Soccer heads for Western Illinois

GAME 14: South Dakota State (6-4-3, 2-0 Summit League) at Western Illinois (2-10, 1-1)

When	Sunday, Oct. 15 \| 1 p.m.
Where	John McKenzie Alumni Field \| Macomb, Ill.
Live Video	Leathernecks All-Access Portal
Live Stats	GoLeathernecks.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #RabbitsFutbol

Previewing the Week
South Dakota State women's soccer hits the road for a single game this weekend, traveling to Macomb, Illinois on Sunday to face Western Illinois at 1 p.m. The Jacks carry a four-game winning streak into the weekend and are unbeaten in their last six contests.

The three-time defending Summit League Tournament champions are 2-0 in league play after a 1-0 win at home against Omaha Oct. 6, where Jennie Scislow notched her first goal of the season with an assist from Leah Manuleleua.

Nicole Hatcher leads the team with 14 points this season, scoring goals in five of the last six games to go along with four assists thus far. Leah Manuleleua has four goals and an assist on the year (nine points) while Annie Williams is third in scoring with five points (two goals, one assist).

Maggie Smither has started 12 games on the year with 13 appearances, posting a 1.09 goals against average with 65 saves and three shutouts. Taylor Lock has played in three games between the pipes, stopping five shots.

Scouting the Mavericks
Western Illinois (2-10-0, 1-1-0 Summit League) welcomes North Dakota State and South Dakota State to town this weekend, beginning Friday against the Bison. WIU dropped its Summit League opener to Oral Roberts before rebounding with a 1-0 win against Fort Wayne last weekend. The Fighting Leathernecks are 2-3 in their last five games, including a 9-1 romping of Chicago State on Sept. 17.

WIU is led offensively by Emily Bollman and Bianca Romay, who each have three goals and an assist for seven points. Lauryn Peters and Madeline Edwards both have four points, recording a goal and two assists for the Leathernecks.

At keeper, three Leathernecks have seen time with Ines Palmiero Herrera playing a majority of the minutes. Herrera has started eight games on the year, allowing 14 goals with 35 saves over nearly 700 minutes played. Jennifier Currie has appeared in six games with four starts, posting a 1.82 goals against average thus far.

Dr. Eric Johnson is in his second season leading the women's program, but serves as the school's Director of Soccer and also coaches the men's team. Overall, Johnson is in his 21st season at the school and is the all-time winningest men's soccer coach in the Summit League.

The Jackrabbits lead the all-time series with Western Illinois, 10-1-1, and have won six straight. The last loss in the series came in 2007 in Macomb, Illinois. State has outscored WIU, 19-5, over 12 meetings.

Last Time Out
South Dakota State women's soccer overcame wet field conditions and a stingy Omaha defense last Friday to win its fourth consecutive game, claiming a 1-0 victory at Fishback Soccer Park thanks to a late goal from Jennie Scislow.

SDSU put constant pressure on the Maverick defense with a 20-2 shot advantage, but was unable to break through until the 80th minute of action when Leah Manuleleua found Scislow sprinting down the middle of the field. After drawing the Omaha keeper out of the net, Scislow's shot slipped past the defense and into the lower left corner of the net.

Scislow netted her first goal of the season to lead the offense, while Manuleleua recorded assist No. 2 for the season. Both Jackrabbits had four shots in the game, trailing only Tori Poole (six shots) for the team-lead in attempts.

Maggie Smither started between the pipes and tallied one save.

Jackrabbit Quick Hitters

South Dakota State is 2-0 to begin Summit League play for the eighth time over its 11 years of membership. All seven times prior, the Jacks have reached the Summit League Tournament.
The Jacks have won four straight and are unbeaten in their last six games. SDSU has put together four-game winning streaks in four of the last six seasons, including a six-game winning streak in 2016. The school record for consecutive games without a loss is 10, set in 2008.
Nicole Hatcher is second on SDSU's career assist record list with 20. Next up is Diana Potterveld, who holds the school record with 21 assists.
Hatcher has recorded a point in five consecutive games, a mark that ranks third all-time in SDSU history. She trails her own record of seven consecutive games with a point (set in 2016) and Diana Potterveld, who scored in six straight games in 2015.
The Jackrabbits' 30 shots against North Dakota on Sept. 15 were the most by the program since Oct. 25, 2015 when State had 29 against Fort Wayne.
The Jackrabbits are 19-16-42 in games that go to overtime. In single overtime contests, SDSU is 9-9. In double overtime matches, the Jacks are 10-7-42.
SDSU's game against Utah on Aug. 22 was its first against a ranked opponent since the 2014 NCAA Tournament when the Jacks faced off against North Carolina Nov. 14. SDSU is 1-7 all-time against Division I ranked opponents, claiming a win in 2008 against No. 15 Colorado in the NCAA Tournament.
SDSU played a pair of Power Five Schools this season in Iowa State and Utah. All-time against schools from the Big 10, Big 12, Pac-10, SEC and ACC, the Jacks are a combined 4-23-5. Three of those wins and two ties have come against Iowa State.
South Dakota State is 5-11-2 all-time in season openers. In home openers, the team is 6-10-2.
The Jackrabbits have one five consecutive Summit League openers and are 10-1 all-time in those contests.

Jacks rake in Summit League honors
Leah Manuleleua and Nicole Hatcher have combined for three Summit League weekly awards this season, with Hatcher picking up two Offensive Player of the Week nods in the last three weeks.

Hatcher was selected as a Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 2 after notching six points to help SDSU go 2-0. Hatcher had a goal and an assist in both games, hitting an equalizer against Denver and the game-winner against Bellevue.
Hatcher was also picked as the Summit League's Offensive Player of the Week Sept. 19 after netting two goals the week prior.
Manuleleua was picked as the Co-Offensive Player of the Week Sept. 5 after she netted the game-winner at Creighton, sending the Jackrabbits home with a 3-2 golden-goal victory after her one-touch score in the 93rd minute.

Eyes on the Prize
Despite going winless through the first two games of the season, the Jackrabbits will look to program history and trust its 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 seven times but has finished with a losing record just once, earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament in three of those seasons.

Jacks Tabbed Second In Preseason Poll
Three-time defending league champion South Dakota State was picked second in the Summit League's Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll, announced Aug. 10 by the organization. Just two points separate the top four in the poll, as the Jackrabbits received two first-place votes and 40 total points, tied with North Dakota State. Despite garnering only one first-place vote, Denver led the pack with 41 points and Oral Roberts, which received the most first-place votes, three, was fourth with 39 tallies. South Dakota and Omaha tied for fifth in the poll with 22 points, while Western Illinois (12) and Fort Wayne (eight) closed out the rankings.

Hatcher, Smither Named Players to Watch
As part of the preseason poll release Aug. 10, The Summit League announced its Players To Watch list, which included SDSU's Nicole Hatcher and Maggie Smither.

Nicole Hatcher turned in a standout season in 2016 where she earned All-Summit League First Team honors with 22 points (six goals, 10 assists) for the No. 2 spot on SDSU's single season assists record list. The Sioux Falls, South Dakota native had four game-winners, and tallied points in a school-record seven consecutive games.
After splitting time in the net last season as a redshirt freshman, Maggie Smither inherits the starting role between the pipes for the 2017 campaign with high aspirations. Smither set the school record for goals against average with a 0.34 mark and put together the second-best saves percentage (.911) in program history last year. She allowed just four goals over 1,057 minutes played in 2016, and came up with 41 saves while posting a 7-2-4 record in net. The Sioux Falls, S.D., native was named to the All-Freshman team by The Summit League last year and was the league's November Female Athlete of the Month. Smither came up big in the postseason as well, logging consecutive shutouts in the Summit League Final and NCAA Tournament First Round game.

A New Era
A new face is leading the Jackrabbits for just the second time in program history, as Brock Thompson assumed head coaching duties Jan. 31, 2017 after 17-year head coach Lang Wedemeyer stepped down. Thompson had been with the program nine years prior, dating back to 2008, and brings head coaching experience into the new role. Thompson spent three years as the head coach at University of Mary (Bismarck, N.D.) and three years at the University of North Dakota (Grand Forks, N.D.).

Upcoming Promotions
South Dakota State women's soccer has several upcoming promotions for its home games this season:

Oct. 26	South Dakota	SDSU Soccer T-Shirts
Oct. 29	North Dakota State	SDSU Rally Towels

Jacks on the Air
South Dakota State women's soccer and the Jackrabbit Sports Network have announced a partnership with Brookings Radio for three broadcasts this season. Fans can tune into 1430 KBRK-AM for Jackrabbit games against Iowa State (Sept. 1), South Dakota (Oct. 26) and North Dakota State (Oct. 29). The audio will also be streamed for free through the Jackrabbit All-Access portal. Subscribers of the video stream will hear the broadcast as part of their package for those games as well. Tyler Merriam and Kiley Cirillo will call the action. Merriam is the lead play-by-play voice for the Jackrabbit Sports Network, while Cirillo is the Brookings Fútbol Club Director of Coaching. Previously, Cirillo was the head women's soccer coach at the University of Indianapolis and Missouri Southern.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

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Players Mentioned

Nicole Hatcher

Taylor Lock

Leah Manuleleua

Tori Poole

Jennie Scislow

Maggie Smither

Annie Williams

Upcoming Event: Women's Soccer at Kansas City on October 23, 2025 at 7 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Soccer at Oral Roberts on October 26, 2025 at 1 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Soccer versus 2025 Women's Soccer Championship on November 1, 2025 at TBD

Completed Event: Women's Soccer at South Dakota on October 18, 2025 , Tie , 0, to, 0

Completed Event: Women's Soccer versus Omaha on October 12, 2025 , Win , 3, to, 1

Completed Event: Women's Soccer at Denver on October 9, 2025 , Loss , 0, to, 1

Completed Event: Women's Soccer versus North Dakota State on October 5, 2025 , Win , 2, to, 0

Completed Event: Women's Soccer versus North Dakota on October 2, 2025 , Tie , 2, to, 2

Completed Event: Women's Soccer versus St. Thomas on September 25, 2025 , Win , 6, to, 0

South Dakota State University Athletics