FARGO, N.D. – North Dakota State soccer continues Summit League play and will the Bison wrap up a five-game homestand at Dacotah Field, hosting Omaha on Sunday, Sept. 24.
 
The Series
The Bison will meet Omaha for the 19th time in series history. North Dakota State leads the series 10-7-1. In the Summit League era, the Bison hold an 8-4-1 record against the Mavericks. However, Omaha has won the last two meetings in the series and four of the last six.
 
Game Coverage
Sunday's game will be streamed live on the Summit League Network and is available on the Midco Sports Plus App. The game will also have live statistics. Links for coverage are available on gobison.com.
 
Last Time Out for the Bison
NDSU is coming off of a 1-1 tie with Kansas City in the Summit League opener on Thursday night. Kelsey Kallio put the Bison in front with a first half header off of a corner kick from Madelyn Grate. However, Kansas City leveled the game just after the restart in the second half. NDSU outnumbered Kansas City 18-11 in shots.
 
Last Year vs. Omaha
NDSU dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker at Omaha, as the hosts scored with seven seconds remaining to take the win. Cece Behrens scored in the 20th minute for Omaha to take an early lead. Kelsey Kallio found a late equalizer for NDSU, who had a majority of the chances, in the 85th minute. However, Sophia Green capitalized on a late break, scoring on a shot too strong for Abby Wilkinson, who got a hand on the ball, but could not push the shot wide.
 
Kallio Heads In First of Season
Senior Kelsey Kallio, who is the active career leader for NDSU in assists (13), found herself on the first line of the scoresheet on Thursday, as she headed home her first goal of 2023. In her first action of the game, after being subbed on just prior to the play, Kallio headed in Madelyn Grate's corner kick from the near side, sneaking it just inside the left post. With her fifth career goal, Kallio moves into a tie for third on the active NDSU points list at 23 with Paige Goaley.
 
Freshman Firepower
NDSU's newest players have wasted no time making their mark on the team, with five of NDSU's 15 goals on the season coming by the freshman. Defender Amaya Garrett has scored three goals, including the most recent against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Ava Stanchina (Austin Peay) and Tyreese Zacher (Boise State) have the other two goals.
 
Bison Finding Early Strikes
After controlling the scoresheet in the second half early in the season, the Bison have scored four of their last six goals in the first half, including three in the opening 20 minutes and two inside the first six minutes of the game. The Bison scored a fourth-minute goal against Creighton and a sixth-minute goal against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Prior to the game against Creighton, six of NDSU's nine goals had come in the second half, with the other three coming in the final 15 minutes of the first half.
 
Wilkinson Continues Climb
Abby Wilkinson has been moving on and up the career charts for the Bison. Wilkinson moved into a tie for eighth on the wins list (10) with her shutout against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. She passed Tara Sweeney for seventh on the all-time goalie games played and started list earlier this year, sitting at 31 in both. Her shutout against UAPB was her eighth cleansheet, moving her into a tie for eighth with Karli Kopietz and two shy of sixth. She also surpassed Sweeney in saves two weeks ago, moving into seventh, currently at 151. Wilkinson has also moved into 10th in goals against average (1.52).
 
Experience on Back Line
The Bison returned a wealth of experience on the back line, which led to seven cleansheets last season and three so far this season. The four main players (McKenna Strand, Kaitlyn Hanson, Ashleigh Heely, and Jess Hanley) on the back line in 2022, who all returned this season, have combined to play in 230 games with 172 starts. The group has logged over 15,000 minutes on the pitch, with all four over 3,300 career minutes played.
 
What's Next?
The Bison will hit the road for the first of three straight away from Dacotah Field in Summit League play, as NDSU heads to Brookings to take on South Dakota State. The game will be streamed live on the Summit League Network.