Scene Setter
    The North Dakota State Bison women's soccer team (6-4-1 overall, 1-0 Summit) hits the road for two more matches this week at Omaha (3-7-1, 0-1 Summit) on Thursday and at Oral Roberts (3-6-2, 0-0-1 Summit) on Sunday. Upon the conclusion the two matches, NDSU will have played six of its last seven matches on the road in three different time zones. 

The Series with Omaha
    The Bison own an 8-4-1 lead in the all-time series that dates back to a 3-1 NDSU victory in Fargo on Oct. 10, 1999. NDSU is 6-1-1 against the Mavericks in the NCAA Division I era. The Bison are 2-1-1 all-time in Omaha, winning the last meeting 2-0 on Sept. 29, 2016. 

The Series with Oral Roberts
    The Bison own an 8-2-1 lead in the all-time series that dates back to a 0-0 double overtime tie on Oct. 26, 2007 in Tulsa. The Bison have won eight of the last nine meetings, including a 1-0 win in Fargo last year. This will be the first trip to Tulsa since a 1-0 win on Oct. 2, 2016. NDSU is 3-0-1 all-time in Tulsa. 

Last Time Out
    The North Dakota State women's soccer team beat South Dakota 2-1 Sunday afternoon, as the Bison won their Summit League opener for the fifth-straight year.
    The Bison improved to 6-4-1 overall and 1-0 in the Summit League, while South Dakota dropped to 5-8 overall and 0-2 in league play. 
    Two first half goals were enough for the Bison offense in the victory, while putting together a strong defensive effort in the second half. Freshman Lavin Douglass started the scoring in the first half, as she stole a pass between a pair of defenders and found the bottom right corner for her first career goal in the 11th minute. In the 28th minute, Mariah Haberle stole a pass before a quick pass to Elyse Huber. Haberle then drilled a shot into the upper right corner, giving the Bison a 2-0 lead with her third goal of the season. It was the first assist of the year for Huber, who leads the Bison with 10 goals scored.
    In the 35th minute, Tiannah Moore dribbled up the right side for the Coyotes before finding Kellee Willer for her third goal of the year. The ball slid into the bottom right corner, cutting the Bison lead to 2-1. 
    Huber, Haberle and Laura Powell each had five shots for the Bison, a career-high for Powell. Monica Polgar finished with four saves in the net.
    NDSU held an 18-3 advantage in shots in the first half, while the Coyotes had an 11-3 advantage in the second half. The Bison improved to 13-2-1 all-time against South Dakota, while the Bison are now 14-3-1 under Regan when scoring the first goal of the match.  

North Dakota State Notes

• For the fifth-straight year, NDSU opened Summit League play with a victory on Sunday 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 last week, 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.
• NDSU gave up a pair of goals in the final 11 minutes against Drake on Sept. 13, as the Bulldogs rallied for the 2-1 victory over NDSU.
• Ellie Schneider scored her second career goal, and the first off a penalty kick, in the loss at Drake.

 
About Omaha

• The Mavericks are 3-7-1 overall on the year and 0-1 in Summit League play. Omaha shares a pair of common opponents with NDSU in Northern Iowa (W, 2-1 2 OT) and Drake (W, 1-0 OT).
• Erin Bunker ranks 75th in the nation and fourth in the Summit League with a .906 goals against average. She also ranks 118th in the nation with a .786 save percentage.
• Omaha ranks 50th in the nation in save percentage at .830 and 50th in goals against average at .821. 
• The Mavericks are 64th in the country in shot accuracy at .511

About Oral Roberts

• The Golden Eagles are 3-6-2 overall on the year and 0-0-1 in Summit League play. Oral Roberts shares a common opponent with NDSU in Chicago State (W, 8-1).
• Drishana Pillay ranks 102nd in the country with .50 goals scored per match.
• Oral Roberts ranks 21st in the nation with 2.7 assists per game and 30th with 6.64 points per game. 
• The Golden Eagles average 7.36 shots on goal per game, the 43rd most in the nation.

25th Season of NDSU Soccer
The 2019 season marks the 25th season of soccer at NDSU. The Bison own a 246-181-29 (.571) 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. 

Bison in the National Rankings
    NDSU ranks 16th in the nation in saves per game at 6.82, while ranking 25th in the country with a .852 save percentage. Senior Elyse Huber ranks fifth in the country with four game-winning goals, while also ranking sixth with a goal per game. With 2.1 points per game, Huber ranks 14th in the nation. Huber is 13th in the country with 4.6 shots per game and fourth with 2.8 shots on goal per game. Her 10 goals on the season rank 14th in the country, while she ranks 14th with 2.1 points per game. Senior Monica Polgar ranks 33rd in the country with an .852 save percentage, while ranking 10th with 75 total saves. 

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. 

Time Change at Oral Roberts
    The match scheduled for Oct. 13 at Oral Roberts has been moved up an hour. The match will now start at 12 p.m. in Tulsa. 

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 will close the Summit League schedule with three of five matches at home, starting with the next home match on Oct. 18 against Purdue Fort Wayne.