This week
Augustana (9-7-0, 6-5-0 NSIC) wraps up its regular season at home this weekend against Concordia University, St. Paul (6-9-0, 5-6-0 NSIC) and St. Cloud State (8-7-1, 5-5-1 NSIC). The Vikings take to the pitch against CU Saturday and on Sunday against SCSU. Both games will begin at 1 p.m. at Morstad Field.
Series records
The Vikings are 3-1-1 all-time against Concordia University, St. Paul, having topped the Golden Bears 2-1 last season on the road. Augustana's only loss to the Golden Bears was in 2006 to make head coach Brandon Barkus 2-1-1 in the series against CU. In 2010, Augustana was beat 2-1 by St. Cloud State for the first time since 2005 to drop the Vikings to 4-7-4 in the series against the Huskies. Barkus is 4-1-3 against SCSU.
Last time out
Augustana scored eight goals last weekend to record two home shutouts. The Vikings rolled past Minnesota State Moorhead 3-0 last Saturday before recording five goals to blank Minnesota, Crookston the following afternoon.
Senior Day
Augustana will recognize five seniors at the Vikings' Senior Day on Sunday. This weekend marks the last regular-season games for Stacy Dally, Erika Dahl, Jessica Perez, Kate Timmons and Raelyn Walczak.
Hit me with your best shot
Haley Berner and Jessie Huff both drilled five shots last weekend to boot in two goals each. Huff spread her goals out, recording one goal in each game, while Berner scored twice against Minnesota, Crookston.
A little help, please
Stephanie Stevens helped two Vikings score their first goals of the season last weekend. Freshman Jessica Madson took a pass from Stevens to knock in the first goal of her career last Saturday against MSU Moorhead. Stevens then assisted Leslie Walker for the Vikings' fifth and final goal against Minnesota, Crookston. The assists were the freshman's first of the season.
Scouting Concordia University, St. Paul
Concordia University, St. Paul is currently ninth in the NSIC standings with a 5-6-0 conference record. The Golden Bears were defeated by U-Mary last Saturday, scoring just one goal in the game and CU had three goals the next day to top Northern State. Amanda Olsen leads the team with 11 goals and three assists on the season. Megan Kurtz and Kayla Kuczaboski share time in the goal as each have made six starts as goalkeeper this season. Kurtz has let 12 shots in the net, while 14 balls have slipped past Kuczaboski.
Scouting St. Cloud State
St. Cloud State tallied four goals last weekend to beat both Northern State and U-Mary, moving its conference record to 5-5-1. Kara Dahmen has recorded four goals in 2011 to lead the Huskies. Mary Morhardt and Kara Espinosa follow close behind with three goals apiece. Hanzlik, Kenzie has started all 16 games as goalie for SCSU, racking up 69 saves and allowing 20 goals for a .775 save percent.
NSIC honors Huff
Jessie Huff was named Offensive Player of the Week Monday by the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference for her performance in Augustana's wins over Minnesota State Moorhead and Minnesota, Crookston. Huff helped the Vikings to a 2-0 record last weekend, recording one goal against both MSUM and UMC. Huff scored the first of five goals for the Vikings against the Golden Eagles, pushing in a free kick from Kate Timmons. She put in the third and final goal for Augustana against the Dragons off a penalty kick. Huff now has three goals on the season. She recorded five shots with four on goal in the pair of games. This is the second NSIC award for Augustana this season. Amanda Wagner received NSIC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 12.
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 50-50-12 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 74-135-15 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 will wait to see if it is one of eight that will qualify for the NSIC Tournament. The opening game of the tournament is scheduled to begin Nov. 2.
