THIS WEEKEND
The University of Mary women's soccer team hits the halfway point of the Northern Sun soccer season this weekend when the Marauders visit Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State University. The Marauders open with the Golden Bears at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, in St. Paul, Minn., before visiting the 6^th ranked Mavericks on Sunday, Oct. 11, at 1 p.m. in Mankato, Minn.
 
THE RECORDS
The Marauders are 1-7-1 on the season, including a mark of 1-6 for three points in Northern Sun contests (15^th in NSIC)…. Concordia is 5-5 overall and tied for 5^th in the NSIC with a 4-3 record and 12 points… Minnesota State is 9-1 overall and 7-0 in the NSIC, one point out of first place with 21.
 
LAST WEEK
Playing at home for the first time in four weeks, the Marauders lost a pair of difficult contests, 2-0 to Upper Iowa and 1-0 early in double overtime to Winona State University… The Golden Bears swept a pair of road contests, 2-1 at Northern State and 5-0 at MSU Moorhead, and are on a three-game winning streak… The Mavericks rolled past MSU Moorhead 5-0 before completing the weekend road trip with a 5-1 win at Northern State.
 
TOP 5
A difficult task faces the Marauders as they face two teams in the top five of the conference in 2^nd place and 6^th ranked Minnesota State and 5^th place Concordia.
 
THE HUMP
With seven Northern Sun games already in the books, eight games remain in the conference season. Four of the games are against teams currently in the top half of the conference with four also left against sides in the bottom half of the NSIC.
 
HOME COOKING BLAHS
After playing six straight road games and spending four weeks away from home, the Marauders were relishing a weekend at home. Instead of enjoying gourmet home cooking, though, U-Mary could only found a cup of ramen noodles in the pantry. Despite a tremendous effort against Upper Iowa, a Peacocks penalty kick just before intermission and a goal in the closing moments left the Marauders with a 2-0 loss. Sunday's loss to Winona State was just as difficult. Keeping pace with the Warriors into a second overtime, the game changed when WSU countered after a scoring opportunity by the Marauders. A break away by the Warriors turned into a penalty shot. The initial shot was stopped but Winona State buried the rebound for a 1-0 win.
 
SPOTLIGHT
Kelsey Ekstedt entered Sunday's game with Winona State as a spotlight burning with the heat of a thousand suns radiated on her. After starting Marauders goalkeeper Bailey Wenz was issued a red card for committing a foul on a Winona State breakaway, the senior was disqualified from a scoreless game early in the second overtime. Ekstedt then entered to face the subsequent penalty shot. The sophomore from Eagle Lake, Minn., showing no signs of an increased stress level, calmly dove to her right and stopped the penalty kick. Unfortunately Ekstedt was unable to prevent the shooter from gathering the rebound and finding the net to end the game 1-0. 
 
HOME SWEET HOME
The Marauders take their last weekend road trip for the season when U-Mary visits Concordia – St. Paul and Minnesota State. Of the remaining six games, the only road trip is a day visit to Northern State.
 
HISTORY
The Marauders are 12-0-1 all-time against the Golden Bears. U-Mary won 1-0 last season when Sabra Bertsch scored early in the first overtime off a throw-in from Mykala Benjamin… The Marauders are 0-6-2 against the Mavericks. The ties came in back to back games, a 0-0 draw in the 2009 NSIC tournament (MSU would advance in a shootout) and a 1-1 tie in Bismarck, N.D., in 2010.
 
SENIOR LEADERSHIP
Five seniors have started this season for the Marauders with four playing defensive positions. Emily Christensen, Jacquelyn Smith and Mykala Benjamin all are defenders and join with senior goalkeeper Baily Wenz to provide an experienced back line for U-Mary. A fifth senior, Destiny Glaser, plays midfield and will also see time on defense.
 
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