Scene Setter
    The North Dakota State Bison women's soccer team (4-1-1 overall, 0-0 Summit) hits the road for the four remaining non-conference matches, starting with a pair of weekend matches in Iowa. NDSU will face Drake (1-4-1, 0-0 Missouri Valley) on Friday night before heading to Northern Iowa (3-2, 0-0 MVC) for a Sunday afternoon match.

The Series with Drake
    The Bulldogs own an 8-2-1 lead in the all-time series that dates back to a 3-1 Drake victory on Oct. 22, 2004 in Des Moines. Drake has won five-straight meetings, with the last NDSU victory coming on Sept. 22, 2011 in a 1-0 shutout in Fargo. The Bison have never won at Drake. Last year the Bulldogs defeated the Bison 1-0 at Dacotah Field.

The Series with Northern Iowa
    NDSU owns a 7-4 lead in the all-time series with the Panthers that dates to a 2-1 Bison victory at Northern Iowa on Sept. 12, 2004. The Bison earned a 2-1 victory over the Panthers on Sept. 9 last year at Dacotah Field. The last Bison victory at Northern Iowa was a 1-0 win on Aug. 21, 2011.

Last Time Out
    The North Dakota State soccer team posted its fourth shutout of the season on Sunday, as the Bison beat Chicago State 2-0 at Dacotah Field.
    It was the final non-conference home match of the season, as the Bison honored their five seniors before the match. Elyse Huber, Nicky De Pape, Monica Polgar, Mariah Haberle and Laura Powell all earned the start on Senior Day. NDSU moved to 4-1-1 on the season, while Chicago State dropped to 0-6.
    The seniors took over the game for the Bison in all areas. NDSU seniors had 11 of the 16 shots as a team, while also playing all 90 minutes in the net. Polgar pitched her fourth shutout of the season in the net, as she moved into a tie for first in NDSU history with 19 career shutouts. She is the fourth player to accomplish the feat, while also having a pair of combined shutouts. Polgar had six saves on the day, becoming the fourth player in school history with 250 career saves. She also became the third player to reach 30 career wins in the net.
    Huber added to her team lead in goals scored with two more on Sunday. Her first came in the 53rd minute, as Huber headed in a shot by Haberle that bounced off the crossbar. In the 87th minute, Huber stole the ball and scored in front of the net for her sixth goal of the season. 
    The Bison had a 16-8 advantage in shots, while the Cougars had a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal. NDSU held a 12-3 advantage in shots during the second half. The Bison had the ball for 58 percent of the match. Huber finished with a match-high six shots, including four on goal, while Haberle added five shots.

North Dakota State Notes

• In the win over Chicago State on Sunday, senior Monica Polgar became the fourth player in NDSU history to record 19 career saves, the top mark in school history. Polgar also has a pair of combined shutouts.
• Senior Elyse Huber had her second match of the year with  pair of goals against the Cougars in the 2-0 victory. Huber also scored two goal in a victory over Vermont earlier in the season.
• The Bison suffered their first loss of the season Friday night against Hawaii, dropping a 1-0 decision to the Rainbow Wahine. 
• Polgar ranks third in NDSU history with 30 career saves in the net.
• Senior Mariah Haberle scored the lone goal for the Bison in each of the first two matches of the year. Haberle now has 15 career goals.
• Senior Monica Polgar ranks second in the nation with 43 saves this season, while also ranking 16th in keeper minutes played with 560.
• NDSU ranks 19th in the nation, and leads the Summit League, with 7.17 saves per match.
• The Bison rank third in the nation in save percentage at .956, while also ranking 13th in goals-against average at .322.
• Huber ranks fourth in the nation with three game-winning goals, while also ranking fifth in the country with 3.0 shots on goal per game.
• Polgar's 250 career saves are the 14th most by an active player at the NCAA Division I level. Polgar also ranks 23rd among active players with 4.72 saves per game.
• NDSU has won five-straight road games dating back to last season, tied for the fourth longest streak in the country. Louisiana Tech has won seven-straight road matches, while North Carolina and Furman have each won six. Clemson, Navy, UTRGV and NDSU have each won five. 
• The Bison return six starters and 13 letterwinners from last season's team, including a first team all-league selection in Haberle.
• The Bison return six starters from last season in Haberle, Sydney Johnson, Laura Powell, Danielle Algera, Maddie Burnstein and Polgar.
• NDSU has 10 newcomers entering 2019, including nine freshman and one senior transfer. The freshmen are Paige Goaley (F), Grace Sjoberg (D/MF), Eden Taylor-Wineera (MF), Taylore Simmons (MF/F), McKenna Strand (D), Kate Swanis (MF), Lavin Douglass (MF), Regan Ostler (MF) and Paris Walsh (D). Elyse Huber (F) is a senior transfer from Nebraska. 

 
About Drake

• The Bulldogs are 1-4-1 on the year after an 0-4 start to the season in which they were outscored by opponents 8-0.
• Drake has faced a pair of Summit League schools this year in 2018 co-champions Denver and South Dakota State. The Pioneers defeated Drake 2-0 on Aug. 25, while the Bulldogs beat the Jackrabbits 1-0 on Sept. 6.
• Hannah Bormann and Olivia Bruce have scored the two goals for the Bulldogs this season, with Bormann hitting the game-winner against South Dakota State.
• Kelsie Stone has 30 saves in six matches with a 1.47 goals against average facing 85 shots.

About Northern Iowa

• The Panthers are 3-2 on the year, having won back-to-back matches against South Dakota (2-1) and Saint Ambrose (6-0). UNI has also faced Summit League foe Omaha (L, 2-1) on Aug. 30. The other common opponent between the Panthers and Bison is Chicago State, as UNI opened the season with a 5-0 win over the Cougars.
• Jordyn Rolli leads the Panthers with four goals, while Jamie Althiser has three. 
• Sydney Hayden has three assists to lead the Panthers, while Rolli, Johnnie Hill and Sophia Conant each have a pair.
• The Panthers rank sixth in the nation in shot accuracy at .651, while Jamie Althiser ranks 12th with at .800.

25th Season of NDSU Soccer
The 2019 season marks the 25th season of soccer at NDSU. The Bison own a 244-178-29 (.573) all-time record, including a 128-43-7 (.739) mark in home matches. In six seasons at Dacotah Field, the Bison are 32-17-2 (.647). 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. 

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. 

Radio, TV Coverage Announced for NDSU Women's Soccer
    A pair of NDSU women's soccer matches will air live on the radio and one match will be televised live during the upcoming season. NDSU's regular season home opener against Saint Mary's Aug. 23 and the regular season home finale against North Dakota (Oct. 31) will air live on Bison 1660 AM. The home match against South Dakota on Oct. 6 will be televised live on MidcoSN with Alex Heinert calling the action.

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
    NDSU will continue the four-match road trip with the first of back-to-back weeks in the Western half of the United States. The Bison will face Eastern Washington on Friday, Sept. 20. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. (Central) in Cheney, Wash. The match will be aired on Pluto TV Channel 534.