St. Cloud State seeking third-straight NSIC Tournament this weekend

ST. CLOUD—The chance at a third-straight postseason appearance will hinge on the season's final weekend for the St. Cloud State soccer team (8-7-1, 6-6-1 NSIC) as it wraps up its regular season slate against Minnesota Crookston (0-13-2, 0-11-2) and at No. 21 Bemidji State (13-0-2, 11-0-2).

The Huskies, who are unbeaten (3-0-1) in their last four matches, are currently sitting ninth on the league table with 19 points—one point behind eighth place Minnesota Duluth and three points back of Concordia St. Paul. Depending on the weekend's results around the league, SCSU can finish as high as sixth or as low as 11th.

St. Cloud State has qualified for the NSIC Tournament in back-to-back seasons.

SCSU will host the Golden Eagles on Friday, October 27 at Husky Stadium for a 5 p.m. kick off before heading north to face the Beavers on Sunday, October 29 at 1 p.m. The Huskies are 5-4-0 at home and 3-3-1 on the road this season.

Soccer fans can stream Friday's contest live at scsuhuskies.com/live and Saturday's match at bsubeavers.com. Both games will also be available on the NSIC app, which is available for download on Apple TV, Roku, Amazon TV and Android TV.

Tickets for the team's home finale against Minnesota Crookston can be purchased in advance at scsutickets.com or at the stadium box office on game day. St. Cloud State students with a valid university ID receive free admission to all soccer home games.

SCSU SOCCER CENTRAL, Oct. 27-29, 2017

LIVE STATS: vs. Minnesota Crookston (Friday) || at Bemidji State (Sunday)

VIDEO STREAMING (FREE): vs. Minnesota Crookston (Friday) || at Bemidji State (Sunday)

KEY HUSKIES NOTES TO CONSIDER:

ALL-TIME SERIES: St. Cloud State is and undefeated 15-0-0 all-time against Minnesota Crookston and 8-7-1 all-time against Bemidji State. Last season, the Huskies defeated the Golden Eagles, 2-0, on the strength of a goal and an assist from forward Maria Kass. Midfielder Sara Benhart also scored in that game. They matched up against Bemidji State in both the regular season and the first round of the NSIC Tournament and fell both times. SCSU was shutout at home, 1-0, by the Beavers in the first meeting. In the postseason, midfielder Monica Majeski gave the Huskies a first half lead, but BSU roared back with three unanswered in the second stanza to eliminate SCSU, 3-1.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES AND BEAVERS: UMC and BSU come into this weekend on opposite ends of the conference spectrum. With a winless 0-11-2 NSIC mark, the Golden Eagles are in 16th place with two points, while the unbeaten 11-0-2 Beavers pace the conference with 35 points.

Minnesota Crookston, on average, scores the fewest goals in the league at under half a goal a game (0.4) and allow the most at 2.87 per contest. UMC has been shutout in 10 of its 15 games this season and has never scored more than one in a game. The Golden Eagles are led by freshman midfielder Jessica Withrow's two goals and senior defender Maggie Gibbons leads the way with a pair of assists.

Bemidji State comes in ranked No. 23 in the country and No. 3 in the Central region. They have yet to lose this season on the strength of an attack that ranks second in the NSIC at 2.4 goals per match and the league's stingiest defense, which has conceded an average of just 0.27 goals against. The Beavers have shutout their opponent in 11 of 15 games this season and have never allowed more than one. They boast two of the NSIC's top three scorers in junior forward Rachael Norton, who has 11 goals and 30 points on the year, and freshman forward Allyson Smith, who has seven goals and 22 points.
LAST TIME OUT: SCSU put together its second consecutive unbeaten weekend with a pair of results on the road. On the strength of a season high-tying three goals, it defeated Wayne State, 3-0, before grinding out a scoreless draw, 0-0, at Augustana. Three different players—sophomore forward Hannah Marion, sophomore midfielder Monica Majeski and freshman forward Kate Murphy—scored in the win over the Wildcats.
Marion's goal at WSC was her team-leading fourth of the season and her second in her last three games. It was set up by junior forward Kylie Cleary, marking the second time in three matches those two combined for a goal.
Majeski tallied the game winner against the Wildcats off of a corner kick assist from sophomore midfielder Brooke Bares. It was Majeski's first goal of the season and Bares' team-leading fourth helper.
Murphy's tally was her third of the season—all of which have come in the Huskies' last four games.
DOMINANT DEFENSE: St. Cloud State's current four game unbeaten run has been built on the back of its defense. The Huskies have allowed just two goals over that span and are giving up only 2.5 shots on goal per contest. The back line is the sixth-stingiest unit in the conference, having allowed under a goal per game (0.94) this season. It has also conceded three chances on target or less in 10 of 16 games.
KASS LEADS THE CHARGE: SCSU returns four of its top five goal scorers and point getters this season, led by junior forward Maria Kass, a two-time All-NSIC selection. The Pewaukee, Wis., native ranks second on the Huskies with three goals and six points this season. She has led the team in scoring in each of her first two seasons.
WE'RE BAAACK: Overall, SCSU returns eight starters and 16 letter winners from 2016's NSIC Tournament team, including junior midfielder Kelli Santo Paulo, an All-NSIC honorable mention, as well as sophomore forward Hannah Marion and sophomore midfielder Brooke Bares.

This season, Santo Paulo has a goal, Marion leads the team with four goals and Bares paces the Huskies with four assists.
PRESEASON POLL: After placing sixth in 2016 with a 6-5-4 conference record, SCSU was picked to finish fifth in the NSIC this season by the league's coaches. Coupled with their 2015 fifth place finish, the Huskies have made back-to-back NSIC Tournament appearances for the first time since 2011 and 2012.