The North Dakota State women's soccer team will welcome teams to Dacotah Field for the first time during the 2022 regular season as the Bison are set to play host to Green Bay and Drake this weekend. NDSU will take on Green Bay Friday night with kickoff slated for 5 p.m. On Sunday, which will also be senior day, the Bison will take on Drake at 1 p.m. Sunday's game will also be televised live across the state of North Dakota and western Minnesota on WDAY Xtra.
 
Live Coverage
Both games this week will be streamed live, with Friday's game available on NDSU All Access and Sunday's game available on both NDSU All Access and live on local television, as WDAY will televise the game on the WDAY Xtra channel.
 
Links for both streams, along with live stats, will be available on the women's soccer schedule page on gobison.com.
 
Series History
Friday's meeting with Green Bay will be the eighth meeting all time between the two programs, with the Bison holding a 5-2-0 advantage in the series. The Bison have won three straight in the series, including a 4-1 win in Green Bay in the last meeting on August 19, 2018. It will be the third all-time meeting between the Bison and Phoenix in Fargo, but the first since 2010. NDSU won 2-0 in 2005 and 1-0 in 2010 in the two Fargo meetings.
 
The Bison face Drake for the 13th time on Sunday, with the Bulldogs holding a 9-2-1 advantage over NDSU dating back to the first meeting in 2004. Drake has won the last six meetings between the two programs. It will be the sixth meeting in Fargo, with the Bison holding a 1-4-0 record against Drake at home.
 
Bison Coming Off First Losses of the Season
The Bison saw their five game unbeaten run (3-0-2), including their 2-0-2 start to the season, come to an end last week with losses at Wyoming and at Northern Colorado.
 
Coming in Pairs
NDSU's results thus far this season have come in pairs over the weekend. The Bison started the season with back-to-back ties in Louisiana against Tarleton and Southern, before jumping into the win column in St. Paul with wins over Utah Tech and Chicago State. The Bison then dropped both games last weekend.
 
Coming in Pairs (Part Two)
Junior Olivia Lovick scored her 10th career goal last weekend, scoring in back-to-back games. The Lino Lakes, Minnesota native has scored every one of her goals in either back-to-back games, or with a brace. She has a pair of two-goal games, with her other six goals coming in back-to-back clusters.
 
Not Your Typical Goaley
Paige Goaley has scored two goals this season tied for the team lead this season. She didn't wait long to jump into the scoring action, finding the net 37 seconds into her official return, after missing two full seasons with an injury. Early strikes have become the theme for Goaley, as she also headed in her second goal in the third minute against Chicago State.
 
Last Time vs Green Bay
Head coach Mike Regan's NDSU career got off to a flying start as the Bison opened up the 2018 season with a 4-1 victory in Green Bay. Junior Mariah Haberle netted a goal and dished out an assist to lead the Bison offense, while Holly Enderle, who opened the scoring, Hanna Norman and Marian Taiwo also each scored. Roxy Roemer added a pair of assists.
 
Following Enderle's 14th minute goal, Green Bay answered in the 19th minute, but NDSU came back with 28th and 30th minute goals to re-take the lead for good. Monica Polgar made six saves in the winning effort. NDSU outshot Green Bay 25-14, including a 10-7 edge in shots on goal, and took three corner kicks while holding the Phoenix to just one.
 
Last Time vs Drake
A pair of goals in the final 11 minutes by the Drake Bulldogs was enough to edge the Bison 2-1. NDSU scored first, as Ellie Schneider scored on a penalty kick in the 34th minute. Both Drake goals came off corner kicks, with Megan Valenzuela scoring in the 80th minute to tie the match before Rebecka Musungu scored in the 87th minute to give Drake the lead and win. Vanessa Kavan assisted both Drake goals.
 
Back-to-Back First Cleansheets
In the 0-0 tie against Southern, senior goalkeeper Sofia Howe picked up her first career shutout. The Chula Vista, California native saw six shots from the Lady Jaguars and made two saves over 90 minutes to record her first collegiate cleansheet.
 
In the next game for the Bison, true freshman keeper Payton Mulberry stopped four shots in her collegiate debut against Utah Tech, as she pulled off her first collegiate shutout in her first-ever start.
 
Wacek's First is Bison Game Winner
Sophomore Loretta Wacek broke a 1-1 tie in the 67th minute against Chicago State with her first collegiate goal. Taking a pass from Lavin Douglass and firing a right-footed shot into the back of the net, Wacek gave the Bison a lead they never relinquished, picking up her first game-winning goal as well. As a freshman, Wacek picked up an assist in the second minute of her starting debut.
 
Kallio Scores, Moves to Top of Active Assists List in Trip Home
Kelsey Kallio, from the suburbs of the Twin Cities, broke an 18-game goal less streak in St. Paul earlier this season, as she connected on a cross in the second half against Utah Tech to double the Bison lead in the win with her second career goal.
 
Kallio then took over sole possession of first on the active assist list for NDSU two days later against Chicago State, as she recorded her first-career, two-assist game. Kallio whipped in a pair of corner kicks, with Paige Goaley and Jess Hanley heading in goals in the 3rd and 77th minutes against Chicago State. Kallio now has eight career assists.
 
Watson Nets First Game Winner
After two goals as a freshman last season, Olivia Watson picked up her first game-winning goal, as she scored her first goal of 2022 to open the scoring in the 2-0 win against Utah Tech.
 
Seven Years Wiser
Senior midfielder Payton Jo Armijo is an anchor in the midfield for the Bison this season, starting all six games and logging considerable time on the pitch. Her experience has played heavily in some of the success for the Bison and it comes in her seventh year of collegiate soccer. Armijo has battled the adversities of a red shirt season, injuries and a season being cancelled through COVID, but is playing in her fourth competitive season in 2022.
 
Howe In Top 10 For Career Saves
In her final appearance of the 2021 season, Sofia Howe moved into the top 10 in career saves in NDSU's history. Howe currently sits with 69 as a Bison, eight behind Renee Keller for ninth overall. Howe is also sixth in NDSU's DI era, with Karli Kopietz next on that list at 100.
 
Goaley Strikes NDSU's Fastest Goal
Paige Goaley scored 37 seconds into the season opener against Tarleton, scoring her first career goal and etching her name into the Bison record books, with the fastest goal in NDSU's program history. The goal broke the previous record of 39 seconds held by Lisa Leach, set on October 18, 1997 at Minnesota State-Mankato. The DI era record was 52 seconds into a match by Britney Monteon against Fort Wayne on October 22, 2017.
 
The Perfect Hat Trick
After missing the last two seasons due to injury, junior Paige Goaley made her long-awaited return to the pitch a thrilling one in the preseason exhibition against Viterbo. Goaley not only scored a hat trick, but completed the feat of the "Perfect Hat Trick" as she scored her first goal with her right foot, her second goal with her left foot, and then finished it off with a header for her third and final goal. Goaley scored all three of her goals in a 26-minute stretch.
 
Team Captains
Head coach Mike Regan announced that senior Dani Stuber and junior Paige Goaley will serve as the team captains in 2022. Stuber is in her fifth season with the Bison, while Goaley is in her fourth year. Both players are making their full returns in 2022 after missing considerable time with injuries.
 
NDSU Receives United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award
The Bison earned the United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award over the summer, being recognized for their exemplary performance in the classroom during the 2021-22 academic year. To qualify for the award, a team must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 or higher for the entire academic year. The Bison posted a 3.43 team GPA for 2021-22.
 
Lovick, Nead Named Summit League Players to Watch
Olivia Lovick and Alicia Nead were named Summit League Players to Watch in the league preseason release. Lovick and Nead, both juniors on the Bison squad, headline a returning group of seven starters and 19 letter winners from last season.
 
Lovick, a forward for the Bison, played in all 16 games with 14 starts in 2021, logging 1,162 minutes on the pitch. She recorded two goals, both against Oral Roberts (Oct. 1) in a 3-2 victory and assisted on one goal, setting up the game-winner in the final minute of a 2-1 victory over North Dakota. Lovick is the top returning goal scorer overall for NDSU with eight career goals and three assists in two seasons.
 
Nead also played in all 16 games with 11 starts in the midfield for NDSU, logging 835 minutes last season. Nead scored her first career goal in 2021, scoring the game winner in the final minute of a victory against UND. She also assisted on one goal in the 3-2 win against ORU.
 
Picked Ninth in Summit League
North Dakota State was picked ninth in the Summit League preseason coaches' poll. The Bison received 17 points in the vote, slotting them one spot below where they finished the 2021 season. The Bison finished eighth last season after a 3-6-0 record with wins over Oral Roberts (picked 6th), St. Thomas (picked 8th) and North Dakota (picked 10th).
 
Guess Who's Back?
The Bison return seven starters from the 2021 squad, as well as 19 letter winners. Olivia Lovick is the top returning goal scorer, with eight career goals. Lavin Douglass and Jess Hanley also return with three goals each. Hanley, along with Kelsey Kallio, are the top returning assists leaders with six career assists each.
 
NDSU also returns two goalkeepers with considerable experience in Abby Wilkinson and Sofia Howe. Wilkinson started the season in goal for the Bison in 2021 before an injury sidelined her. Howe finished out the year in goal. How has 67 career saves and Wilkinson has 31, along with one cleansheet.
 
Head Coach Mike Regan
Mike Regan begins his fifth season as the head coach of the Bison. NDSU has had five All-Summit League selections in Regan's tenure, 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.
 
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 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.
 
Higgins Joins Staff
Chris Higgins, who joined the Bison from Loras College, will serve as an assistant and will work with the goalkeepers, a role he held at Loras, as he helped guide the women's program to the NCAA Division III Final Four last season. Prior to his coaching career, Higgins was an NAIA Academic All-American goalkeeper at Ashford University, where he was also the AII-League First Team and Goalkeeper of the Year. Higgins helped lead Ashford to the NAIA Final Four in 2013.
 
Up Next
The Bison head back out on the road to wrap up non-conference play, as NDSU travels to Idaho and Montana to face the pair of Big Sky foes before Summit League action gets underway. The Bison take on Idaho on Friday, September 16 in Moscow, before a trip to Missoula to take on Montana on Sunday, September 18.