Soccer hosts Iowa State, travels to Creighton

Friday, September 1

Brookings, S.D.

6 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Iowa State

Photo by: Inertia Sports Media/Dave Eggen

8/30/2017 11:15:00 AM | Women's Soccer

GAMES 5 & 6: South Dakota State (1-3) vs Iowa State (1-3); at Creighton (0-3)

When	Friday, Sept. 1 \| 6 p.m.	Sunday, Sept. 3 \| 1 p.m.
Where	Fishback Soccer Park \| Brookings, S.D.	Morrison Stadium \| Omaha, Neb.
Live Video	Jackrabbit All-Access Portal	GoCreighton.com/Watch
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com	GoJacksLive.com
Live Audio	Jackrabbit All-Access Portal	n/a
Radio	KBRK 1430-AM	n/a
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Iowa State \| Creighton
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #RabbitsFutbol

Previewing the Week
South Dakota State plays two games this weekend, welcoming Iowa State to town Friday before traveling to Creighton Sunday. Friday's kick with the Cyclones is set for 6 p.m. from Fishback Soccer Park, while the Jacks will battle the Bluejays from Morrison Stadium at 1 p.m.

Friday's game will be broadcast by the Jackrabbit Sports Network on 1430 KBRK-AM locally, with Tyler Merriam and Kiley Cirillo on the call. The audio can also be heard for free through the Jackrabbit-All-Access Portal. Fans who subscribe to the portal can watch the live video stream, accompanied by JSN's audio. Live stats will be provided through GoJacksLive.com.

Postgame Friday, the Jackrabbit soccer team will host an autograph session at Fishback Soccer Park. Fans are encouraged to bring one item to be signed, with posters available as well while supplies last.

Sunday's contest will have video and stats provided by Creighton. Links are available at the top of the page.

Scouting the Cyclones
Iowa State (1-3) won its season opener against Creighton Aug. 18, but has since dropped consecutive matches against Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota. The Cyclones comes to Brookings with four goals scored and nine goals allowed through four games this year.

Merin Mundt, Brooke Tasker, Courtney Powell and Carly Langhurst have found the net for ISU so far this season, with Mundt and Marin Daniel recording assists. Between the pipes, freshman Dayja Schwichtenberg has played all 368 minutes and holds a 2.21 goals against average, picking up 15 saves.

Iowa State was picked ninth in the Big 12 preseason poll with Klasey Medelberg, Hannah Cade and Emily Steil returning as the top three scorers from a year ago.

SDSU trails in the all-time series, 6-3-1, but dropped narrow 1-0 contests in 2015 and 2016. The Jacks last beat the Cyclones on the road in 2014, 2-1. At Fishback, SDSU is 1-3 against Iowa State.

Scouting the Bluejays
Creighton (0-3) plays South Dakota Thursday before hosting the Jackrabbits this Sunday, but enters the weekend looking to turn around a slow start that has seen the Bluejays fall to Iowa State, Wisconsin and Oklahoma State.

The Bluejays have yet to score on the year, but feature a dangerous lineup with Taryn Jakubowski and Hannah Miller returning after scoring four goals apiece last season. Jakubowski was a BIG EAST All-Freshman Team pick in 2016.

McKenzie Meola solidified her spot as starting goalkeeper last season, and returns after starting 13 of 15 games a year ago with a 1.38 goals against average and a pair of shutouts.

The Bluejays were picked to finish eighth in the BIG EAST Preseason Poll.

South Dakota State is 1-10-1 all-time against Creighton, winning its lone game in 2015 at Morrison Stadium. Last season, SDSU dropped a narrow 2-1 matchup at home against the Bluejays.

Last Time Out
The Jackrabbits (1-3) split its games last weekend, claiming the 2017 home opener against North Dakota, 1-0, in a weather-shortened game before falling, 1-0, to UMKC on Sunday in Kansas City.

Marisa Schulz scored the game-winner against North Dakota, recording her first goal as a Jackrabbit in the 44th minute on an assist from Nicole Hatcher. SDSU had 20 total shots on the day.

Kaitlin Zabel and Alexa Hepner played all 172 available minutes for SDSU over the weekend in the backline, helping the Jackrabbits post their first shutout of 2017 while allowing only a penalty kick goal against UMKC. Between the pipes, Maggie Smither started both games and recorded five saves.

Jackrabbit Quick Hitters

Nicole Hatcher is now tied for second on SDSU's career assist record list with 18, matching Kayla Braffet and Kellyn Farrell. No. 1 on the list, Diana Potterveld, had 21 assists in her career. Hatcher is also tied for 12th all-time in the Summit League for career assists.
The Jackrabbits' 20 shots against North Dakota Friday were the most by the program since Oct. 28, 2016 when the team first 26 against IUPUI. Last year, SDSU broke the 20-shot barrier three times.
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.
Iowa State is the lone Power Five school remaining on the docket for SDSU this season after the team faced Utah earlier this season and three Power Five schools in 2016. All-time against schools from the Big 10, Big 12, Pac-10, SEC and ACC, the Jacks are a combined 4-24-4. Three of those wins and one tie 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 are 17-16-39 in games that go to overtime. In single overtime contests, SDSU is 7-9. In double overtime matches, the Jacks are 10-7-39.

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 pre-seasons, 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.

Young Gun
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 has played all 192 available minutes for the Jacks in 2017 and 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.

Upcoming Promotions
South Dakota State women's soccer has several upcoming promotions for its home games this season, including an autograph signing after Friday's game with Iowa State. Additional promotions on the schedule are:

Sept. 1	Iowa State	Autograph Signing

Sept. 17	Northern Colorado	Futbol after Football*
		Hometown Heroes**
*Free admission with Football vs Drake ticket from Sept. 16
** Free admission for first responders and pregame festivities celebrating our hometown heroes.

Oct. 26	South Dakota	SDSU Soccer T-Shirts

Oct. 29	North Dakota State	SDSU Rally Towels

Jacks on the Air
Three Jackrabbit games will be broadcast by the Jackrabbit Sports Network this season, with Tyler Merriam and Kiley Cirillo calling South Dakota State's games against Iowa State (Sept. 1), South Dakota (Oct. 26) and North Dakota State (Oct. 29). The games will air on Brookings Radio locally, and through the Jackrabbit All-Access Portal. Merriam, the Voice of the Jackrabbits, will handle play-by-play duties while Cirillo, the Brookings Fútbol Club Director of Coaching, will serve as analyst.

-GoJacks.com-