Jacks carry four-game winning streak into weekend

Friday, October 7

Brookings, S.D.

6 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Western Illinois

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia Sports Media

10/4/2016 3:46:00 PM | Women's Soccer

SDSU Game Notes

Winners of four consecutive games, the South Dakota State Jackrabbit women's soccer program hosts Western Illinois and Oral Roberts in a pair of conference matchups this weekend at Fishback Soccer Park. SDSU and the Fighting Leathernecks square off on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by a Sunday contest against the Golden Eagles at 1 p.m.

Friday's contest is SDSU's annual pink game, where the Jackrabbits will wear special pink jerseys in honor and recognition of the fight against breast cancer. Fans will have the chance to win a team-autographed pink t-shirt and a pink soccer ball. Proceeds from the fundraiser will be donated to the Edith Sanford Foundation.

Scouting the Fighting Leathernecks
South Dakota State hosts WIU in the weekend opener and the Fighting Leathernecks come to Fishback Soccer Park with a 3-7-1 record. After losing six of its first eight games (with one draw), WIU has won two of three and opened conference play at 1-1 overall, defeating South Dakota 1-0 after a 1-0 loss to Denver. WIU has been outscored, 16-6, on the year and have been outshot, 123-99. Individually, the team is led on offense by Emily Bollman and Bianca Romay, as both players have a pair of goals on the year. In net, Ines Palmeiro Herrera and Jennifer Currie have split a majority of time at goalkeeper, both appearing in five games. Herrera has 22 saves and a 1.73 goals against average (with seven goals allowed) over 363 minutes played, while Currie has 14 saves with five goals allowed (1.11 GAA) over 404 minutes played. SDSU leads the all-time series, 9-1-1, and has won five consecutive games, not losing since its inaugural Summit League season in 2007. The teams have played two neutral site contests all-time, a 2-0 SDSU win in 2004 and a 1-0 SDSU win in the 2009 Summit League Tournament. The Jacks have never lost to WIU at Fishback Soccer Park, outscoring the Leathernecks 8-2 at home in the series. All-time, the Jackrabbits have outscored WIU, 17-5 over the 11 meetings. The Jacks have won 2-1 games in back-to-back years, claiming a regulation win on the road in 2015 and an overtime win in 2014 at home.

Scouting the Golden Eagles
Oral Roberts comes to Fishback Soccer Park in the weekend finale but will take on Omaha on the Friday with a 5-7-1 (1-0 Summit League) record headed into that match. The Golden Eagles have dropped two straight, falling 1-0 against North Dakota State and 4-0 at UMKC after a 1-1 draw against Kansas State. ORU has matched its opponents, 18-18, in goals on year while outshooting opponents, 205-129. Lexi Jones leads the team with nine points and four goals for the year, while Alexia Herrera has three goals. In the assist column, Chloe Basnett and Mariah Morgan each have three. At goalkeeper, Ryliegh Bohnenstiel has played 1 games with 10 starts, playing a team-high 830 minutes with 13 goals allowed and a 1.41 goals against average, racking up 40 saves. SDSU leads the all-time series, 7-1, and winning the first six before splitting games last year. The Jacks lost a narrow 3-2 overtime contest on the road in the regular season before getting revenge with a 3-1 victory in the Summit League Tournament. The Jacks have outscored ORU, 15-4, in the series. At home, SDSU is 4-0 against the Golden Eagles and have not allowed a goal at Fishback Soccer Park to ORU while scoring eight against.

Last Time Out
South Dakota State women's soccer recorded a season-high 21 shots and allowed a defensive-best three Fort Wayne shots in a 1-0 win to open conference play on Saturday, Oct. 1. The Jackrabbits won their fourth straight game in shutout fashion, outlasting the Mastodons over a four hour and 37 minute contest, which goes down as the longest game in school history. Nicole Hatcher notched her team-leading sixth assist of the season early in the first half for her 10th point in 2016 while Kyli Nelson scored SDSU's lone goal (and game-winner). Defensively, SDSU's back row of Ashley Adams, Lindsee Larson, Alexa Hepner and McKenzie Wolf played all 90 minutes as the defense shined throughout the afternoon. Nicole Inskeep (3-4) earned the start in net and played the first half to earn the win, recording one save before Maggie Smither closed the contest. Smither had one save as well as she played the entire second half. Scoreless through the opening 16 minutes of play (though SDSU had three early shot attempts), the Jackrabbits broke through at 16:58 as Nelson scored her second goal of the season. Off a pass from Hatcher on the right side of the field, Nelson took the ball mid-box and beat the keeper. That was SDSU's lone goal in the game, though the Jacks took a 10-1 shot advantage into the locker room as the defensive unit performed to near-perfection. Out of the break, the Jacks picked up right where they left off with their fifth shot on goal in the 48th minute before mother nature slowed the SDSU offense with a lightning delay that totaled two hours and 35 minutes. Back on the field, South Dakota State did not score again, but continued to fire shots at a rapid pace and finished the game with a 18-plus shot margin against the Mastodons.

Quick Hits

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.
South Dakota State is 6-1-0 this season in games it scores first, setting up a recipe for success in the second half of the season. Winless in games opponents have scored first this year (0-4), the Jacks will look for a fast-strike offense and solid defense to carry the program towards another title-worthy season.
The Jacks are on a season-long winning streak of four games, which is the longest since SDSU won six consecutive games during the 2013 season.
Nicole Hatcher has now recorded points in four consecutive games, scoring and assisting against Green Bay and Drake and assisting against UMKC and Fort Wayne. Her six assists for 2016 already ranks tied for ninth on SDSU's single-season record list.
SDSU has scored three or more goals on four occasions this season, the highest total in that category since 2014 when the team had six three-plus goal games.
South Dakota State's 21 shots was the most since last season's contest against Fort Wayne on Oct. 25, 2015 when the team fired 29 shots at Fishback Soccer Park.
SDSU is now 9-1 in Summit League openers, with its lone defeat coming in 2012.

Three Straight Summit League POW's for SDSU
South Dakota State women's soccer claimed three consecutive Summit League Player of the Week honors in the first three weeks of September. Nicole Hatcher earned a share of the award on the offensive side of the ball on Sept. 19, Lindsee Larson was Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 12 and Maggie Smither earned co-Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 6.

Extra Time
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.

Split Attack
As conference play opens, South Dakota State has already seen 11 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.

Offensive Breakout
Held without a goal in the first two contests, SDSU has now scored in seven of its last eight games, with multiple goals in four of those games. The Jacks erupted for a season-high four goals in a shutout win against Green Bay in its last time out, and has twice notched three goals in a game.

Career Chart Climbers
Several Jackrabbits are listed among the Top five on record lists at SDSU ...

Penalty Kicks Made
1	Madison Yueill	4
2	Diana Potterveld	3
	Melissa Speiser	3

Penalty Kick Attempts
1	Madison Yueill	6
2	Diana Potterveld	5

Saves
1	Nicole Lograsso	269
2	Birttany Frazier	267
3	Nicole Inskeep	209

Wins
1	Nicole Inskeep	31
2	Nicole Lograsso	30
3	Brittany Frazier	26

Most Shutouts
1	Nicole Lograsso	21
2	Nicole Inskeep	20.5

Goalie Games Started
1	Nicole Lograsso	51
2	Nicole Inskeep	47

Goalie Games Played
1	Nicole Inskeep	60
2	Nicole Lograsso	59

Goalie Minutes Played
1	Nicole Lograsso	5,055
2	Nicole Inskeep	5,016

Minutes Played
1	Katie McNeary	6,337
2	Kerstyn Farrell	6,077
3	Ashley Adams	6,120

Second Half Shutdown
South Dakota State's defense has allowed just five second half (or overtime) goals through 11 games this season, and only eight goals for the year overall. The Jacks opened the season without allowing a second half goal in the first five games.

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.

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.