University Of Mary vs. Colorado Christian
Thursday, September 1 | 1:30 p.m.
 
South Dakota School of Mines vs. University of Mary
Sunday, September 4 | 1 p.m.
 
UMary soccer of Twitter: UMarySoccer

Quick Notes:

• University of Mary men's soccer team starts the 2016 regular season with an away match at Colorado Christian on Thursday, Sept. 1, and a home match against South Dakota School of Mines on Sunday, Sept. 4.
• Thursday's contest will be the start of the Marauders 10th season as a member of the NCAA.
• UMary's all-time record in NCAA Division II is 36-105-16.
• The Marauders return five starters that include senior forward Aaron Brennan, sophomore defender André Almqvist, senior forward Jordan Pearce and sophomore goalkeeper Ludvig Rhodin.
• UMary finished last season with a 3-13-2 overall record and went 2-11-1 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
• This season the Marauders will not be competing as a member of a conference.

 
 
This Series Against Colorado Christian
Thursday's contest will be the first meeting between CCU and UMary.
 
 
This Series Against South Dakota School of Mines
Sunday's regular season match against SDSMT will be the seventh time in the all-time series that the two teams have played against each other. The Marauders lead the series 5-0-1.
 
Scouting Colorado Christian

• The Cougars finished the 2015 season with a 1-16-1 record and went 1-12-1 in conference play.
• CCU was picked to finish 11th in the 2016 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• The Cougars welcome back there two student-athletes who played over 1,500 minutes last season.
• As a freshman Blake Goodale was tied for first on the team with five points, two goals and one assist last season.
• CCU scored 0.56 goals per game last season.
• The Cougars are led by head coach Gary Evans, who resigned in 2003 but came back to coach CCU in 2011 (55-172-14 overall record at CCU).

 
Scouting South Dakota School of Mines

• The Hardrockers finished the season with a 2-15-1 overall record and a 2-8 record in the RMAC.
• SDSMT was selected to finish 10th in the RMAC Preseason Poll
• David Pineda returns for his sophomore season and led the Hardrockers in assists (3) and points (7) last season as a freshman. He tagged on two goals as well last season.
• SDSMT scored 0.83 goals per game last year and had a shot percentage of .116.
• Jordan Kadlec will begin his second year at the helm for the Hardrockers (2-15-1 overall record at SDSMT).

 
Quick Quote
"Last year we achieved some big results," Cook said. "But we weren't consistent game in and game out."
 
"We are excited to play a real game," the ninth-year head coach said. "We have a lot of new players and we've played a couple of scrimmages and we've seen some good things but nothing counts until Thursday."
 
 
Head Coach Dave Cook
A former University of Mary men's soccer All-American, Dave Cook returned to his roots as the Marauders head men's soccer coach in 2008. After much success at the high school level and as an assistant with the Marauders women's program, Cook is now in his ninth season running the men's program.

Quickly putting his mark on the program, Cook doubled the team's win total from four in 2008 to eight in 2009 while playing a much more difficult schedule.

Cook led the move of the Marauders into the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in 2012, one of the premier men's soccer leagues in NCAA Division II. This is the first time since the soccer program was established in 1995 that U-Mary had been a member of a conference.

In 2013 the Marauders earned several league honors from the GNAC. Five student-athletes were named to the GNAC All-Academic Team: Jacob Meyer, Rory Pratt, Ramiro Rivera, Kyle Roesler and Jonathan Sellars. Pratt was selected GNAC first team all-conference and Sellers was an honorable mention choice. Also Jordan Pearce claimed GNAC Player of the Week recognition.

Four Marauders earned GNAC all-conference recognition in 2014 as the Marauders picked up four conference wins. Jonathan Sellars was named to the second team while Aaron Mc Elwee, Adam Potter and Christoffer Nogueria were honorable mention selections. Additionally Sellars was an NSCAA West All-Region third team selection. Earning GNAC Academic All-Conference awards were Alex Boyes, Sellars, Jack West, Ramsey Blahnik and Cooper Cox. Also, Jack West received GNAC Player of the Week honors.    

In nine years with the men's program, Cook has a record of 32-92-15. In three years playing in the GNAC the Marauders went 13-36-7.

Cook was an assistant coach with the U-Mary women's soccer program for four years (2004-07). During that time, the Marauders advanced to the 2007 NCAA regional tournament in their first year of eligibility and won the Northern Sun conference tournament twice in two opportunities. The U-Mary women's team finished 2007 16-7-0 and ranked fourth in the region. While the assistant coach, the U-Mary women recorded a record of 48-31-7 and twice advanced to national tournament play.

The Bismarck Century High School co-head girls soccer coach from 2005-08, Cook guided the Patriots to a state championship in 2007 and four WDA titles. In his four years as head coach, CHS compiled a record of 58-8-5. The Technical Director for Dakota United, Cook has a United States Soccer Federation "A" License, United States Soccer Federation "Y" License, a United States Soccer Federation Goalkeeping License, as well as an Advanced National Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

Cook is a 2005 University of Mary graduate, where the Bismarck, ND, native earned NAIA honorable mention All-America honors for the Marauders as a senior. He is married to Marauders women's soccer head coach Sarah (McNulty) Cook.