Soccer set for swing through Iowa

GAMES 6 & 7: South Dakota State (2-3-1) at Northern Iowa (5-0); at Drake (3-2)

When	Friday, Sept. 8 \| 7 p.m.	Sunday, Sept. 10 \| Noon
Where	Cedar Valley Soccer Complex \| Cedar Falls, Iowa	Cownie Soccer Complex \| Des Moines, Iowa
Live Video	ESPN3 / WatchESPN App	ESPN3 / WatchESPN App
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com	GoDrakeBulldogs.com
Live Audio	Jackrabbit All-Access Portal	n/a
Game Notes	South Dakota State \| Northern Iowa \| Drake
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #RabbitsFutbol

Previewing the Week
South Dakota State continues its current stretch of four games away from home this weekend with contests at Northern Iowa and Drake. The Jackrabbits travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa Friday for a 7 p.m. kickoff against the Panthers before heading for Des Moines, Iowa on Sunday where State faces the Bulldogs at Noon.

Both games will feature live streams via ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app, with live stats provided by the respective schools. Links for live coverage of both games can be found at GoJacks.com.

Scouting the Panthers
Northern Iowa (5-0) has started the season on a tear, running off five consecutive shutout victories, outscoring opponents 11-0 thus far.

Brynell Yount and Sarah Brandt are leading the Panther attack through five games, tallying eight points (three goals, two assists) apiece while Hannah McDevitt has a goal and an assist.

Between the pipes, Jami Reichenberger has started every game and recorded 17 saves.

The Panthers are led by first-year coach Bruce Erickson, who most recently was the head coach at Wayne State College for two seasons after 16 years leading Creighton. UNI was picked fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll.

South Dakota State leads the all-time series with Northern Iowa, 7-1-3, with wins in the last two matchups. The Panthers won the last matchup in Cedar Falls, 2-1, in 2014 but the Jacks hold a 3-1-1 advantage in road games against UNI in the series.

Scouting the Bulldogs
Drake (3-2) has won two straight and will host No. 16 Wisconsin on Thursday before SDSU comes to town for the weekend finale. The Bulldogs have been outscored 7-5 on the year, but have scored four goals over the last two wins, taking down UMKC (2-1) and North Dakota State (2-0) last time out.

Goals have been spread out for Drake this season, with Ali Smith, Olivia Bruce, Rebecca Rodgers, Annie Schmitz and Shelly Lyjak all finding the net once so far. Five other Bulldogs have assisted on goals.

In net, Haley Morris has appeared in five games with three starts, allowing six goals with 19 saves. Kelsi Stone has started the other two contests and allowed one goal without a save over 90 minutes.

Drake received one first-place vote in the MVC preseason poll, snagging the No. 2 spot in the rankings with 10th-year head coach Lindsey Horner leading the squad.

The Jackrabbits are 6-5 all-time against Drake, winning four straight dating back to 2013. Drake's last win in the series came at Fishback Soccer Park in 2012.

Last Time Out
The Jackrabbits (2-3-1) picked up results in both contests last week, tying 0-0 with Iowa State at home Friday before a 3-2 overtime win at Creighton Sunday in Omaha, Neb.

South Dakota State had 27 total shots over the two-game span, with goals from Leah Manuleleua, Annie Williams and Kelsi Wipf at Creighton. Rachel Hewitt had a pair of shots on goal for SDSU against Iowa State.

Alexa Hepner played all 202 available minutes for the Jacks over the weekend in the backline, helping SDSU post its second shutout of the season against Iowa State.

In goal, Maggie Smither started both games and recorded 10 saves for the weekend, allowing two goals at Creighton.

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 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 18-16-40 in games that go to overtime. In single overtime contests, SDSU is 8-9. In double overtime matches, the Jacks are 10-7-40.
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 has been named the Summit League's Co-Offensive Player of the Week, announced Tuesday by the league office.

Manuleleua netted the game-winner Sunday 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 last weekend and fired three total shots, putting up two attempts against Iowa State Friday 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:

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
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

Alexa Hepner

Rachel Hewitt

Leah Manuleleua

Maggie Smither

Annie Williams

Kelsi Wipf

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