BILLINGS, Mont. – Already one conference win better than a year ago, the Montana State University Billings women's soccer team returns home for a game against Northwest Nazarene University Saturday, October 12 at 12 p.m. The 'Jackets can even the season series with the Nighthawks with a win after NNU downed MSUB less than two weeks ago 4-0 in Nampa, Idaho. Saturday's game will be streamed online via
MSUB's Stretch Internet Portal. For tickets information, visit the
msubsports.com ticket page or call
Hollie West at 406-896-5934. Ticket are available for purchase at Yellowjacket Field one hour prior to the start of play.
"We set a goal at the beginning of the season to win our home games and control what we can control and we've done a good job of that so far," commented head coach
Stephen Cavallo. "We want to make our field a challenging place to play for our opponents so we are excited to defend our field this weekend."
The Yellowjackets (3-4-2, 2-2-0 GNAC) have scored nine goals and allowed 19 goals to opponents. MSUB averages 9.3 shots per game with 28 corner kicks. Senior midfielder
Alexa Iacolucci leads the team with six points (2 goals, 2 assists) on 27 shot attempts.
Lexie Bloyder and
Haylee Gunter also have two goals apiece with Linsey Meyer,
Kalin Sandow,
Kiley Sandow, and
Haley German at single tallies.
"It's good that we aren't just relying on one person to score," said Cavallo. "We have several players on the team that have scored already and several more that you feel it is just a matter of time. Claire (Tevaseu) and Julia (Keller) come to mind for sure. They have been doing all the right things but now it's just about being patient and I know they'll score when the team needs it most. Alexa (Iacolucci) has been good for us on penalty kicks and free kicks and long shots.
Haylee Gunter continues to step up and grow. Lexi (Bloyder) as well."
LAST TIME OUT: The Yellowjackets found out the hard way last week how difficult it is to win on the road in the GNAC and suffered two difficult to swallow losses in the process. Northwest Nazarene downed MSUB 4-0 on Thursday. Then No. 17 Western Washington did more damage by beating MSUB 8-0 Saturday at Harrington Field. The 'Jackets will try to reset this Saturday in a familiar setting where they a 2-1-1 record so far.
"It was a tough weekend for everyone last week," Cavallo said. "Overall we just didn't play well enough to win and we played two teams that capitalized on all of our mistakes. It will be good to have a couple extra days to get everybody healthy and ready to go for Saturday."
Scouting Northwest Nazarene University
Saturday, October 12 – 12 p.m. – Yellowjackets Field — Billings, Montana
2019 Record: 5-4-1, 2-1-1 GNAC, 4-1-1 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 (7th season)
Northwest Nazarene defeated Simon Fraser 1-0 at home Saturday in their last match. The Nighthawks are also unbeaten in their previous three outings. NNU has scored 19 goals and allowed 13 goals to opponents. They average 13.4 shots per game and 1.90 goals per game.
Rikki Myers scored twice against MSUB just over one week ago and leads the team with eight goals and 17 points. Maddy Parton has eight points in 10 starts (2 goals, 4 assists) and Brook Felzien has four points (1 goal, 2 assists).
Alexis Montoya earned her first clean sheet of the season against MSUB and has 54 saves in 10 games this season. Montoya holds a 1.29 goal against average and an .806 save percentage.
Northwest Nazarene ranks third in shots per game (13.40), tied for first in goals per game (1.90), second in saves (54), and third in corners earned (56).
"We're excited to play them again. They are a very good, strong attacking team and they proved that to us when we played them at their place nine days ago. We certainly had good moments in that game but I think there are a lot of areas where we needed to be better. I'm looking forward to hopefully putting together a full 90-minute performance against them Saturday."
All-Time: MSUB holds an all-time mark of 18-8-2 (10-1 home, 7-7-2 away, 0-0 neutral) and has been pitted against NNU since 1997. The 'Jackets reversed their fortunes from two 2016 losses and is now 5-5-1 over their last 10 matchups.
GNAC AT A GLANCE: Western Washington (3-0-0, 7-2-0) is the only undefeated team left in conference competition. The Vikings have won their last three games. Seattle Pacific (3-1-0, 5-5-0) is alone in second place, followed by Northwest Nazarene (2-1-1, 5-4-1), Central Washington (2-1-0, 4-4-0), and MSU Billings (2-2-0, 3-4-2). Rikki Myers (NNU) leads the GNAC with eight goals. Alyssa Tamasini (WOU) is second with five. Natalie Dierickx (WWU) has the best save percentage among keepers (.875).
