BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings women's soccer team completes its 2010 road schedule this week with a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference matches at Saint Martin's and Western Oregon on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
The Yellowjackets are looking to bounce back after a heartbreaking 2-1 loss in overtime to a nationally ranked Seattle Pacific squad last Saturday at home. The Yellowjackets are 9-3-1 on the year and 6-3-0 in the GNAC. The team also earned a victory last week, defeating Central Washington 4-2 on Thursday.
The road has been kind to the Jackets this season as the team currently owns a 5-1-1 record away from Billings. The only defeat came at Seattle Pacific, while the draw took place at Colorado Mines.
The Jackets currently have three players in double digit points this season. Kari Foreman (Lakewood, CO) leads the team with 13 points, while Heidi Greenback (Woodinville, WA) and Jennifer Larsen (Mesa, AZ) have 11 and 10, respectively. Foreman and Larsen lead the team with five goals apiece, while Greenback has had a solid showing in her first season, scoring four goals and three assists.
Foreman ranks sixth in the conference for points and is fifth in goals with Larsen. The duo also ranks eighth in goals per game with a 0.33 average.
Sophomore Jaucelyn Richter (Billings, MT) is currently sixth in the conference for total shots with 33, and ranks seventh in shots per game with a 2.54 average. Richter is fourth on the team in scoring, tallying three goals and one assist for seven points.
Between the posts, Sabrina Grandke-Bawab (Kirkland, WA) has continued to show talent at the position. Grandke-Bawab suffered her first loss as a starter on Saturday but holds a 7-1-1 record this season. She ranks fourth in goals against average (0.86) and save percentage (.791). The freshman has been credited with four shutouts during the season.
As a team the Yellowjackets are second in the conference with 5.23 points per game and 1.85 goals per match. The Jackets defense has also proven to be strong this season as the Jackets have surrendered just 14 goals this season and opponents are have shot just .483 on goal this year.
Saint Martin's enters Thursday's match at 4-9-0 on the season and 3-6-0 in the GNAC. The Saints are coming off a loss to Simon Fraser last week, but had beaten Western Washington, 2-1, prior to that.
Jill Webb leads SMU, scoring eight goals and five assists for 21 total points, which leads the GNAC conference. Jenny Baker is the only other Saint in double figures for total points, scoring six goals and two assists for 14 points.
The Saints come into the match taking 133 shots, shooting .143 on the year. Opponents are shooting .153 per game against them and have outscored SMU 32-19.
In their first meeting, Saint Martin's defeated the Yellowjackets 3-2 in Billings. Saint Martin's jumped out to an early 2-0 lead but the Jackets scored late in the first half from Carly Valentine (Vancouver, WA) and again early in the second half from Foreman to tie the game at 2-2. SMU received the game-winning goal by Sammi Thompson in the 64th minute to upset the Jackets.
Western Oregon (2-11-0, 1-8-0 GNAC) currently sits on a three game losing skid entering this week's match-ups. The Wolves are led by Marina Austin who has nine points after three goals and three assists. Taylor Thompson is second in scoring after scoring three goals and an assist for seven points.
The Wolves are shooting .064 as a team and have given up 39 goals this season, scoring just nine. Teams are shooting .568 with shots on goal and have pitched eight shutouts against the Wolves.
In the first meeting between the two teams, MSUB took the lead in the 27th minute after the Wolves scored an own goal and then Jackie Hill (Boise, ID) fired a header off an Adrienne Biglow (Yakima, WA) corner kick into the back of the net to solidify the 2-0 victory in Billings.
The Yellowjackets are currently ranked eighth in NCAA west region poll this week, but are sixth in the unofficial NSCAA poll. MSUB kicks off Thursday's match with the Saints at 1 p.m., while Saturday's match in Monmouth gets started at 12 p.m.
