Women's Soccer Opens Conference Play at Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene

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BRIEFLY
The MSUB women’s soccer team opens the 2009 Great Northwest Athletic Conference slate at Central Washington on Thursday and at Northwest Nazarene on Saturday.  This is the middle two games of a season-long six-game road trip. 

JUST FOR KICKS
The Yellowjackets enter the week with a 3-2-1 record after going 1-0-1 at the University of Mary tournament this past weekend.  MSUB tied the Marauders 1-1 and defeated Minnesota-Crookston 4-0.

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
The Yellowjackets are led by freshman Jennifer Larsen who leads the team with four goals and is tied for the team lead in points with eight.  Fellow freshman Jaucelyn Richter also has eight points on three goals and two assists.  Richter leads the team with 23 shots and she and Larsen are tied for the team lead in shots on goal with 13.  Senior Chelsea Libby leads the team with five assists, including three against Minnesota-Crookston this past weekend.  Five other players have one goal each.

Defensively, the Yellowjackets are led by junior Jordan Fenwick in goal.  She has a 3-2-1 record with one shutout and 22 saves.  Fenwick has played and started all six games, logging 577:38 minutes and carries a 1.25 goals against average.

Head coach Don Trentham is in his eighth season at the helm of the Yellowjacket program and welcomes back eight starters from last year’s 10-10 season.  MSUB was 5-7 in the GNAC last season and Trentham has 10 new faces for 2009.

RECAPPING UNIVERSITY OF MARY TOURNAMENT
MSUB went 1-0-1 at the University of Mary tournament this past weekend.  The Yellowjackets and Marauders played to a 1-1 tie after goals by both teams in the sixth minute of the game and none the rest of the way.  Goals weren’t in short supply for the Yellowjackets against Minnesota Crookston as MSUB won 4-0 with three first half goals and three assists from Chelsea Libby.  MSUB didn’t allow a goal for the final 194:15 minutes of the 200 played minutes this past weekend.

SCOUTING CENTRAL WASHINGTON
The Wildcats enter the week with a 3-4 record after a 2-1 overtime win versus NAIA-foe Simon Fraser.  The Clan currently is ranked 10th in the latest NAIA poll.  CWU started the year 0-3, but has gone 3-1 since, including a 3-2 win versus Mary Sept. 7.  The Wildcats are led by Monique Cornier and Serena Tomaso who each have three goals on the year.  Kaycie Hutchins leads the way with six assists.  Eight different players have scored goals for the Wildcats this season.  As a team, CWU has 14 goals, 12 assists, 80 shots and 38 shots on goal offensively.

In goal, CWU is led by Amber Easterbrook who is 3-4 on the year with 26 saves and one shutout.  She has allowed 11 goals in 662:43 minutes of action for a 1.49 goals against average.

INSIDE THE SERIES...
The Wildcats own an 8-2 record in the series and have won the past two straight.  CWU won both meetings last year, 2-0 in Billings and 2-1 in Ellensburg. 

SCOUTING NORTHWEST NAZARENE
The Crusaders enter the week with a 2-1-3 record and will play host to the College of Idaho before hosting the Yellowjackets on Saturday.  Leading the way for the Crusaders is Stacey Beckman who has a team-high four goals on the year.  Sarah Staropoli is second with three goals and she leads the team with 13 shots and 10 shots on goal.  McKenzie Bailey leads the team with two assists. 

In goal, the Crusaders are led by Tanya Zickefoose who has a 2-1-2 record with one shutout and 28 saves.  She has played in 512:06 minutes and has allowed eight goals for a 1.41 goals against average.  Lauren Delameter has played in one game with an 0-0-1 record allowing two goals and she has three saves.

INSIDE THE SERIES...
The Yellowjackets lead the all-time series 5-3-1 and are 5-0-1 in the past six games with four-straight wins.  MSUB won both meetings last year and did not allow the Crusaders to score in either match, 4-0 and 3-0, respectively.

BOEHM NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Samantha Boehm was named GNAC Player of the Week as she helped lead the Yellowjackets to a 1-0-1 record this past week.  Boehm anchored the Yellowjacket defense which allowed just four shots on goal last week. Boehm helped lead MSUB to its first shutout of the season - a 4-0 win over Minnesota-Crookston.  The Yellowjackets outshot their opponents 30-17 and 18-4 in shots on goal for the week.  This is Boehm’s first Player of the Week honor and first of the season for the Yellowjackets.

LIBBY 12TH NATIONALLY IN ASSISTS
Senior Chelsea Libby currently is 12th nationally in assists per game with an 0.83 average.  Libby tallied three assists in a 4-0 win versus Minnesota-Crookston this past Sunday.  She is second in he GNAC in assists with five and second in assists per game behind Kaycie Hutchins of Central Washington in both areas.

194:15
Of the 200 playing minutes this past week, the Montana State Billings held its opponents scoreless for 194:15. MSUB went 1-0-1 during that streak and had its first shutout of the season.

FENWICK THIRD IN GAA
Junior Jordan Fenwick is third in the GNAC is goals against average with a 1.25 average.  She has 22 saves and has allowed just eight goals in 577:38 minutes of action.

GETTIN’ TO THE CORNER
The Yellowjackets own a 30-16 advantage in corner kicks this season over their opponents.  In addition, MSUB has gotten to the corner 15 times in the first half alone to just six for the opposition.  This past week, MSUB scored off three corner kicks in a 4-0 win over Minnesota-Crookston.

GETTIN’ SHOTS
MSUB also has dominated its opponents in shots this season to the tune of 98-63.  The 98 shots is good for second in the league behind Seattle Pacific.  In fact, MSUB has almost doubled the shots in the first half of games to its opponent - 53 to 27. 

SPREADING THE WEALTH
This past weekend, four different Yellowjackets scored goals, including three who tallied their first scores of the year.  Freshman Kristen Kastelic scored her first collegiate goal, while Carly Valentine and Kari Foreman added their first goals of the season.  In addition, Lauren Anderson and freshman Courtney Harvey tallied their first assists of their careers. 

JACKETS FIFTH IN PRESEASON POLL
Montana State Billings was picked fifth in the annual GNAC Coaches Poll.  The Yellowjackets received 22 ½ points, behind conference favorite Seattle Pacific with 47 points.  Defending conference champion, Western Washington, was selected second (43 points) and one first place vote, followed by Central Washington (34), Saint Martin’s (25 ½), the Yellowjackets, Western Oregon (14) and Northwest Nazarene (8) was seventh to round out the league.  Points are awarded on a 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.

YOUTHFUL JACKETS
The Montana State Billings women’s soccer team has just one senior on the team this year in Chelsea Libby.  The ‘Jackets have 11 juniors, three sophomores and nine freshmen.

IMPACT FRESHMEN
Freshmen Jennifer Larsen and Jaucelyn Richter lead the team in goals, points, shots and shots on goal.  They both have had outstanding starts to their MSUB careers.  MSUB has nine freshmen in 2009 and a number of them have seen significant minutes.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN ‘09
Montana State University Billings’ head women’s soccer coach Don Trentham begins his eighth season at the helm of the Yellowjackets in 2009.  With the goal of advancing to the top ranks of a very competitive Great Northwest Athletic Conference, Trentham is expecting good things from a two-year, targeted program aimed at consolidating ten newcomers, with the depth and experience of 10 veteran juniors, four sophomores and one fifth-year senior.

“I think we have a nice mixture of youth and experience,” Trentham said.  “It’s a combination that pays off with success towards the middle and end of the season when we are hopefully battling for a conference title and a spot in the NCAA tournament.”

Because the Jackets are likely to return 24 of 25 players next season, Trentham is advancing a two-year approach.  The potential for so many of the team to play together for the next two years bodes well for their future performance and progress in the GNAC.

“I think we have depth at every position on the field this year,” Trentham said.  “With an experienced and deep team, and with just about everyone back in 2010, we are looking at it as a two-year project.  If we go out and play the way we are capable of playing and we get results, I think we will be able to compete for a GNAC championship either this year or next.”

LIVE ON THE WEB
This season ALL MSUB home women’s soccer games will be FREE on the internet with live video and audio as the voice of the Yellowjackets, Ken Adelblue, will have the call.