St. Cloud State embarks on two-game NSIC road swing

ST. CLOUD—Winners of back-to-back contests, the St. Cloud State soccer team (4-4-0, 2-3-0 NSIC) begins a stretch of three-straight conference road contests as it ventures to face NSIC foes Upper Iowa (1-5-1, 1-3-1) and Winona State (3-4-1, 2-2-1) this weekend.

The Huskies will seek to build on their win streak against the Peacocks on Friday, September 29 at 3 p.m. in Fayette, Iowa, ahead of a match-up with the Warriors on Sunday, October 1 at 1 p.m. in Winona.

Soccer fans can watch the game the UIU game live online at UIUPeacocks.com and the WSU game at WinonaStateWarriors.com. The live stream of both will also be available on the NSIC app, which is available for for download for Apple TV, Roku, Amazon TV, and Android TV.

KEY NOTES TO CONSIDER:

ALL-TIME SERIES: St. Cloud State is unbeaten (2-4-4) in six of 10 all-time meetings against Upper Iowa and has won four times in 24 tries (4-18-2) against Winona State. The Huskies split a pair of overtime contests against UIU and WSU last season. SCSU defeated the Warriors, 1-0, on the strength of an 97^th minute game-winner from forward Hannah Marion before falling to the Peacocks, 2-1, in sudden death.
SCOUTING THE PEACOCKS AND WARRIORS: Upper Iowa comes into Friday's match losers of two-straight after falling to Augustana, 3-0, and Wayne State, 3-2, last weekend. The Peacocks' lone win came back on September 17—a 5-1 triumph over Minnesota Crookston. They are led this season by junior midfielder Jordyn Ostrowski, who has three goals and six points on the season.

Winona State has lost two of it last three games—sandwiching a 4-0 win over Wayne State between a 4-1 loss at Bemidji State and 1-0 defeat at Augustana. Its other NSIC victory was a 2-1 win over Minnesota Crookston on September 16. Warriors junior midfielder Abby Bohanski leads the team, and ranks third in the conference, with four goals this season. WSU boasts four players with multiple goals.
St. Cloud State's earned its first conference wins of the season, snapped its four-game skid and notched a perfect six-point weekend with a pair of 2-1 wins at Northern State and against MSU-Moorhead in its most recent outings. The Huskies currently sit in ninth place in the NSIC with six points from five games.
Marion's goal in the seventh minute at NSU ended SCSU's four-game goal-less drought. Prior to Marion's tally, the Huskies had been shutout in their previous 432:32 minutes of play—its longest such stretch since 2011. After snapping that streak, the flood gates opened as SCSU notched back-to-back multi-goal efforts for the first time this season—scoring four goals by four players in last weekend's back-to-back wins. Marion and freshman forward Tatyana Gusakow scored at Northern State, while junior midfielder Kelli Santo Paulo and junior forward Maria Kass found the back of the net against the Dragons.
Sophomore midfielder Brooke Bares was integral to the Huskies' attack against MSUM, tallying assists on both of their goals. She found Santo Paulo with a corner kick before picking Kass out with a well-placed through ball.
It was a weekend of firsts last time out as Gusakow notched her first career goal and freshman forward Kate Murphy registered her first collegiate point with an assist—both in the win at NSU.
St. Cloud State's defense is among the best at limiting opponents' chances. The Huskies rank No. 2 in the NSIC allowing only 2.5 shots on goal against per game and are allowing less than a goal against per game this season (0.88).
KASS LEADS THE CHARGE: SCSU returns four of its top five goal-scorers and point-getters this season, led by Kass, a two-time All-NSIC selection. The Pewaukee, Wis., native paced the Huskies with nine goals and 22 points in 2016 and has led the team in scoring in each of her first two seasons. She is tied for the team lead with two goals in eight games so far this season.
DOMINANT DEFENSE: Three-time All-NSIC senior defender Mackenzie Winters anchors the St. Cloud State back line, which ranked as the seventh-stingiest in the NSIC last year allowing just 1.22 goals per game. Winters played every minute of every game for the Huskies in 2016. The Husky defense began this season with a 194:27 opponent shutout streak before conceding against UCM.
WE'RE BAAACK: Overall, SCSU returns eight starters and 16 letter winners from 2016's NSIC Tournament Team, including Santo Paulo, an All-NSIC honorable mention, as well as Marion and Bares, who each notched three goals in their rookie campaigns.
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.

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Players Mentioned

Brooke Bares

Tatyana Gusakow

Maria Kass

Hannah Marion

Kate Murphy

Kelli Santo Paulo

Mackenzie Winters

Saint Cloud State University Athletics