SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The league season is officially here, as six of the nine teams will be taking the pitch beginning on Thursday with Omaha (3-3-2) at North Dakota (4-4-2), St. Thomas (2-2-3) at South Dakota (4-2-3) and Kansas City (1-3-5) at North Dakota State (4-3-2). The lone match on Saturday will feature the defending regular season champion Denver Pioneers (4-1-4) hosting Oral Roberts (3-3-3).
Five goal scorers have posted five or more goals during non-conference action, including Omaha’s Sophia Green who leads the charge with six this season. Mariah Nguyen of St. Thomas, Maya Hansen of South Dakota State, Ashby Johnston of South Dakota and Liv Moritz of Denver have all secured five goals. Laney Murdzek of South Dakota State has five assists this season to lead the pack, while Moritz and teammate Vanessa Murray have tacked on four assists of their own.
SDSU’s Jocelyn Tanner has a .800 goals against average to lead the league, while Madi Livingston’s five shutouts sits first overall.
TEAM TRACKER
DENVER PIONEERS (4-1-4; 0-0-0 SL) | @DU_WSoccer
Next Up: vs. Oral Roberts (9/23; 7 p.m. MT)
Previous Matches: at No. 22/24 Colorado (L, 3-1)
The Pioneers closed out its non-conference schedule with a hard-fought battle against No. 22/24 Colorado ... Kaitlyn Glover netted her fourth goal of the year to pull Denver within one against the Buffaloes ... Among league leaders, Moritz is tied for first in points (14), second in goals (5), tied for first in game-winning goals (2) and tied for second in assists (4) ... Denver is ranked eighth in the latest United Soccer Coaches West Region poll ... The Pioneers begin league play when it hosts Oral Roberts on Saturday.
KANSAS CITY ROOS (1-3-5; 0-0-0 SL) | @KCRoosWSoccer
Next Up: at North Dakota State (9/21; 6:30 p.m. CT); at North Dakota (9/24; 12 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Southern Indiana (T, 1-1); at Tulsa (T, 3-3)
The Roos picked up a pair of ties to close out the non-conference schedule ... Bri Castleberry led Kansas City in both shots (4) and shots on goal (2) in their season-high 28 shot match against Southern Indiana ... She earned the Roos’ first goal against Tulsa in the 22nd minute. Castleberry leads Kansas City in shots (18), shots on goal (9) and points (5) ... Goalkeeper Riley Moore made 11 saves over the weekend, including nine against the Golden Hurricane ... Her nine saves were her fifth match with five or more saves this season ... The Roos will head up I-29 and face North Dakota State and North Dakota.
NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS (4-4-2; 0-0-0 SL) | @UNDSoccer
Next Up: vs. Omaha (9/21; 3 p.m. CT); vs. Kansas City (9/24; 12 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Wyoming (L, 2-1); vs. Arkansas - Pine Bluff (W, 2-0)
The Fighting Hawks concluded their non-conference slate by going .500 with a 4-4-2 ledger ... After falling to Wyoming, 2-1, UND picked up a 3-0 win over Arkansas - Pine Bluff after an early first half goal from Allison Rapaduski gave them lead in the eighth minute of the game ... Late goals from Evelyn Pazienza, the TicketSmarter Summit League Women’s Soccer Offensive Peak Performer of the Week, and Ariana Chisteckoff sealed the game for the Fighting Hawks ... Goalkeeper Madi Livingston made two saves at the end of the half that kept the Lions off the board ... Her five shutouts this season tops the league charts heading into league action ... Rapaduski leads the team with four goals, while Paula Moreno Diaz’s three assists top the team.
NORTH DAKOTA STATE BISON (4-3-2; 0-0-0 SL) | @NDSUSoccer
Next Up: vs. Kansas City (9/21; 6:30 p.m. CT); vs. Omaha (9/24; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Arkansas - Pine Bluff (W, 3-0)
Amaya Garrett scored her third goal of the season and second game-winning goal with a volley directly off of a corner kick in the sixth minute of NDSU’s 3-0 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff ... Abby Wilkinson made four stops on the night for her eighth career shutout ... Her three shutouts this season is tied for the second most in the league ... NDSU’s newest players have wasted no time making their mark on the team, with five of NDSU’s 14 goals on the season coming by the freshman ... Defender Amaya Garrett has scored three goals, including the most recent against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, while Ava Stanchina and Tyreese Zacher have the other two goals.
OMAHA MAVERICKS (3-3-2; 0-0-0 SL) | @OmahaWSOC
Next Up: at North Dakota (9/21; 3 p.m. CT); at North Dakota State (9/24; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Oklahoma (W, 2-1)
The Mavericks picked up a big-time 2-1 home win against Oklahoma to close out the non-conference slate ... Sophia Green scored the first goal of the match in the 12th minute from a Cece Behrens assist ... Green goal was her sixth of the season, tying her career-high for goals in a season ... She now has Omaha’s Division I era record with 20 goals and 48 points in her career ... Her six goals and 14 points are currently the most among Summit League scorers ... Goalkeeper Emma Konsmo, the TicketSmarter Summit League Women’s Soccer Defensive Peak Performer of the Week, made three saves in the first half against the Sooners and came up clutch down the stretch, making two saves in the 81st minute ... She would cap off the Maverick victory with a save on the nation’s top goal scorer with 10 seconds left in regulation ... Konsmo made seven total saves in the match and her 39 total saves sits fifth in the league.
ORAL ROBERTS GOLDEN EAGLES (3-3-3; 0-0-0 SL) | @ORUWSoccer
Next Up: at Denver (9/23; 7 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Tarleton State (W, 4-0)
Samantha Guzman led an offensive onslaught in ORU’s 4-0 win against Tarleton State ... The junior midfielder opened the game with an assist to Riley Baldwin to put the Golden Eagles up 1-0 less than 40 seconds into the match ... Later in the second half, Guzman snuck behind the defense where Jordyn Blackburn lofted her a pass and Guzman headed it in the back of the net to give ORU a 3-0 lead ... Gabrielle Abbey and the ORU defense controlled a defensive line that allowed just two shots against the Texans ... Heading into league play, Samantha See’s 13 shots on goal is tied for the most in the league, while Haley Nichols’ 20 shots ranks second overall.
ST. THOMAS TOMMIES (2-2-3; 0-0-0 SL) | @UST_WomenSoccer
Next Up: at South Dakota (9/21; 4 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: at Marquette (T, 1-1)
Junior Mariah Nguyen scored her fifth goal of the season and 10th of her career in a 1-1 draw against Marquette ... She is the first Tommie to score ten goals in its Division I era ... Olivia Rowe made three saves on 11 shots against the Golden Eagles ... She has held opponents to one goal or less in six of seven games this season ... Eight different Tommie players have scored a goal in the first seven games of the season, which matches their 2021 season and is just four short of their mark in 2022 (12 different players) ... St. Thomas will roll to Vermillion to take on South Dakota.
SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES (4-2-3; 0-0-0 SL) | @SDCoyotesSoccer
Next Up: vs. St. Thomas (9/21; 4 p.m. CT); vs. South Dakota State (9/24; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: vs. Lindenwood (W, 1-0)
After scoring her first collegiate goals against Idaho State, Brooke Conway registered the game-winning goal in the 15th minute in a home shutout of Lindenwood ... Goalkeeper Caroline Lewis had two saves in her 90 minutes of play, while defenders Taylor Ravelo and Maliah Atkins also competed the entirety of the match ... Ashby Johnston continues to rank among the Summit League’s best, as the senior forward sits tied for second in goals (5) third in shots (25), tied for third in shots on goal (12) ... The Coyotes will host its next three league matches at home, beginning with St. Thomas and South Dakota State.
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS (7-2-0; 0-0-0 SL) | @GoJacksSoccer
Next Up: at South Dakota (9/23; 1 p.m. CT)
Previous Matches: at Creighton (L, 1-0)
The Jackrabbits held a 12-7 shot advantage over Creighton, however, the Bluejays came out victorious with a 1-0 decision ... In the match, Avery Murdzek had a team-high four shots for the followed by Kaycee Manding who registered two ... Reagan Anderson along with Katherine Jones were the lone Jackrabbits to place shots on goal ... South Dakota State is tied for ninth in the country in total assists (26) and is tied for 32nd in scoring offense (2.67) ... Furthermore, the Jackrabbits sit tied for 23rd in the nation in total goals (23).
#SummitWSOC
