Soccer heads for Utah to open 2017 campaign

Friday, August 18

Logan, Utah

5 p.m. CT / 4 p.m. MT

South Dakota State University

Utah State

Photo by: Inertia Sports Media/Dave Eggen

8/16/2017 10:50:00 AM | Women's Soccer

GAMES 1 & 2: South Dakota State (0-0) at Utah State (0-0); at #20 Utah (0-0)

When	Friday, August 18 \| 5 p.m. CT	Sunday, August 20 \| 1 p.m. CT
Where	Chuck & Gloria Bell Field \| Logan, Utah	Ute Soccer Field \| Salt Lake City, Utah
TV	Mountain West Network	Pac-12 Mountain Network \| Krista Blunk (Play-by-Play)
Live Stats	UtahStateAggies.com	UtahUtes.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Utah State \| Utah
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #RabbitsFutbol

Previewing the Week
South Dakota State heads west to open the 2017 regular season this weekend, traveling to Utah State and Utah. SDSU and the Aggies kick off Friday at 5 p.m. CT in Logan, Utah in a rematch of last year's season opener, while the Utes, ranked 20th in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll, welcome SDSU to Salt Lake City for a 1 p.m. CT start Sunday.

Friday's game will be streamed through the Mountain West Network. Sunday's contest is broadcast online by the Pac-12 Mountain Network, with Krista Blunk handling play-by-play duties.

Scouting the Aggies
Utah State enters the 2017 season in a similar spot as the Jacks, featuring a solid mix of key returners and fresh faces on the roster. Last season, the Aggies went 12-9 (7-4 Mountain West) with 39 goals and a 1.09 goals against average. Picked fourth in the Mountain West preseason poll, USU claimed a 4-0 win over Southern Utah in its lone exhibition last week, with four different players scoring as Kanyan Ward had a goal and an assist in the game.

Jessica Brooksby, the team's point leader from a year ago, is gone, but all-conference returner is back after logging 20 points last season (eight goals, four assists). Bailee Hammond (four goals, five assists) and Alecia Robinson (five goals, one assist) are back as well.

In goal, Grace McQuire returns after playing a majority of minutes between the pipes for the Aggies, allowing 18 goals with a 1.00 goals against average.

Scouting the Utes
Utah brings an experienced lineup into the 2017 season, returning eight starters from last year's team that reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen and closed out the campaign ranked 16th nationally. The Utes went 13-4-5 (6-1-4 Pac 12) last season with 29 goals and a 0.65 goals against average. Utah was picked to fifth in the Pac-12 preseason poll and defeated Weber State 4-0 in exhibition play last weekend.

Utah's top returning scorer, Hailey Skolmoski was named to the 2017 MAC Hermann Award Watch List after receiving First Team All Pac-12 and NSCAA All-Pacific Region honors last season, netting 13 goals and three assists for the team. She and Tavia Leachman, also an NSCAA All-Region selection, are members of the US Youth Team and will anchor the Utes' lineup. Natalie Vukic (two goals, two assists) and Janie Kearl (1,576 minutes played) are the two seniors on the roster.

Between the pipes, Carly Nelson (482 minutes) and July Matthias (1604 minutes) return for the Utes. Nelson gave up just three goals last season and had 18 saves, while Mathias allowed 12 scores against her with 72 saves.

Jacks Split Exhibition Contests
South Dakota State played a pair of exhibition contests last week, falling 1-0 to Wyoming in a neutral site game Friday before claiming a 5-1 win over Manitoba in its final preseason tune-up Sunday.

Against Wyoming, 20 Jackrabbits saw action and the team finished with four shots, locked in a tightly contested battle with the Cowgirls, who were picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West.
SDSU put on an offensive showcase against Manitoba, as seven Jacks recorded points and five scored goals. Bianca Madonia had a goal and two assists, Madison Chapman scored a goal and added an assist, and Nicole Hatcher, Darien Poelstra and Marisa Schulz recorded goals. Annie Williams and Allie Zueger had the other two Jackrabbit assists.

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.).

Senior Leadership
Eight seniors, including a pair of All-Summit League selections, graduated from the program last season, but SDSU returns four additional all-league honorees and four incoming seniors who combined for 14 of SDSU's 30 total goals and 11 of State's 22 total assists last year. The group has made an impact in the off- and preseasons, leading a youthful team and keeping expectations high.

Nicole Hatcher and Tori Poole are coming off standout years that saw them garner All-Summit League First Team nods, as the pair tied for the team-lead with six goals each and Hatcher added 10 assists, good enough for second all-time in school history.
Jennie Scislow started 16 games for the Jacks last season and had a pair of goals, logging over 1,000 minutes in the field.
Julia Lam was named team captain for the 2017 campaign after playing in all 21 games last year, firing 10 shots on goal from the midfield with one assist.
Bianca Madonia saw action in 15 games last year and started one game, playing 305 minutes in the field with three shots.

Youthful Experience
Despite just one season of collegiate soccer under her belt, Alexa Hepner is back as the most seasoned defender for the Jackrabbits this season, playing all but 51 available minutes for the back line in 2016. The sophomore set the school's single season record for minutes played (1,970) and was part of a defensive unit that allowed just 15 goals on the year with 10 shutouts. She joins a trio of juniors (Annie Williams, Kyli Nelson and Kelsi Wipf) and a freshmen duo (Molly Ballinger and Kaitlin Zabel) as defenders this season.

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.

Among The Nation's Best
The 2016 season saw the Jackrabbits rank among the nation's best in several categories, including five top 50 finishes and four top 20:

Goals Against Average
1	Lauren Clem, Northwestern	0.29
2	Maggie Smither, SDSU	0.34
3	Christine Etzel, Brown	0.361
4	Cassie Miller, Florida State	0.398
5	Jovani McCaskill, CSUN	0.403

Saves Percentage
1	Lauren Clem, Northwestern	0.927
2	Christine Etzel, Brown	0.921
3	Maggie Smither, SDSU	0.911
T4	Keala Little, Notre Dame	0.91
T4	Jovani McCaskill, CSUN	0.91

Assists
1	Rachel Corboz, Georgetown	16
2	Stephanie Riberio, UConn	14
T3	Two tied	13
T5	Five tied	12
T10	Nine tied	11
T19	Nicole Hatcher, SDSU	10

Assists Per Game
1	Rachel Corboz, Georgetown	0.64 (16 - 25)
…
28	Sam Staab, Clemson	0.48 (11 - 23)
29	Nicole Hatcher, SDSU	0.48 (10 - 21)

Team Goals Against Average
1	Northwestern	0.29
…
16	Lehigh	0.639
17	Utah	0.647
18	South Dakota State	0.666