BILLINGS, Mont. -- After a grueling road trip to Colorado and facing two perennial men's soccer powers, the Montana State Billings men's soccer team is looking forward to their two-game home debut against the University of Mary on Thursday at 4:30 p.m., and against Colorado Christian on Saturday at 4 p.m.

 

The Yellowjackets, 0-2-0, will be seeking their first victory of the 2011 season after dropping a 3-0 decision to 2009 national champion Fort Lewis College and a 2-0 decision against Hawaii Pacific.

 

Battling injuries during the road trip, MSUB struggled to find their offense, but managed to put seven of their 12 shots on goal during the trip. Thomas Sheets and Garion Holian mounted the most attacks for the Jackets, as the duo took nine of the 12 shots.

 

MSUB is averaging 6.0 shots per game and have a .583 shots on goal percentage. The Yellowjacket defense held the Skyhawk's and Sea Warriors to a .324 shots on goal percentage during the trip.

 

Mary will enter the match Thursday with a 0-1-1 record on the year as Nikola Nikolic is currently the Marauders leading scorer with four points (2 goals). Nikolic leads the team in shots with 10 and has the most shots on goal with three.

 

Aaron Mcelwee is the only other Marauder to find the back of the net, while Kyle Roesler has the only assist for Mary this season.

 

The Marauders have out shot their opponents per game this season (.125-.086), but have a smaller shot on goal percentage at .333 to .397. Mary's opponents have taken advantage of their defense early in a match, scoring four of the five goals against the Marauders in the first half.

 

Colorado Christian enters this week winless on the year at 0-2-1. Graham Delano and Ben Lindgren share the scoring lead for the Cougars, scoring a goal each, while Corbin Siklosi has registered the only assist.

 

The Cougars are shooting just .087 percent this season, but are .435 in shots on goal. Opponents are out shooting CCU 22-10 on goal 65-23 overall.

 

Both home matches for the Yellowjackets will be web streamed live and have live stats available via the schedule page or by clicking on the links along the right side of the msubsports.com homepage.