This week
Augustana (7-7-0, 4-5-0 NSIC) begins a four-game homestand this weekend against Minnesota State Moorhead (8-4-1, 4-4-1 NSIC) and Minnesota, Crookston (3-10-1, 2-6-1 NSIC). The Vikings host the Dragons Saturday at 11 a.m. and the Golden Eagles on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games will be played at Morstad Field.
Series records
Augustana is riding a seven-game winning streak against MSU Moorhead to lead the series 7-1. The Vikings defeated MSUM twice in 2010. The first meeting was a non-conference contest held in St. Cloud, Minn., and the result was a 2-1 Viking win. Augustana then traveled to Moorhead, Minn., later in the season and beat the Dragons 3-1 (all-time results vs. MSUM). Brandon Barkus is 3-0 against MSUM. It's the second meeting this season and 11th meeting overall between Augustana and Minnesota, Crookston. The Vikings lead the series 8-1-1, having topped the Golden Eagles 3-0 in a non-conference game at home on Sept. 10 (all-time results vs. UMC). Barkus is 6-0-1 against UMC.
Last time out
Maren Werth scored for Augustana in the 88th minute to allow the Vikings a 1-0 win over Bemidji State last Saturday. The following afternoon, Aleisha Oehleriking recorded a hat trick against Minnesota Duluth, but her effort came up short as UMD had a 5-3 victory.
Hat trick
Aleisha Oehlerking's hat trick against Minnesota Duluth is the first of the season for the Vikings. She scored her first goal of the game in the 30th minute to give Augustana a 1-0 lead. The Vikings held onto that lead until the Bulldogs opened the second period with three goals in under 20 minutes. Despite the deficit, Oehlerking continued to fight, firing her second shot into the back of the net in the 64th minute. She tied the score 3-3 with her final goal at 83:05. Just when it looked as if the game would head into overtime, UMD registered two goals. UMD's go-ahead goal was recorded at 89:00 off a penalty kick and the final Bulldog goal came just 15 seconds later. Oehlerking now leads the team in goals with five.
Shots, shots, shots
The Vikings trail their opponents in shots by just one. Augustana has recorded 206 shots on the season, and Maren Werth has contributed to the total the most, having kicked the ball at the net 36 times to lead the team. Werth's accuracy is impressive as well, as she has a team-best 19 shots on goal.
Lending a helping foot
No Viking is better at helping create scoring opportunities then Jessie Huff, who leads the team in assists with four. Last Sunday, Huff set up Aleisha Oehlerking to score her second goal against Minnesota Duluth.
Wagner's fourth stuff
Amanda Wagner made three saves in the first period and added an additional stop in the second period against Bemidji State to post her fourth shutout of the season. She recorded just two shoutouts in 2010.
Scouting MSU Moorhead
Amanda Wurdeman leads MSU Moorhead in goals, having scored her sixth goal on the season to help MSU Moorhead to a 2-0 victory over Southwest Minnesota State last Sunday. Victoria Hoffman has started six games for the Dragons at goalkeeper, while Carole Brascheyko has been the starting net tender in five games. They both have three wins and two losses, while Brascheyko has also recorded the team's only tie. Hoffman and Brascheyko have each had two shutouts on the season. MSUM has outshot their opponents 188 to 118 and have held their opponents to 14 goals, while finding the back of the net 23 times themselves.
Scouting Minnesota Crookston
Minnesota, Crookston has shutout its opponent three times to earn its only wins of the season. UMC's fourth shutout in 2011 resulted in a 0-0 tie against Southwest Minnesota State last weekend. Amanda Stapleton is the starting goalie for the Golden Eagles. She owns a .806 save percentage. Four of the five goals UMC has scored this season have come from Nikki Hammond. Jessica Ramirez is credited with the other goal. UMC has been outshot by its opponents 218-96.
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 48-50-12 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 72-135-15 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 ends its regular season next weekend, hosting Concordia, St. Paul at 1 p.m. on Oct. 29 and St. Cloud State at 1 p.m. on Oct. 30.
