Soccer hosts Denver Sunday

Sunday, October 7

Brookings, S.D.

Noon

South Dakota State University

Denver

BROOKINGS, SD, SEPTEMBER 10: xxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Eggen/Inertia)

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

10/5/2018 9:15:00 AM | Women's Soccer

GAME 13: South Dakota State (7-4-1, 2-0) vs. Denver (7-4-2, 3-0)

When	Sunday, Oct. 7 \| noon
Where	Fishback Soccer Park \| Brookings, S.D.
Live Video	GoJacks.com/Watch
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Denver \| The Summit League
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #RabbitsFutbol

Previewing the Week
Fresh off a perfect weekend on the road to open Summit League play, the Jackrabbit women's soccer program returns to Fishback Soccer Park this weekend for a single game, hosting Denver on Sunday at noon.

Scouting the Pioneers
Denver picked up a 3-2 comeback win at North Dakota State Thursday night after taking down South Dakota (2-0) and Omaha (3-1) at home last weekend. DU is the defending league tournament champion and is first in the Summit League standings entering Sunday's game.

The Pioneers enter the weekend with a 21-12 advantage in goals against opponents this year, averaging 14.5 shots per contest while holding teams to just 10.7 attempts per game.

Hannah Adler (four goals, five assists) leads the Pioneers with 13 points, while Samantha Feller (six goals) is close behind with 12 points. Camryn MacMillan has scored four goals and added two assists for 10 points and Meg Halvorson has a trio of goals and assists (nine points).

Brittany Wilson has played all 1,236 minutes at keeper for DU with a 0.87 goals against average. She has 55 saves between the pipes, allowing 12 goals with five shutouts.

South Dakota State is 4-1-2 all-time against Denver, claiming a 2-1 overtime win last season on the road.

Scouting the Jackrabbits
South Dakota State picked up a pair of road victories last week, topping Purdue Fort Wayne 2-1 on Friday before closing the trip with a 3-0 shutout against Western Illinois Sunday. Sunday's win was SDSU's sixth consecutive Summit League opener victory, helping the team begin the league season with momentum and sit first in league standings through the opening weekend.

SDSU has outscored its opponents 19-9 on the year and has seven shutouts as a team. The Jackrabbits are averaging 15.5 shots per game, putting 74 of their 186 total attempts on goal.

Karlee Manding leads the Jackrabbits with 11 points in her freshman campaign, netting five goals with an assist. She has three game-winners this season against Drake, Green Bay and Idaho State.

Leah Manuleleua is close behind with eight points, tallying three scores and two assists. Marisa Schulz, Abigail Kastens and Stephanie Dashiell have each found the back of the net twice in 2018.

Carina McLennan (six points) leads all Jacks with four assists, while seven others have one assist each. In total, 13 Jackrabbits have recorded a point this season, matching last year's total through just 12 games.

Defensively, Evans, Annie Williams, Alexa Hepner and Kaitlin Zabel have started all 10 games for a Jackrabbit back line that has allowed just nine goals this season. Hepner leads the team with 1,024 minutes played, just ahead of Zabel's 1,000 and Williams' 986 minutes.

Maggie Smither has started every game at goalkeeper for SDSU and holds a 0.76 goals against average. She has allowed nine goals in 1064 minutes of action, recording six shutouts while assisting in one more.

Jackrabbits Honored by Summit League
South Dakota State has earned two 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.

Jackrabbit Quick Hits

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 19-16-43 all-time in overtime matches.
13 Jackrabbits have recorded a point through 12 games 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 98-41-18 all-time home record.

Since moving to The Summit League in 2007, the Jackrabbits are 72-22-11 at home. And although the program saw an 11-match home unbeaten streak come to an end in the nonconference season, the Jackrabbits are now 11-2-1 at Fishback Soccer Park under head coach Brock Thompson.

Specific to Summit League play, the Jackrabbits are 40-3-2 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-