GAME NOTES

THIS WEEKEND: The University of Mary women's soccer team faces a make-or-break weekend as the Marauders continue to mount a push towards the playoffs. Back on the road after four home matches, U-Mary plays Bemidji State University at 11 AM on Saturday, Oct. 26, before clashing with the University of Minnesota Crookston at 1 PM on Sunday, Oct. 27.

THE RECORDS: The Marauders enter the weekend with a record of 3-9-2 overall and 3-6-2 in the Northern Sun. U-Mary is 11th in the NSIC with 11 points... The Beavers are 9-5 and 6-5 for 18 points and seventh place in the NSIC... The Golden Eagles are 3-9-2 and 1-8-2 for five points and 14th place in the NSIC.

LAST WEEK: Celebrating the squad's four seniors and all the team's parents, plus holding a Breast Cancer Awareness Game, the Marauders picked up a win and a tie. U-Mary routed Wayne State College 4-0 and tied Augustana 2-2.

4: The Marauders picked up four points in the Northern Sun last weekend after a win and a tie. The effort moved U-Mary from 12th to 11th in the league standings.

4: Senior forward Alex Bachman-Williams had her best weekend of the season, scoring four times. The four goals tied her best mark for a weekend. She also scored twice against both Bemidji State and Minnesota Duluth on Oct. 8-9, 2011.  

6: The six goals U-Mary scored was the highest weekend total of the season, doubling the previous best of three.

9: With her four goals and one assist on the weekend for nine points, Alex Bachman-Williams established a career high for a weekend or back-to-back games. Her previous best was eight points on four goals against BSU and UMD on Oct. 8-9, 2011.

BACHMAN-WILLIAMS, BUTTRON NAMED NSIC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Alex Bachman-Williams was named the Northern Sun Offensive Player of the Week and Shelby Buttron earned league goalkeeping honors after leading the Marauders to a conference win and tie over the weekend, the first honors of the year for U-Mary. This is the first time any Marauders have captured a weekly citation this season. Bachman-WIlliams totaled four goals and an assist. The senior forward had two goals and an assist in a 4-0 win over Wayne STate and two goals in a 202 tie with Augustana. This is the fourth time in her career that Bachman-Williams has earned NSIC player of the week honors... Buttron posted her third shutout of the season against Wayne State, making five saves in the game. The senior from Olathe, KS, followed up with a season-high 11 saves to give the Marauders a 2-2 tie with Augustana. Among her saves was a spectacular leap in the final seconds of regulation to punch a shot over the crossbar and send the game to overtime. Pressed hard in the second extra session, Buttron made four saves in the final ten minutes. In the two games she stopped 16 of 18 shots for a save percentage of .888.

CLOSING TIME: With four games remaining, historically this is time of the year when U-Mary plays its best. Always a strong second half club, the Marauders are a combined 30-12-6 over the last six seasons in the final eight scheduled games of the year. The Marauders finished on a 6-2 run last season, went 5-2-1 in 2010 and 2011, 4-3-1 in 2009, 5-2-1 in 2008 and 7-1 in 2007.

PLAYOFF RUN: A member of the Northern Sun since the 2006, the Marauders have earned a conference tournament berth all seven seasons.  

PLAYOFF PUSH: Currently with 11 points in the Northern Sun standings, the Marauders still are alive for the NSIC tournament and can finish with a maximum of 23 points. Besides needing to win probably at least 3-of-4 matches, the Marauders will need help to pass at least three teams.

BIG NIGHT FOR SENIORS: U-Mary honored its four seniors before the Wayne State contest and all four contributed mightily to the win. Alex Bachman-Williams tallied twice and added an assist. Dayna Domingo and Quin Glaser each posted assists. Kaitin Walsh anchored the Marauders defensive efforts that kept the Wildcats scoreless.

35: With four counters last weekend, Alex Bachman-Williams moved into a tie for fifth on the Marauders all-time career goal scoring list. The senior forward from Minot, ND, now has 35 career goals to pull even with Kate Theisz (1996-98). The Marauders all-time leader is school Hall of Famer Nicole Benedict (2002-05) with 66.