals and made 37 saves for a 1.90 GAA.
• As a team, the Yotes are averaging 1.31 goals per game while giving up 2.23 per game to their adversaries.
• South Dakota is under the direction of fifth season head coach Mandy Green (26-65-14 record at USD).

Bonham Ranked Fourth on NCAA Active Career Saves List
Senior goalkeeper Sierra Bonham ranks fourth on the latest NCAA Active Career Saves List with 358 stops in 65 career matches. The Red Deer, Alberta, native already owns the NDSU career saves record.

Miller Becomes Career Leader in Game-Winning Goals
Lauren Miller scored her 12th career game-winning goal on Oct. 4 against Oral Roberts to become the NDSU career leader in game-winning goals. She passed former Bison Nicole VandenBos, who netted 11 game-winners between 1996 and 1999. 

NDSU's Bonham and Miller Collect Summit League Women's Soccer Player of the Week Awards
North Dakota State forward Lauren Miller was named Summit League Women's Soccer Co-Offensive Player of the Week and NDSU goalkeeper Sierra Bonham earned the league's Defensive Player of the Week award for their performances Sept. 28-Oct. 4. It was Miller's sixth career Offensive Player of the Week award, tying for second-most in league history, and second of the season and Bonham's third career Defensive Player of the Week honor and second of the season.

NDSU Relevant Career Records
Sierra Bonham - Saves: 1st (358), Saves Per Game: 6th (5.51), Save Percentage: 7th (.804), Wins: 2nd (30), Most Shutouts: 3rd (16.1), Goalie Games Played: 2nd (65), Goalie Game Started: 2nd (63), Goalie Minutes Played: 2nd (5,840) ... Lauren Miller - Points: 6th (68), Points Per Game: 3rd (1.39), Goals: 4th (28), Goals Per Game: 3rd (0.57), Game-Winning Goals: 1st (12), Shots on Goal: 6th (70), Shots on Goal Per Game: 3rd (1.43) ... Britney Monteon - Assists Per Game: 3rd (0.45).

Instant Impact
NDSU freshman Hanna Norman has two goals through 12 matches, while fellow freshmen Roxy Roemer, Britney Monteon, Holly Enderle and Mallory Fenske have each netted one goal. Monteon also has five assists, while Roemer has two and Enderle has one.  

Friendly Confines
The Bison are 4-1-0 in the friendly confines of Dacotah Field entering Sunday's league contest against South Dakota. NDSU is averaging 2.40 goals per game in its five home matches while limiting its opponents to just 0.20 per game. The Bison have only surrendered one goal at home this season.
 
Scoring Early
Through 12 matches, the Bison are outscoring their opponents in the first-half, 11-6. NDSU also holds a 10-9 edge in second-half scoring.
 
NDSU in The Summit League Statistics (As of Oct. 7)
Relevant Team Statistics (All Matches):
Goals - 1st (23) ... Assists - 1st (22) ... Shots - 2nd (171) ... Goals per game - 1st (1.9) ... Goals Allowed - 6th (16) ... Shot percentage - 1st (.135) ... GAA - 3rd (1.30) ... Corner kicks - 2nd (55) ... Yellow Cards - 1st (11).
 
Relevant Individual Statistics (All Matches):
Lauren Miller - Goals: 1st (9), Points:1st (22), Assists: T-5th (4), Shots: 2nd (46), SOG: 3rd (20) ... Amy Yang - Assists: T-2nd (5), Goals: T-5th (4), Points: 4th (13), Shots: 6th (27) ... Britney Monteon - Assists: T-2nd (5), Yellow Cards - 2nd (3) ... Sierra Bonham - Saves: 2nd (68), GAA: 4th (1.30), Save percentage: 3rd (.810), Goals allowed: 6th (16), Minutes: 1st (1,110:52).
 
NDSU in the NCAA Statistics (As of Oct. 7)
Relevant Team Statistics:
Yellow Cards - 26th out of 335 (11), Assists - 43rd out of 335 (22), Assists Per Game - 47th out of 335 (1.83), Points Per Game - 54th out of 335 (5.67), Scoring Offense - 60th out of 335 (1.92), Saves Per Game - 61st out of 335 (5.83), Goals - 61st out of 335 (23).
 
Relevant Individual Statistics:
Lauren Miller - Points: 17th out of 150 (22), Goals: 18th out of 150 (9), Points Per Game: 20th out of 150 (1.83), Goals Per Game - 23rd out of 150 (0.75), Game-Winning Goals - 29th out of 150 (3) ... Sierra Bonham - Saves: 35th out of 150 (68), Saves Per Game: 50th out of 150 (5.67) ... Britney Monteon - Yellow Cards: 21st out of 100 (3).
 
Head Coach Mark Cook
Mark Cook is in his fourth season at the helm of the North Dakota State soccer program after being named head coach in 2012.  He is the fourth head coach in the 20-year history of the program.
 
Last season, Cook led the Bison to an 8-8-2 overall record and a fourth place finish in The Summit League with a league mark of 4-2-2. North Dakota State made its sixth consecutive appearance in The Summit League tournament and had five student-athletes named All-Summit League, including goalkeeper Sierra Bonham, who was named the league's Goalkeeper of the Year after compiling a 0.94 goals-against average with 5.1 shutouts and a save percentage of .827. Bonham was the first-ever NDSU student-athlete to earn the honor.
 
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.
 
Cook holds the United States Soccer Federation 'A' coaching license, the highest certification available in the U.S.  He also has the NSCAA Premier License and Director of Coaching Diploma.
 
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.
 
Up Next
NDSU travels to South Dakota State on Sunday, Oct. 18, before returning home to host Fort Wayne in the final home match of the season on Friday, Oct. 23.