First Place Bison Host IPFW, Oakland to Close Out 2011 Home Schedule

FARGO, N.D. - The North Dakota State soccer team will host Summit League foes IPFW and Oakland this weekend in the final home games of the 2011 season. The Bison will host IPFW (4-7, 1-2 Summit) Friday, Oct. 14 at 4 p.m. and Oakland (4-9, 2-1 Summit) Sunday, Oct. 16 at 12 p.m. The Bison (11-2-1, 4-0 Summit) currently sit in a three-way tie for first place with South Dakota State and UMKC with five league games remaining. The top four teams in the regular season advance to the Summit League tournament Nov. 4-6 in Rochester, Mich.

Senior Day set for Sunday
Prior to Sunday's game against Oakland, the NDSU soccer program will recognize 10 seniors for their contributions to the team. Kalani Bertsch, Danielle Boldenow, Morgan DeMike, Abbey Moenkedick, Michelle Gaffaney, Aubrey Bot, Katie Luce, Kaylee McDonald, Megan Dean and Laura Wagner will all be honored in a pre-game ceremony.

The Series
NDSU holds a 4-2-1 edge in the all-time series with IPFW. The Mastodons won last year's meeting, 3-0, in Fort Wayne behind a two-goal performance from Lisa Underwood. Oakland has a 3-1 lead in the all-time series with the Bison after winning last year's contest in Michigan, 2-1.

About the Mastodons
IPFW is coming off a 1-1 weekend in Summit League play to move to 4-7 overall and 1-2 in Summit League play. The Mastodons lost a 2-1 decision to UMKC, but rebounded to beat South Dakota, 2-0, on Sunday. Lisa Underwood is the team's leading scorer with five goals. Kristen McFadden has seen the majority of time in goal, recording 28 saves and one shutout. Head coach Margaret Saurin is in her fifth year with the program.

About the Golden Grizzlies
Oakland has won two of its last three games, defeating IPFW 1-0 and South Dakota 4-1 before falling to UMKC, 2-0. The Grizzlies are 4-9 overall and 2-1 in league action. Kyla Kellermann leads the team with five goals. Anne Berschbach and Payj O'Shea have been splitting time in goal and combined for three shutouts. Nick O'Shea is in his 18th year as head coach.

Dyce earns player of the week award
Junior Brooklyn Dyce was named Summit League Offensive Player of the Week by the league office on Monday, Oct. 10. She tallied one goal and two assists in wins over IUPUI and Western Illinois. The Bison have now won four straight offensive player of the week awards.

Top of the charts
NDSU is ranked first in league games only in six categories: shots, goals, assists, points, goals per game and assists per game. Individually, Anisha Kinnarath is first in shots (15) and shots per game (3.75). Brooklyn Dyce is tied for first with five points and Kinnarath, Michelle Gaffaney and Danielle Boldenow are tied for first with two goals apiece. Dyce and Abbey Moenkedick share first in assists with three and assists per game at 0.75. Gaffaney is also tied for first in game-winning goals with two.

Bison shut out IUPUI and Western Illinois
NDSU moved to 4-0 in Summit League play after beating IUPUI, 2-0, and Western Illinois, 4-0. Morgan DeMike and Brooklyn Dyce scored in the win over IUPUI and Kalani Bertsch earned her seventh shutout of the year. Danielle Boldenow led the way with two goals against Western Illinois. Michelle Gaffaney and Aubrey Bot also added goals of their own. Bertsch and Kathy Kelsey combined for the shutout against Western Illinois.

Home sweet home
Since the beginning of the 2009 season, NDSU has amassed a record of 20-2-1 at the Elllig Sports Complex and outscored its opponents, 57-18. The team went 9-1 in 2010 and 6-1 in 2009 and has opened the 2011 slate 5-0-1. The win over Oral Roberts extended NDSU's home unbeaten streak to 12 games.

Kalani Bertsch: record setter
With the 1-0 win over Drake, senior goalie Kalani Bertsch broke Kelly Tierney's (1999-02) career wins record of 28. Bertsch now tops the charts with 33 wins. Bertsch also broke the career saves record this season and now has 292 to her name. She broke Tierney's saves record of 265 with her second save against Nebraska Omaha Sunday, Sept. 18. Bertsch came into the season holding the career record for minutes played and has upped her record to 6,169:54 minutes through 14 games this season. She is also currently ranked second in career shutouts with 17. Bertsch is also making her way up the Summit League career charts. She is ranked second in wins with 33 and tied for fourth in shutouts with 17.