Yellowjackets Finish Regular Season on the Road

Game Notes in PDF Format

BRIEFLY
MSUB closes out the regular season this week at Northwest Nazarene and at No. 4 Seattle Pacific.  The Yellowjackets enter the final week with a 9-9 record overall and a 4-6 record in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. 

SCOUTING MSUB
The Montana State Billings Yellowjacket women’s soccer team enters the week with a 9-9 record and a 4-6 record in conference play.  The Yellowjackets’ upset bid of No. 18 and top seed in the West Region, Western Washington, fell just short last week as they dropped the regular season home finale, 2-1.   

Leading the way for the Jackets this season is Ali Gamberg, who leads the team with 13 points, including four goals and a team-high five assists.  Kari Foreman leads the team with five goals and has two assists, while Mandy Ploskonka, Melissa Carlson and Chelsea Libby each have three goals.  Gamberg leads the team with 37 shots and 28 shots on goal.  Ploskonka is second on the team with four assists and is one of two Yellowjackets with two games winners (Foreman) is the other. 

In goal, the Jackets are led by Jordan Fenwick who has played and started in 15 games.  She has a 8-7 record with three shutouts to go along with a 1.73 goals against average and 69 saves.  She has allowed 25 goals on the year.  Brittany Knudtzon has three starts this season. She carries a 1-2 record with a 1.56 gaa, 26 saves and has played in a total of six games this season.

RECAPPING LAST WEEK
MSUB’s upset bid of No. 18 Western Washington fell short last Friday as the visiting Vikings jumped out to a 2-0 lead and eventually won 2-1.  WWU held a 1-0 lead at halftime as Molly Shannon scored her eighth goal of the year as a ball slipped through the hands of MSUB goalkeeper, Brittany Knudtzon for a score.  The game remained 1-0 until the 77th minute as Lucy Miller scored off a rebounded shot.  MSUB did not give up, though.  The Yellowjackets continued to fight and broke through as Samantha Sandau blasted her first goal of the season outside the box from about 25-yards out in the 84th minute with an assist from Ali Gamberg.

SCOUTING NORTHWEST NAZARENE
The Crusaders enter the week with a 1-16-1 record and are still searching for their first conference victory at 0-10.  NNU has not scored a goal since a 4-1 loss to Western Oregon, Oct. 4 and have are 0-11 since a 0-0 tie at Grand Canyon Sept. 20.  The Crusaders have been out-scored 36-0 in their last seven games.

The Crusaders are led by Stacey Beckman who leads the team with three goals and six points.  She also leads the team with 22 shots.  Marie Smith has two goals and four points, while Hallah Mohs, Molly Tipton and Jenna Johnson lead the team with two assists each.
In goal, Pip Herman leads the way as she has played and started every game.  She has 93 saves to go along with a 3.95 goals against average.  Herman has allowed 72 goals in 1640 minutes. 

INSIDE THE SERIES
MSUB leads the all-time series 4-3-1.  MSUB won the last three meetings in the series, including a 4-0 win in Billings earlier this season and won two meetings last year as well. The Jackets out-scored NNU 7-1 in two games last season.

SCOUTING NO. 4 SEATTLE PACIFIC
The Falcons enter the week ranked No. 4 nationally after moving up from No. 6 last week.  SPU is 15-1-2 overall and 8-1-1 in the GNAC.  SPU enters the week with a 10-game unbeaten streak (9-0-1) and have three shutouts in their last four games.  The Falcons sit just three points behind Western Washington in the league standings

Leading the way for SPU is Meredith Teague who leads the team with 12 goals and has eight assists which is good for second on the team.  Teague leads the team with 32 points and is third on the team with 56 shots.  She also leads the tem with six game winners.  Amanda Johnson is second on the team with nine goals and leads the team with 72 shots to go along with three game winners.  Jocelyn Charette leads the team with nine assists and is second on the squad with 25 points.

In goal, SPU has used two keepers for the season.  Jesslyn Rahm leads the team with an 8-0-1 record, five shutouts, 18 saves and a 0.43 goals against average.  Maddie Dickinson has a 0.42 goals against average with 19 saves and a 7-1-1 record.  Combined, the team has an impressive 0.43 GAA with just eight goals allowed compared to 37 saves and 12 shutouts. 

INSIDE THE SERIES
The Falcons lead the all-time series 5-0 including a 3-0 victory in Billings earlier this season.  MSUB has never scored on SPU and the Falcons own a 15-0 advantage in goals.

GOING FOR 10
The Montana State Billings women’s soccer team is going for its 10th win of the season this week which will ensure it of a non-losing season.  The Yellowjackets are 9-9 overall and with a win can finish the season no-worse than 10-10.  Last season, the ‘Jackets were 9-10-1.

EIGHT NAMED GNAC ACADEMIC ALLSTARS
Eight MSUB women’s soccer players were named to the 66-member 2008 GNAC Academic All-Stars team Thursday. The eight members named by MSUB tied for third-most in the conference.  Seattle Pacific and Saint Martin’s each had nine, while MSUB and Northwest Nazarene tied with eight.  Sara Gress, Melissa Carlson, Carly Valentine, Lauren Anderson, Samantha Boehm, Kari Foreman, Mandy Ploskonka and Chelsea Libby all were named to the team.  

CARLSON ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Senior Melissa Carlson was named to the first team CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District team Thursday.  Carlson, a midfielder from Renton, Wash., is a health and human performance major and carries a 3.92 grade point average.  She currently is tied for third on the team with three goals and has two assists for eight points.

FIRST WIN IN WASHINGTON
The 2-1 overtime victory at Saint Martin’s Oct. 25 was the first victory for the women’s soccer program against a Division II opponent in the state of Washington in school history.

FANS, FANS AND MORE FANS
The Oct. 18, 3-2 overtime loss to arch-rival Rocky Mountain College set the record for the third largest crowd in school history with 323.  It does, however, mark the largest crowd at the College of Technology Field.  The largest crowd of 423 also was against Rocky, Sept. 20, 2006, at Daylis Stadium as was the second largest of 378 last season (Oct. 3) against Rocky at Daylis as well.

CONDITIONED FOR OVERTIME
The Yellowjackets stand at 3-1 in overtime games this season.  Most recently, the Jackets need extra time to defeat Saint Martin’s 2-1 Oct. 25.  Sara Gress scored the game winner in the 96th minute for the Jackets.  In addition, the Jackets won overtime games versus Fort Lewis (2-1) and Saint Martin’s in Billings coming from two goals down in the final seven minutes of regulation for a 3-2 overtime win.  Rocky posted a heartbreaking 3-2 overtime victory over MSUB Oct. 18 in the Seventh Annual Rimrock Cup. 

NEW FOUND RIVAL?
This season, the Yellowjackets and Saints of Saint Martin’s have had two incredible games.  First, MSUB rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the final seven minutes of regulation to tie the game with just 19 seconds left in regulation and then to cap it off, scored the game winner with 23 seconds left in the first overtime period for a 3-2 victory in Billings.  To make it even more thrilling, the Jackets returned the favor Oct. 25, at Saint Martin’s taking the early lead to only see it vanish midway through the second half.  Sara Gress scored the game winner midway through the first overtime as she made an impressive run down the field and pass from Ali Gamberg for the game winner, 2-1. 

DA ALI G SHOW
Ali Gamberg has been impressive in the last six games.  She has three goals and three assists during that span.  Prior to the last six games, she had just one goal in the first 12.  Most recently, she added the game winning assist in overtime as MSUB downed Saint Martin’s Oct. 25, 2-1 in overtime, and last Friday she had the assist on the Jackets’ lone goal versus Western Washington.  She also had goals in three of the past six games...at Central Washington (Oct. 11), Northwest Nazarene (Oct. 16) and Rocky (Oct. 18). 

TAKE IT TO THE CORNER
The Yellowjackets have 58 corner kicks this season compared to 45 by the opponents.  However, MSUB has a 33-17 lead in corner kicks in the second half and the opponents have a 27-24 advantage in the first half.  Last season, the Jackets tallied just 55 corners all season and allowed 87. 

PENALTY FREE JACKETS
Not one Yellowjacket player has been carded through seven games this season.  MSUB had just four during the 2007 season, but two were in the first six games.   

LISTEN TO TRENTHAM
Head coach Don Trentham’s weekly coaches show will be uploaded to the website every Wednesday.  Click on audio library from the front page and select women’s soccer to hear the weekly show.

MSUB SOCCER FIELD WINS AWARD
The newly renovated MSUB Soccer Field won a NCAA Community Engagement Award as the top community relations effort submitted from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  MSUB was one of 22 schools to receive the award and also received a $500 grant from the NCAA to be used in future community-engagement efforts.

WWW.MSUBILLINGS.EDU/ATHLETICS
Montana State Billings launched a newly redesigned website in August.  The new website features improved navigation, improved layout and a crisper look.  Log on and checkout the new www.msubillings.edu/athletics for all MSUB athletic information.