Soccer begins Summit League play Friday

GAMES 11 & 12: South Dakota State (3-4-3) at Denver (4-6-1); vs Bellevue (7-3-0)

When	Friday, Sept. 29 \| 8 p.m. CT / 7 p.m. MT	Sunday, Oct. 1 \| 1 p.m.
Where	DU Soccer Field \| Denver, Colo.	Fishback Soccer Park \| Brookings, S.D.
Live Video	DenverPioneers.com	Jackrabbit All-Access Portal
Live Stats	DenverPioneers.com	GoJacksLive.com
Television	Altitude2 (Check local listings)	n/a
Game Notes	South Dakota State
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #RabbitsFutbol

Previewing the Week
South Dakota State women's soccer begins Summit League play this Friday at Denver before returning to Fishback Soccer Park for its final nonconference match Sunday against Bellevue. The Jackrabbits and Pioneers kick off at 8 p.m. CT from DU Soccer Stadium, while the weekend finale in Brookings, South Dakota is set for 1 p.m.

The three-time defending Summit League Tournament champions enter the week with 10 goals as a team and are led offensively by Nicole Hatcher (eight points) and Leah Manuleleua (seven points). Both Hatcher and Manuleleua have three goals for the Jacks, while Hatcher and Tori Poole pace the squad with two assists each. Annie Williams is third on the team in scoring (two goals).

Maggie Smither has started nine games on the year with 10 appearances, posting a 1.20 goals against average and 53 saves. Taylor Lock earned her first career start against Northern Colorado and has five saves over 59 minutes between the pipes.

Scouting the Pioneers
Denver (4-6-1) hosts SDSU in its Summit League opener Friday, entering the weekend with six losses in its last seven matches. The Pioneers are coming off a Summit League regular season championship and tournament semifinal appearance a year ago and have scored 16 goals through 11 matches this season.

Offensively, Hannah Adler (14 points) and Jessie Dancy (13 ponts) have six goals each to lead DU, while Meg Halvorson has found the net three times.

Between the pipes, Brittany Wilson has started 10 games and played a majority of the minutes, allowing 15 goals with 38 saves. Wilson has a 1.50 goals against average.

Jeff Hooker is in his 26th season leading the Pioneers and boasts a 327-135-43 record in his time at the helm.

South Dakota State leads the series with Denver, 3-1-2 and hasn't lost since the inaugural meeting in 2013. Last season, SDSU claimed a 2-0 win at home in the regular season and played Denver to a 1-1 tie in the Summit League Tournament semifinals, advancing on penalty kicks, 4-2.

Scouting the Bruins
Bellevue (7-3) is a member of the NAIA's North Star Athletic Association and comes to Brookings with a 4-1 record in its last five games. The Bruins are led by Maiwut Dar (five goals, two assists) and Reyvin Hernandez (four goals, two assists), who have 12 and 10 points, respectively. Kylee Mastromonaco is close behind with three goals and a pair of assists (eight points).

Laurance Rodier (785 minutes) and Sabrina Staufenbiel (123 minutes) have split time between the posts for the Bruins this season, with Rodier pacing the team with 33 saves and a 0.92 goals against average.

Andy Nicolarsen is in his 14th year leading Bellevue and holds a 177-69-17 record.

The Jackrabbits and Bruins have never faced each other in the regular season.

Last Time Out
The Jackrabbits have been idle since Sept. 17 and a 2-1 win over Northern Colorado. Prior to the UNC match, SDSU picked up a 1-1 draw at North Dakota Sept. 15.

Over the two games, SDSU fired 49 total shots and had 23 on goal. Nicole Hatcher scored the first goal against UND and had the game-winner against the Bears while Leah Manuleleua had an assist against the Fighting Hawks and the equalizer against UNC. In the Sept. 17 affair, Bianca Madonia and Julia Lam notched assists.

Maggie Smither started the UND game in goal and played 155 total minutes for the weekend, racking up 11 saves with one goal allowed. Taylor Lock earned her first career start against UNC and stopped two shots over 45 minutes.

Jackrabbit Quick Hitters

Nicole Hatcher is 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' 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 18-16-42 in games that go to overtime. In single overtime contests, SDSU is 8-9. 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.

Hatcher Earns Weekly Honor
Nicole Hatcher was selected as the Summit League's Offensive Player of the Week Sept. 19 after netting two goals the week prior.

The Sioux Falls, South Dakota native has scored in three consecutive matches (entering this weekend) and now has 48 points for her career, just eight points shy of the top five on SDSU's career points record list.

It was the third weekly honor for Hatcher in her career after she earned the award twice last year.

Manuleleua Honored by Summit League
South Dakota State's Leah Manuleleua has been named the Summit League's Co-Offensive Player of the Week, announced Tuesday, Sept. 5 by the league office.

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 and fired three total shots, putting up two attempts against Iowa State before scoring on her lone effort against the Bluejays.

It was 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:

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.

-GoJacks.com-

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Players Mentioned

Nicole Hatcher

Julia Lam

Taylor Lock

Bianca Madonia

Leah Manuleleua

Tori Poole

Maggie Smither

Annie Williams

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 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

Completed Event: Women's Soccer versus #2 Denver on November 6, 2025 , Win , 1, to, 0

South Dakota State University Athletics