FARGO, N.D. - The North Dakota State soccer team will remain in Boise, Idaho for the second of two neutral-site games this week, as the Bison take on Dixie State for the first time in program history Sunday morning in the final game for NDSU at the Boise State Invitational. 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.
 
NDSU Notes

• The Bison have started a season 0-3 just one other time in the NCAA Division I era, going 0-3 in 2017. However, despite the winless start in 2017, the Bison started went on to finish second in the Summit League Standings, including a runner-up finish in the conference championship game.
• Lavin Douglass picked up the first goal of the season for the Bison on Thursday and turned in a highlight reel effort in the process. Off a high bounce just outside the penalty area, the junior struck a left-footed volley into the top right corner for her third-career goal.
• Senior midfielder Danielle Algera is the active leader in games played for the Bison with 71. 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 5,572.
• Senior Ellie Schneider is the only player for the Bison to play all 270 minutes this season. In Thursday's game against Pacific, Schneider surpassed 3,000 career minutes as a Bison, one of just three active players on the list to do so (Algera and Brookelyn Dew).

 
About Dixie State

• Dixie State enters Sunday's contest at 1-2 on the season, coming off of a pair of four-goal defeats, including a 4-0 loss to host Boise State Thursday evening.
• The Trailblazers started off the year with a 2-1 victory at UNLV before falling to New Mexico 5-1 in Las Vegas last Sunday.
• Dixie State is in the second year of a transition to Division I. Last season, the Trailblazers were 3-10-2, including a 3-8-1 record in Western Athletic Conference play.
• The Trailblazers return all but two of their starters from last season, including four senior, a junior and a sophomore that all logged over 1,000 minutes last season.
• Whitley Griffiths was named to the WAC Pre-Season All-Conference team after leading Dixie State with 10 goals last season. Griffiths already has two of the Trailblazers three goals this season, including an 88th minute winner in the season opener.
• Dixie State's freshman Kalea Woodyatt scored her first collegiate goal in the season opener.

 
Last Time Out

• The Bison fell on the road to University of the Pacific 4-1 Thursday afternoon at the Boas Soccer Complex in the opening game of the Boise State Invitational.
• The Bison would fall behind early on a tough break after two saves were made, but the ball wasn't cleared out of the penalty area. After an initial save by Abby Wilkinson, followed up by a ball cleared off the line, Pacific capitalized on the failed clearance, as Jade Enalen put the Tigers in front with a goal in the 10th minute.
• Payton Jo Armijo had a good look on goal and a chance to equalize in the 16th minute, but sailed her shot just over the crossbar from just outside the penalty area.
• A few minutes later, the Tigers doubled their lead. In the 22nd minute, Lauren Frohan settled a cross from by Aniela Jensen in the right corner of the penalty area, before beating a Bison defender and firing a shot past Wilkinson.
• Both teams would have just one more shot in the remainder of the first half, which saw the Bison head into the break trailing by two.
• In the second half, the Bison had three early chances from Kelsey Kallio, but she had one shot blocked and two more miss wide in the first 15 minutes. Pacific then added to their advantage in the 64th minute. Erin Brown took a pass from Frohan and fired a shot across goal and in off the left post to put the Tigers up 3-0.
• Lavin Douglass scored for the Bison in the 73rd minute to snap a scoreless skid for the Bison. Douglass settled under a high bouncing ball and struck a left-footed volley into the top right corner from outside the penalty area. For Douglass, it was her third career goal and first for the Bison this season.
• Pacific would add one more goal in the 90th minute, as Jaida Nyby connected on a cross that went in on Nyby's collision with Wilkinson in front of the goal.
• The teams finished the game even on shot attempts at 10 each, but Pacific had seven shots on target, while the Bison finished with just two. Wilkinson finished the game with two saves, while the Bison defense also had a save. Pacific had seven corners to four for the Bison in the contest.

 
The Series with Dixie State

• Sunday's game between the Bison and Trailblazers will be the first all-time meeting between the two schools on the soccer pitch.
• North Dakota State and Dixie State have not faced each other in any sport in direct head-to-head competition in program history. The departments have competed against each other in non-team events, as well as at golf tournaments.
• Men's Golf finished ahead of Dixie State at the GCU Invitational in March of this year, while Women's Golf finished ahead of Dixie State twice in tournaments this past March, including once in St. George, Utah.

 
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 returned 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 Bison's 20 goals during the Spring 2021 season. 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 freshmen 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.
• Freshman Josie Fieldman made her first appearance in NDSU's game against Baylor.
• Fieldman, Grandbois and Sangillo all made their starting debuts for the Bison in Thursday's game against Pacific.

 
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

• After two games in Boise, the Bison soccer team will return home for the final home game of the non-conference schedule next Thursday, Sept. 2, as North Dakota State welcomes in Wyoming to Dacotah Field for the first-ever meeting between the two sides on the soccer pitch.
• Kickoff between the Bison and the Cowgirls is slated for 6 p.m.