Women's Soccer | 8/15/2018 12:09:00 PM

Scene Setter
        The North Dakota State University women's soccer team opens its 2018 regular season schedule with a pair of matches in Wisconsin Thursday, Aug. 16, and Sunday, Aug. 19. The Bison will face the Wisconsin Badgers in the regular season opener Thursday at 7 p.m. in Madison before taking on the Green Bay Phoenix Sunday at 1 p.m. in Green Bay.

Series History

• Wisconsin: Thursday's match against the Badgers will mark the fourth meeting in the all-time series that dates back to 2004. Wisconsin has won all three of the previous meetings, including a 2-1 overtime win in the last meeting during the 2015 season.
• Green Bay: Sunday's contest against the Phoenix will be the seventh meeting in the all-time series that dates back to 2004. The Bison lead the series, 4-2-0. The last time the two teams met was during the 2011 season, with North Dakota State earning a 1-0 victory in Green Bay.

North Dakota State Notes

• North Dakota State begins its 23rd season of women's soccer after compiling an 8-11-0 overall record and finishing tied for second in The Summit League at 5-2-0 in 2017.
• NDSU played a pair of exhibition matches Aug. 10 and 12 at Dacotah Field, defeating Manitoba, 5-0, and Jamestown, 8-0.
• The Bison were picked to finish fourth in The Summit League preseason poll.
• North Dakota State returns 10 starters and 16 letterwinners from last season, including first team all-league honoree Malley O'Brien, second team all-league selection Hanna Norman and all-freshman team selection Danielle Algera. NDSU also welcomes back goalkeeper Monica Polgar, who ranked second in The Summit League with six shutouts.
• O'Brien led NDSU and tied for third in the league with seven goals last season, while Algera paced the Bison and tied for fourth in the league with four assists in 2017.
• North Dakota State returns 90 percent of its scoring from last season.
• NDSU has seven newcomers entering 2018, including six freshmen and one transfer. The freshmen are Aly Cole (GK), Claire Grazzini (GK), DeAnna LeMire (MF), Lauryn Roszak (MF), Sydney Johnson (F) and Dani Stuber (D), while the transfer is Lauren Featherstone (RFr., D/MF, Central Connecticut State).

About Wisconsin

• The University of Wisconsin Badgers compiled an overall record of 14-6-2 and finished sixth in the Big Ten Conference with a tally of 6-3-2 last season.
• The Badgers return All-Big Ten Second Team and Midwest All-Region First Team forward Dani Rhodes, who led the team with 11 goals, five assists and five game-winning goals in 2017. Rhodes is on the MAC Hermann Trophy watch list and was selected to the Big Ten Women's Soccer Preseason Honors List.
• Last season, Wisconsin ranked second in the Big Ten in shots (303), fifth in points (93) and goals (33), and eighth in assists (27) and goals per game (1.50).
• The Badgers were picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten preseason poll.
• Wisconsin is under the direction of 12th season head coach Paula Wilkins.

About Green Bay

• The Green Bay Phoenix posted an overall record of 4-11-1 and finished seventh in the Horizon League with a 3-5-1 league mark in 2017.
• Green Bay is scheduled to host Valparaiso for its regular season opener Friday before playing the Bison on Sunday afternoon.
• The Phoenix's top returning player from last season is senior forward Carli Vogel, who led the team with two game-winning goals and tied for the team lead with three assists. Vogel also was second on the team in overall goals with three in 16 matches.
• Green Bay also welcomes back goalkeepers Kelly Kent and Courtney Klatt. Kent and Klatt split time between the posts last season. Kent posted a 2-4-0 record with two shutouts and allowed eight goals while making 28 saves in seven matches for a 1.20 goals-against average (GAA), while Klatt went 2-4-1 in-goal with a pair of shutouts and gave up 13 goals while making 24 stops for a 1.66 GAA.
• Green Bay was picked to finish 10th out of 10 teams in the Horizon League preseason poll.
• The Phoenix are under the leadership of interim head coach Wojtek Krakowiak.

Norman, O'Brien Named to Summit League Preseason Players to Watch List
        Seniors Hanna Norman and Malley O'Brien were named to The Summit League Women's Soccer Preseason Players to Watch List. O'Brien, a midfielder from Superior, Wis., was a first team all-league selection last season after leading North Dakota State and tying for third in the league with seven goals. A defender from Hastings, Minn., Norman was a second team all-league honoree in 2017 and led a Bison defense that tied for second in the league with six shutouts.

Rewinding to 2017

• NDSU posted an overall record of 8-11-0, including a 7-2-0 record at home, and finished tied for second in The Summit League at 5-2-0.
• The Bison advanced to The Summit League Women's Soccer Championship match for the fifth time in program history after upsetting top-seeded South Dakota State, 2-0, in the opening round of the tournament.
• Three Bison were named All-Summit League. Junior Malley O'Brien was selected first team all-league, while junior Hanna Norman was a second team all-league honoree. Freshman Danielle Algera earned all-freshmen team accolades.
• Senior Anna Reinholz, and juniors Mallory Fenske and Roxy Roemer were named to The Summit League Women's Soccer Championship All-Tournament Team.
• Reinholz and O'Brien were voted to The Summit League Academic All-League Team.

Head Coach Mike Regan
        Mike Regan, an assistant coach for teams in the Missouri Valley and Big Ten Conferences over the past six seasons, was named head women's soccer coach at North Dakota State on Jan. 19, 2018.
        Regan comes to NDSU after two seasons as a Big Ten assistant coach at Indiana University in Bloomington. Prior to Indiana, he was an assistant coach at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, for four seasons where he was part of the 2015 Missouri Valley Conference championship team and the 2015 MVC Coaching Staff of the Year. Drake made four consecutive MVC tournament appearances.
        Before joining Drake, Regan was the head coach for the North Iowa Area Community College men's soccer team for five seasons, where he posted an impressive record of 74-17-6 and was named the NJCAA/ICCAC Men's Soccer Coach of the Year three times.
        Regan also has extensive coaching experience at the youth level. He is currently a staff coach with the U.S. Youth Soccer Region II Girls Olympic Development Program and served as the head coach of the Iowa ODP '98 age group for three years. Regan holds a National 'A' Coaching License from the United States Soccer Federation.
        Regan earned a bachelor's degree from Waldorf College in 2009 and a master's degree from California University of Pennsylvania in 2011.

On the Horizon
        The Bison return home to Dacotah Field to host Weber State in the 2018 regular season home opener Sunday, Aug. 26, at 1 p.m.