GAME: The Sioux head on the road for the 11th Annual Border Shootout facing off against the New Mexico State Aggies on Friday and then the Texas-El Paso Miners on Saturday. Both games will be the first time the Sioux have faced either team.
AGGIES: The Aggies are entering only their second year of soccer play at the university. In their first year of competition they made their conference tournament and finished with a 9-9-1 record. New Mexico is returning 16 players from last years roster and bringing in 12 newcomers. A couple key looses for the Aggies are last years team leader in goals and points, Jazmin Cardoso. NMSU also lost starting keeper Katie Graul who started all 19 games for the Aggies and played all but 55 minutes of the season which were played by new keeper Jessica Schutter.
MINERS: The Miners look to be one of the toughest teams on UND's schedule under highly regarded coach Kevin Cross. Cross has taken UTEP to new heights with a 117-57-8 record over his tenure placing him as the 31st winnigest coach in the country. Last year the Miners finished with a 13-6-1 record and a 7-4-0 record in their conference to finish fourth. The Miners are returning five starters and 10 letterwinners from the 2009 season, most notably C-USA Freshman of the Year Skye Schultz, seniors Melissa Desilets and Anoop Josan, and Junior keepers Chandra Morden and Sara Kaltwasser.
PREVIOUS ACTION: The University of North Dakota took on another non-conference opponent today at Bronson Field in Bemidji State and it was the Beavers that took advantage of the field conditions on their way to a 3-1 win. Senior captain Alex Zarling (Fargo, N.D.) scored the lone goal for the Sioux as they drop to 0-4-0, while BSU gets the win in its first regular-season game of the season. On a very windy afternoon, the Sioux started the game with the wind to their backs and seemed to be taking advantage of it everywhere but the scoreboard. UND attempted 12 shots, five on goal, in the opening half to Bemidji State's four (all on goal), but both teams remained scoreless entering the break. Once BSU got the wind in the second half, it quickly took advantage as Jessie Voeller and Ashlee Elefsen scored in the first 12 minutes at 49:35 and 56:42, respectively. The Sioux showed no quit though and continued to battle for field position until junior Rachael Loomis (Fargo, N.D.) was able to dribble the ball in front of the net and feed it to Zarling, who cashed in to cut the lead to one at 69:37. But only 2:35 later, Kara Smyth was able to score on a corner kick where the wind seemed to curve the ball perfectly into hitting the far goal post and into the net to regain the two goal lead. North Dakota again outshot the Beavers 11-9 (6-6 on goal) in the second half. Senior Monica Stierman (Mahtomedi, Minn.) finished the game with five saves while the Sioux also made two team saves stopping seven of 10 shots on goal. Abby Kjonaas and Samantha Ross each played a half of action for BSU with both making five saves. Ross allowed the one Sioux goal.
FUTURE SCHEDULE: UND will have to face a month of road games before they can return to their home field. After this weekends Border Shootout the Sioux will head to Montana for the Montana Tournament where they will take on New Mexico and host Montana on September 17th and 19th. Following the road stretch the Sioux will have their next home game October 3rd against Minnesota State.
