JACKS WELCOME DENVER FOR WEEKEND SERIES

Friday, March 12

Brookings, S.D.

3 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Denver

Photo by: SDSU Sports Information

3/11/2021 2:30:00 PM | Women's Soccer

GAMES 7 & 8: South Dakota State (4-0-2, 4-0-2) vs. Denver (8-1-0, 8-0-0)

When	Friday, March 12 - 3 p.m. \| Sunday, March 14 - Noon
Where	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium \| Brookings, S.D.
Live Video	GoJacks.com/Watch
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	South Dakota State
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #RabbitsFutbol

South Dakota State women's soccer looks to continue its four-game winning streak and six-game shutout streak March 12 & 14 vs. Denver at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.

After sweeping their two-game series vs. Kansas City last weekend to open their 2021 home slate, this will be the second of three consecutive home weekends for the Jacks. The pair of games vs. Denver also marks the halfway point of the 16-game Summit League spring season.

South Dakota State is coming off a 15-5-2 season in 2019, which included winning the Summit League Championship and making its fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament. So far in 2021, State is 4-0-2.

About the Jackrabbits
In six matches played in 2021, the Jacks have held strong defensively, recording six consecutive shutouts to open the season. SDSU is the only Summit League team not to allow a goal thus far in the season. Splitting times between the pipes is the duo of Hailee Fischer and Taylor Lock, who have combined for 15 saves. Defensively, the Jacks have held opponents to 47 shots this season.

Offensively, Maya Hansen earned league player of the week honors after recording a hat trick in the first game against Kansas City and scoring another goal in game two. While Hansen scored four of the six Jackrabbit goals during the weekend, the other two came from Karlee Manding (March 7) and Kayla Anderson (March 5). Anderson, a freshman from White Bear Lake, Minn., hit her first collegiate goal while Manding netted her third career goal.

Rachel Hewitt assisted two of Hansen's three goals on Friday while Reagan Anderson and Katherine Jones also played a part in setting up the four Jackrabbit goals on the day.

Kayla Wisniewski scored her first two goals as a Jackrabbit against Oral Roberts. Other players to find the back of the net in the two wins in Tulsa were Cecilia Limongi and Eden Brooker.

SDSU has attempted 89 shots with 35 of them being on goal. Leading the team in shots is Rachel Hewitt, who in 338 minutes played, has fired seven shots on goal in 15 tries. Hewitt ranks first in the Summit League in shots per game (2.75). Eleven other Jackrabbits have recorded at least three combined shot attempts so far on the season.

State outscored its opponents 29-8 in 2019 and had a Summit League record 15 shutouts, ranking third nationally in shutout percentage. The Jackrabbits averaged 14.3 shots per contest, putting 126 of their 314 total efforts on goal. Defensively, SDSU limited opponents to 10.4 shots per game and allowed only nine goals for the season, including five in the final 17 games.

SDSU returns six starters from last season.

Returning for the Jacks is the reigning Summit League Freshman of the Year Hansen. A sophomore from Savage, Minnesota, Hansen finished second on the team in points (18) and goals (seven), along with four assists in her first season as a Jackrabbit. Hansen posted five game-winning goals in 2019 and started 20 games for the Jacks. Hansen earned spots on the All-Summit League Second Team and the Summit League All-Freshman Team in 2019. After her big weekend against Kansas City, Hansen has nine points, four goals and an assist through six games in 2021.

Karlee Manding enters her junior year with the Jackrabbits after making the 2019 All-Summit League Second Team in 2019 and the Summit League All-Freshman Team in 2018. The midfielder from Waipahu, Hawaii has 20 career points and eight career goals over 2,000 career minutes. Karlee and her sister Kaycee combined for three assists and six shots in the two games against the Golden Eagles.

SDSU brings back all three of its line of defenders to give the Jacks experience defensively. Kaitlin Zabel was a member of the 2019 All-Summit League First team while Gabby Vivier-Hannay was named to the 2019 All-Summit League Second Team. A senior from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Vivier-Hannay earned Summit League Defensive Player of the Week honors after playing 177 minutes in the two shutout wins last weekend.

A Look Ahead
South Dakota State completes its span of six consecutive games home when it faces in-state rival South Dakota March 19 & 21. Start times are set for 6 p.m. March 19 and 1 p.m. March 21.

Scouting the Pioneers
Denver, the league's defending regular season champion, comes into Brookings as the top team in the league standings with an 8-0 record in conference play and 8-1 overall.

After losing a heartbreaker against Colorado in extra time to open up the season, the Pioneers have coasted through conference play with its only scare coming in a 2-1 win against South Dakota in extra time Feb. 26. This will be the first true road series of league play for the Pioneers as the previous six games were played in Denver and the first two were played on a neutral site against Western Illinois.

Denver, the league's top scoring team, has outscored opponents 20-3 this season and has scored three-or-more goals four times. The Pioneers are also the most aggressive team in the league on offense with 179 total shots (16.27 per contest) and 100 shots on goal.

While the Jacks haven't allowed a goal this season, Denver is right behind with their three goals allowed.

Sami Feller and Natalie Beckman lead the attack as one of the most dangerous forward duos in the conference. So far, each player has recorded five goals. A combined 32 shots on goal take up the top two spots in the league while Beckman and Feller sit in the top three in the league in shots with 28 and 25 shots, respectively.

Nerea Arrazola has started nine games at goalkeeper and has totaled 12 saves on the season, including five in the season opener against Colorado.

Denver is coming off a 2019 season in which it went 12-4-4 overall and 7-0-1 in conference play. Its dominant season came to an end in the Summit League Championship final when it lost to the Jacks on a penalty kick shootout. The Pioneers took last season's regular season matchup against the Jacks, 2-1 in Denver.

Jeff Hooker enters the weekend 371-155-50 in his 28th year as head coach of the program. Hooker led the team to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances in 2017 and 2018.

All-Time Series
South Dakota State is 5-2-3 in the all-time series vs. Denver

Dana J. Dykhouse "Futbol" Stadium
This weekend's series marks the fourth and fifth game SDSU soccer has played at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. Before the two wins this season, State's game vs. Eastern Washington on Sept. 13, 2019 was moved to the stadium due to wet field conditions at Fishback Soccer Park. The Jacks defeated Eastern Washington in that game, 1-0.

Last Time Out (March 7, 2021)
South Dakota State women's soccer defeated Kansas City 2-0 Sunday afternoon at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.

The Jackrabbits, who improved to 4-0-2 both on the season and in Summit League play, recorded its sixth consecutive shutout. A pair of second-half goals by Karlee Manding and Maya Hansen gave State the win.

"First I have to give credit to Kansas City – they had a really good plan to take away space from us and make it hard to play. With that being said, I'm really proud of how our team responded in the second half," head coach Brock Thompson said. "I thought specifically Karlee and Eden were able to settle the game down for us. I'm really impress with how our team continues to grow each week."

SDSU fired eight shots in the victory, putting four on goal, while the Roos (4-5-0, 4-4-0 Summit League) had six shots with two on target.

Hailee Fischer started in goal recording two saves in 45 minutes before Taylor Lock replaced her for the rest of the match.

The Jackrabbits held a 4-3 advantage in shots after the first half with Hansen being responsible for half of State's attempts. While the Roos had two on target in the first frame, neither team was able to score.

Manding opened the scoring with her first goal of the season at 50:46. The ball was launched toward the goal on a free kick. Manding tracked down a header from a Kansas City defender and fired a shot to the bottom left of the open goal.

The score stood at 1-0 until Hansen fought off two Kansas City defenders and the goalkeeper to net her fourth goal of the weekend in the 65^th minute.

Hansen Honored By Summit League
SIOUX FALLS – South Dakota State's Maya Hansen was named the Summit League's Offensive Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday.

Hansen helped the Jackrabbits to a perfect 2-0 record in its home opening series against Kansas City, thanks to an eight-point showing on the weekend. On Friday, Hansen recorded the 10^th hat trick in program history. She became the first to score three or more goals in a game for State since Leah Manuleleua did it in 2018.

Hansen scored the eventual game-winner and game's first goal in the sixth minute off a corner kick from Hewitt, who sent a ball from the far corner into the middle of the box. The cross found the head of Reagan Anderson, who sent a header assist to Hansen who found the back of the net. Hansen's second goal came soon after, as the sophomore forward outmaneuvered a defender and the keeper after retrieving a long thru ball from Hewitt and fired it into the open net. In the 85th minute, Hansen fired a shot that deflected off the goalkeeper. She tracked it down and fired again to complete the hat trick.

The sophomore finished off the 2-0 win over the Roos on Sunday as she fought off two Kansas City defenders and the goalkeeper to net her fourth goal of the weekend in the 65th minute.

The Savage, Minnesota native led the Jacks in each of the contests with six and three shots, respectively.

Defensive Dominance
In addition to the six-game shutout streak, the Jacks have not allowed more than three goals in 41 consecutive regular season games, dating back to the 2018 season. In that span, State has recorded 31 shutouts.

-GoJacks.com-