FARGO, N.D. - The North Dakota State soccer team (10-7-2, 7-2 Summit) earned the No. 3 seed in the Summit League tournament and will face off against No. 2 seed IUPUI (15-4, 7-2 Summit) Friday, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. at Fishback Soccer Park in Brookings, S.D.  It is NDSU's first trip to the league tournament since joining in 2007.  Top-seeded South Dakota State (10-6-2, 7-2 Summit) will play No. 4 seed Western Illinois (8-7-2, 5-3-1 Summit) at 3 p.m. Friday.  The championship game is scheduled for noon on Sunday, Nov. 6 and the winner will earn an automatic berth in the 64-team NCAA soccer tournament.

On the web

Live stats will be available free of charge at GoBison.com.  Live video for all three tournament games will be available through GoJacks.com for a flat rate of $7.95.

The series

IUPUI leads the all-time series, 3-2, thanks to a win over NDSU earlier this year.  The Jaguars defeated the Bison, 3-1, in Indianapolis on Oct. 16. The Bison have a 5-5-1 all-time record against South Dakota State.  The Jacks won the regular season meeting, 4-3, last weekend.  Western Illinois leads the all-time series against the Bison, 3-1-1, but the Bison earned their first win against the Leathernecks in October.

About IUPUI

The Jaguars have won a school record 15 straight games and earned a share of the Summit League regular season title for the second straight year.  Sophomore Megan Hock leads the Jags with 10 goals and five assists.  Senior goalie Jamie Farrell has notched seven shutouts and has a 0.85 goals against average.

NDSU earns share of Summit League title after 2-0 win over Centenary

The Bison clinched a share of their first-ever Summit League title with a 2-0 victory over Centenary on Monday, Nov. 2.  NDSU shares the title with South Dakota State and IUPUI, who also finished the season with a 7-2 record in league play.  Junior Abbey Stratton scored both goals for the Bison in a three-minute first half span.  The Bison picked up their fifth shutout of the season and second in league play.

South Dakota State defeats NDSU in high-scoring affair

North Dakota State dropped a 4-3 contest to South Dakota State in Brookings on Saturday, Oct. 31.  After the Jacks took an early lead, freshman Brooklyn Dyce leveled the game.  The Jacks scored  again in the first half, but with one second left on the clock, junior Abbey Stratton equalized on a 35-yard free kick.  The back-and-forth scoring continued in the second.  After the Jacks regained the lead in the 47th minute, Stratton headed in a cross from junior Quin Ryan to tie the game at 3-3.  SDSU’s Kayla Braffet scored the game-winner 12 minutes later.  SDSU clinched the top seed in the league tournament with the win.

Dynamic duo: Stratton and Ryan

Juniors Abbey Stratton and Quin Ryan have both been on fire as of late.  Stratton has scored six goals and Ryan has notched six assists and a goal - all in the final four regular season games.  Ryan has assisted on a Stratton goal in each of the last four games.  Stratton leads the team with 16 points (6G, 4A), while Ryan is second with 14 points (4G, 6A).  All of Ryan’s points have come in league play.

Bison lead Summit League in five offensive categories

North Dakota State’s offense came alive during Summit League play this year.  The Bison led the league in goals (22), assists (17), points (61), goals per game (2.44) and assists per game (1.89).  It is a drastic improvement from last season, when the Bison only scored 15 goals in league play.  In league stats only, juniors Quin Ryan and Abbey Stratton are tied for second in points with 14.  They both crack the top 10 in goals as well with Stratton tied for second and Ryan tied for seventh.

Quick Kicks

n The Bison reached double-digit victories for the 10th time in school history. 

n The defense has improved markedly since last season.  The Bison allowed 26 goals this season, compared to 39 in 2008.  The team also recorded five shutouts this year, compared to three a year ago.

n Juniors Quin Ryan and Abbey Stratton, along with freshman Brooklyn Dyce have reached double-digit points this year.  Ryan has 14 and Stratton has 16 while Dyce has 12.  Last season, only Lorraine Thompson tallied double-digit points with 16.

n The Bison tallied 41 shots in their 5-1 win over UMKC.  It is the most shots by an NDSU team since the 2001 squad had 52 against Augustana.  The 41-shot performance against the Kangaroos is tied for 10th on the NDSU all-time single-game charts.

n NDSU finished its home schedule with a 6-1 record and a 4-0 mark in league play.  The 6-1 mark is the team’s best home record since going 7-0 in 2005.