FARGO, N.D. - Bison Soccer hits the road for the first time during the 2021 regular season, traveling to Boise, Idaho to meet the University of the Pacific in the first of two neutral-site contests this week, taking on the Tigers on Thursday. Kickoff between North Dakota State and Pacific is set for 3 p.m. (2 p.m. MT) at the Boas Soccer Complex on the campus of Boise State. The game will be aired on the Mountain West Digital Network.
 
NDSU Notes

• The Bison have begun a season 0-2 just five times in the NCAA Division I era. It is the first time North Dakota State have been 0-2 since 2017.
• However, in each of the last three seasons the Bison started 0-2 (2012, 2015, 2017), NDSU has gone on to finish in the top three in the Summit League Standings, including a conference championship in 2015 and a runner-up finish in 2017.
• Abby Wilkinson made a career high eight saves in Sunday's game against Baylor. Her previous game high was five saves on three occasions, including the season opener against Idaho.
• Senior midfielder Danielle Algera is the active leader in games played for the Bison with 70. Algera is on pace to crack the top 10 in career games played for the Bison in mid-November and would take over second if she played in every game during the regular season. Algera is also the active leader in minutes played with 5,493.
• Senior Ellie Schneider and sophomore Kaitlyn Hanson are the only outfield players for the Bison to play all 180 minutes this season. Schneider is just 15 minutes played from surpassing 3,000 career minutes as a Bison.

 
About Pacific

• Pacific enters the game with the Bison at 1-0-1 after securing a 1-0 victory against Nevada and a 0-0 tie against UC Santa Barbara last week to begin the season.
• The Tigers are undefeated through two games for the first time to begin a season since 2008 when Pacific opened the year with a 1-0 win against Stanislaus State, followed up by a 2-0 win against Sacramento State.
• Jaida Nyby has scored the only goal for Pacific this season with her 28th minute winner for the Tigers against Nevada in the opener. Nyby was one of three Tigers to share in the team lead in goals last season, finishing with two.
• Ryanne Molenaar (2g, 1a) and Kelsey Oen (2g) are the other leading scorers returning for Pacific.
• Pacific goalkeepers have not allowed a goal in the last 240 minutes, dating back to last season. Brenna Crump made eight saves in the 0-0 tie for Pacific, while Juliana Alexander stopped three Nevada shots in the opener.

 
Last Time Out

• The Bison fell to Baylor 4-0 Sunday afternoon at Dacotah Field. The Bears scored two goals in the first 15 minutes to pull away, handing the Bison their second-straight loss to begin the season.
• Baylor jumped out to an early lead in the fifth minute with a goal off the inside of the left post. The Bears would double their lead in the 13th minute with a strike into the top right corner past the outstretched hands of Bison keeper Abby Wilkinson.
• Wilkinson would make three key saves midway through the first half before a failed clearance on a cross led to a third for the Bears just before halftime.
• Wilkinson would finish the game with a season high eight saves.
• Coming out of the break, miscommunication in the defensive half for the Bison allowed Baylor to add a fourth goal in the 48th minute to wrap up the scoring.
• The Bison would have several chances in the second half, most notably with shots on target from Payton Jo Armijo, Alicia Nead and Gabby Sangillo. Armijo forced a tough save from Bears and Olivia Lovick had her shot off the rebound blocked in one of the best looks of the day for the Bison.
• Baylor had a 19-5 advantage in shots, including 12-3 in efforts on target. The Bears also had all five corner kicks in the game.

 
Last Time Against Pacific

• Freshman Hanna Norman and junior Lauren Miller scored two goals to help the North Dakota State University women's soccer team to a 2-1 victory at Pacific on Sunday night (Sept. 6, 2015).
• Bison goalkeeper Sierra Bonham became the career saves leader at NDSU after making four saves in goal during the match, raising her career total to 321 to pass former NDSU standout Kalani Bertsch, who made 318 saves from 2008-11. 
• The host Tigers struck first, taking an early 1-0 edge in the sixth-minute when Mati Long scored on a rebound shot.
• The Bison leveled the match, 1-1, seven minutes later, when Miller corralled a feed from freshman Britney Monteon and slotted her shot to the low near post of the net. It was Miller's team-high fifth goal of the season and Monteon's second assist. The match remained deadlocked at one going into halftime. 
• Norman put the Bison in front, 2-1, in the 83rd-minute of the match after she slotted a corner kick from junior Amy Yang into the back of the net. It was the first goal of Norman's collegiate career and Yang's team-high fourth assist of the season.
• Pacific was able to take two shots in the final seven minutes of the second-half, but both were off-target, sealing the 2-1 victory for NDSU.
• The Bison were narrowly outshot by the Tigers in the contest, 21-20, but held Pacific to just one corner kick the entire match while gaining six of their own.
• The Series with Pacific
• Thursday's game between the Bison and Tigers will be just the second all-time meeting between the two schools and the first meeting in the Mike Regan era.
• In the only other meeting, which came in early September of 2015, the Bison overcame an early deficit to defeat Pacific 2-1 in Stockton, California.

 
Picked Fifth in Summit League

• North Dakota State was picked fifth in the Summit League preseason coaches' poll, announced by the league on Tuesday. The Bison received 44 points in the vote, slotting them into the same position they closed the 2020-21 season conducted this past spring.
• The Bison are coming off of a 7-8-1 campaign in the Summit League in the spring, which featured season sweeps of Omaha and Western Illinois, as well as wins against Kansas City, North Dakota and Oral Roberts.
• Denver, who won the regular season and conference tournament, along with making a trip to the NCAA Tournament second round, was picked first in a unanimous selection. South Dakota State was picked second, receiving one first place vote (coaches cannot vote for own team) and was selected second in every other poll.
• Omaha (62 points) edged out South Dakota (58) for third, while Kansas City came in sixth behind the Bison with 37 points.

 
Lovick, Schneider named Summit League Players to Watch

• Olivia Lovick and Ellie Schneider were tabbed as players to watch in the Summit League.
• Lovick was named to the 2020 Summit League All-Newcomer team after leading the Bison with 14 points and six goals scored, playing in all 16 matches, including 13 starts as a freshman. She had a season-high five shots against South Dakota State and her four points against Western Illinois were the second-most in a match for the Bison last season.
• Schneider played a team-best 1,260 minutes last season, recording two game-winning goals. The senior started all 16 matches and was third on the team with seven points this spring.

 
The Future is Now

• North Dakota State began the 2021 season by bring back a wealth of experience, with 174 of the 176 starts in the spring returning.
• The Bison return 17 of the 20 goals from last season, including four freshman goal scorers (Olivia Lovick, Jess Hanley, Kelsey Kallio and Aliya Owens) that combined for half of the goals. The freshmen combined to find the back of the net 10 times in 16 games.
• The group of four freshman goal scorers, along with fellow freshman Katrina Patscot and Abby Wilkinson, combined for 15 of NDSU's 24 assists as well on the season.  
• In total, the Bison return 17 of 20 goals and 23 of 24 assists. The senior core of Ellie Schneider, Brookelyn Dew and Danielle Algera all had two goals each last season and tallied six total assists.
• Of the seven newcomers, which included six true freshmen, six have already made appearances this season.
• Transfer Payton Jo Armijo, along with freshmen Katie Pagel, Bella Grandbois, Gabby Sangillo and Olivia Watson made their debut for the Bison in the season opener against Idaho. All four freshman came off the bench as substitutes. Watson led the rookies with 37 minutes in the opener, while Pagel had a shot sail just over the crossbar in the final 10 minutes.
• Freshman Josie Fieldman made her first appearance in the Bison's game against Baylor.

 
Schneider Named to CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team

• Defender Ellie Schneider was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team in June, following her performance in the classroom and on the pitch this spring. Schneider is the first Bison since 2011 to be selected to the team.
• Starting all 16 games for the Bison during the spring season, Schneider was third on the team with seven points. She recorded two goals and three assists. Schneider scored the game-winning goals against Western Illinois (Feb. 19) and Omaha (Feb. 28) and has a 3.96 GPA in Biological Science.

 
Head Coach Mike Regan

• Mike Regan is in his fourth season at the head coach of the Bison. Regan was named head women's soccer coach at North Dakota State on Jan. 19, 2018.
• The Bison have had five All-Summit League selections in Regan's first three years, including four first team selections.
• NDSU has also had four All-Summit League Freshman Team/All-Newcomer Team selections and two Summit League All-Tournament Team picks.
• In 2019, Monica Polgar was named to the United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-Region Team and was picked for the Summit League All-Academic Team.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• He holds a National 'A' Coaching License from the United States Soccer Federation.

 
On the Horizon

• The Bison will remain in Boise, Idaho for the second of two neutral-site games this week, as North Dakota State takes on Dixie State for the first time in program history on Sunday. Kickoff between the Bison and the Trailblazers is set for 11 a.m. (10 a.m. MT) at the Boas Soccer Complex on the campus of Boise State. The game will be aired on the Mountain West Digital Network.