St. Cloud State Women’s Soccer Readies for Final Road Trip of Regular Season

Friday, October 25

Marshall, Minn.

5:00 P.M. CT

St. Cloud State

Southwest Minnesota State

St. Cloud State Women’s Soccer Readies for Final Road Trip of Regular Season

10/24/2024 6:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Huskies face Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls with postseason right around the corner

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Women's Soccer (8-2-4, 5-1-4 NSIC) hits the road for the final time in the regular season, heading to Marshall and Sioux Falls this weekend. First, the Huskies will face Southwest Minnesota State (1-11-1, 1-7-1 NSIC) on Friday, Oct. 25 at 5:00 p.m. CT, followed by a Sunday game against at Sioux Falls (2-11-0, 2-7-0 NSIC) at 1:00 p.m. CT.

With only four games left in the regular season, the Huskies are currently in a three-way tie for second place with 19 points. Minnesota State currently sits atop the standings with 26 points (9-1-4, 8-0-2 NSIC), followed by Bemidji State (8-4-1, 6-2-1 NSIC), Augustana (7-4-2, 6-2-1 NSIC and the Huskies all at 19 points. Four other teams (UMary, Northern State, Concordia-St. Paul and Minot State) are all close behind and within four points of second place.

FOLLOW THE HUSKIES

Both matches will be streamed for free live on the NSIC Network with live stats available through SideArm Stats on the opponent's website. Links to both coverage options at the St. Cloud State Women's Soccer schedule page.

SERIES HISTORY

SCSU holds an advantage in both all-time series with its upcoming opponents, as the Huskies are 15-10-4 all-time against the Mustangs and 10-1-2 all-time against the Cougars. However, the Huskies are seeking their first win against SMSU since 2018, with SCSU going 0-2-2 against the Mustangs in the last four meetings. Last season, SMSU won 1-0 on Oct. 22, 2023, at Husky Stadium. SCSU has won six consecutive games against USF and is 7-0-1 in its last eight meetings. Last season, the Huskies beat the Cougars 3-1 on Oct. 20 behind goals from current Huskies Krysten Schuster and Linsey Trapino.

REGIONAL RANKINGS

St. Cloud State moved up two spots to No. 6 in this week's United Soccer Coaches (USC) Central Regional rankings, as another NCAA Tournament berth nears for the Huskies. Among NSIC teams, Minnesota State is ranked first and Concordia-St. Paul is ranked eighth. Last season, the Huskies earned the No. 3 spot in the NCAA Central Regional Tournament, its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.

HALUNEN'S BIG WEEKEND

Freshman defender Izzy Halunen (Woodbury, Minn.) played a big role in the Huskies sweep over MSU Moorhead (4-0, Oct. 18) and Northern State (2-1, Oct. 20), scoring a goal and assist for three points while playing a hand in both game-winning scores. She played 172 minutes on the Huskies backline while only allowing one goal and helping SCSU record its fifth shutout of the season, holding the Dragons to zero shots on goal on Friday. She had an assist on the game-winning goal against MSUM on Friday, recording her first career point. Then, Halunen scored the game-winning goal on Saturday against Northern State, creating a turnover at midfield and then getting the ball back and scoring in the 68^th minute, registering her first career goal.

CASE FOR ALL-NSIC

Among many Huskies, junior forward Ellie Primerano (St. Joseph, Mich.) and sophomore forward Linsey Trapino (Verona, Wis.) have led the way offensively all season for the Huskies, making their bid for All-NSIC selections. Each of them rank in the NSIC's top-10 in goals, game-winning goals and points this season. Primerano leads the conference in game-winning goals (three) while ranking third in goals (six) and third in points (14). Trapino ranks fifth in game-winning goals (two), fifth in goals (four) and 10^th in points (nine).

Primerano was named the NSIC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 23 after scoring in both games of SCSU's weekend sweep over Minnesota Duluth (2-1, Sept. 20) and Bemidji State (2-1, Sept. 22). It marked the third time in her career she has earned the conference weekly honor after winning it twice as a sophomore in 2023. Primerano scored two goals and added an assist for a five-point weekend, as she also extended her goal streak to three consecutive games and had the game-winning goal in Sunday's win over the Beavers. She helped extend SCSU's win streak to nine over UMD, while helping the Huskies beat the Beavers for the first time since Nov. 13, 2019. Her five-point weekend helped her become the 22^nd player in program history to reach 25 career points, as she now ranks 14^th all-time with 33 career points (10g/13a).

Trapino netted her fourth goal of the season in a 4-0 win over MSU Moorhead on Oct. 18, as she became the 23^rd Husky to reach 25 career points (11g/4a). In just 35 games, Trapino has already registered six game-winning goals, a mark which ranks seven on the all-time SCSU list.

ORHAM EXCELLING IN NET

Redshirt junior goalkeeper Meriel Orham (St. Michael, Minn.) has made the most of her opportunity in the net for the Huskies this season, playing every game this season and recording an 8-2-4 mark on the season. She has recorded five shutouts this season against Roosevelt (Sept. 13), Parkside (three saves, Sept. 15), Wayne State (four saves, Sept. 29), Concordia-St. Paul (three saves, Oct. 4) and MSU Moorhead (Oct. 18).

On the season, Orham is 8-2-4 with a 0.65 goals-against-average, .824 save percentage and five shutouts. Her GAA would set a new program season record, while her five shutouts and eight wins currently rank eighth among all Huskies. SCSU's 0.64 GAA and .824 S% both rank fourth and fifth in the NSIC, respectively.

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Women's Soccer, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.