BILLINGS, Mont. – A four-game home stand for the Montana State University Billings women's soccer team begins with a mighty test on Thursday as the Yellowjackets face No. 6 Western Washington University as Great Northwest Athletic Conference play continues.
 
The Yellowjackets (4-3-2, 1-2-1 GNAC) open a stretch of four straight games at Yellowjacket Field against the undefeated Vikings, who are 7-0-2 overall and 4-0 in league play, with kickoff at 1 p.m. Simon Fraser University (2-4-1, 3-1 GNAC) will follow on Saturday with an 11 a.m. kickoff. Both matches will feature live video available online here and live statistics available online here. "It's great to be home, and it is nice to get a little bit of a break from the travel," MSUB head coach Stephen Cavallo commented on his team beginning a four-match home stand. "Western Washington is going to provide us with a great test, and we are expecting a really tight and close game against them. If we can build off our performance on Saturday, we definitely give ourselves a fighting chance against them."
 
This weekend's matches will both be doubleheaders with the Yellowjacket men's soccer team, which hosts Saint Martin's University on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. and Northwest Nazarene University on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Saturday will be the annual MSUB Kicks Cancer Day, as the Yellowjackets will wear pink to support the battle against the disease. "It is great to bring awareness, and it is important for us to use our platform," Cavallo said. "These are little things, but little things lead to great things. Hopefully we live in a world one day where we are cancer free."
 
After this week's matches, MSUB remains home to face Northwest Nazarene University next Thursday before a rematch against No. 25 Seattle Pacific University next Saturday which will signal the beginning of the second half of the conference schedule. "We are excited," said freshman midfielder Kendall McGraw. "We have been traveling a lot, so to have two straight weeks of home games and to have the entire team here is going to be really good energy."
 
MSUB earned one point on the road last week, falling 2-0 at Saint Martin's University before a 1-1, double-overtime draw at Western Oregon University. The Yellowjackets enter this week tied for fifth place in the early GNAC standings. "You have to be a warrior in those games," Cavallo commented on the draw against the Wolves. "We had a really disappointing result on Thursday, so to come back on Saturday and perform the way we did we were bummed not to get three points there. We felt like we had enough chances to do it, so we want to clean that up and we need to be on top of the little things against Western Washington."
 
TORRES TALLIES SECOND GOAL: Junior forward Sydney Torres scored MSUB's lone goal last week, providing the crucial finish in the draw against the Wolves. It was Torres' second goal of the season, and she placed both of the shots she took in the match on target. Torres played a season-high 75 minutes in the WOU match, and her 14 shots and eight on frame rank her third on the team.
 
SMITH WITH ANOTHER ASSIST: Freshman Maddie Smith provided her team-leading third assist of the year, as she had the pass that led to Torres' finish. She enters the week tied for second in the GNAC along with four other players, with SPU's Sophia Chilczuk pacing the conference with five assists.
 
GNAC Women's Soccer Assists Leaders (as of Oct. 6, 2021)

Rank	Player	School	Assists
1	Sophia Chilczuk	Seattle Pacific	5
2	Maddie Smith	MSU Billings	3
	Estera Levinte	Western Washington	3
	Claire Neder	Seattle Pacific	3
	Magda Wronski	Northwest Nazarene	3
	Makenzie Burks	Western Washington	3
7	11 players with	--	2

GUNTER RETURNS TO LINEUP: The Yellowjackets received a boost to their lineup last week, when senior captain Haylee Gunter returned from an injury. The fourth-year veteran had missed the previous six matches with an injury, before coming off the bench against the Saints and moving back into the starting lineup against the Wolves with 81 minutes played. The most experience player on MSUB's roster, Gunter has played in 46 matches with 39 starts throughout her career.
 
MCGRAW PROGRESSING STEADILY: True freshman Kendall McGraw has been among the team's most steadily improved players, and earned her first collegiate start in the match against the Wolves. McGraw's minutes have increased to the tune of a season-high 65.5 minutes per game in last week's series. She scored her first collegiate goal on Sept. 9 against Minnesota State Moorhead and figures to be a key contributor the rest of the fall. "It has taken some time to get used to, but I love the support of the team and what they have done to help me get to where I'm at right now," McGraw said regarding the transition to the college game. "I am just going to keep working hard, and as a team I hope we keep battling every game. We want to show that we are here to play and we are here to bring it for the GNAC."
 
"She is very versatile as a midfielder, has a calming presence, and is very skilled on the ball," Cavallo said regarding the true freshman. "She plays older than her age and doesn't seem like a freshman out there. We always know what to expect from her and she is very consistent with her attitude, her effort, and her energy. We are excited to have her in the program, and her trajectory of the season has gotten better and better."
 
BLOYDER MAKING MOST OF SENIOR SEASON: Fourth-year senior Lexie Bloyder is among four Yellowjackets who have started all nine of the team's games, and her 667 minutes played are the most on the squad. She is averaging a career-high 74.1 minutes per game, and has contributed a goal and an assist thus far while playing both as an outside back and up top.
 
KEENAN KEEPS 'JACKETS IN IT: Second-year goalkeeper Clare Keenan has continued to keep her team in every match, as her 37 saves this season rank second in the conference and her average of 5.29 saves per game ranks her third. Keenan totaled 10 stops in last week's matches, while facing a season-high 20 shots in the Saint Martin's match and 29 total over the weekend.
 
GERTSCHES PROVIDE STABILITY: Twins Hailee Gertsch and Taylor Gertsch join Bloyder and center back Vendela Andersson to form the group of 'Jackets who have started all nine games this season. Hailee plays next to Andersson on the back line while Taylor holds the midfield together directly in front of the defensive unit. Hailee played all 110 minutes in the WOU match, marking the longest outing of her collegiate career and her second 100-plus minute performance of the year.
 

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No. 6 Western Washington University Vikings
Thursday, October 7, 2021 – 1 PM – Yellowjacket Field – Billings, Montana
2021 Record: 7-0-2, 4-0 GNAC
Head Coach: Travis Connell, 19th season
2019 Record: 23-3, 12-0 GNAC (1st place, GNAC Regular Season Champion, GNAC Tournament Champion, NCAA D2 West Region Champion, NCAA D2 National Runner-Up)
 
The Vikings stayed undefeated with a pair of wins last week, shutting out Central Washington 6-0 before a narrow, 1-0 triumph over Northwest Nazarene University. The reigning GNAC champions and 2019 national runners-up are off to a first-place start at 4-0 in league play, and will play at Seattle Pacific University on Saturday after Thursday's match against the Yellowjackets.
 
The high-powered Viking offense, which averages just under 2.0 goals per game, is being led by Tera Ziemer who has four goals and two assists for 10 points. Grace Eversaul and Jenna Killman have each scored three times this fall, and overall 10 different Vikings have found the back of the net.
 
Eversaul and Makenzie Burks are the two Viking field players to have started all nine matches, while seasoned veteran goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx has played all but one half in net and has surrendered just four goals this year with four shutouts to her name.
 
The Series: WWU carries a 23-3-1 all-time record against MSUB and is 9-2 in matches played in Billings. The Vikings have won 15 games in-a-row over the 'Jackets dating back to the 2012 season and have out-scored MSUB 39-3 during that span.
 
Last Time Out: WWU collected a lopsided 8-0 win the last time the teams met, on Oct. 5, 2019 in Bellingham, Wash.
 

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Simon Fraser University
Saturday, October 9 – 11 AM – Yellowjacket Field – Billings, Montana
2021 Record: 2-4-1, 3-1 GNAC
Head Coach: Annie Hamel, 8th season
2019 Record: 2-13-1, 2-10 GNAC (T8th place)
 
After opening its conference schedule with a 2-1 loss to then-No. 8 Western Washington, Simon Fraser has collected three straight GNAC wins including a forfeit victory over Northwest Nazarene and a 2-1 triumph over Central Washington last week. SFU plays at Seattle Pacific on Thursday afternoon before meeting the Yellowjackets on Saturday.
 
SFU has been out-scored 9-6 this season, with Kate Cartier and Giuliana Zaurrini each scoring a pair of goals and Mackenzie Almeida and Kayla Goncalves each contributing one. Zaurrini and Kiara Buono are the two SFU players to have started all seven matches on the field, while Kelsey Fisher has started all seven games in goal. Fisher has made 23 saves and holds a 1.14 goals-against average this fall.
 
The Series: MSUB holds a 12-7 all-time record against SFU and is 6-2 in matches played in Billings. Simon Fraser has won each of the last three meetings between the teams and has a 10-1 scoring margin dating back to the 2018 season.
 
Last Time Out: The teams met just once during the 2019 campaign, with SFU collecting a 2-1 result in Burnaby, B.C. on Nov. 7, 2019.