BILLINGS, Mont. – Entering the week as the only Great Northwest Athletic Conference team currently on a 3-game win streak, the Montana State University Billings women's soccer team hits the road for a pair of contests. The 'Jackets first play Northwest Nazarene University Thursday, October 3 at 5 p.m. in Nampa, Idaho, followed by No. 17 Western Washington University Saturday, October 5 at 1 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on the GNAC Stretch Internet Portal with live statistics.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Yellowjackets opened GNAC play last weekend with a pair of home wins. Thursday, MSUB used the cold, rainy, windy conditions to their advantage and beat Western Oregon 1-0. Saturday, they downed defending conference champion Concordia University 2-1, after receiving goals from Alexa Iacolucci and Kiley Sandow.
 
POINTS LEADERS: Alexa Iacolucci leads the team with six points and 20 shots. The senior midfielder surpassed her 2018 total of five points and is half-way to her career high 12-point season in 2017. Against Concordia, Iacolucci crossed a corner and found the head of Kiley Sandow in traffic on the goal line to collect an assist.
 
 
Lexie Bloyder and Haylee Gunter have two goals apiece and Lindsey Meyer, Kiley Sandow, and Haley German each have one. Senior defender Amanda Hemmen leads the squad with 597 minutes played in seven starts. Kalin Sandow is right behind with 572 minutes, followed by Iacolucci with 531. Only four players have started every game this season.
 
AT THE TOP EARLY: MSU Billings ranks atop the GNAC standings with Seattle Pacific with two wins and six points. Central Washington and Western Washington remain undefeated at 1-0-0. MSUB ranks fourth in goals per game (1.29), tied for second in goals allowed per game (1.00), and tied for second in shutouts (three).
 
Scouting Northwest Nazarene University
Thursday, October 3 – 5 p.m. – NNU Soccer Field — Nampa, Idaho
2019 Record: 3-4-1-, 0-1-1 GNAC, 2-1-1 home, 0-2-0 away, 1-1-0 neutral
2018 Record: 8-8-1, 4-8-0 GNAC, 6-3-0 home, 2-5-1 away, 0-0-0 neutral
Head Coach: Mary Trigg (7^th season)
 
Northwest Nazarene lost three straight matches before tying Western Oregon 1-1 Saturday in Nampa. The Nighthawks nearly won 1-0 but self-inflicted a late own goal off a corner kick, which resulted in the eventual overtime draw. Rikki Myers scored her seventh goal of the fall in the 41^st minute of the contest. Myers leads the GNAC with 14 points and has three more goals than second place Kyra Radcliff of Concordia.
 
Goalkeeper Alexis Montoya ranks second in the GNAC in saves with 42 (5.25 saves per game). In eight starts, Montoya has allowed 13 goals (1.61 goals against) and is still looking for her first clean sheet.
 
The Nighthawks have been an offensive powerhouse and lead the GNAC with 14 goals. They rank seventh in team defense with 1.62 goals allowed per affair.
 
The Series: MSUB grabbed a 2-1 win over NNU on September 27 at Yellowjacket Field in the only meeting of the season. The Nighthawks created an own goal in the 74^th minute, then Julia Keller heel-flicked the game winner two minutes later. Shots favored NNU 11-5, though the Nighthawks failed to put a shot on goal. Four 'Jackets were cautioned with yellow cards.
 
All-Time: MSUB holds an all-time mark of 18-7-2 (10-1 home, 7-6-2 away, 0-0 neutral) and has been pitted against NNU since 1997. The 'Jackets reversed their fortunes from two 2016 losses and is now 6-4-1 over their last 10 matchups.
 
Scouting No. 17 Western Washington University
Saturday, October 5 – 1 p.m. - Yellowjacket Field—Billings, Montana
2019 Record: 5-2-0, 1-0-0 GNAC, 2-0-0 home, 2-2-0 away, 1-0-0 neutral
2018 Record: 18-3-2, 10-1-1 GNAC, 9-0-0 home, 7-3-1 away, 2-0-1 neutral
Head Coach: Travis Connell (17^th season)
 
No. 17 Western Washington hosts its first true homestand this week with Central Washington on Thursday night, followed by MSU Billings Saturday afternoon. The Vikings fell 2-1 to No. 9 Colorado School of Mines last week, but opened conference competition with a 3-0 shutout at Simon Fraser. Both of WWU's losses this season have come against ranked opponents, the other being No. 15 Cal State Los Angeles.
 
Western Washington enters the week with three total goals allowed, and is inside the NCAA Division II top-30 with a 0.420 goals against average. They are also ninth with five shutouts.
 
WWU has won six GNAC regular season titles over the past seven years and won the National Championship in 2016 with a 24-0-1 record.
 
Junior goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx has five clean sheets this fall. Dierickx started 23 games as a sophomore and totaled 2,028 minutes, 73 saves, and eight shutouts. Dierickx was named second team All-America and GNAC women's soccer newcomer of the year in 2018.
 
Senior forward Karli White has 35 points in 25 matches in her career with WWU. White is currently second on the squad with seven points and tied for first with three goals on 15 shots. Senior Liv Larson recorded her third career 2-goal game last Thursday versus Texas Women's. She leads the Vikings with nine points (3 goals, 3 assists), matching her point total in 2018 in the first seven games.
 
The Series: MSU Billings played Western Washington on senior day at Yellowjacket field, October 27, 2018 and suffered a 2-1 defeat. The Vikings were ranked No. 15 and outshot MSUB 20-14 with seven shots on goal. Haylee Gunter scored for the 'Jackets in the 80^th minute, assisted by Claire Tevaseu and Amanda Hemmen. The Vikings also bested the Yellowjackets earlier in the season in Bellingham 2-0.
 
All-Time: The Yellowjackets are 3-22-1 (2-8 home, 1-9-1 away, 0-3 neutral) against WWU in games dating back to 1998. MSUB's last win came in October, 2011 and the Yellowjackets last beat WWU as a ranked team in 2010. The Vikings have won each of the last 14 head-to-head matchups.