BILLINGS, Mont. – Six of the final nine games on the Montana State University Billings women's soccer schedule are at Yellowjacket Field, as a three-week home stand kicks off Thursday for the Yellowjackets.
 
MSUB (1-6-1, 0-2-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) will host Northwest Nazarene University on Thursday at 1:30 p.m., and No. 1 Western Washington University on Saturday at noon. Both matches are the first in a doubleheader with the Yellowjacket men's soccer team, and live video and live statistics will be available online through MSUB's Stretch Internet portal here.
 
The 'Jackets are coming off their first point of the GNAC season, with a 1-1 double-overtime draw at Western Oregon last Saturday. MSUB also lost 2-0 at Concordia University last Thursday in its other conference match. "This past trip we were able to grow a lot as a team, and it is going to make us stronger," said MSUB head coach Stephen Cavallo. "We are excited to play NNU again Thursday to start our six-game home stand. We want our team to come out with tons of energy, and set a standard in that first match against NNU for the remaining five matches at home."

MSUB KICKS CANCER: In an annual tradition, the MSUB Kicks Cancer match will be Saturday's game against WWU, as the 'Jackets support the fight against cancer. The team will warm up wearing pink gear, and all proceeds from the match will be donated to the American Cancer Society. "We are proud to once again be teaming up with the American Cancer Society," said Cavallo. "Saturday will be about more than just a game, but also bringing about cancer awareness."
 
REIGNING NATIONAL CHAMPS HEADED TO TOWN: Currently on a 31-game winning streak, No. 1 WWU is the reigning NCAA national champion and has not lost a conference game since the 2013 season. The

Vikings are 7-0 and are off to a 3-0 start in league play. WWU will play at Central Washington Thursday before visiting the Yellowjackets on Saturday.
 
HEMMEN SCORES FIRST CAREER GOAL: Getting on the stat sheet for the first time in her career last week, sophomore center back Amanda Hemmen scored MSUB's only goal of the road trip. Her routine of pressing into the box on set pieces finally paid off, as she got on the end of a long ball and slotted it into the net to give MSUB a 1-0 lead against the Wolves. Hemmen wound up playing 105 minutes in the match, her longest outing of the season thus far. 

READY, SET, ALEXA: For the fourth time this season in the draw at Western Oregon, a set piece sparked by sophomore Alexa Iacolucci resulted in a goal. The first three occasions were all goals scored by the midfielder, and on Saturday she notched her first assist of the season off of a dead ball. Iacolucci also played all 110 minutes of the double-overtime affair, marking the second time in her career she has achieved that feat. Even when she's not scoring Iacolucci continues to be a threat, as 78.6 percent of her team-high 14 shots this season have landed on target.
 
SANDOW GOES THE DISTANCE: Matching Iacolucci's performance on Saturday was center back Kalin Sandow, who also played a full 110 minutes in the double-overtime draw. It was Sandow's fourth complete game of the year, and the third time in the sophomore's career that she has gone 110 minutes along the back line.
 
MAKING IT HARDER TO SCORE: Facing an average of 15 shots per game, freshman goalkeeper Erinn Harder has adapted well to her role as the starter over the last four matches. She has come away with nine saves in each of the last two weekends for the 'Jackets, twice reaching her single-game high of five stops.
 
SPANG RETURNS: An injury kept senior forward Jessica Spang out of the lineup for the first six games of the year, but the Billings native made her debut last Thursday at Concordia and played 46 minutes off the bench. That led to her first start of the season on Saturday, and she had two shots on target in 74 minutes against the Wolves. The 'Jackets will look to their all-conference captain to boost their offense, as the team has been out-scored 14-8 so far this season.
 
Northwest Nazarene University Crusaders
Thursday, Sept. 28 – 1:30 PM – Yellowjacket Field
2017 Record: 5-3, 2-1 GNAC
Head Coach: Mary Trigg, 5th Season
2016 Record: 4-13, 2-10 GNAC (8th place)
 
By kickoff on Thursday, just 12 days will have elapsed since the last meeting between the 'Jackets and Crusaders. NNU grabbed a narrow 1-0 win over MSUB on Sept. 16 in the GNAC opener in Nampa, Idaho, and has since defeated Western Oregon 2-0 and lost to Seattle Pacific 1-0.
 
Thursday's match will be the third in a four-game road trip for NNU, which is currently in third place with six points in the conference standings.
 
Rikki Myers, who scored the game-winner the last time the teams met, is tied for the team lead with three goals this year including two in her last three matches. She and Madi Taylor each lead the squad with 15 shots, and the latter has a team-best three assists for nine total points.
 
Kaisa Tsuruta, Mabinty Kanu, and Emily Wilkins have each also scored multiple times for NNU, which has a solid goal differential of plus-7 (13 goals scored, six allowed).
 
The stingy defense is led by senior goalkeeper Daniele Ortiz, who has four shutouts in six matches this season. Ortiz has made 21 saves and allowed just four goals, for a goals-against average of 0.67.
 
In the midfield and defensively, Ashley Cook-Cox, Anita Maryskova, Tennyson Young, Cassandra Clarke, Corrinah Schaefer, and Olivia Carter have been the regular starters in all eight matches for head coach Mary Trigg.
 
The Series: The 'Jackets are 17-6-2 all-time against NNU, and are a perfect 10-0 in matches played in Billings.
 
Last Time Out: MSUB fell behind in the 70th minute, and went without a shot in the second half as the Crusaders collected the shutout win in Idaho.

No. 1 Western Washington University Vikings
Saturday, Sept. 30 – 12 PM – Yellowjacket Field
2017 Record: 7-0, 3-0 GNAC
Head Coach: Travis Connell, 15th season
2016 Record: 24-0-1, 12-0 GNAC (1st place, NCAA Division II National Champion)
 
The Vikings haven't missed a beat after winning the national title a season ago, out-scoring the opposition 29-3 through a perfect 7-0 start to the 2017 campaign. In league play, WWU has out-scored GNAC opponents 17-1 on its way to the top spot in the early standings.
 
WWU's last loss was in the 2015 NCAA national tournament semifinals with a 3-2 defeat against Grand Valley State. After a 0-0 double-overtime draw in its first game of 2016, WWU has won 31 consecutive matches. The Vikings haven't suffered a GNAC defeat since a 1-0 loss at Western Oregon on Oct. 19, 2013.
 
Nine different players have found the net for the goal-scoring machine, and Gabriela Pelogi (20 points), Karli White (17 points) and Liv Larson (14 points) rank first, second, and fourth, respectively, in the GNAC in total points this year. The Vikings are currently No. 2 in the NCAA with 4.14 goals per game, while ranking No. 14 in the country in goals-against average at 0.43.
 
The defensive unit is anchored by reigning NCAA Division II National Player of the Year Sierra Shugarts, who has returned to the pitch over the last three games after missing the first four matches of the year. Also returning at center back is Annaliese Laurila, who started all 25 games during last year's national championship run.
 
In goal, Ashley Homer has started all seven games and has a 0.32 goals-against average while needing to make just 10 total saves this year. The Vikings have given up just 35 total shots (five per game) and 14 on target (two per game).
 
The Series: The Yellowjackets are 3-19-1 all-time against WWU, and have lost the last 11 games in the series. MSUB came as close as any GNAC team has in the last four years to defeating the Vikings, leading 1-0 in the 87th minute on Oct. 16, 2014. WWU rallied to find an equalizer and a game-winner in overtime however, in the closest contest between the teams since a 0-0 double-overtime draw on Oct. 20, 2011.
 
Last Time Out: WWU won both matches against the 'Jackets last year, including a 3-0 result in Bellingham on Oct. 6, 2016 and a 2-0 win in Billings on Oct. 29, 2016. MSUB came inches away from taking a 1-0 lead against WWU the last time the teams played, as a long shot by 2016 senior Hayley Warren rattled the crossbar in the first half of the Vikings' eventual 2-0 win at Yellowjacket Field. Jordyn Bartelson scored for WWU in both games against MSUB last fall.