THIS WEEK
As the University of Mary women's soccer team enters the final weekend of the regular season, the Marauders look to build on their four-game win streak and strengthen their hold on a slot in the Northern Sun tournament. UMary first tangles with the University of Minnesota Duluth at 1 pm on Friday, Oct. 26, at James S. Malosky Stadium in Duluth, MN. The 8^th place Bulldogs are a point behind the 7^th place Marauders. The UMary regular season concludes at home with a visit from 4^th place St. Cloud State University on Sunday, Oct. 28. Kickoff is 1 pm at the MDU Resources Community Bowl in Bismarck, ND.
 
REWIND
UMary snared a pair of home wins to extend the squad's win streak to four. The Marauders knocked off then-4^th place Winona State University 2-1 on goals by Caitlin Dooley and Megan Lowery, snapping the Warriors five-game win streak. UMary finished the weekend sweep with a 2-0 shutout of Upper Iowa as Caylin Cathey and Sidney Burrell scored for the Marauders. UMary allowed the Peacocks to three shots on frame as the Marauders posted their sixth shutout of the season.
 
RECORDS
The Marauders are 7-6-2 overall and 6-5-2 in the Northern Sun for 7th place with 20 points…
The Bulldogs are 7-8-1 overall and 6-6-1 for 19 points and a 3-way tie for 8^th in the NSIC. UMD swept a pair of home games last weekend and are 4-1-1 on their home turf… The Huskies are 7-5-4 overall and 7-3-3 for 24 points and 4^th place in the NSIC after winning two games at home.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
The Marauders are in the midst of playing three of their last four regular season games at home. Last weekend the Marauders swept Winona State 2-1 and Upper Iowa 2-0. This week UMary visits Minnesota Duluth on Oct. 26 before closing out the regular season against St. Cloud State on Oct. 28. The Marauders are 3-2-1on their home pitch at the MDU Resources Community Bowl this season.
 
LEAPFROG
Prior to starting their current four game win streak, the Marauders were sitting 13^th in the Northern Sun. After their victory over Upper Iowa on Sunday, the Marauders are now in seventh place, an impressive run in a short period of time.
 
PLAYOFF POSITIONING
The Marauders are one of seven teams fighting for five playoff slots in the Northern Sun tournament. And with the standings tightly contested from fourth through eighth place, all seven teams could finish out of the playoffs. St. Cloud State is fourth with 24 points (win = 3 points, tie = 1 point), followed by Minot State (23 points) in fifth, Concordia-St. Paul (21) sitting 6^th with the Marauders (20) 7^th and three teams tied for 8th with 19 points – Northern State, Minnesota Duluth and Winona State. A weekend sweep by any of the seven teams will ensure a spot in the tournament. Splits and ties will make teams reliant on others. Two losses would be devastating to most of the seven teams.
 
UMARY PLAYOFF OUTLOOK
The Marauders could conceivably finish anywhere from fourth to tenth in the final NSIC standings. Wins over both Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State could propel the Marauders into a home playoff game in the opening round of the Northern Sun tournament but would also require several other results to go their way. A weekend split will put the Marauders on the edge of qualifying. With so many combinations with so many teams jockeying for playoff positioning this will go down as one of the most exciting and combustible final weekends in NSIC soccer history.
 
REZA'S PITCH COMEBACK
Reza's Pitch made a one-day comeback on October 21 at the MDU Resources Community Bowl prior to the UMary women's and men's soccer doubleheader. The results of the fundraiser were impressive. In the span of a little more than two hours over $2,000 was raised for the Marauders Armada for UMary student-athlete scholarships. A special THANK YOU to Reza and members of his former restaurant staff that volunteered their time to serve the burgers and to all who came out to support the effort.
 
SIX
Freshman goalkeeper Madisyn Waltman her third clean sheet in four games and her sixth of the season in the Marauders 2-0 win over Upper Iowa. Her other shutouts include a pair 1-0 road wins at Southwest Minnesota State and Sioux Falls, a scoreless draw with Minnesota Crookston, a 1-0 win at MSU Moorhead and a 2-0 victory over Wayne State College. She is 4th in shutouts in the NSIC and 8th in goals against average (1.03). Waltman is tied for the 5^th most shutouts by an individual goalkeeper in a single season in UMary annals, equaling Hannah Smith's total from a year ago and five other seasons. The single season shutout total is 11 by Kristin Werner in 2004.
 
LOCK IT DOWN
The Marauders defense allows just 9.5 shots per game, the fourth fewest among teams in the NSIC. By comparison, the UMary offense is taking 11.7 shots/game. Only three times have the Marauders allowed more than 11 shots in a game. Additionally the UMary defense has held foes to four or fewer shots on goal nine times and allowed seven or more shots on goal just four times.
 
GOLDEN TOUCH
Caylin Cathey has the golden touch this season. The senior forward has scored seven of the Marauders 19 goals this season. She also has three assists for a team-leading 17 points. Her three game-winning goals also pace the program. The All-NSIC player is sixth in the league in goals scored, seventh in points and third in game-winning goals.
 
HELPING HAND
Sophomore Hannah Richter has proved to be a dangerous offensive weapon for the Marauders from the back row. The defender from Bismarck, ND, has two goals and four assists. She is third on the team in goals and points (8) and leads in assists. Richer is tied for 10^th in the NSIC in assists.
 
TIMELY
Megan Lowery had a big weekend as she was involved in both game-winning goals. The senior midfielder had the game-winning goal in the 2-1 win over Winona State and provided the first assist on the game-winning goal in the 2-0 Upper Iowa victory. Second on the team in goals (3) and points (9), Lowery has two game-winners this season.
 
BIG DAY
Sidney Burrell had her biggest offensive day of the season for the Marauders in their 2-0 win over Upper Iowa. The junior midfielder assisted on the opening goal and sealed the win with her second goal of the season, outracing Peacocks defenders and goalkeeper to head the ball into an open net. Burrell's other goal came against NSIC-leading Bemidji State.
 
DOUBLE DOWN
Sr. midfielder Caitlin Dooley scored the opening goal in the Marauders 2-1 win over Winona State that snapped a five-game winning streak for the Warriors. It was the second goal of the 2017 all-region player's career. Dooley played a key role in protecting the Marauders net as UMary warded off eight of the nine corner kicks Winona State launched against them.   
 
REINFORCEMENTS
Three Marauders limited by injury last year have returned to the pitch. A sophomore, Patricia Martin was limited to just one game last season returned to see significant time in 12 of 15 games. Katie Berg and Kacee Bailey, senior defenders who missed last year, also have seen action. Berg has played in nine games and started twice. Bailey has played in four contests with one start.
 
SENIOR SALUTE
The Marauders feature five seniors in the starting lineup. Midfielders Caitlin Dooley and Megan Lowery both earned all-conference and all-region honors last season. Forwards Jade Smith and Caylin Cathey received All-Northern Sun honors. The fifth senior is Lisa Swärdh, who has two goals and an assist on the season.
 
JUNIOR MINTS
As big as a class as the senior class is with seven players, the junior class is even bigger with eight.
 
A LOOK BACK
UMary finished the 2017 season with a record of 12-5-1 overall, an increase of eight wins from the previous year. UMary was fifth in the NSIC standings and defeated Minot State 1-0 on the road in the first round of the Northern Sun tournament to advance to the semifinals.
 
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