MOORHEAD, Minn. -- The MSU Moorhead Dragon soccer team hopes to get conference play started on a high note with a pair of games this weekend.
Their first matchup will be at home against the Northern State University Wolves in a 3 p.m. contest on Friday. The second challenge will come on Sunday at 1 p.m. when the Dragons travel to Bismarck to play the Marauders of the University of Mary.
Live stats and video are available at msumdragons.com
About the Dragons
The Dragons (1-3) come into this week hoping for a strong start to conference play. They battled hard in their two contests last week, but ended up dropping both games. It was the second half of both games that plagued the Dragons, with Wisconsin Parkside scoring a goal in the 85
th minute, and St. Cloud State scoring both goals in the second half on Sunday.
Against Parkside, the Dragons had 14 shots, seven of which were on goal. Sophomore forward
Jensen Seidel had four of those shots, all of them on target. Freshman midfielder
Marin Hensley, senior defender
Grace Heying and junior forward
Brooklyn Broderick each had a shot on goal. Freshman keeper
Morgan Valvo had eight saves in the contest.
In their game against the Huskies last week, Seidel scored her first goal of the season for the Dragons in the 59
th minute. She was assisted by senior midfielder
Ava Kieser and Broderick. Senior goalkeeper
Simone Lewald also tallied 12 saves. Senior defender
Mason Kimble and junior defender
Sara Alfrida Munk Nielsen played all 90 minutes of the contest.
The Dragons are coached by eighth-year head coach
Christie Kopietz
Scouting Northern State
The Wolves (1-2) will come to Moorhead on Friday looking for their second win of the young season. They dropped their most recent match against the Bulldogs of Minnesota Duluth by a score of 3-1. The Wolves jumped out to a 1-0 lead when their lone goal was scored by redshirt freshman forward Hannah Smith in the 15
th minute. She was assisted by junior forward Megan Fastenau. The Bulldogs, however, went on to score three unanswered goals to take the game. Fastenau has also scored a goal this season, that came in their 1-0 win against Missouri Western. The starting goalkeeper for the Wolves so far this season has been junior Alexus Townsend. She has recorded 12 saves, while allowing five goals. Northern State has beaten the Dragons in four straight matchups.
The Wolves are coached by head coach Bob Casper.
Scouting U-Mary
The Marauders (1-2-1) topped the Dragons earlier this season in non-conference play in a 1-0 showdown in Bismarck. An 18
th minute goal by junior midfielder Mo Malone being the difference in that match. The Dragons will once again travel to Bismarck this weekend hoping to avenge their early season loss. Since MSUM and U-Mary played a couple weeks ago, the Marauders have dropped two games to some very good teams. Mary lost to Grand Valley State and fell 3-1 to nationally-ranked Central Missouri. Scoring their goal in that game was sophomore forward MaLiah Burke. She was assisted by freshman midfielder Payton Kooiman. Junior goalkeeper Molly Fischer has started and finished all four games, making 20 saves and allowing five goals. The Marauders have a four-game win streak against the Dragons.
U-Mary is coached by Sarah Cook.
