MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead women's soccer team opens the 2012 season on Thursday at Minot State. Game time is 4 p.m. Central time in Minot, N.D.
The Dragons will follow that with their home opener at 1 p.m. Sunday against St. Cloud State.
Both games, along with the Sept. 5 home game against Minnesota-Crookston, will be non-conference contests. MSUM's Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opener is set for Sept. 8 at Northern State (S.D.).
Veteran head coach
Rollie Bulock, in his 13th season at MSUM, returns six starters from a team that went 8-8-1 a year ago. That includes the team's top scorer, junior forward
Amanda Wurdeman, who had 14 points a year ago, including a team-best six goals. Senior midfielder
Ashley Swanson also is back after starting 16 games a year ago. She finished with two goals, two assists and six points overall. Both goalkeepers from a year ago, juniors Carole Brascheyko and
Victoria Hoffman, return as well. Hoffman led the team with 44 saves, while Brascheyko had a 1.34 goals allowed average.
The Dragons also welcome in their biggest recruiting class in school history as 11 freshmen are joining the roster this fall.
The opponents
About Minot State
Minot State, which is a newcomer to the NSIC in 2012, finished 9-7 a year ago. The Beavers were 5-3 at home. A year ago, Minot State averaged 2.25 goals per game and allowed 1.25. Minot State lost to Division I Idaho State, 4-0 in an exhibition game last Saturday. Zoe Fisher returns as the team's top scorer from a year ago; the sophomore midfielder had 10 goals and 21 points a year ago. Jason Spain is in his third season as Minot State's head coach with a record of 18-14-3 at the school.
About St. Cloud State
The Huskies, who qualified for the NSIC tournament championship game a year ago, return 14 players from that team. They are picked to finish fourth in the league this season. Kenzie Hanzlik played in 21 games in net a year ago, recording 98 saves and an 11-8-2 record. She had nine shutouts. Mary Morhardt is the team's top returner with 11 points a year ago. Becky McCabe is in her fifth season at SCSU with a record of 39-29-10 at the school.
NSIC preseason poll
The Dragons were picked to finish 12th in the preseason NSIC coaches poll, which was announced on Aug. 15. MSUM finished with 71 points in the poll. As part of the league schedule, MSUM will play all 15 NSIC teams this season. A conference win will earn the team three points in the standings, while a tie earns one point. The top eight teams qualify for the NSIC tournament.
