Women's Soccer | 9/20/2017 2:38:00 PM

Quick Notes:

• The North Dakota State women's soccer team is scheduled to take on the University of Jamestown Jimmies Saturday, Sept. 23, at 7 p.m. at Dacotah Field. It's NDSU's final match before beginning Summit League play Sept. 28 vs. South Dakota.
• The Bison will be wearing rainbow colored shoe laces Saturday night to show their support for the LGBT community. The laces are part of Play With Pride Week, a nationwide initiative from United Soccer Coaches (formerly the NSCAA) to celebrate the contributions of LGBT players, coaches, support staff, referees and fans to the game of soccer.

The Series Against Jamestown
        Saturday's match against Jamestown will be the 10th meeting in the all-time series that dates back to 1996. North Dakota State is a perfect 9-0-0 against the Jimmies. Last season, NDSU defeated Jamestown in Fargo, 7-0.

#NDSUBison Notes

• North Dakota State enters the weekend at 1-8-0 after defeating Utah Valley, 2-0, Sept. 17 at Dacotah Field.
• Junior defender Hanna Norman netted both NDSU goals in the match, while sophomore goalkeeper Monica Polgar earned her first shutout of the season and made a career-high nine saves.
• With her brace against Utah Valley, Norman now leads the Bison on the season in scoring (two goals) and points (four points), while junior midfielder Malley O'Brien has one goal, and freshmen Danielle Algera, Malana Vachon and Marian Taiwo each have an assist.
• Between the posts, Polgar is 1-3-0 with eight goals allowed and 23 saves for a 2.59 goals-against average (GAA), while junior Julia Edelstein is 0-5-0 with 16 goals allowed and 35 saves for a 2.71 GAA.
• As a team, NDSU is averaging 0.33 goals per game while giving up 2.67 goals per game. The Bison are being outshot, on average, 16.9 to 8.2.
• The Bison were picked to finish tied for second with South Dakota State in The Summit League Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll. Denver was tabbed the preseason favorite by just one-point.
• NDSU welcomes nine newcomers this season in freshmen Marian Taiwo (F), Danielle Algera (MF), Daniella Jasper (F/MF), Malana Vachon (MF), Brookelyn Dew (F/MF), Grace Sundberg (D), Ellen Schneider (D/MF) and Maddie Burnstein (D), and transfer Nicola De Pape (D).

Scouting Jamestown

• The University of Jamestown Jimmies enter the weekend at 5-3-1 overall after losing at Dakota Wesleyan, 2-1, Sept. 17.
• Through nine matches, Jamestown is led by sophomore defender Phoebe Edwards with four goals, eight points, 14 shots and 10 shots on goal.
• Junior goalkeeper Lauren Sayler has played and started in all nine matches for Jamestown, compiling a 5-3-1 record with three shutouts, eight goals allowed, 36 saves and a 0.89 GAA.
• As a team, the Jimmies are averaging 1.6 goals per game while limiting opponents to 0.90 goals per game. Jamestown in outshooting adversaries, 7.7 to 5.3, on average.
• Jamestown was picked to finish third out of five teams in the North Star Athletic Association Women's Soccer Preseason Poll.
• The Jimmies are under the leadership of sixth season head coach Nick Becker. 

Polgar Earns Summit League Defensive Player of the Week
        Monica Polgar was named The Summit League Defensive Player of the Week for the fourth time in her Bison career for her performance on the pitch the week of Sept. 11-17.
        A native of Cupertino, Calif., Polgar made a career-high nine saves in NDSU's 2-0 shutout win over the Utah Valley Wolverines Sunday, Sept. 17, at Dacotah Field.
        She posted four saves in the opening half of the contest before halting five shots in the second-half, while allowing no goals in 90 minutes, to earn her first win and shutout of the season.

Looking Back at 2016

• The Bison compiled a 10-8-1 overall record and won their second straight Summit League regular season title with a 5-2-1 league mark.
• Seven Bison were named All-Summit League. Sophomore Holly Enderle and senior Amy Yang were selected first team all-league, while seniors Natalie Fenske, Genna Joyce and Lizzie Lukas, and freshman Monica Polgar garnered second team all-league honors. Freshman Mariah Haberle was named to the all-freshmen team.
• Holly Enderle, Natalie Fenske and Amy Yang were voted to The Summit League Academic All-League Team.
• Natalie Fenske was voted to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 6 First Team for her performance in the classroom and on the pitch. Fenske was also named a Senior CLASS Award candidate.
• Holly Enderle led the Bison and ranked second in The Summit League with 10 goals and 22 points.
• Amy Yang and Mariah Haberle each dished out a team-best six assists.
• Monica Polgar led the league with six shutouts in goal and tallied a 9-8-0 record with a 1.27 goals-against average (GAA) and 57 saves.

New Playing Surface at Dacotah Field
        North Dakota State will be playing on a brand new FieldTurf artificial turf surface at Dacotah Field beginning this season. The turf was installed in the summer of 2017.

Head Coach Mark Cook
        Mark Cook is in his sixth 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.
        Cook helped the Bison claim their second straight Summit League regular season championship in 2016, as North Dakota State compiled an overall record of 10-8-1 and a league mark of 5-2-1. NDSU qualified for its eighth consecutive Summit League tournament and hosted the league tournament at Dacotah Field for the first time in program history. Seven student-athletes received All-Summit League honors. Holly Enderle and Amy Yang earned first team all-league accolades, while Natalie Fenske, Genna Joyce, Lizzie Lukas and Monica Polgar were named second team all-league. Mariah Haberle rounded out the Bison honorees and was named to the all-freshmen team, respectively.
        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.

On the Horizon
        North Dakota State opens Summit League play Thursday, Sept. 28, at 7 p.m. at Dacotah Field against South Dakota before traveling to Denver for a league match Sunday, Oct. 1, at 12 p.m. MT.