BILLINGS, Mont. – Wrapping up the 2018 season this weekend at home, the Montana State University Billings women's soccer team will play its final two matches of the year at Yellowjacket Field.
 
The Yellowjackets (4-10-1, 1-9) will host Simon Fraser University at 1 p.m. on Thursday and No. 15 Western Washington University at 1 p.m. on Saturday in a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference affairs. The Vikings are tied for first place in the GNAC standings at 13-2-1 overall and 8-1-1 in league play, while the Clan are in third place at 9-4-1 overall and 7-2-1 in league play. Both matches will feature live video and live statistics, available online through MSUB's Stretch Internet portal here.
 
"It is nice to be home for the final week of the season, and there is still a lot of progress that can be made in these final two matches," commented MSUB head coach Stephen Cavallo. "We know we are up against some elite competition. We are turning towards our players to push and finish the season giving everything these last two matches, and to honor the seniors that they get to play alongside. It has not been an easy season for us, but we have been resilient and Jordan and Lili have led by example on that. I know our team will finish out strong and give everything to these final two matches."
 
MSUB lost 1-0 at Central Washington last Thursday before a 4-0 defeat at Seattle Pacific last Saturday. The Yellowjackets have lost six straight matches and have managed just one goal scored in that time span. This weekend will mark the second game of the year against both WWU and SFU, as the 'Jackets lost 2-0 in Bellingham, Washington, on October 11, and 3-0 in Burnaby, British Columbia, on October 13.
 
SENIOR SALUTE: Prior to the final match of the year on Saturday, MSUB will honor its two graduating seniors in forward Jordan Devoto and goalkeeper Lili Delgadillo.
 
Entering the week having started the last 41 matches, Devoto has played in 52 total and started 45 since her freshman year in 2015. She has totaled six goals and added a pair of assists, for a total of 14 career points. She is a two-year captain and has seen the pitch for 3,061 total minutes in her career.
 
FEATURE: THE INSPIRATIONAL PROGRESSION OF JORDAN DEVOTO
 
Delgadillo has played 30 games between the posts, and will start the final two matches of the season this weekend. Entering the week, Delgadillo ranks No. 5 in MSUB history with 136 career saves, and has totaled three shutouts. She has a career save percentage of .743 and a career goals-against average of 1.64.
 
SANDOW'S STREAK REACHES SEVEN: Junior center back Kalin Sandow extended her streak of full-match performances to seven last week, as she has not been subbed off over the last 630 minutes of play. Overall on the year she has played the full time in nine matches, and leads the team with 1,309 minutes played.
 
TWO OF THE GNAC'S BEST COME TO BILLINGS: MSUB will face two of the greatest goal scorers in GNAC history this weekend, in Western Washington's Gabriela Pelogi and Simon Fraser's Emma Pringle. Pelogi enters the week No. 6 in GNAC history with 43 career goals, and is tied for fourth with 105 career points. She is six goals away from tying the GNAC record of 49, held by Sarah Martinez of Seattle Pacific University (2004-07). The 2016 GNAC Championships MVP also needs 17 points to tie Martinez' GNAC record of 122 points. Pringle, the 2016 GNAC Freshman of the Year, ranks No. 11 in league history with 34 goals towards the end of her third collegiate season. She needs five more goals to break into the top-10. Pringle is also tied for No. 20 with 74 career points, and is on pace to have a run at the all-time record as her mark of 1.61 points per game is No. 2 in GNAC history behind only Jill Webb of Saint Martin's (1.80, 2008-10).

Simon Fraser University Clan
Thursday, October 25 – 1 PM – Yellowjacket Field
2018 Record: 9-4-1, 7-2-1 GNAC
Head Coach: Annie Hamel, 5th season
2017 Record: 7-9, 5-7 GNAC (5th place)
First Meeting: SFU 3, MSUB 0 (October 13 at Burnaby, BC)
 
Still in the running for a first-ever GNAC title, Simon Fraser enters the week three points back of both Western Washington and Concordia in the league standings. The Clan would need at least four points as well as help from the conference frontrunners to have a shot at the conference crown, but at the very least they have wrapped up a berth into the GNAC Championships for the second time in the last three seasons.
 
SFU beat Saint Martin's University 3-0 at home last Tuesday, before a 3-2 overtime loss at the hands of Seattle Pacific on Thursday. The Clan close the regular season on Saturday with a road game at Northwest Nazarene University.
 
The Clan's lineup features both the league's leading scorer in Pringle with 11 goals this season, and the league's leader in points with Jenna-lee Baxter who has scored eight times and has a conference-best nine assists for 25 points. Katelyn Erhardsen is tied with Baxter at nine assists, and has also scored three goals, while Christina Dickson has found the net four times.
 
The power-packed offense is No. 1 in the conference in both points (7.71 per game) and goals (36/2.57 per game).
 
Carli Grosso and Emma Lobo have started all 14 games defensively for SFU, and goalkeeper Nicole Anderson owns a 0.82 goals-against average with four shutouts in 11 starts.
 
The Series: MSUB holds a 12-5 upper hand in the all-time series, and is 6-1 against the Clan in home matches including six straight wins in Billings dating back to the 2011 season.
 
Last Time Out: SFU's Samantha Donald netted a goal with four second on the clock before halftime to give her team a 1-0 lead, and Carmen Brown and Baxter each scored late in the second half in the 3-0 loss for MSUB.
 

Date	Location	H/A/N	Result	Score
10-30-99	Arcata, CA	N	L	1-0
9-29-02	Burnaby, BC	A	L	8-0
9-23-10	Burnaby, BC	A	W	1-0
10-30-10	Billings, MT	H	L	1-0
9-22-11	Billings, MT	H	W	4-1
10-22-11	Burnaby, BC	A	W	2-1
9-27-12	Burnaby, BC	A	W	2-0
10-20-12	Billings, MT	H	W	1-0
9-19-13	Billings, MT	H	W	2-0
10-26-13	Burnaby, BC	A	W	3-0
10-18-14	Burnaby, BC	A	W	4-0
10-30-14	Billings, MT	H	W	3-0
10-1-15	Burnaby, BC	A	L	1-0
10-8-16	Burnaby, BC	A	W (OT)	2-1
10-27-16	Billings, MT	H	W (OT)	2-1
10-5-17	Billings, MT	H	W	4-1
10-13-18	Burnaby, BC	A	L	3-0

No. 15 Western Washington University Vikings
Saturday, October 27 – 1 PM – Yellowjacket Field
2018 Record: 13-2-1, 8-1-1 GNAC
Head Coach: Travis Connell, 16th season
2017 Record: 18-2, 11-1 GNAC (2nd, NCAA D2 West Region Runners-Up)
First Meeting: No. 18 WWU 2, MSUB 0 (October 11 at Bellingham, WA)
 
Entering the week unbeaten in its last 10 matches, the Vikings moved up three spots in the United Soccer Coaches' top-25 rankings from No. 18 last week to No. 15 this week. The key to that leap was a 2-1 home win over No. 6 Concordia last week, keeping WWU in contention to reclaim the GNAC title after the Cavaliers won it a year ago.
 
The Vikings have won four straight games, and play at Northwest Nazarene University on Thursday before Saturday's game in Billings.
 
Pelogi and likely GNAC Freshman of the Year Dayana Diaz are tied for the team lead with 15 points apiece, as each player has scored seven goals and added one assist. Pelogi needs three more goals to reach double figures for the fourth consecutive season. Zoe Milburn and Grace Eversaul have each also scored four goals apiece, and Peyton Chick leads the squad with six assists on the year.
 
WWU trails only SFU and Seattle Pacific in total goals scored, as they have netted 33 and average 2.06 per game. The Vikings also have the top goals-against average in the league at 0.43, and their margin of plus-26 is the best in the conference as well.
 
Defender Annaliese Laurila and midfielders Liv Larson and Mariah Roggow are the three players to have started all 16 matches for WWU, while Taylor Hallquist and Jordyn Bartelson have been key contributors as well.
 
Natalie Dierickx has started all 16 games in goal, and her goals-against average of 0.452 ranks her No. 14 in the NCAA.
 
The Series: WWU is 21-3-2 all-time against MSUB and is 8-2 against the 'Jackets in Billings. The Vikings have won the last 13 games between the teams dating back to the 2012 season.
 
Last Time Out: Talia Daigle scored in the ninth minute and Milburn added an insurance goal in the 88th as then-No. 18 WWU shut out the 'Jackets 2-0 in Bellingham two weeks ago.

Date	Location	H/A/N	Result	Score
11-7-98	Ellensburg, WA	N	L	8-0
10-30-00	Bellingham, WA	A	L	7-0
9-27-04	Bellingham, WA	A	L	2-0
9-20-07	Bellingham, WA	A	T (2 OT)	2-2
10-14-07	Billings, MT	H	L	2-0
10-9-08	Bellingham, WA	A	L	2-0
10-31-08	Billings, MT	H	L	2-1
10-24-09	Bellingham, WA	A	L	3-0
11-7-09	Billings, MT	H	L	2-1
9-25-10	Bellingham, WA	A	W	1-0 (WWU #20)
10-28-10	Billings, MT	H	W	1-0
9-24-11	Billings, MT	H	W	1-0
10-20-11	Bellingham, WA	A	T (2 OT)	0-0
9-29-12	Bellingham, WA	A	L	3-0
10-18-12	Billings, MT	H	L	2-0 (WWU #25)
11-3-12	Tukwila, WA	N	L	2-0
9-21-13	Billings, MT	H	L	4-1 (WWU #4)
10-24-13	Bellingham, WA	A	L	1-0 (WWU #12)
10-4-14	Billings, MT	H	L	1-0 (WWU #22)
10-16-14	Bellingham, WA	A	L (OT)	2-1
10-10-15	Bellingham, WA	A	L	2-0 (WWU #3)
11-5-15	Burnaby, BC	N	L	4-0 (WWU #2)
10-6-16	Bellingham, WA	A	L	3-0 (WWU #5)
10-29-16	Billings, MT	H	L	2-0 (WWU #1)
9-30-17	Billings, MT	H	L	1-0 (WWU #1)
10-11-18	Bellingham, WA	A	L	2-0 (WWU #18)