St. Cloud State Women’s Soccer Opens 2023 Season in Michigan

Thursday, August 31

Houghton, Mich.

6:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Michigan Tech

Photo by: Kaitlyn Zuehl

St. Cloud State Women’s Soccer Opens 2023 Season in Michigan

8/30/2023 1:38:00 PM | Women's Soccer

SCSU opens against Michigan Tech on Thursday, Northern Michigan on Saturday

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Women's Soccer will open the 2023 campaign with a road trip to Michigan this weekend, as the Huskies will face Michigan Tech on Thursday, Aug. 31 and Northern Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 2. Thursday's season opener is schedule to start at 7:00 p.m. ET local time and 6:00 p.m. CT, while Saturday's contest will begin at 12:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m. CT.

FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
Both games will be streamed live on FloSports for a fee (Thursday stream / Saturday stream). Live stats will be covered by each home team. Links to coverage options for both games can be found on the St. Cloud State Women's Soccer schedule page.

30^th SEASON OF ST. CLOUD STATE WOMEN'S SOCCER
The 2023 season will serve as the 30^th season of St. Cloud State Women's Soccer, with its inaugural campaign kicking off in 1994. The Huskies have recorded 10 or more wins in six seasons, including most recently in 2019 under head coach Gretta Macdonald when SCSU went 12-5-3 and advanced to the second round of the NSIC Tournament. In 29 seasons, SCSU is 213-241-61 overall, including a 114-92-33 (.546) mark in St. Cloud and a 77-62-25 (.546) record at Husky Stadium, which opened in 2004 and is affectionally known as "Husky Heaven" by the team.

NSIC PLAYERS TO WATCH
Sophomore forward Ellie Primerano (Saint Joseph, Mich.) and junior defender Rheana Zerna (St. Michael, Minn.) were named the preseason players to watch by the NSIC on Aug. 14. Primerano looks to build off a promising start to her collegiate career after an impressive freshman campaign in 2022 where she played in 11 matches and logged 862 minutes of action while recording three assists and earning All-NSIC Second Team honors. Zerna repeats as the NSIC Player to Watch for the second straight season and will look to anchor the Husky defense that recorded eight shutouts and allowed just 0.89 goals per game in 2022. Zerna played 1,065 minutes and started all 13 matches she played in 2022, registering two shots on goal.

NSIC PRESEASON POLL
St. Cloud State Women's Soccer was picked to finish eighth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Huskies earned 104 points in the poll to land eighth and eye a return to the NSIC Tournament. Minnesota State earned 187 points and eight first-place votes to land atop the poll, followed by Augustana (177 pts), Bemidji State (170 pts) and Concordia-St. Paul, who earned four, two and one first-place votes, respectively. Mary earned 134 points to land fifth in the poll, followed by Minot State (133 pts) and Northern State (119 pts). After SCSU, Minnesota Duluth landed at ninth (103 pts), followed by Winona State (82 pts), Southwest Minnesota State (59 pts), Wayne State (59 pts), MSU Moorhead (45 pts), Sioux Falls (38 pts) and Minnesota Crookston (18 pts).

SERIES HISTORY
This weekend will mark the ninth consecutive season dating back to 2014 (no season in 2020 due to pandemic) that SCSU has opened its season by playing Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan, with the teams alternating trips to its respective states each year. SCSU is 1-5-2 all-time against Michigan Tech and 4-7-0 against Northern Michigan. The Huskies lone win against Michigan Tech came on Sept. 3, 2017, a 1-0 win in St. Cloud. SCSU won four consecutive games against Northern Michigan between Sept. 5, 2014 and Sept. 1, 2017, including a 2-0 win in Marquette to open the 2016 season.

Last season, the Huskies fell to Northern Michigan and Michigan Tech, both 2-0 results, to open the 2022 season on Aug. 25 and 27, respectively.

GOAL PRODUCTION RETURNS
St. Cloud State will return 71.4 percent (15-of-21) of its goal production from the 2022 season, as fifth-year senior forward Jenna Dominguez (Geneva, Ill.), redshirt junior midfielder Gracie Parsons (Omaha, Neb.) and sophomore midfielder Jada Dachtler (Iowa City, Iowa) all return to the pitch for the Huskies. Dominguez led the way for the Huskies in 2022, scoring a career-best eight goals while Parsons logged four goals and Dachtler had one in her debut season for SCSU.

MACDONALD MAKES HISTORY
In 2022, head coach Gretta (Arvesen) Macdonald became the Huskies' all-time winningest coach as she logged seven wins to her credit and now stands at 64-60-24 in nine seasons at the helm of the program (eight seasons of play, no 2020 season due to pandemic). She surpassed her predecessor, Becky Heiberger-McCabe, who went 58-44-13 in six seasons from 2008-13. The Huskies have reached the postseason five times in eight seasons of play under Macdonland, including a 2019 NSIC semifinal appearance. The 2019 Huskies' recorded 12 wins, which ranks as the second-most wins in a season in program history, trailing only the 13 wins SCSU recorded in 1995.

DOMINGUEZ ON RECORD BOOK WATCH
Fifth-year senior Jenna Dominguez (Geneva, Ill.) will get her final chance to further etch her name in the SCSU record book in her final season donning the red and black for SCSU. The 2019 All-NSIC Honorable Mention honoree already ranks amongst the best offensive players in program history, as she ranks second in career game-winning goals (eight) and 10^th in career points (40 points), career goals (15 goals) and career assists (10 assists). Her four game-winning goals in 2019 and three in 2022 also rank second and fifth, respectively, on the all-time single season list.

NEWCOMERS TAKE CENTER STAGE
St. Cloud State will have 14 newcomers take the pitch in 2023, all hailing from the Midwest or Canada. Four of the new Huskies are Minnesota natives, and they are joined by three from Wisconsin and Iowa, two from Ohio and one each from Michigan and Ontario, Canada. Below is a look at the 14 who will wear the Husky jersey for the first time this season.