Live Stats (Crookston game)
Live Video Stream (Crookston)
Live Stats (Northern game)

MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead women's soccer team will host Minnesota-Crookston on Wednesday in a non-conference game before opening NSIC play Saturday night at Northern State.

The game against Crookston is at 5 p.m. Wednesday in Moorhead, Minn., while Saturday's game at Northern State is 9 p.m. in Aberdeen, S.D.

The Dragons beat the Golden Eagles, 2-0 in Moorhead in 2011, while also beating Northern State, 4-1.

MSUM is off to an 0-2 start on the season, dropping a 7-1 contest at Minot State last week while also losing a close 2-1 game to St. Cloud State at home on Sunday. Both games were non-conference, however, and the Dragons will face both later the year in NSIC contests.

Sophomore Erin Nyberg and Shenae Morical each have goals for the Dragons, while Amanda Wurdeman has an assist.  Junior goalkeeper Carole Braschayko had eight saves against St. Cloud State, while junior Victoria Hoffman had seven against Minot State.

Veteran mentor Rollie Bulock is in his 13th season as MSUM's head coach with a record of 101-163-18 at the school.

The opponents
About Minnesota-Crookston
Minnesota-Crookston is 0-2 under first-year coach Joe Alianello. He took over a team that was 3-14-1 a year ago and 2-10-1 in the NSIC.  The Golden Eagles lost to Michigan Tech, 1-0 to open the season and dropped a 2-0 contest to Northern Michigan on Sept. 3.  The Golden Eagles have recorded 16 shots in the two games, led by Nikki Hammond and Megan Flynn with two each. Drew Underdahl has five saves and a 1.00 goals allowed average in net for UMC, while Ashleigh Erdmann had six saves. The Golden Eagles were picked to finish 16th in the NSIC in the preseason coaches poll.

About Northern State
Northern State is off to an 0-2 start on the 2012 campaign. The Wolves lost to Colorado School of Mines, 8-0 and Montana State-Billings, 3-0 to open the season. Rachel Goslinga leads the Wolves in shots with two, while Kourtney Woracek leads the team with 23 saves in two games.  Steve Kehm is in his 14th season as Northern's head coach with a record of 147-90-31 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.