Lady Jackets Host Mary, UGF on Youth Soccer Weekend (9/8/05)

BILLINGS, MT – Fresh off its upset of regionally ranked St. Mary’s University, the Montana State-Billings women’s soccer team will look to extend its home field winning streak with a pair of games on YSA Youth Soccer Weekend.  The Yellowjackets will host University of Mary on Saturday and University of Great Falls on Sunday.  Both games kick off at 1:00 p.m. at the MSU Billings College of Technology.

The fourth annual Yellowstone Soccer Association Youth Soccer Weekend is sponsored by Wendy’s.  The MSU Billings coaches and players will hold a free clinic for all YSA players following Sunday’s game against the Argos.  The clinic is scheduled to run from 3:15 to 4:30 p.m.  Wendy’s will provide free tee-shirts for all YSA participants at the clinic.  For more information, parents can call Lady Jackets head coach Don Trentham at 657-2373.

The Yellowjackets knocked off Heartland Conference foe St. Mary’s on Monday to win the fourth annual MSU Billings Thrifty Cup.  St. Mary’s is ranked fifth this week in the Midwest Region by the NSCAA.  Colorado State-Pueblo, who defeated MSU Billings to open the season, is ranked sixth.  Fort Lewis, whom the Yellowjackets tied on the road, is ranked seventh.  MSU Billings is unranked this week.  The weekend victories over Adams State and St. Mary’s extended the Lady Jackets’ home winning streak to 11 games and their home unbeaten streak to 12 games.

In Monday’s 1-0 win over St. Mary’s, freshman Chelsea Libby (Puyallup, WA) scored the game winner and her second goal of the season.  She also had a goal in Saturday’s 4-0 blanking of Adams State in the first game of the Thrifty Cup.  Fellow freshmen Mandy Ploskonka (Federal Way, WA) and Sara Gress (Boise, ID) also notched their first collegiate goals against Adams State.

Yellowjacket goalkeeper Megan Plank (Jr., Phoenix, AZ) was named the Thrifty Cup MVP after posting two shutouts.  She has a season goals against average of just 0.77.  Sophomore defender Vanessa Edwards (Kent, WA) was selected as the Heartland Conference defensive player of the week.

Sophomore Brittney Sandau (Billings, MT) had her consecutive games scoring streak snapped on Monday.  She had scored a goal in each of the first four games of the season, tying the second longest streak in school history.  Sandau fell just one game short of Abby Farmer’s school record five-game scoring streak.

University of Mary is in its first transition year from the NAIA to NCAA Division II.  The Marauders will join the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference beginning in 2006-2007.  Mary will come to Billings with a 1-4-0 overall record.  The Marauders’ lone victory was a 4-0 decision over Concordia-Moorhead.  So far this season they have been outscored 14-6.  No individual statistics are available for the Marauders.

University of Great Falls is playing its first season of women’s soccer.  They opened with a 4-0 loss at home last week to Rocky Mountain.  Sunday’s game against the Yellowjackets is just the Argos’ second game of the season.  They are coached by former University of Montana player Jamie Rizzuto.  No individual statistics are available for the Argos.