BILLINGS, Mont. – Montana State University Billings women's soccer is fresh off a 1-0 win against Northwest Nazarene as it travels to play a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference road contests this week. The Yellowjackets are at Western Oregon University Thursday, October 17 at 2 p.m. local time, followed by Concordia University Saturday, October 19 at 1 p.m. Both games will be available to stream online with live statistics using links on the
MSUB women's soccer interactive schedule page.
"We are expecting incredibly tight and close games this week," said MSUB head coach
Stephen Cavallo. "Both teams were here in Billings a couple weeks ago and they were dogfights. We know we are going to have to be extremely focused and committed to the defensive side of the game. When the chances are there on offense we need to be aggressive, take a lot of shots and make sure we are following our game plan."
MSU Billings (4-4-2, 3-2-0 GNAC) is on pace to record its first winning season since 2015 and hopes to qualify for the GNAC conference tournament set for November 14-16 in Seattle, Washington. To achieve their goal, the Yellowjackets will need to improve a 1-3 road record so far and has two chances this week get back to an even .500 mark.
2019 GNAC WOMEN'S SOCCER STANDINGS
|
CONF |
PTS |
OVERALL |
PCT |
HOME |
AWAY |
NEUTRAL |
STREAK |
| Western Washington |
6-0-0 |
18 |
10-2-0 |
.833 |
5-0-0 |
4-2-0 |
1-0-0 |
Won 6 |
| Seattle Pacific |
4-1-0 |
12 |
6-5-0 |
.545 |
3-1-0 |
3-2-0 |
0-2-0 |
Won 1 |
| Montana State Billings |
3-2-0 |
9 |
4-4-2 |
.500 |
3-1-1 |
1-3-0 |
0-0-1 |
Won 1 |
| Central Washington |
2-1-1 |
7 |
4-4-1 |
.500 |
1-1-0 |
2-2-1 |
1-1-0 |
Tied 1 |
| Western Oregon |
2-2-1 |
7 |
5-4-2 |
.545 |
4-1-0 |
1-3-2 |
0-0-0 |
Lost 1 |
| Northwest Nazarene |
2-2-1 |
7 |
5-5-1 |
.500 |
4-1-1 |
0-3-0 |
1-1-0 |
Lost 1 |
| Simon Fraser |
1-4-0 |
3 |
1-7-1 |
.167 |
1-2-0 |
0-5-1 |
0-0-0 |
Lost 2 |
| Concordia |
0-3-1 |
1 |
2-7-1 |
.250 |
2-2-1 |
0-5-0 |
0-0-0 |
Tied 1 |
| Saint Martin's |
0-5-0 |
0 |
2-8-2 |
.250 |
2-3-0 |
0-5-1 |
0-0-1 |
Lost 6 |
LAST TIME OUT: In a remarkable turnaround to a 4-0 loss to NNU on October 3, MSUB bounced back Saturday with a 1-0 win at home against the Nighthawks just nine days later. Junior
Summer Miles scored the game winning goal in the 26
th minute after touching in a pass next to the far post from
Amanda Hemmen, following a corner kick. The Yellowjackets landed four shots on goal compared to three for NNU. Goalkeeper
Erinn Harder made three saves to earn her fourth clean sheet of the season.
BACK LINE IMPROVEMENT: After allowing 12 goals on the road to Northwest Nazarene and No. 17 Western Washington, the defensive core of the Yellowjackets vastly improved to get MSUB to a 1-0 shutout at home last week. The group of
Courteney Shovlin,
Amanda Hemmen,
Kalin Sandow, and
Erin Reynolds held top GNAC scorer Rikki Myers to two shots on goal. Hemmen played particularly well with an assist on the game winning goal and a crucial shot block in the final minutes of the contest. All four back line starters are seniors for MSUB.
HARDER TO BEAT: Goalkeeper
Erinn Harder earned her fourth clean sheet against Northwest Nazarene. The junior leads the conference in the category and holds a 1.38 goals against average (seventh) and .694 save percentage (eighth) through eight regular season games. "Erinn is going to make the big save for us when she is needed," Cavallo said. "We know that Western Oregon and Concordia have strong attacks but I am confident Erinn will be able to keep us in the game. She has really improved since her freshman year. She does a great job communicating and keeping the back line organized."
WHERE THEY STACK UP: The 'Jackets are in third place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a 3-2-0 record. Among nine teams, MSUB ranks eighth in shots per game (9.30), sixth in goals per game (1.00), seventh in goals allowed (1.90), third in shutouts (four), and eighth in corners (3.20). Western Washington (10-2, 6-0) moved up to No. 12 in the Division II United Soccer Coaches poll.
Alexa Iacolucci ranks seventh in the GNAC with 2.80 shots per game. Lexie Bloyer is tied for second with two game-winning goals.
Scouting Western Oregon University
Thursday, October 17 – 2 p.m. – WOU Soccer Field — Monmouth, Oregon
2019 Record: 5-4-2, 2-2-1 GNAC, 4-1-0 home, 0-3-2 away, 1-0-0 neutral
2018 Record: 5-9-3, 3-7-2 GNAC, 2-5-1 home, 3-4-2 away, 0-0-0 neutral
Head Coach: Kacey Bingham (1st season)
The Wolves fell 5-0 to then No. 17 Western Washington at home Saturday, breaking up a three game unbeaten streak that included wins over Seattle Pacific (2-0) and Concordia (2-0). Junior forward Alyssa Tomasini (Camas, Washington) leads WOU with 14 points and five goals.
Tomasini's had two goals and an assist against Western State Colorado in the Wolves' season opener. Senior forward Isabelle Creighton (Auburn, Washington) and senior midfielder Selene Konyn (Eugene, Oregon) both have three goals apiece with 11 starts.
Senior goalkeeper Alex Qualls (Gresham, Oregon) has 11 starts and a 1.18 goals against average with 29 saves and 13 goals allowed. Qualls has shutouts over Western State Colorado, Hawaii Pacific, Seattle Pacific, and Concordia.
On October 26, MSUB defeated WOU 1-0 in the GNAC opener at Yellowjacket Field. Head coach Kacey Bingham called it a "disappointing effort" and the Wolves generated three shots compared to MSUB's 10.
Lexie Bloyder scored the only goal of the game and Harder played 90 minutes to pick up the shutout.
Scouting Concordia University
Saturday, October 19 – 1 p.m. – Tuominen Yard — Portland, Oregon
2019 Record: 2-7-1, 0-3-1 GNAC, 2-1-1 home, 0-4-0 away, 0-2-0 neutral
2018 Record: 15-2-3, 9-1-2 GNAC, 8-1-2 home, 6-1-1 away, 1-0 neutral
Head Coach: Grant Landry (23rd season)
Concordia plays a road-home split for the second week in a row with Northwest Nazarene on Thursday evening, followed by MSU Billings. Last week, the Cavaliers played Central Washington University to a 1-1 overtime tie. The stalemate in Portland followed a 2-0 defeat at Western Oregon last Thursday on the road.
Senior Kyra Radcliff is tied for second in the GNAC with five goals. Radcliffe scored her fifth of the fall in Saturday's draw against CWU. Radcliffe has 21 career goals for the Cavaliers, ranking just outside the program top-10.
Rebecca Harris and Alaina Edgerly hold the defensive line for Concordia. Harris played a career-high 110 minutes and all of overtime last week. Edgerly has seven starts in a row and reached a career high 88 minutes last Saturday.
Jaida Nyby scored for CU, but the Yellowjackets claimed at 2-1 result in Billings on September 28.
Alexa Iacolucci and
Kiley Sandow scored for MSUB.
"We've made huge strides so far but we know this week is going to be a massive test," commented Cavallo. "Western Oregon is right there in the standings and we know Concordia is a much better team than their record has showed so far," Cavallo said. "We are obviously happy with our improvement over the past three seasons. The NNU game showed us what we are capable of being. Now it's time to step up in order to get two big results on the road."
