This week
Augustana travels to Mankato, Minn., Thursday to open the 2011 season against Minnesota State at 4 p.m. The Vikings will return to the pitch Sunday at noon to host Fort Lewis (Colo.) at noon.
Series records
Augustana and Minnesota State met for the first time in 2000. The two teams have met a total of 14 times, and the Vikings trail the series 2-12. Augustana's two wins were during the 2006 and 2008 seasons. In 2010, the Vikings faced MSU and were defeated at home 2-0. Brandon Barkus is 2-4 against the Mavericks (all-time scores vs. Minnesota State). Augustana and Fort Lewis' only two meetings were in 2009 and 2010, and the Skyhawks defeated the Vikings in both games. Last season, Augustana suffered a 1-0 loss to the Skyhawks in double overtime. Barkus is 0-2 against FLC (all-time results against Fort Lewis).
Last time out
Jessica Carlson tallied three goals for No. 4 Hastings (Neb.), leading the Broncos to a 4-3 victory over Augustana in its lone exhibition game of the season on Aug. 20.
In the net
Kate Timmons, Aleisha Oehlerking and Jessie Huff each found the back of the net against Hastings, but it was Huff who led the team with four shots and two shots on goal.
For the win
Augustana and Hastings were tied 2-2 entering the second period, but Jessica Carlson nailed her third goal of the game for the Broncos and Esmeralda Lacayo slipped the ball past Amanda Wagner in the 83rd minute to earn the win.
On the roster
Augustana's 2011 roster is its largest in program history with 32 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 41-43-12 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 65-128-15 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.
