This week
Augustana (6-6, 3-4) heads back to Minnesota Friday and Saturday, this time to face Bemidji State (5-5-2, 4-2-2 NSIC) and Minnesota Duluth (5-5-1, 5-3-0 NSIC), respectively. Both games begin at 1 p.m.
Series records
The Vikings trail 1-5-1 in the series against Bemidji State with Augustana's only win occurring in the teams' first meeting in 2003. Last season, the Vikings faced the Beavers twice. Augustana was shutout in the first meeting and the Vikings later fell 2-1 to BSU in the first-round of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Tournament action (all-time results vs. Bemidji State). Head coach Brandon Barkus is 0-4-1 against the Beavers. Augustana is 3-7-0 in the series against Minnesota Duluth. The Vikings first faced the Bulldogs in 2004, and Augustana's six-game losing streak was broken in 2007. In 2010, the Vikings hosted UMD for a 1-0 victory (all-time results against Minnesota Duluth). Barkus is 3-4-0 against the Bulldogs.
Last time out
Augustana split last weekend, defeating Southwest Minnesota State 1-0 before losing to Minnesota State 3-0. Haley Burner fired the game-winning goal for the Vikings against SMSU. She had four shots in the game. Jessie Huff led the team with six shots and she had four on goal. The Vikings were outshot 22-6 by MSU. Stacy Dally had three shots to led Augustana.
Scouting Bemidji State
Bemidji State has seen five overtime contests so far this season, coming up victorious in three. The Beavers had their most recent overtime games last weekend against U-Mary and Northern State. BSU tied 2-2 against U-Mary and topped NSU 1-0. Kirsten Erickson leads the team with eight goals on the season, five of them game winning. Abby Kjonaas is the starting goal keeper for the Beavers, making 10 appearances so far with 62 saves for a .849 save percent.
Scouting Minnesota Duluth
Minnesota Duluth also had overtime contests last weekend against Northern State and U-Mary. The Bulldogs beat NSU 1-0 before dropping to U-Mary 2-1. Maureen Stormont has scored five goals on the season and has recorded four assists to lead the team. Hanna Iaizzo has played in 11 games, making 59 saves while allowing 15 goals. Iaizzo has a .797 save percent in 2011.
NSIC honors
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference announced Sept. 12 that Augustana goalkeeper Amanda Wagner was its Defensive Player of the Week for her pair of performances against Minnesota, Crookston and Nebraska-Kearney. Wagner made nine saves and allowed just one goal to help Augustana earn a pair of victories. She made three saves in the Vikings' shutout of UMC and had six saves against UNK, helping the Vikings to their first win of the season. Wagner's save in the 85th minute of action against UNK helped the Vikings keep their lead for a 2-1 victory over the Lopers.
On the roster
Augustana's 2011 roster is its largest in program history with 34 athletes. Out of the 20 players returning for the Vikings, Jessie Huff and Kate Timmons were selected by the NSIC coaches as Offensive and Defensive Preseason Players to Watch, respectively.
The coach
Brandon Barkus is in his sixth season as the head women's soccer coach at Augustana. In addition to his head coaching duties, Barkus is an instructor in the Augustana HPER department, coaches the Dakota Alliance girls' soccer team and serves the South Dakota Youth Soccer Association. Barkus has compiled a career record of 47-49-12 since his appointment as head coach. The Vikings compiled an overall record of 8-9-2 in 2010, including a 7-5-1 mark and a tie for fifth place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
According to the coaches
Augustana was selected fourth with 122 points by the league coaches in the 2011 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Poll.
|
Rank |
School |
Pts.
|
|
1 |
Winona State (12) |
168 |
|
2 |
Minnesota Duluth (1) |
146 |
|
3 |
Minnesota State (1) |
141 |
|
4 |
Augustana |
122 |
|
5 |
U-Mary |
115 |
|
6 |
Bemidji State |
111 |
|
7 |
St. Cloud State |
102 |
|
8 |
Upper Iowa |
92 |
|
9 |
Wayne State |
80 |
|
10 |
Northern State |
62 |
|
11 |
Concordia-St. Paul |
53 |
|
12 |
Minnesota, Crookston |
31 |
|
13 |
Minnesota State Moorhead |
29 |
|
14 |
Southwest Minnesota State |
22 |
|
|
first-place votes in () |
|
History lesson
Viking soccer enters its 12th year of competition in 2011. Augustana owns an all-time record of 71-134-15 with one NCAA tournament appearance in 2008.
Captains
Brandon Barkus has announced that senior midfielder Stacy Dally, junior midfielder Jessica Perez and senior defender Kate Timmons are captains of this year's squad. This marks Timmons second season as captain of the Vikings.
Stay connected
Follow Augustana all season long at www.GoAugie.com. The Vikings are also on Facebook and Twitter; just log onto www.facebook.com/GoAugie and www.twitter.com/GoAugie. To catch even more Viking action log onto Augustana's official YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/GoAugie.
Next time
Augustana finishes the season with a four-game home stand. On Oct. 22 Minnesota State Moorhead will come to Morstad Field for an 11 a.m. game. Augustana will host Minnesota, Crookston the following afternoon.
