BILLINGS, Mont. – A light week of Great Northwest Athletic Conference play features a single game against one of the league's top opponents, as the Montana State University Billings women's soccer team begins a three-game home stand.
 
The Yellowjackets (3-4-1, 0-3 GNAC) will host Northwest Nazarene University (5-2-1, 1-2 GNAC) on Thursday afternoon at Yellowjacket Field. The match will kick off at 1 p.m., and it will be part of a doubleheader with the MSUB men's soccer team with the late game against Seattle Pacific University set for 3:30 p.m. Live video and live statistics will be available online through the MSUB Stretch Internet portal here.
 
Since completing their non-conference schedule with consecutive victories, the 'Jackets have hit a rough patch with three straight losses to open their 2018 GNAC season. Last week, MSUB suffered a 1-0 loss at Western Oregon University with the goal coming in the 90th minute, before falling 4-0 at the hands of No. 10 Concordia University in a pair of road games.

"We are looking forward to this being the first of three matches at home," said MSUB head coach Stephen Cavallo. "The road trip to Oregon was a tough one for the team, but it provided us with two games with a lot of growth opportunities for us. We have gotten back to work this week and I am excited to see the response against NNU on Thursday. We know they are going to provide a stern test as we dropped both fixtures against them last year."
 
After Thursday's game against NNU, the 'Jackets will remain home next week for two more GNAC affairs against Saint Martin's University (October 4) and Seattle Pacific University (October 6). Thursday will mark the lone regular-season meeting between the Yellowjackets and Nighthawks this fall. "We will continue to work on improving each day and will be ready to give everything to the match on Thursday to get our first GNAC win of the season," said Cavallo. "We will all need to perform well to get a positive result against NNU, but I believe this is something the players will achieve."
 
LOOKING FOR A SPARK: The Yellowjackets will look to get the offense rolling this week, after hitting a skid over the last three games. Things looked promising to open the year, as MSUB scored 11 goals and had nine assists through its first five games of the year. Shooting accuracy may be a factor as well, with the team placing 44.3 percent of shots on target over the first five games (31 of 70), but just 34.6 percent of shots on target the last three games (9 of 26).
 
O'DELL KEEPS FOOT ON THE GAS: Freshman Cassidy O'Dell has continued the strong start to her collegiate career, and is averaging just under 76 minutes per game while starting all eight as a forward. O'Dell has taken a team-high 24 shots on the year, a total that ranks fifth in all of the GNAC and is just four behind conference leader Kiersten Madsen of Saint Martin's. She also continues to lead the team with three assists, and will be looking for her second goal of the year after finding the net on September 11 against Providence.
 
GRIMSHAW EARNS THE START: Making her second career start last week against Concordia, sophomore Amanda Grimshaw matched her season high with 62 minutes played up top. Having already contributed a goal and an assist this fall, the 'Jackets should look to Grimshaw to continue to be a contributor in the attacking third.
 
ON THIS DATE: MSUB has an all-time record of 2-5 in games played on September 27.
 
Northwest Nazarene University Nighthawks
Thursday, September 27 – 1 PM – Yellowjacket Field
2018 Record: 5-2-1, 1-2 GNAC
Head Coach: Mary Trigg, 6th season
2017 Record: 11-7, 8-4 GNAC (3rd)
 
After getting off to a stellar start at 5-0-1, Northwest Nazarene suffered its first two setbacks of the year with 1-0 losses at No. 10 Concordia and Western Oregon last week at home. The defeats came after NNU started its GNAC schedule with a dominant 6-1 performance against Saint Martin's, as the 'Hawks look to return to the conference tournament after making their first-ever appearance last fall.
 
NNU has out-scored the opposition 19-8 this fall, with eight different players finding the net and five of them scoring multiple times. At the top of the list is Madi Taylor, whose five goals are tied for second in the conference. Maddy Parton has scored four times for NNU, while Rikki Myers has three goals and a pair of assists for eight total points.
 
Kaisa Tsuruta leads the team with four assists, and she is 1 of 10 players to have started all eight games.
 
Defensively, senior Olivia Carter and sophomore Jade Zimmer have been rocks in starting all eight matches on the back line. The duo ranks first (725) and third (642) on the team, respectively, in minutes played among field players, with midfielder Chandler Kauffman also starting all eight games and ranking second with 708 minutes.
 
In goal, Chloe Sholtz has played every minute of the year and holds a goals-against average of 0.97 to rank fifth in the GNAC. Sholtz has made 30 saves and recorded a pair of shutouts on the season.
 
The Series: MSUB leads the all-time series 17-7-2, and has a stellar record of 10-1 in games played in Billings. The Nighthawks have had the upper hand as of late however, winning three of the last four games including their first-ever win in Billings last fall.
 
Last Time Out: Myers had one of NNU's three goals in a 3-1 win at Yellowjacket Field on September 28, 2017, as the 'Hawks completed the season sweep of MSUB. Myers also had the game-winner in a 1-0 triumph for NNU in Nampa, Idaho, on September 16, 2017.

Date	Location	H/A/N	Result	Score
9-16-97	Nampa, ID	A	L	7-1
9-15-00	Nampa, ID	A	L	3-0
10-6-01	Nampa, ID	A	L (OT)	2-1
9-6-03	Billings, MT	H	W	4-0
10-16-04	Nampa, ID	A	T (2 OT)	1-1
9-29-07	Nampa, ID	A	W	3-1
10-25-07	Billings, MT	H	W	4-0
10-16-08	Billings, MT	H	W	4-0
11-6-08	Nampa, ID	A	W	3-0
9-19-09	Nampa, ID	A	L (OT)	4-3
10-8-09	Billings, MT	H	W	2-1
10-9-10	Nampa, ID	A	W	1-0
11-6-10	Billings, MT	H	W	1-0
10-8-11	Nampa, ID	A	W	6-1
11-5-11	Billings, MT	H	W	4-0
9-22-12	Nampa, ID	A	W	1-0
10-4-12	Billings, MT	H	W	2-1
10-10-13	Nampa, ID	A	T (2 OT)	1-1
11-2-13	Billings, MT	H	W	1-0
10-2-14	Billings, MT	H	W	1-0
11-1-14	Nampa, ID	A	W (OT)	3-2
9-19-15	Billings, MT	H	W	2-0
10-8-15	Nampa, ID	A	L	2-1
9-29-16	Nampa, ID	A	W	2-1
9-16-17	Nampa, ID	A	L	1-0
9-28-17	Billings, MT	H	L	3-1