Scene Setter
    The North Dakota State Bison women's soccer team (6-5-2 overall, 1-1-1 Summit) returns home to face Purdue Fort Wayne (4-7-2, 0-3 Summit) and Western Illinois (6-7-1, 2-2 Summit) in a pair of weekend matches. NDSU will face the Mastodons on Friday night at 7 p.m., while hosting the Leathernecks on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Both matches will be played at Dacotah Field.

The Series with Purdue Fort Wayne
    The Bison own an 11-4-1 lead in the all-time series that dates back to a 2-1 Mastodon victory in Fort Wayne, Ind. on Sept. 27, 2004. NDSU has won six-straight matches in the series, while allowing just two goals in that span. The Bison haven't allowed a goal in Fargo against Purdue Fort Wayne since a 3-1 victory on Nov. 1, 2013.

The Series with Western Illinois
    The Bison own a 9-5-1 lead in the all-time series that dates back to a 3-3 tie in Macomb, Ill. on Sept. 3, 2004. NDSU has won four-straight matches in the series without allowing a goal in any of the four victories. This is the first match in Fargo since a 3-0 NDSU win on Oct. 9, 2016.

Last Time Out
    Playing its sixth road match in the last seven outings, the North Dakota State soccer team earned a 1-1 draw in double overtime on Sunday afternoon at Oral Roberts.
    The Bison are now 6-5-2 overall and 1-1-1 in the Summit League, while Oral Roberts moved to 3-7-3 overall and 0-1-2 in league play. 
    Oral Roberts took the lead first, as Jordan Langebartels found Shayla Padilla for a goal in the 26th minute. It was the fourth goal of the season for Padilla. Late in the first half, Nicky De Pape scored her first goal as a Bison off an assist from Paige Goaley. The goal came on the first career shot attempt for De Pape, while it was the first career assist for Goaley. 
    Huber finished with a career-high 10 shots, tied for the sixth most in school history. Goaley added a career-high three shots, while Danielle Algera had a pair of shots. With four shots on goal, Huber moved into ninth on the single-season list in school history with 32 this season. In 110 minutes in the net, Monica Polgar recorded a pair of saves. 
    NDSU had a 20-14 advantage in shots, including a 10-3 advantage in shots on goal.

25th Season of NDSU Soccer
The 2019 season marks the 25th season of soccer at NDSU. The Bison own a 246-182-30 (.570) all-time record, including a 129-43-7 (.740) mark in home matches. In six seasons at Dacotah Field, the Bison are 33-17-2 (.680). Pete Cuadrado is the all-time leader in wins with 93 in nine seasons as head coach from 2003-11. The Bison have had a winning record in 17 of the 24 seasons played.     

North Dakota State Notes

• NDSU used a goal late in the first half by Nicky De Pape to even the score with Oral Roberts on Sunday en route to a 1-1 tie. The goal by De Pape came on her first career shot attempt.
• The Bison dropped a 1-0 match at Omaha last week, giving up an early goal. It was the seventh match decided by one goal this year for NDSU. The Bison are 3-4 in those matches.
• For the fifth-straight year, NDSU opened Summit League play with a victory against South Dakota (2-1). 
• Freshman Lavin Douglass recorded her first goal of the season, while senior Mariah Haberle had the game-winner. It was the 16th career goal for Haberle and her sixth career game-winner.
• The Bison closed the non-conference season by dropping a 3-2 match at Utah Valley.
• Junior Brookelyn Dew and senior Elyse Huber tallied the two goals for the Bison against Utah Valley.
• NDSU picked up a 4-2 victory at Eastern Washington, with all four goals coming from Huber. Both Eastern Washington goals came from Sariah Keister.
• The four goals by Huber were the most against an NCAA Division I opponent in school history and the most by a Bison player since NDSU became an NCAA Division I school.
• In the loss at Northern Iowa, the Panthers scored their three goals in the first 27 minutes of the match.
• Senior keeper Monica Polgar successfully defended a penalty kick against Northern Iowa, marking the third-straight match she stopped an opponent's penalty kick attempt.

 
About Purdue Fort Wayne

• The Mastodons are 4-7-2 overall and 0-3 in the Summit League. Purdue Fort Wayne and the Bison have faced two common opponents so far in Chicago State (W, 1-0) and South Dakota (L, 1-0).
• Purdue Fort Wayne ranks 98th in the nation, and third in the Summit League, with five saves per match.
• Lorah Pund ranks 56th in the nation, and third in the Summit League, with 64 total saves. Pund also ranks 68th with a .821 save percentage and 76th with 4.92 saves per match.
• Kayla Wisniewski ranks 75th in the country with a .559 shot accuracy and 105th with 1.46 shots on goal per game.

About Western Illinois

• The Leathernecks are 6-7-1 overall and 2-2 in the Summit League. Western Illinois and the Bison share common opponents in Drake (L, 1-0), Northern Iowa (W, 3-2), Chicago State (W, 1-0) and Omaha (W, 1-0).
• Western Illinois ranks 26th in the nation, and leads the Summit League, in fouls committed per match at 6.93.
• The Leathernecks also rank 86th in save percentage at .800, while ranking 91st with a .429 shutout percentage.
• Ines Palmiero Herrera ranks 51st in the nation with 66 saves, while ranking 95th with 4.71 saves per match.
• Amy Andrews ranks 54th in the country, and fourth in the Summit League, with three game-winning goals.

Bison in the National Rankings
    NDSU ranks 22nd in the nation in saves per game at 6.38, while ranking 26th in the country with a .847 save percentage. Senior Elyse Huber ranks 14th in the country with four game-winning goals, while also ranking 16th with .83 goals per game. With 1.75 points per game, Huber ranks 27th in the nation. Huber is ninth in the country with 4.92 shots per game and fifth with 2.67 shots on goal per game. Her 10 goals on the season rank 20th in the country, while ranking 43rd with 21 total points. Senior Monica Polgar ranks 12th in the country with 82 saves, while ranking 18th with 6.31 saves per game. Her .845 save percentage ranks 33rd in the nation.

Bison Women's Soccer Earns United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award
    The North Dakota State University women's soccer team earned the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award for exemplary performance in the classroom during the 2018-19 academic year. 
    The Bison posted a 3.655 team GPA for 2018-19, extending an impressive run of earning the Team Academic Award for the 17th time in the past 18 years. The 3.655 team GPA for the year was the highest in school history. The 2018-19 school year was the 19th time the Bison have won the award since it was introduced in 1996.
    To qualify for the award, a team must have a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher for the entire academic year. 

Huber Named Summit League Female Athlete of the Month
    Senior Elyse Huber has been named the Summit League Female Athlete of the Month for August and September. Huber helped lead the Bison to a 5-4-1 record through August and September entering league action. She tied the Summit League record with four goals in a win over Eastern Washington. That accomplishment earned her both the Summit League Player of the Week and the United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Week. The Sioux City, Iowa native ranks fifth in the nation with 10 goals, third in the country with four game-winning goals, fourth in the nation with 1.11 goals per match and fourth in the country with 2.89 shots on goal per game. 

Haberle Named to Summit League "Players to Watch" List
    Bison senior Mariah Haberle was named to the "Players to Watch" section by the league coaches. Haberle, an All-Summit League First Team selection last season, started all 16 matches with seven goals and two assists on the season. Haberle had four game-winning goals for NDSU last year.

NDSU Soccer Picked Third in Summit League Preseason Poll 
    The North Dakota State women's soccer team was picked to finish third in the 2019 Summit League Women's Soccer Preseason Poll, announced Monday, Aug. 12 by the league office.
After finishing third in the 2018 standings, the Bison received 41 points and are picked to finish in the same spot. With 63 and 57 points respectively, 2018 Summit League co-champions Denver and South Dakota State are picked for the top two spots in 2019. Denver received seven first place votes, while the Jackrabbits received the other two.
The top four regular-season finishers will qualify for The Summit League Women's Soccer Championship, which will be hosted by reigning regular-season co-champion SDSU in Brookings, S.D., Nov. 7 and 9. 

Head Coach Mike Regan
    Mike Regan begins his second season at the head coach of the Bison. An assistant coach for teams in the Missouri Valley and Big Ten Conferences over the previous six seasons before coming to NDSU, Regan was named head women's soccer coach at North Dakota State on Jan. 19, 2018.
    Regan came 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 hit the road for an Oct. 24 match at South Dakota State. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. in Brookings. NDSU will return home for the final home match of the year on Oct. 31 against North Dakota. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Dacotah Field.