This week
Augustana (2-2 overall) begins its Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference schedule on the road, facing Northern State (3-2 overall) Friday in Aberdeen, S.D., and U-Mary (2-2) Sunday in Bismarck, N.D. Both games are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
Series records
The Vikings are 3-9-1 all-time against Northern State. The lone tie in the series came last season when a double-overtime game resulted in a 1-1 draw. Head coach Brandon Barkus is 3-1-1 against the Wolves. Augustana first began playing U-Mary in 2007. Barkus and the Vikings are 2-2-0 in the series against the Marauders. Last season, Augustana hosted U-Mary and defeated the Marauders 2-1.
Last time out
Augustana picked up its first victories of 2011 last weekend, defeating Nebraska-Kearney 2-1 before shutting out Minnesota, Crookston 2-0.
NSIC honors
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference announced Monday that Augustana goalkeeper Amanda Wagner is its Defensive Player of the Week for her pair of performances in the Vikings' final non-conference games last weekend. Wagner made nine saves and allowed just one goal to help Augustana to a 2-0 record last weekend. She made three saves in the Vikings' shutout of Minnesota, Crookston Saturday and had six saves last Friday against Nebraska-Kearney, 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.
Shots
Augustana racked up 37 shots in its two games last weekend. That's 25 more shots than the Vikings had in its pair of games the previous week. Not only has the Viking offense seen an improvement in the last week, but Augustana's defense has stepped up its game as well. Augustana allowed a total of 19 shots in its games against Nebraska-Kearney and Minnesota, Crookston compared to the 50 shots the Vikings gave up to Minnesota State and Fort Lewis to begin the season.
Goals for the navy and gold
While Mackenzie Trom still leads Augustana with two goals on the season, a host of other Vikings found the back of the net last weekend. Jessie Huff, Kate Timmons, Maren Werth, Aleisha Oehlerking and Payton Pry have all had one goal on the season. The goals mark Oehlerking and Pry's first career goals.
Scouting the opponents
Northern State has had wins against Colorado State-Pueblo (4-1), Jamestown (4-0) and Viterbo (2-1) so far this season. The Wolves' two losses have come to Colorado-Colarado Springs (0-3) and Sioux Falls, (1-3). U-Mary has already had a pair of 2-1 overtime wins this season. The Marauders weren't so lucky in its double-overtime game however, losing 0-1 to BYU Hawaii. U-Mary's second loss on the season was to Hawaii Pacific (0-1).
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 43-45-12 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 67-130-15 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
Up next for the Vikings is Minot State on Sept. 23 and Wayne State on Sept. 25. Augustana's game against the Beavers will begin at 8 p.m. and the Vikings will take to the pitch against the Wildcats at 1 p.m.
