Jacks, Aggies face off in Saturday's GOALD Game

GAME 11: South Dakota State (7-3) vs. New Mexico State (1-5-2)

When	Saturday, Sept. 28 \| noon
Where	Fishback Soccer Park \| Brookings, S.D.
Live Video	Jackrabbits All-Access
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #RabbitsFutbol

South Dakota State women's soccer wraps up the nonleague portion of its 2019 schedule Saturday as New Mexico State comes to town. The Jackrabbits and Aggies are set for a noon kick from Fishback Soccer Park.

Saturday's game carries a larger meaning for the teams, as the Jackrabbits and Sanford Children's Cure Kids Cancer! have teamed up to host the first-ever GOALD Game. The organizations have partnered to raise awareness and support during National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. More information can be found below.

The Jacks (7-3) bring a five-game winning streak into the contest, rolling off victories over Hawaii, Eastern Washington, Minnesota, Northern Iowa and Northern Illinois over the past two weeks.

Leah Manuleleua continues to lead the Jackrabbit attack with a 13-point effort through ten games, finding the net six times with one assist. Her goals total is the second-highest among Summit League contenders.

Maya Hansen broke out last weekend with her first-career goals. She scored in both games, including a game-winner (and first goal) at Northern Illinois. Hansen is second on the Jackrabbit squad with six points (two goals, two assists). Karlee Manding has two goals on the year, while Marisa Schulz paces the team (and sits third in the Summit League) with a trio of assists.

Abigail Kastens and Maureen Tolley have tallied assists as well for SDSU, which has scored 11 times through 10 games and allowed only four goals.

Maggie Smither (51 saves, six shutouts) has been a rock between the pipes, playing 783-plus minutes with a 0.46 goals against average. The senior broke the school's shutout record last week and now has 24 for her career. Taylor Lock earned her first career start last weekend at Northern Illinois and recorded a shutout, facing only one shot in the victory.

Kaitlin Zabel (40 consecutive starts) and Rachel Preston have started every game in the back line for the Jackrabbit defense, while Gabby Vivier-Hannay has started nine times. Preston's 889 minutes is a team-high, while Zabel is close behind at 881 minutes played. Vivier-Hannay has played all minutes available to her (810) after missing the Minnesota contest.

Carina McLennan (10 shots) and Darien Poelstra (five shots) have provided stability in the midfield, logging over 600 minutes each (Poelstra has 738).

Jackrabbits Hosting GOALD Game
South Dakota State women's soccer and Sanford Children's Cure Kids Cancer! have teamed up this season to host the first-ever GOALD Game, Saturday, Sept. 28 at Fishback Soccer Park. The organizations have partnered to raise awareness and support during National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Jackrabbit soccer will be selling GOALD Game t-shirts for $10 at the field, with proceeds benefiting Sanford Children's Cure Kids Cancer!

Additionally, fans can support the cause by donating towards a "Pie in the Face" fundraiser. The Jackrabbit soccer team met a fundraising goal of $2,000 for the GOALD Game earlier this week, and all six participants have agreed to be "pie'd" as part of the accomplishment.

Participants are: Brock Thompson (SDSU Women's Soccer Head Coach), Justin Sell (SDSU Director of Athletics), Matt Clark (Football), Owen King (Men's Basketball), Myah Selland (Women's Basketball) and Carina McLennan (Women's Soccer).

A Look Across the Pitch
New Mexico State (1-5-2) will come to Brookings after a Friday matchup at South Dakota, but carries a three-game losing streak into the weekend.

Shea O'Connor leads the Aggies with three goals on the season, while Eliudth Gonzalez has a three points (one goal, one assist). Two other Aggies have found the net (Corey Kizer, Alexa Barrera) as the squad has scored in all but three contests.

Defensively, NMSU has allowed 14 goals from opponents, with Dmitri Fong playing all available minutes at goalkeeper. Fong has 60 saves and a 1.62 goals against average for 2019.

South Dakota State and New Mexico State have never met.

Last Time Out
DeKalb, Ill. – The Jackrabbit women's soccer team turned in a dominant performance Saturday afternoon, cruising to a 3-0 victory over Northern Illinois to close the weekend's road trip.

Winners of five straight, South Dakota State (7-3) battered the Huskies' defense all afternoon, claiming a plus-21 advantage in shots while putting eight of its 22 total efforts on goal. The Jackrabbit defense limited NIU to just one total shot in the game, as Taylor Lock did not face a shot on goal in her first goalkeeper start of the season.

Maya Hansen and Leah Manuleleua each had a goal and an assist in the win, while Sunniva Dunagan netted her first career goal in the second half, assisted by Abigail Kastens.

Manuleleua (seven shots), Hansen (five shots) and Carina McLennan (three shots) each had two shots on goal.

Hansen opened the scoring in the 27th minute, finding the net for the second time this weekend when she followed the rebound off a Manuleleua shot and buried a second-chance score from inside the box.

That 1-0 lead held until midway through the second half, when Dunagan doubled the Jacks' advantage after Kastens set her up. SDSU added one more off the foot of Manuleleua in the final minute of action to close the 3-0 victory. Hansen assisted on the play.

A Record-Breaking Performance
South Dakota State's 3-0 victory over Northern Illinois Sept. 22 capped an impressive road trip, but was also a record-tying performance for the defensive unit. The Jackrabbits surrendered only one shot from the Huskies in the contest, matching a feat that has now happened three times in program history. The last occurrence was in 2010 against UMKC.

Jacks Honored by Summit League
The Jackrabbit soccer team has picked up three weekly honors from the Summit League this season.

Leah Manuleleua (Offensive; Sept. 16) Manuleleua netted game-winners in all three victories, playing 178 minutes for the Jackrabbits in the attacking third. Manuleleua had nine shots (three per game) with seven on goal for the week, growing her team-leading points total to 10 (five goals). The Manteca, California native is now tied for ninth in career goals (17) and second in career game-winning goals (nine). This is her fourth-career Summit League weekly award.
Maggie Smither (Defensive; Sept. 16) Smither continued her strong play between the pipes and posted three shutouts. Playing all 270 available minutes, Smither had 20 total saves for the week, including a 10-save showing against Eastern Washington (her second-career double-digit saves performance). The Sioux Falls native closed the week with seven saves in a 1-0 Jackrabbit win against Minnesota and is now all alone in the Jackrabbit record books with 23 career shutouts. She has allowed only three goals this season, and has shutouts in all five of the Jackrabbits' wins. Smither is a five-time Summit League weekly award honoree.
Rachel Preston (Defensive; Sept. 23) Preston played all 180 minutes in a pair of shutout victories for the Jacks, topping Northern Iowa, 2-0, and Northern Illinois, 3-0, on the road. SDSU has now won five straight contests with seven shutouts on the year. The Lakeville, Minnesota native anchored State's defensive unit over the two games, limiting the Panthers to three shots on goal Friday before a record-setting performance against the Huskies on Sunday. The Jacks limited NIU to just one shot throughout the contest, matching a program-best feat that had occurred just two times, prior. The last time came in 2010 against UMKC. This is the first weekly award for Preston in her Jackrabbit career

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 seven clean sheets and allowed four goals (0.40 per game).
Four-Year Senior Records. South Dakota State's senior class boasts a 40-21-8 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. Including 2019, the Jackrabbits have posted a plus-.500 record in league play eight times since joining the Summit League and in four of the last five years. With one home game remaining for this year's nonleague slate, the Jackrabbits are 7-3.

Home Cooking
Brookings has been good to the Jackrabbits, as South Dakota State boasts a 107-42-18 all-time home record, including tournament games at Fishback Soccer Park. Head Coach Brock Thompson, now in his third season, has a 19-3-1 mark at Fishback Soccer Park

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, Cecilia Limongi, Shayna Stubbs and Sunniva Dunagan.

SDSU Celebrating 20th Season of Women's Soccer
The Jackrabbit soccer program is celebrating its 20th season as an NCAA sport at South Dakota State University. The previous 19 seasons has seen the program win nearly 200 games, claim 11 conference championships (four Summit League tournament titles, six Summit League regular season trophies and one United Soccer Conference tournament crown), and make four trips to the NCAA Tournament.

In looking back at the past 20 years and celebrating the success of Jackrabbit soccer, fans will have a chance to vote for the Top 11, who will be recognized pregame of SDSU's Oct. 6 contest with North Dakota.

Voting closed earlier this week, and the team will be announced in four parts during the first week of October on GoJacks.com.

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-

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Eden Brooker

Sunniva Dunagan

MaKayla Griffin

Maya Hansen

Abigail Kastens

Adalaide Kline

Cece Limongi

Taylor Lock

Karlee Manding

Leah Manuleleua

Carina McLennan

Darien Poelstra

Rachel Preston

Marisa Schulz

Maggie Smither

Shayna Stubbs

Maureen Tolley

Gabby Vivier-Hannay

Kaitlin Zabel

Upcoming Event: Women's Soccer versus #6 Omaha on November 1, 2025 at 5 p.m.

Completed Event: Women's Soccer at Oral Roberts on October 26, 2025 , Win , 3, to, 2

Completed Event: Women's Soccer at Kansas City on October 23, 2025 , Tie , 1, to, 1

Completed Event: Women's Soccer at South Dakota on October 18, 2025 , Tie , 0, to, 0

Completed Event: Women's Soccer versus Omaha on October 12, 2025 , Win , 3, to, 1

Completed Event: Women's Soccer at Denver on October 9, 2025 , Loss , 0, to, 1

Completed Event: Women's Soccer versus North Dakota State on October 5, 2025 , Win , 2, to, 0

South Dakota State University Athletics