Soccer heads for Creighton, Kansas State

Thursday, August 29

Omaha, Neb.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Creighton

Photo by: Mark Smither

8/27/2019 1:15:00 PM | Women's Soccer

GAMES 3-4: South Dakota State (2-0) at Creighton (1-0); at Kansas State (1-0-1)

When	Thursday, Aug. 29 \| 7 p.m.	Sunday, Sept. 1 \| 1 p.m.
Where	Morrison Stadium \| Brookings, S.D.	Buser Family Park \| Manhattan, Kan.
Live Video	Bluejays All-Access	Big 12 Now / ESPN+
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com	KStateSports.com
Live Audio	Not Available	KStateSports.com/Watch
Game Notes	South Dakota State
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #RabbitsFutbol

South Dakota State women's soccer hits the road for a pair of games this week, traveling to Creighton and Kansas State. The Jackrabbits face the Bluejays Thursday evening (7 p.m.) in Omaha, Nebraska, then wrap up the weekend in Manhattan, Kansas against the Wildcats Sunday at 1 p.m.

SDSU picked up a pair of wins last week and are 2-0 for the first time since 2006. The Jackrabbits are coming off their second-straight Summit League regular season title and feature 17 returners (including seven starters) from last year's team.

South Dakota State's top five scorers from 2018 return, including Manuleleua (14 points) and Karlee Manding (12 points), who each had five goals. Team captain Carina McLennan added five assists and a pair of goals, while Marisa Schulz and Abigail Kastens found the net three times each.

Those offensive leaders picked up where they left off in the 2019 opening weekend, as Manuleleua (two scores) and Manding (one goal) each found the net. Schulz had two assists on the weekend and Maya Hansen added one.

Maggie Smither (eight saves, two shutouts) played all 180 minutes at keeper for the Jacks, while Kaitlin Zabel (33 consecutive starts), Rachel Preston and Gabby Vivier-Hannay started both games in the back line for SDSU's defense. Preston and Vivier-Hannay played all 180 minutes.

A Look Across the Pitch
Creighton (1-0) picked up a 3-2 win over Kansas State last Friday in its lone game of the weekend. The Bluejays fell behind 2-0 in the game's opening 10:06, but fought back over the next 80-plus minutes to pull off the comeback victory. Taryn Jakubowski (the all-Big EAST preseason pick), Skylar Heinrich and Keelie Fothergill found the net for Creighton, while Kylin Grubb and Cassie Legband recorded assists. Katie Sullivan played all 90 minutes in goal and had five saves. South Dakota State is 2-11-1 all-time against Creighton, but claimed a 3-2 victory in Omaha two years ago.

Kansas State (1-0-1) fell to Creighton last Friday, then played Omaha to a scoreless draw on Sunday. Katie Cramer had both goals in the opening minutes from Kansas State, assisted by Brookelynn Entz and Emily Crain. Emma Malsy picked up the tie in a complete-game performance against Omaha, notching three saves. Rachel Harris took the loss against CU, allowing three goals with seven saves. The Jackrabbits and Kansas State have never met.

Last Time Out
The Jackrabbits opened the 2019 season with a pair of home wins last weekend, taking down Utah State (1-0) and Idaho State (2-0).

Karlee Manding had the game-winning goal in penalty-kick fashion against the Aggies, and Leah Manuleleua notched a pair of scores in the win over the Bengals. Marisa Schulz had two assists against ISU and Maya Hansen had one.

Maggie Smither had nine saves (five against Utah State) and recorded a pair of shutouts between the pipes.

A Pattern of Success
South Dakota State's defensive prowess, senior leadership and nonleague success since joining the Summit League has produced a trend of conference play (and overall season) success. In total, the Jackrabbits' 67 league wins (and .787 league winning percentage) is the top mark among Summit League teams, dating back to 2008.

On the Defensive. Last year's squad allowed just 14 goals for the season, posting the third-best goals against average (0.71) in school history. That played into a two-year GAA of 0.78 (2017-18), the second-best mark at SDSU. The Jackrabbits have put together back-to-back seasons of 1.00 or fewer goals allowed per 90 minutes (game) three times, including the last three seasons (2016-17, 2017-18). Maggie Smither and Kaitlin Zabel bring the most experience to the 2018 defensive unit and will look to continue that trend. So far in 2019, the Jackrabbit defense has produced a pair of clean sheets.
Four-Year Senior Records. South Dakota State's senior class boasts a 35-18-8 record over the last three years, including a 19-4-0 mark in Summit League play with a tournament championship, two regular season titles and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. If SDSU reaches double-digit wins for the seventh-year in a row, that senior class will finish no lower than tied for fourth in the SDSU record books for most class wins. Last year's group finished with 45 victories, the third-most in school history. 49 wins is the best four-year mark (2008-11).
Nonleague Success. The Jackrabbits have posted a plus-.500 record in league play seven times since joining the Summit League, including three of the last four years. The Jackrabbits will host five nonleague opponents in 2019 at Fishback Soccer Park with six contests on the road. So far in 2019, the Jacks are 2-0 in nonleague play.

Home Cooking
Brookings has been good to the Jackrabbits, as South Dakota State boasts a 105-42-18 all-time home record, including tournament games at Fishback Soccer Park. Head Coach Brock Thompson, now in his third season, has a 17-3-1 mark at Fishback Soccer Park

Since moving to The Summit League in 2007, the Jackrabbits are 78-23-11 at home. SDSU is 44-3-2 against Summit League opponents and has lost just one home league contest since 2010.

Smither nets WPSL honors
South Dakota State's Maggie Smither was announced as the Women's Professional Soccer League's 2019 Central Region Northern Conference Defensive Player of the Year. She also earned the region's Golden Glove award for top keeper.

Smither spent the summer with Mankato United Soccer Club, helping the team to a 6-1-3 record in its inaugural season. She logged time in 10 contests, allowing just four goals with 13 saves, posting a 1.00 goals against average for the squad.

The two-time Summit League Goalkeeper of the Year was one of 10 Jackrabbits to compete in the WPSL this summer, joining Marisa Schulz, MaKayla Griffin, Rachel Preston, Taylor Lock, Eden Brooker, Adalaide Kline, Cecelia Limongi, Shaya Stubbs and Sunniva Dunagan.

Jacks Tabbed Second in Preseason Poll
The Jackrabbit women's soccer program was tabbed second in the 2019 Summit League Preseason Coaches Poll, released early August. South Dakota State garnered 57 points in the rankings with a pair of first-place votes, just behind top vote-getter Denver (63 points, five first-place votes). Those two were widely separated from the rest of the pack, as North Dakota State (41), Omaha (39) and South Dakota (37) rounded out the top five. The final four spots were held by North Dakota (32), Oral Roberts (31), Purdue Fort Wayne (14) and Western Illinois (10).

Smither, Manuleleua Named Players to Watch
SDSU's Maggie Smither and Leah Manuleleua were recognized as Players to Watch by the Summit League as part of their preseason release. Smither is the two-time defending Summit League Goalkeeper of the Year, while Manuleleua returns for her senior season after leading the Jacks in points (14) last year.

-GoJacks.com-