Soccer concludes regular season Friday

Friday, October 26

Grand Forks, N.D.

1 p.m.

South Dakota State University

North Dakota

Photo by: Jason Salzman

10/23/2018 5:15:00 PM | Women's Soccer

GAME 18: South Dakota State (11-5-1, 6-1) at North Dakota (9-4-2, 3-2-1)

When	Friday, Oct. 26 \| 1 p.m.
Where	East Grand Forks Senior High \| Grand Forks, North Dakota
Live Video	UND Insider
Live Stats	SideArm Sports (UNDSports.com)
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| North Dakota \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #RabbitsFutbol

Previewing the Week
South Dakota State concludes the 2018 regular season this Friday on the road, traveling to Grand Forks, North Dakota to take on league newcomer North Dakota. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. from East Grand Forks Senior High.

Friday's matchup has postseason implications for both teams. The Jackrabbits have secured a berth to next week's Summit League Women's Soccer Championship, but can lock up the No. 1 seed with a win over UND.

UND sits tied for fourth in The Summit League standings with two games remaining on its schedule and is in the hunt for the final seed in the tournament.

Scouting the Fighting Hawks
North Dakota (9-4-2, 3-2-1 Summit League) is coming off a 7-1 victory against Purdue Fort Wayne in its lone action of last weekend.

The Fighting Hawks enter the week with a 40-7 lead in goals against opponents this year and a 15-5 advantage in league play while scoring two or more goals in 12 games this year. UND is averaging 16.3 shots per contest compared to opponents' 12.8 attempts per game.

Katie Moller (14 goals, five assists) leads The Summit League in scoring for 2018 and has a .507 shots on goal percentage. Olivia Knox (five goals, five assists) has 15 points on the year and Cassie Giddings (13 points) has added five goals and a trio of assists.

Olivia Swenson has started 15 games for the Fighting Hawks and logged 1,355 minutes between the pipes. She has a 0.47 goals against average on the year and 67 saves.

South Dakota State is 7-3-1 all-time against North Dakota and a 5-1-1 mark in Division I play. In Grand Forks, the Jackrabbits are 1-2-1 against the Fighting Hawks.

Scouting the Jackrabbits
SDSU (11-5-1, 6-1) picked up a pair of 1-0 wins last weekend over Omaha and Oral Roberts, maintaining its place atop The Summit League standings entering the final week of action.

State has outscored its opponents 23-13 on the year and has 11 shutouts as a team, matching the program for single-season shutouts. The Jackrabbits are averaging 15.2 shots per game, putting 101 of their 258 total attempts on goal. South Dakota State is limiting Summit League opponents to just 7.0 shots per game and has allowed just two goals in league play.

Leah Manuleleua leads the Jackrabbits with 13 points on the year, netting five goals with three assists. Karlee Manding, who has missed the last three games due to injury, is second on the team with five goals and two assists (12 points). Abigail Kastens has three goals for the offense while Marisa Schulz, Hannah Evans, Bianca Madonia and Stephanie Dashiell have each found the back of the net twice in 2018.

Carina McLennan (seven points) leads all Jacks with five assists, Annie Williams has set up two scores and five others have one assist each.

Defensively, Evans, Williams, Alexa Hepner and Kaitlin Zabel have started all 17 games for a Jackrabbit back line that has allowed just 10 goals this season. Zabel leads the team with 1,743 minutes played, just ahead of Williams' 1,465 and Hepner's 1,432 minutes.

Maggie Smither has started every game at goalkeeper for SDSU and holds a 0.58 goals against average. She has allowed just two goals in Summit League play and for the season has played over 1,548 minutes with 10 shutouts.

Jackrabbits Honored by Summit League
South Dakota State has earned four Summit League Player of the Week honors this season.

Leah Manuleleua was named the Summit League's Offensive Player of the Week Aug. 27. It was the third time in her career she's earned the league's weekly honor. She helped the Jacks to a perfect 2-0 record at home last weekend, thanks in part to a seven-point showing against Wayne State Friday that included the ninth hat trick in the program's history. Manuleleua became the first to score three or more goals in a game for SDSU since Diana Potterveld did it in 2012.
Maggie Smither was named the Summit League's Defensive Player of the Week Sept. 17. Smither started all three games at goalkeeper for the Jackrabbits last week and posted a 1-1-1 record with a pair of shutouts. She tallied 21 saves overall and finished the week with an 0.62 goals against average while facing 50 total shots.
Smither picked up her second weekly award Oct. 8. Smither started and played all available minutes in a 1-0 shutout victory over Denver, recording six saves in a hotly contested slugfest that went to double overtime.
Annie Williams earned Defensive Player of the Week honors Oct. 23. Williams started both games and was a key cog in a defensive unit that did not allow a goal over 180 minutes and surrendered only eight shots. Additionally, Williams added an assist on the game-winner against Oral Roberts.

Jackrabbit Quick Hits

South Dakota State's seniors own a 44-23-11 record over the last four years, including a 24-5-2 mark in Summit League play with two tournament championships, one regular season title and a pair of trips to the NCAA Tournament thus far.
The Jackrabbits have surpassed the 10-win mark for the 12th time in program history and 10th time since joining The Summit League.
South Dakota State's 11-match league winning streak from Sept. 29, 2017 to Oct. 11, 2018 was the longest in the Summit League's history. The previous record was also held by SDSU, set between the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
With a 5-4-1 mark, the Jackrabbits secured a .500 or better mark in nonleague play for the seventh time since joining The Summit League in 2007.
South Dakota State is 21-16-43 all-time in overtime matches.
13 Jackrabbits have recorded a point this season, already matching last year's total.
SDSU is 5-12-2 all-time in season openers and 7-10-2 all-time in home openers.
South Dakota State has won six consecutive Summit League openers after its 2-1 win over Purdue Fort Wayne and is 11-1 all-time in those contests.
The Jackrabbits played a trio of Power Five schools this season in Iowa State, Kansas and Arizona State. All-time against schools from the Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, SEC and ACC, the Jacks are a combined 4-26-5. Three of those wins and two ties have come against Iowa State.

Home Cooking
Brookings has been good to the Jackrabbits, as South Dakota State boasts a 103-41-18 all-time home record.

Since moving to The Summit League in 2007, the Jackrabbits are 76-22-11 at home. Although the program saw an 11-match home unbeaten streak come to an end in the nonconference season, the Jackrabbits are now 15-2-1 at Fishback Soccer Park under head coach Brock Thompson.

Specific to Summit League play, the Jackrabbits are 44-3-2 all-time in home league games and have lost only one home Summit League game since 2010.

Jacks Tabbed Second in Preseason Poll
South Dakota State women's soccer was picked second in the 2018 Summit League Preseason Coaches Poll, released Aug. 13. The Jackrabbits received 57 total points in the rankings with three first-place votes, finishing four tallies shy of Denver for the top spot. Oral Roberts was picked third in the poll with 49 points, just ahead of North Dakota State's 46. The next three spots were separated by just three points, with newcomer North Dakota sitting fifth (30), South Dakota sixth (29) and Omaha seventh (28). Purdue Fort Wayne and Western Illinois tied for the final spot with 12 points each.

Four Named as Players to Watch
As part of the Summit League's preseason poll release, four Jackrabbits were named to the league's Players to Watch List: Maggie Smither, Annie Williams, Leah Manuleleua and Alexa Hepner.

Maggie Smither, last season's Summit League Goalkeeper of the Year, posted a 0.86 goals against average in 2017 and tallied 83 saves. She allowed only one goal in league play and recorded six shutouts, finishing the year with an 11-5-3 record between the pipes.
Annie Williams is the returning Summit League Defensive Player of the Year and will serve as team captain for the Jackrabbits in 2018. She started all 19 games a year ago, played 1,556 minutes and was third on the team with eight points.
Alexa Hepner is a third-year starter for a back line that surrendered just one goal in league play last year. The Prior Lake, Minnesota native logged the most minutes (1,721) for the second-consecutive season. She was a 2017 All-Summit Second Team honoree.
Leah Manuleleua enters her second season with the Jackrabbits after arriving in 2017 from San Joaquin Delta College. Manuleleua started 18 contests last season and tied for the team lead in goals (seven). She was an All-Summit League First Team pick last year.

2017 In Review
The Jackrabbits made their fifth consecutive appearance in the league tournament and have qualified nine times out of 10 eligible seasons in the league. South Dakota State has now won five regular season titles, claiming the regular season nod in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2014 as well.

Nicole Hatcher (21 points, seven assists) and Leah Manuleleua (17 points, three assists) tied for the team-lead with seven goals each, while Annie Williams finished third on the team in points (eight) with three goals and two assists. Freshmen Rachel Hewitt and Marisa Schulz each netted two goals.

Between the pipes, Maggie Smither started 18 games with appearances in all 19 contests on the year, posting a 0.86 goals against average while ending the regular season with six consecutive shutouts. Smither logged 83 saves in 1,582 minutes. Taylor Lock appeared in five contests and spent 99 minutes in goal, giving up one score with five saves.

-GoJacks.com-