Soccer visits UND, hosts UNC this weekend

GAMES 9 & 10: South Dakota State (2-4-2) at North Dakota (2-3-1); vs Northern Colorado (6-2)

When	Friday, Sept. 15 \| 3 p.m.	Sunday, Sept. 17 \| Noon
Where	Bronson Field \| Grand Forks, N.D.	Fishback Soccer Park \| Brookings, S.D.
Live Video	UNDSports.com	Jackrabbit All-Access Portal
Live Stats	UNDSports.com	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| North Dakota \| Northern Colorado
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #RabbitsFutbol

Previewing the Week
South Dakota State wraps up its four-game road swing this Friday with a game at North Dakota before coming home to face Northern Colorado Sunday at Fishback Soccer Park. The Jackrabbits travel to Grand Forks, North Dakota to face the Fighting Hawks at 3 p.m., and Sunday's game with the Bears is set for Noon.

Sunday's game is the first-ever Hometown Heroes promotion for Jackrabbit Soccer, where Brookings first responders can receive free admittance to watch the Jacks take on UNC. Before the game, fans will have a chance to meet hometown heroes from the Brookings Police and Fire Departments, who will have vehicles and equipment on hand for fans to explore. As part of the day's activities, free tickets are also available to kids fifth grade and younger.

Sunday's game is also the first Fútbol after Football contest of the season. Fans who bring their football game ticket from Sept. 16's game against Drake will get into Sunday's action for free.

Both games will feature live video and stat coverage, with links for both games available at GoJacks.com

Scouting the Fighting Hawks
North Dakota (2-3-1) opened its season with two consectuive wins, but has since lost three of four with one tie. The first loss in that sequence came to South Dakota State on Aug. 25 in a weather-shortened contest. The Fighting Hawks are coming off a 1-0-1 swing through Summit League opponents, tying Omaha Friday in a scoreless affair before dropping a 1-0 contest to South Dakota last Sunday.

UND has outscored its opponents, 5-4, on the year with Katie Moller's two goals pacing the team. Erin Svensson has scored a goal and assisted on another for the Fighting Hawks, while Emma COntino and Olivia Geiwitz have notched the other two UND goals.

Between the posts, Olivia Swenson (290 minutes) and Catherine Klein (251 minutes) continue to split time at keeper. Both have 23 saves for the Fighting Hawks, while Swenson (0.31 goals against average) has allowed one goal and Klein (1.07 GAA), three goals.

Chris Logan is in his first season leading the Hawks after a season leading Northern Iowa.

South Dakota State leads the all-time series, 7-3-0, and has won four straight dating back to 2013. The Jackrabbits have outscored UND, 23-13, in the series, but are just 1-2 on the road against the Hawks with three goals in three games. Last season, SDSU claimed a 1-0 double overtime victory over UND in Grand Forks.

Scouting the Bears
Northern Colorado (6-2-0) has put together a pair of three-game winning streaks early in the year, and is coming off a split weekend where the Bears defeated North Dakota State, 2-0, and fell to Wyoming, 1-2. UNC does not play an early game this weekend, meaning Sunday's contest with the Jacks will come after seven days of rest for the Bears.

UNC has outscored opponents, 16-7, on the year and features a strong attack as Mariel Gutierrez, Brooke Braden and Maddie Roberts all have three goals and four assists, pacing the team with 10 points each. Seven other Bears have scored.

Madeline Burdick has played all 722 minutes in goal for UNC on the year, allowing seven goals with 37 saves. She boasts a 0.87 goals against average.

Tim Barrera is in his 19th season leading the Bears and holds a 175-153-34 record. For his career, Barrera is 236-198-36 over 25 years.

The Jackrabbits and Bears have squared off six times prior to this weekend's matchup, and Northern Colorado has claimed all six. SDSU trails in the series' goal count, 21-3, but the last matchup came in 2006 as SDSU was transitioning to NCAA Division I play.

Last Time Out
The Jackrabbits (2-4-2) went 1-0-1 in a pair of road games last week, falling 1-0 to Northern Iowa before drawing 2-2 at Drake.

South Dakota State had 28 shots over the two games, with 16 on goal. Nicole Hatcher and Annie WIlliams netted goals against Drake. Williams had six total shots on the weekend.

Maggie Smither played all 200 minutes in goal for the Jacks and recorded 16 saves, allowing three goals.

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.
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.
The Jackrabbits are 18-16-41 in games that go to overtime. In single overtime contests, SDSU is 8-9. In double overtime matches, the Jacks are 10-7-41.
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.

Manuleleua Honored by Summit League
South Dakota State's Leah Manuleleua was named the Summit League's Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 12.

Manuleleua 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.

The Manteca, California native played 114 minutes over two games in the week and fired three total shots, putting up two attempts against Iowa State before scoring on her lone effort against the Bluejays.

This is the first weekly honor for Manuleleua in her Jackrabbit career. She shared offensive recognition with South Dakota's Taryn LaBree, while USD's Coral Suaraz was the Defensive Player of the Week.

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, including an autograph signing after Friday's game with Iowa State. Additional promotions on the schedule are:

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.

-GoJacks.com-

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Nicole Hatcher

Leah Manuleleua

Maggie Smither

Upcoming Event: Women's Soccer at Sioux Falls on April 15, 2026 at 7 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Women's Soccer versus Northern State on April 19, 2026 at 1 p.m.

Completed Event: Women's Soccer at Augustana on April 9, 2026 ,

Completed Event: Women's Soccer at Minnesota on March 28, 2026 ,

Completed Event: Women's Soccer at Nebraska on March 7, 2026 ,

Completed Event: Women's Soccer versus Alumni Game on March 1, 2026 ,

Completed Event: Women's Soccer at #5 Iowa on November 14, 2025 , Loss , 0, to, 1

Completed Event: Women's Soccer at #1 Oral Roberts on November 9, 2025 , Win , 2, to, 0

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