Women's Soccer Completes Road Swing at Western Oregon and Saint Martin's

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BRIEFLY
The MSUB women’s soccer team concludes its six-game road trip with conference matches at Western Oregon and at Saint Martin’s this week.  The Yellowjackets are 4-3-1 on the year with a 1-1 record in the GNAC after splitting two games last week at Central Washington (W, 3-1) and at Northwest Nazarene (L, 4-3 OT). 

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
The Yellowjackets are led by freshman Jaucelyn Richter who leads the team and the conference with seven goals and 16 points with eight.  Fellow freshman Jennifer Larsen has five goals.  Richter leads the team with 32 shots and 20 on goal.  Larsen is second in shots with 26 and second in shots on goal with 16.  Senior Chelsea Libby leads the team with five assists, including three against Minnesota-Crookston Sept. 13.  Four other players have one goal each.

Defensively, the Yellowjackets are led by junior Jordan Fenwick in goal.  She has a 4-3-1 record with one shutout and 34 saves.  Fenwick has played and started all eight games, logging 766:46 minutes and carries a 1.53 goals against average.

As a team, the Yellowjackets have scored 18 goals and have 18 assists on the year for 54 points.  They have 123 shots for a .146 shot percentage.  MSUB has 69 shots on goal for a .561 clip and have four game winners.

RECAPPING GNAC OPENING WEEKEND
MSUB opened the GNAC slate with a 1-1 record, including a come-from-behind victory at Central Washington and a heartbreaking overtime loss at Northwest Nazarene as the Yellowjackets let a two goal lead slip away.  Against Central Washington, the Yellowjackets scored three goals in a matter of 10 minutes to erase a 1-0 deficit for the 3-1 win.  Jaucelyn Richter had the game winner and the insurance goal.  Against NNU, the Yellowjackets built an early 2-0 lead on a pair of scores from Richter, but watched the Crusaders score three-straight goals to take the lead at the end of the first half and early in the second half.  MSUB didn’t panic as it came right back with Jennifer Larsen who equalized the game in the 70th minute.  McKensie Bailey got the golden goal at 99:08 as she hit a shot from a cross pass to the upper right corner for the game winner.

SCOUTING WESTERN OREGON
The Wolves enter the game with a 1-5-3 record and have not won since a 6-3 win over Linfield on Sept. 1 (0-3-3).  WOU is 0-1 in league play as it dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 1 Seattle Pacific on Sept. 17 in Monmouth.  The game was 0-0 at half, but three, second half scores by the Falcons proved to be the difference.  WOU is led offensively by Rachelle Kliewer who leads the team with five goals and three assists.  She also leads the team with 22 shots.  Kelsey Fuik is second on the team with two goals. 

In goal, the Wolves are led by Brittney Rigtrup who has played in all nine games and started four.  She has logged 501:08 minutes with a 1.62 goals against average. She has 21 saves and a 0-2-2 record.  Kelsie Blachly has played in eight games with four starts and 380 minutes.  She has a 2.13 goals against average with 20 saves and a 1-3 record.

INSIDE THE SERIES...
Western Oregon owns a 3-2 record in the series as the teams split two games last year.  MSUB won 2-1 in Billings, while WOU won 3-0 in Monmouth.   

SCOUTING SAINT MARTIN’S
The Saints enter the week with a 4-4 record and a 0-2 mark in the GNAC.  SMU currently is 10th in the latest NSCAA/adidas West Region poll.  Leading the way for the Saints this season Jill Webb who has five goals and one assist on the year.  She leads the team with 28 shots and 19 on goal and has one game winner.  Kayci Donatelli is second on the squad in scoring with two goals and one assist. 

Between the posts, the Saints are led by Ashley Engel who has logged all 740:30 minutes.  She has a 1.22 goals against average with 38 saves and 4-4 record to go along with three shutouts.

As a team, the Saints have scored just 10 goals on the year, but also only have allowed 10.  They have 95 shots and 56 shots on goal with one converted penalty kick.

INSIDE THE SERIES...
The Yellowjackets lead the all-time series 3-1, including sweeping the Saints last season.  In one of the craziest games last season, the Yellowjackets scored  two goals in less than seven minutes to erase a 2-0 deficit and then scored the game winner by Kari Foreman in overtime.  The crazy part was that Foreman scored the equalizer with 19 seconds left in regulation and then she scored the game winner with 23 seconds left in the first overtime.  The ‘Jackets also needed overtime in Lacey with a 2-1 win last season.

RICHTER SCALE
Montana State Billings freshman, Jaucelyn Richter, leads the team and the conference with seven goals on the year.  She has scored four goals in the past two games and leads the league in just about every offensive category. 

NATIONALLY SPEAKING
The Montana State Billings women’s soccer team currently is ranked 64th nationally in scoring offense at a 2.25 clip.  Individually, Jaucelyn Richter is 28th in points per game (2.29) and 21st in goals per game (1.0).  Chelsea Libby is 34th in assists per game at a 0.63 clip.

GETTIN’ GOALS AND ASSISTS
MSUB leads the conference in goals scored with 18.  Seattle Pacific is second with 16, while Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene are tied for third with 15.  MSUB also leads the league in assists with 18.  SPU and Central Washington are second with 14.

LIBBY SECOND IN ASSISTS
Senior Chelsea Libby is second in the league in assists with five.  Kaycie Hutchins of Central Washington leads the way with six.

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 at Mary and versus Minnesota Crookston.  Boehm anchored the Yellowjacket defense which allowed just four shots on goal. 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.

FENWICK THIRD IN SAVES PER GAME
Junior Jordan Fenwick is third in saves per game with a total of 34 for a 4.75 average.  She also is third in saves.

GETTIN’ TO THE CORNER
The Yellowjackets own a 38-19 advantage in corner kicks this season over their opponents.  In addition, MSUB has gotten to the corner 18 times in the first half alone to just six for the opposition. 

GETTIN’ SHOTS
MSUB also has dominated its opponents in shots this season to the tune of 123-93.  The 123 shots is good for third in the league.     

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.