THURSDAY
In the final game of the 2025 regular season, the University of Mary women's soccer team looks to secure their position in the Northern Sun tournament when the Marauders visit Minot State University on Thursday, November 6. Game time between the Marauders and their Highway 83 rival is slated for 2 pm at Herb Parker Stadium on the MSU campus in Minot, ND.
 
THE RECORDS
UMary is 8-5-4 overall and 6-4-4 (22 points/7^th place tie) in NSIC play in 2025… Minot State is 8-5-4 overall and 8-2-4 (28 points / 4^th place) in the NSIC.
 
WEEK EIGHT REWIND
The Marauders picked up four big points in the NSIC standings and is closing in on an NSIC tournament berth… On Friday the Marauders downed visiting MSU Moorhed 4-0. Maliah Burke posted a pair of goals and Kira Hockley and Harley Peltz both tallied. Kadyn Dilger made one save to earn another clean sheet. UMary held a 35-3 edge in shots… Maicee Burke scored off a feed from older sister MaLiah Burke and Allison Lepp as the Marauders rallied to earn a 1-1 draw against visiting University of Minnesota Crookston. UMary outshot UMC 27-3.
 
ON THE RUN
The Marauders are 6-2-4 in their last 12 games and have outscored the opposition 31-10… During a three-game win streak at home, the Marauders overwhelmed the opposition 14-0.
 
WIN AND IN
With one game left to play in the regular season, UMary can finish anywhere from 7^th place in the Northern Sun to 9^th place. The Marauders enter the final game with 22 points and stand 7^th in the NSIC. Northern State and Winona State are close behind with 21 points. Northern State plays at Jamestown (6 pm) while Winona State plays at Concordia-St. Paul (6 pm).

• With a victory at Minot State University on Thursday, the Marauders secure seventh place in the NSIC standings and the 7^th seed in the NSIC tournament
• A loss by either Winona State or Northern State guarantees a top-eight finish for UMary
• A loss or a draw by the Marauders and wins by both Northern State and Winona State drops UMary to 9^th place and out of the tournament
• Should WSU, NSU and UMary finish in a 3-way tie with 22 points (a loss by UMary and ties by WSU and NSU), the Marauders should place 8^th. Northern State has a win over UMary and a tie with WSU. UMary and WSU tied. The Wolves should claim 7^th place. UMary should place 8^th and WSU 9^th as the Marauders are +18 in goals scored in the NSIC while the Warriors are +5.

 
OPPO RESEARCH
Minot State enters the final game of the regular season with the possibility of finishing anywhere from 4^th to 6^th place in the NSIC. A win over UMary guarantees Minot State 4^th place and a home playoff game in the first round of the NSIC tournament. The Beavers own two straight wins and ate 5-0-2 in their last seven games. Minot State is averaging 2.0 goals/game while allowing 1.41 goals/game. Sabrina Amezcua and Anna Miotto both have nine goals this season to rank third in the NSIC. Miotto also has six assists (24 points) and Amezcua four (22 points). Rebecca Sargent has three shutouts and a 1.02 goals against average.
 
HISTORY LESSON-UMARY VS. MINOT STATE
Since 2010 the Marauders are 6-8-4 against the Beavers with a 4-0-3 record at home. Minot State is 8-2-1 at home against UMary.
 
FOLLOW LIVE
Links to live stats and video are available at www.goumary.com/coverage
 
SCORING SPLURGE
Averaging 2.2 goals/game, the Marauders are tied for first in the NSIC with Minnesota State University for goals scored with 38 and ranks 39^th in NCAA Division II… Dina Polanco is 64^th in NCAA D2 in goals/game (.53) and Olivia Gardner is 69^th in NCAA D2 (.53).  
 
GARDNER GOES GANGBUSTERS
All-Northern Sun forward Olivia Gardner has broken out in a big way. The Winona, MN, native has scored eight goals with an assist in her last eight games, including two-game winners in back-to-back road wins over USF and SMSU. Gardner started her scoring binge with three two-goal games in the span of four matches, posting a brace against Wayne State, Jamestown and Northern State… Gardner leads the Marauders in goals this season (9) and is 3^rd in the NSIC. Twice a 2^nd team all-conference selection, the senior quad-captain has 24 goals in her career and seven assists for 55 points.  
 
BOMBASTIC BURKE
Senior forward MaLiah Burke is on a scoring binge. The All-NSIC performer has points in five of the last six games, posting two goals – both in a win over MSU Moorhead – and five assists. She provided the helper on the tying goal against Minnesota Crookston in her final home game when she found her sister Maicee in front of the net for a goal to give UMary a 1-1 draw… Burke leads UMary with five assists this season. Twice she has delivered assists on the game-winning goal (UJ, SMSU)… This is the fourth straight season the Marauders captain has posted at least four assists. The forward from Minot, ND, now has 11 goals and 17 assists from 39 points in 72 career games.
 
 
 
 
OFFENSE+DEFENSE=SUCCESS
The Marauders rank 1^st in the NSIC in goals scored/game (2.2) and 6^th in goals allowed per game (0.94)… UMary's scoring margin of 1.3 goals/game is 3^rd in the conference… UMary is 5^th in shutouts with eight. 
 
DYNAMIC DINA
Freshman midfielder Dina (pronounced DEE nah) Polanco is second on the Marauders in goals with eight and is 6^th in the Northern Sun… Polanco had three goals in her first three collegiate games, all by different methods. The native of Guatemala scored her first career goal on a free kick in a 2-0 win over MSU Billings. In a 4-0 win at Washburn, Polanco blasted home a shot during the run of play for the opening goal of the day. Shortly after she drew a foul to earn a penalty kick opportunity which she converted for her second goal of the day and third of the season… She had her first 2-goal game against Jamestown, scoring on a header and a penalty kick… Polanco has two game-winning goals… With 18 points (8 goals 2 assist) Polanco is 5^th in the NSIC in points/game (1.20) and 6^th in total points.
 
GOALS BY GENSCH
Rachel Gensch is third on the Marauders in goals scored with three in 14 games. Over the course of 25 games in her UMary career, the senior forward has six goals and seven assists for 19 points.
 
CLEAN UP ON AISLE NUMBER ONE
Kadyn Dilger has started 15 games in goal for the Marauders this season and owns eight shutouts. After making a pair of appearances for UMary as a freshman in 2024, Dilger has moved into the starting role this season and has posted clean sheets in a 2-0 win over MSU Billings, a 4-0 victory at Washburn, a 0-0 draw at Winona State, a 7-0 win over Wayne State, a 2-0 win over Augie, a 5-0 win over Jamestown, a 4-0 win at SMSU and a 4-0 win over MSU Moorhead.  The sophomore is 2^nd in the NSIC in shutouts and 6^th in goals against average (0.867). 
 
YOUNG BREAKS THROUGH
Senior defender and team captain Tara Young posted her first collegiate goal in the Marauders 5-0 win over Jamestown. A 4-year starter, Young's goal came in her 70^th career game. She had picked up her first two assists of the season in the previous two games. It only took Young three more games to double her career number for goals when she scored again at SMSU.  
 
SEVEN GOALS TIES UMARY NCAA RECORD
The Marauders scored seven goals against Wayne State College ties UMary's NCAA era record for goals in a game. The mark was established in UMary's 7-0 win over Minnesota Crookston on October 14, 2019, in a game delayed three days due to a fall snowstorm.
 
DILGER SELECTED NSIC GOALKEEPER OF THE WEEK OCT 13
After posting two clean sheets on Homecoming Weekend, University of Mary soccer goalkeeper Kadyn Dilger was named the Northern Sun's Goalkeeper of the Week. It is her first career selection for the weekly honor. Dilger, a sophomore, played all 180 minutes for the Marauders this past weekend as UMary secured its first two conference wins. She secured the one save she was asked to make in a one-sided 7-0 win over Wayne State on Friday to start her weekend. On Sunday, Dilger went on to shutout the Augustana Vikings in a 2-0 victory. Augustana came into the game as the highest scoring team in the NSIC. In that victory, the Marauders faced immense pressure in the first half with heavy winds blowing towards Dilger's net. The sophomore stood tall, making four saves and withstanding a barrage of offense that featured seven corner kicks… Dilger currently has five shutouts to her name this season in her first year as the primary goalkeeper for the Marauders. That places her third in the Northern Sun's leaderboard in that category while missing two games earlier this season. Dilger is the first UMary goalie to win the award since Molly Fischer did so last year on Sept. 23. She is the youngest athlete to claim NSIC Goalkeeper of the Week for the Marauders.
 
GARDNER NAMED NSIC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
A pair of game-winning goals earned Olivia Gardner Northern Sun Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week honors. In a game deadlocked at 2-2 with time running out, Gardner used a spectacular finish to score in the 85th minute of a 3-2 win at the University of Sioux Falls on Friday.
The two-time All-Northern Sun forward then scored the opening goal on a header just 4:15 into the Marauders 4-0 win at Southwest Minnesota State University on Sunday. A UMary team captain, the senior from Winona, MN, has scored eight goals in the last six games, and at least one goal in five of the six matches. She ranks 3rd in the NSIC with nine goals on the season. She is 4th in game-winning goals (3) and 5th in points (18)… This is the second time Gardner has earned NSIC weekly honors. She was previously recognized the final week of the 2023 regular season after scoring goals in a pair of road wins, including a 1-0 victory.
 
SEVEN HEAVEN
The Marauders have qualified for postseason play seven straight seasons and eight times total under the helm of head coach Sarah Cook. The seven straight NSIC tournament appearances ties the longest streak in program history when UMary qualified for the postseason its first seven years in the league (2006-2012).
 
EIGHT STRAIGHT
After recording a record of 11-4-4 overall in 2024, the Marauders posted double digit wins for the third straight year and own winning record in six of eight seasons and finished with a .500 or better record for the eighth straight season.


DEBUTS
Nine Marauders made their UMary debuts against MSU Billings: Maggie Bono, Chloe Brand, Theresa English, Lauren LaFountain, Addison Massey, Mia Melton, Dina Polanco, Emmy Strobel and Hanna Sutter. Newcomers Polanco, Sutter and Brand have all earned starts… Sophomore goalkeeper Kadyn Dilger made her first collegiate start after appearing in two games for the Marauders last season… Freshman goalkeeper Wiktoria Slupianek made her first two college starts against Minnesota State and St. Cloud State.

108
Marauders head coach Sarah Cook earned her 100^th victory at UMary in the Marauders 2-1 overtime win at St. Cloud State University in the 2024 NSIC quarterfinals and now owns 108 wins. A member of the Marauders Hall of Fame after earning All-American honors three times as a scholar-athlete, Cook is in her 14^th season after taking over leadership of the program prior to the 2012 season. She is the program record-holder for career coaching wins.
 
EXPERIENCE
The Marauders return 18 players from last year's squad, including 11 who earned at least one start throughout the year and six who made 14 or more. Returners with seven or more starts last season include seniors Tara Young (3 years as a starter), MaLiah Burke (2), Rio Spruenken (3), Olivia Gardner (3), Allison Lepp (1), Kira Hockley (1) and Rachel Gensch (1) and junior Kadyn Sharpe (2).
 
CLASS BREAKDOWN
9 seniors/graduates
7 juniors
5 sophomores
9 freshmen
 
ALL-NSIC RETURNERS
The Marauders return four of their six All-Northern Sun players from last season: Sr. D Allison Lepp (1^st team 2024), Sr. F Maliah Burke (2^ne team 2024), Sr. F Olivia Gardner (2nd team 2023, 2^nd team 2024) and Sr. M Rio Spruenken (2^nd team 2022, 2^nd team 2024).

31^st SEASON OF MARAUDERS SOCCER
This is the 31^st season of University of Mary women's soccer. The Marauders took to the pitch for the first time in 1995.
  
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