South Dakota State women's soccer welcomes IUPUI to Fishback Soccer Park on Friday for a 6 p.m., contest with postseason implications.  A win for the Jackrabbits would secure the regular season Summit League title and the No. 1 seed in next week's conference tournament.  The Jacks are one of five team's within reach of the No. 1 spot, but are the only Summit League program to lock up a postseason berth at this time. Friday's game is also Senior Night, where the Jacks' seven seniors will be honored pregame.
Scouting the Jaguars
IUPUI comes to Fishback Soccer Park on Friday to open the final weekend of Summit League play with tournament implications on the line. The Jackrabbits will secure the No. 1 seed with the win, while a loss eliminates IUPUI from postseason candidacy. A tie puts the Jaguars on the brink of elimination while a win pushes the Jaguars back into the picture before the team travels to NDSU for Sunday's season finale. IUPUI sits at 8-6-3 overall and 2-2-2 in Summit League play on the year, going 1-2-2 over the previous five games. The Jaguars are currently sixth in the Summit League standings but are just two points outside of fourth place. IUPUI has outscored opponents, 30-28, for the season but are trailing in shot count, 226-217. Individually, Tori Minnich is fourth in the conference and first on the team with 19 points, scoring a team-high eight goals alongside three assists. Catherine Raster has seven goals for the Jaguars while Maryna Clark has eight assists and Hayley Shelton has six assists. In net, Catherine Schmidt has played a majority of time (14 starts, 1,228:11 minutes played). She has 60 saves for the year with 22 goals allowed, posting a 1.61 goals against average. South Dakota State leads the all-time series, 8-2-2, and has gone 4-0-2 against the Jaguars since 2010. The last IUPUI win came in the 2009 Summit League Tournament championship game when the Jaguars defeated the Jacks, 4-1. At home, SDSU is 3-1-1 against the Jaguars. In the all-time series the Jackrabbits hold a 15-11 advantage in goals scored, though seven of IUPUI's goals have come between a 2006 neutral site contest (three) and the previously mentioned 2009 contest (four goals). The Jacks had just one goal between those two games.
Locked In
With a win over Denver last Sunday, South Dakota State clinched its spot in the 2016 Summit League Tournament and was the first team in the league to do so. The Jackrabbits have reached the conference tournament in four consecutive years and in eight of the previous nine seasons. The Jacks have missed postseason play just twice since joining the Summit League (2007 and 2012). A win on Friday would secure the No. 1 seed and a regular season championship for the Jacks, who would also earn hosting responsibilities for the 2017 Summit League Tournament. The winner of the Summit League tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Tournament Forecast
Entering the final weekend, four other teams are within reach of the three spots remaining, and a win for SDSU on Friday against IUPUI would secure the No. 1 seed and the regular season title. A number of tiebreakers come into play with five teams fighting for the final three spots and six teams fighting for the top four seeds, though the Jackrabbits control their own destiny for the No. 1 seed. If the Jackrabbits were to tie IUPUI, the following are possible (unofficial) scenarios could affect SDSU:
- NDSU wins and Omaha/Denver goes 2-0 for the weekend, there would be a three-way tie at 16 points that would be broken with to-be-announced Summit League tiebreakers.
- NDSU wins and Omaha/Denver do not go 2-0, SDSU will be the No. 1 seed and NDSU will be the No. 2 seed.
- NDSU loses or ties and Omaha goes 2-0, Omaha will be the No. 1 seed and SDSU will be the No. 2 seed. The Bison's seed would depend on ORU, IUPUI and Denver results.
- NDSU loses or ties and Denver goes 2-0, SDSU will be the No. 1 seed and Denver will be the No. 2 seed. The Bison's seed would depend on ORU, IUPUI and Omaha results.
- ORU enters the weekend with 12 points and with only one game to play cannot jump SDSU in the tournament seeding (max 15 points).
Last Time Out
South Dakota State women's soccer outdueled Denver and a windy forecast on Sunday afternoon for a 2-0 win at Fishback Soccer Park in a matchup between two of the conference's top programs. SDSU held on to its first-place spot in the standings with the win, keeping its hopes for a regular season conference championship alive with one game to go. The Jackrabbits won the shot battle, 15-8 for the day and put six on goal.
Tori Poole had four of those shots (two on goal) while
Shelby Raper had three.
Kyli Nelson,
Lindsee Larson and
Nicole Hatcher (two on goal) each added two shots, and
Ashley Adams joined Annie Wiliams with one. Hatcher recorded her sixth goal of the season to extend her team-lead with 20 points on the year, which ranks second in the conference. Poole notched her fifth goal of the year (and fourth in the last five games).
Madison Yueill, Raper and Nelson had assists on the day. FIghting against the wind in the first, South Dakota State moved the ball well and had eight shots in the opening 45 minutes, including a pair of near-misses that kept things even. Just past the 13-minute mark, a cross from Nelson into the box put Raper in a scoring opportunity, though the shot went just wide. Later in the half, inside 10 seconds to play, the Jacks rushed to take advantage of a corner kick, and though Yueill's cross found Larson, a bit of misfortune sent the Jacks to the half scoreless as the header hit the crossbar. Out of the pause, the Jacks shook off the unfortunute bounces and broke through the Pioneer defense in the 58th minute to grab a 1-0 lead. Another corner kick from Yueill was played short to Raper, who sent a low cross into the box for Hatcher and the one-touch shot deflected off a Denver defender into the net. From there, SDSU dug in on the defensive in and fought off a hard charging Denver squad, playing on the Jackrabbit side of the field for a majority of the next 20 minutes, save for a few long runs from the SDSU attackers. Later in the game with time winding down, Yueill played a corner kick into no-man's land just into the box as part of a clock-management strategy, but as Denver looked to clear the ball, Poole stepped into the upper right corner of the box and fired a missile into the left side of the net for an insurance goal with nine seconds to go in the game after being fed the ball from Nelson.
Quick Hits
- South Dakota State is 10-1-0 this season in games it scores first, setting up a recipe for success as postseason play looms. In games that opponents score first, SDSU is winless at 0-5-1.
- The Jacks' win over Denver on Oct. 23 gave the team 10 wins on the year for the fourth consecutive season, and 10th time in program history. Over the last nine years, SDSU has reached 10 wins eight times.
- SDSU has posted eight shutouts this season, one shy of its season total from 2015. The most shutouts SDSU has ever had in a season, 12, came in 2013. The Jacks also had 12 in 2008 and 11 in 2011.
- Tori Poole's goal at 5:22 against North Dakota State was SDSU's fifth score in the opening 10 minutes of game action this season.
- Over a three-game span from Oct. 1-9, SDSU outshot its opponents, 62-14, combined.
- South Dakota State has trailed at halftime in just three games this season, against Kansas and at South Dakota and Omaha.
- SDSU's two-goal deficit from 61:13 to 63:42 (a span of only 2:29) against USD on Oct. 14 was the largest deficit the Jacks have faced this season.Â
- SDSU's three-game shutout streak came to an end when ORU scored in the second half of the Oct. 9 game, but not before SDSU strung together over 328 minutes of scoreless play on the defensive end.
- Nicole Hatcher recorded a point in seven straight games from Sept. 11 to Oct. 9, setting a school record for points in consecutive games. The previous record of six was set twice by Diana Potterveld during her career. The Jackrabbits' six-game winning streak from Sept. 11 to Oct. 9 this season was the program's second longest in history and matched the six-game winning streak from Sept. 22 to Oct. 19, 2013. The longest winning streak in program history is 10, set during the 2008 season.
- SDSU has now scored three or more goals in five games this season, the highest total in that category since 2014 when the team had six three-plus goal games.  The five goals scored against ORU is the most since Sept. 22, 2013 when the Jacks defeated North Dakota, 3-0.  Five goals is the most in Summit League play for SDSU since Oct. 26, 2012 in a 6-1 win at Omaha.
- South Dakota State has already seen 13 separate individuals players score this year, passing its totals from the previous two seasons and approaching the program record for that mark. SDSU had 10 players find the net in 2015 and nine score in 2014. The Jacks have reached double digits for individuals scoring on nine occasions, including a program-high 14 in 2010. The Jacks had 13 individuals find the net in 2003 and have twice (2008 and 2013) seen 12 players score.
- South Dakota State secured a winning non-conference regular season record for the fifth time since joining NCAA Division I with wins over UMKC and Drake in its last weekend out. SDSU last had a winning non-conference regular season record in 2013. The non-conference schedule included three contests with Power Five schools this season, and one against a school out of the BIG EAST. SDSU dropped a 1-0 contest at Iowa State (Big Ten) this year before drawing 1-1 against Kansas (Big 12) at home. The final Power Five contest for SDSU was a heartbreaking 1-0 loss in double overtime to Wisconsin. In addition to those three, SDSU also had a non-conference game with Creighton, out of the BIG EAST.
- SDSU has three double overtime games this season and sports a 1-1-1 record in those games. Historically, the Jacks have played well in overtime periods, claiming a 17-15-36 mark in combined games between single and double overtimes. The Jacks are 7-9 all-time in single overtime contests and 10-6-36 in double overtime games. The most overtime games in a season for SDSU was 12 in 2003. Since moving to the Division I level, SDSU's overtime high is six, which came last season.
- SDSU is 9-1 in Summit League openers, with its lone defeat coming in 2012.
- The Jacks are 5-10-2 all-time in season openers.Â
SDSU garners four Summit League AOW's
Entering the final weekend of regular season play, South Dakota State has claimed four total Summit League Athlete of the Week honors for the 2016 season.
- Nicole Hatcher earned Co-Offensive Athlete of the Week honors on Sept. 19 and also snagged the award on Oct. 10
- Lindsee Larson was picked as Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 12
- Maggie Smither was named co-Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 6.Â
National Leaderboard
South Dakota State is listed among the top 100 of several team national leader lists entering the final weekend while
Nicole Hatcher is in the top 100 of four categories on the NCAA leaderboard. As of Oct. 25 the Jacks are among the top 50 in the following:
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| Team Rankings |
|
|
| Goals Against Average |
0.68 |
26th |
| Shutout Percentage |
0.471 |
48th |
| Fouls Per Game |
7.41 |
64th |
| Save Percentage |
0.806 |
89th |
| W-L-T- Percentage |
0.618 |
96th |
| Total Goals |
28 |
99th |
| Scoring Offense |
1.65 |
100th |
|
|
|
| Nicole Hatcher National Rankings |
|
| Total Assists |
8 |
16th |
| Assists Per Game |
0.47 |
28th |
| Game-Winning Goals |
4 |
32nd |
| Total Points |
20 |
96th |
Eyes on the Prize
Despite going winless through the opening two games, the Jackrabbits have proven over the years it's not how you start, but how you finish. Since joining the NCAA Division I ranks in 2004, SDSU has gone 0-2 to open a season six times but has finished with a losing record just once, earning a trip to the NCAA College Cup in two of the seasons that began 0-2.
Record Book Update
Several Jackrabbits are listed among career and single-season top 10 record lists as the 2016 regular season winds down.
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| Career Summit League Records |
| Goalkeeper Wins |
|
|
| 3 |
Sierra Bonham, North Dakota State |
2012-15 |
36 |
| 4 |
Christy Chapman, Oral Roberts |
2000-02 |
32 |
| 5 |
Nicole Inskeep, South Dakota State |
2013-pres. |
31 |
|
|
|
|
| Shutouts |
|
|
| 1 |
Sarah Buckland, Oakland |
2000-03 |
25 |
| 2 |
Jamie Farrell, IUPUI |
2006-09 |
21 |
| 3 |
Nicole Inskeep, South Dakota State |
2013-pres. |
20.8(20) |
|
Siera Bonham, North Dakota State |
2012-15 |
20 |
|
|
|
|
| Coaching Wins |
|
|
| 1 |
Nick O'Shea, Oakland |
1999-2012 |
151 |
| 2 |
Lang Wedemeyer, South Dakota State |
2007-pres. |
107 |
| 3 |
Kyle Cussen, Oral Roberts |
1999-2007 |
99 |
|
|
|
|
| Summit League Coaching Wins |
|
|
| 1 |
Nick O'Shea, Oakland |
1999-2012 |
71 |
| 2 |
Lang Wedemeyer, South Dakota State |
2007-pres. |
59 |
| 3 |
Chris Johnson, IUPUI |
2003-pres. |
38 |
|
|
|
|
| Summit League Winning Percentage |
|
|
| 1 |
Lang Wedemeyer, South Dakota State |
2007-pres. |
0.768 |
| 2 |
Nick O'Shea, Oakland |
1999-2012 |
0.763 |
|
|
|
|
| Single-Season Summit League Records |
| Goals Against Average |
|
|
| 1 |
Maggie Smither, South Dakota State |
2016 |
0.26 |
| 2 |
Payj O'Shea, Oakland |
2010 |
0.43 |
| 3 |
Cassidy Rey, Denver |
2013 |
0.52 |
|
|
|
|
| Season Season SDSU Records (2016 Updates Only) |
| Points |
|
|
| 8 |
Diana Potterveld |
2015 |
22 (9g, 4a) |
| 9 |
Nicole Hatcher |
2016 |
20 (6g, 8a) |
|
Kayla Braffet |
2009 |
20 (6g, 8a) |
|
Susan Mason |
2001 |
20 (7g, 6a) |
|
|
|
|
| Points Per Game (min. 5 games) |
|
|
| 5 |
Janine Fagan |
2002 |
1.39 |
| 6 |
Diana Potterveld |
2014 |
1.2 |
| 7 |
Nicole Hatcher |
2016 |
1.18 |
|
|
|
|
| Game-Winning Goals |
|
|
| 2 |
Erin Kasmarik |
2008 |
6 |
| 3 |
Kelsey Ferguson |
2008 |
5 |
| 4 |
Nicole Hatcher |
2016 |
4 |
|
Kelsey Ferguson |
2011 |
4 |
|
Jennifer Briggs |
2012 |
4 |
|
Kaitlin Justice |
2009 |
4 |
|
|
|
|
| Assists |
|
|
| 1 |
Diana Potterveld |
2014 |
12 |
| 2 |
Jennifer Briggs |
2001 |
10 |
| 3 |
Nicole Hatcher |
2016 |
8 |
|
Kayla Braffat |
2008 |
8 |
|
|
|
|
| Assists Per Game |
|
|
| 1 |
Diana Potterveld |
2014 |
0.6 |
| 2 |
Jennifer Briggs |
2001 |
0.5 |
| 3 |
Nicole Hatcher |
2016 |
0.47 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Career SDSU Records |
|
| Penalty Kicks Made |
|
|
| 1 |
Madison Yueill |
4 |
|
| 2 |
Diana Potterveld |
3 |
|
|
Melissa Speiser |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Penalty Kick Attempts |
|
|
| 1 |
Madison Yueill |
7 |
|
| 2 |
Diana Potterveld |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Assists |
|
|
| 2 |
Kayla Braffet |
18 |
|
|
Kellyn Farrell |
18 |
|
| 4 |
Jennifer Briggs |
16 |
|
| 5 |
Nicole Hatcher |
14 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Saves |
|
|
| 1 |
Nicole Lograsso |
269 |
|
| 2 |
Birttany Frazier |
267 |
|
| 3 |
Nicole Inskeep |
215 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Wins |
|
|
|
| 1 |
Nicole Inskeep |
31 |
|
| 2 |
Nicole Lograsso |
30 |
|
| 3 |
Brittany Frazier |
26 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Most Shutouts |
|
|
| 1 |
Nicole Lograsso |
21 |
|
| 2 |
Nicole Inskeep |
20.8 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Goalie Games Started |
|
|
| 1 |
Nicole Lograsso |
51 |
|
| 2 |
Nicole Inskeep |
50 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Goalie Games Played |
|
|
| 1 |
Nicole Inskeep |
66 |
|
| 2 |
Nicole Lograsso |
59 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Goalie Minutes Played |
|
|
| 1 |
Nicole Inskeep |
5,286 |
|
| 2 |
Nicole Lograsso |
5,055 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Minutes Played |
|
|
| 1 |
Ashley Adams |
6,650 |
|
| 2 |
Katie McNeary |
6,337 |
|
| 3 |
Kerstyn Farrell |
6,077 |
|
Inskeep named to Watch List
Senior goalkeeper
Nicole Inskeep was named to The Summit League's Watch List as part of the preseason coaches poll release. The second-team All-Summit League selection from a year ago led the league in save percentage (.833) and goals-against average (1.82) while collecting five shutouts against league members. Overall, she recorded eight shutouts and posted a 1.06 goals-against average and registered a .815 save percentage and 11-5-3 record. As a starter in 20 of 21 matches in 2015, Inskeep enters the season ranked second in wins (27), shutouts (20), minutes (4,406) and matches played (49), third in starts (41), fourth in saves (195) and saves per game (3.97) and fifth in goals-against average (1.06) in the SDSU record book.
Jacks picked 2nd in Preseason Poll
For the third consecutive year, the South Dakota State women's soccer team was picked to finish second in the 2016 season, according to a preseason poll conducted by the league's head coaches. The two-time Summit League Tournament defending champions earned two first-place votes and 56 points in the poll ... Summit League regular-season champion North Dakota State was tabbed the preseason favorite with seven first-place votes and 63 points. The complete poll can be found on page three of the game notes.
2015 Season Review
South Dakota State earned its second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2015, falling at Minnesota, 5-0, in the opening round. SDSU won the Summit League tournament over North Dakota State to earn an NCAA berth, claiming a 3-0 victory over the rival Bison. Overall, SDSU posted a 12-6-3 record and a 5-1-2 conference mark. Individually, SDSU saw
Diana Potterveld nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year and named the Summit League Scholar Athlete of the Year in addition to earning Capital One Academic All-America, All-District First Team and Summit League All-Academic and First Team honors. Joining her on the All-Summit League First Team was
Tori Poole and
Delaney Ratcliffe.
Nicole Inskeep was named to the Second Team and
Brittany Jensen earned an All-Freshman team nod.
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