Yellowjackets Play at Rocky and Host Carroll College

Game Notes in PDF format

BRIEFLY
The MSUB women’s soccer team plays two games this week including a makeup game at Rocky Mountain College scheduled for Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at Wendy’s Field, followed by a home game on Friday against NAIA No. 22-ranked Carroll College at 4 p.m. at Yellowjacket Field.

BETWEEN THE POSTS
The Yellowjackets enter the week with a 7-4-1 record overall and a 4-2 mark in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  Rocky and MSUB were scheduled to play Sunday at 12 p.m. at Wendy’s Field, but with extreme cold temperatures and forecast snow for Sunday, the game was moved to Wednesday.  Rocky sits at 3-7 after a 10-0 win over Southwestern Arizona College Friday.  Carroll College enters the week with an 9-4-1 record after downing Southwestern Arizona 11-0 on Saturday and a 5-1 win over Walsh College Monday.

EIGHTH ANNUAL RIMROCK CUP
Sunday’s meeting with Rocky marks the eighth edition of the Rimrock Cup.  With a 3-2 overtime win by Rocky last season, the Rimrock Cup is all tied between the two teams (5-5-1).  Rocky’s Ali Beckers scored a goal just two minutes into the contest last season, but the Yellowjackets would fight back twice in the second half to tie the game.  In the overtime, Abby Jenkins fired the game-winner from about 30-yards out off a free kick.

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
The Yellowjackets are led by freshman Jaucelyn Richter who leads the team and the conference with nine goals and 21 points.  Fellow freshman Jennifer Larsen has seven goals for 15 points.  Richter leads the team with 44 shots and 27 on goal.  Larsen is second in shots with 39 and second in shots on goal with 23.  Senior Chelsea Libby leads the team with five assists, including three against Minnesota-Crookston Sept. 13.  Kari Foreman is third in goals with four and leads the team and the league with three game-winning goals.  Richter has two game-winners.  Samantha Sandau has two goals on the year with three assists, while three other players have one goal each.

Defensively, the Yellowjacks are led by junior Jordan Fenwick in goal.  She has a 7-4-1 record with one shutout and 51 saves.  Fenwick has played and started all 12 games, logging 1138:29 minutes and carries a 1.58 goals against average which is good for fifth in the league.

As a team, the Yellowjackets have scored 25 goals and have 24 assists on the year for 74 points.  They have 176 shots for a .142 shot percentage.  MSUB has 98 shots on goal for a .557 clip.

RECAPPING LAST WEEK
The Yellowjackets only were able to play one of their two scheduled games this past week.  MSUB downed Northwest Nazarene 2-1 on Thursday at Yellowjacket Field and then saw the Rocky Mountain College match at Wendy’s Field be moved to this week due to extreme cold temperatures and forecast snow for last Sunday.  The Yellowjackets evened the season series with NNU as Kari Foreman notched her fourth goal of the year on an assist from Lauren Anderson just 17 minutes into the game.  The game remained 1-0 at half and the Yellowjackets held the Crusaders scoreless for 80 minutes after the first meeting was a 4-3 overtime score.  Marie Smith poked the ball in the net in a scrum off a corner kick at the 80-minute mark to even the score.  Just 2:22 later, Jennifer Larsen converted her first collegiate penalty kick and tallied her first game winner as Jaucelyn Richter was pulled down from behind in the box.   The Yellowjackets dominated the game to the tune of 17-6 in shots and 10-2 in corner kicks.

SCOUTING ROCKY MOUNTAIN COLLEGE
The Battlin’ Bears enter the game with a 3-7 record after a 10-0 win over Southwestern College (Arizona) on Friday.  Kirsty Montignani leads the team with 10 goals and 21 points on the year.  She is shooting .526 percent and has nine shots on goal for a .474 clip.  Laruen Brophy and Allie Beckers are second in goals with five each, while Beckers and Lexie Day lead the team with three assists each.

In goal, the Bears are led by former Yellowjacket Brittany Knudtzon who has played in nine games and allowed 16 goals for a 2.27 goals against average.  She has 30 saves for a .652 average.  Katherine Moody also has seen time in two games with one save.

As a team, the Bears have scored 25 goals in 11 games with 19 assists for 69 points.  They are shooting .329 on the year and .500 in shots on goal.  RMC has allowed 18 goals and 18 assists on the year.

INSIDE THE SERIES...
The Yellowjackets lead the all-time series 9-7-1 and are 5-5-1 in the Rimrock Cup.  MSUB head coach Don Trentham is 5-5-1 against the Bears.  Rocky won the seventh annual Rimrock Cup with a 3-2 win in overtime last year at MSUB.

LAST MEETING WITH ROCKY
The Yellowjackets dropped a hearbreaking 3-2 overtime decision to Rocky last season in the Rimrock Cup.  Allie Beckers got the Battlin’ Bears on the board just 2:09 in to the contest.  Ali Gamberg evened the score 1:37 into the second half with assists from Samantha Sandau and Chelsea Libby.  Rocky again took the lead less than two minutes later, but the Yellowjackets would have the answer as Libby scored on an assist from Kari Foreman 10 minutes later.  The game remained tied as both teams had chances to win.  In overtime, Abby Jenkins fired a ball from 30-yards out off a direct kick scoring the game winner.

SCOUTING CARROLL COLLEGE
The Fighting Saints enter the game with a 9-4-1 record after a 5-1 win over Walsh College Monday.  Carroll currently is ranked 22nd in the latest NAIA poll.  Meghan O’Connell leads the team with seven goals and four assists for 18 points.  She also leads the team with 18 shots on goal.  Hannah Young and Abby Coburn each have five goals on the year. 

Defensively, the Saints are led by Katie Beall between the posts.  She has a 1.12 goals against average in 11 games with 12 goals against.  Beall has 45 saves for a .789 average and two shutouts.  Erin Volz has played in three games with one goal against and three saves. 

As a team, the Saints already have scored a whopping 40 goals with 28 assists this season.  They are shooting .166 for the year with 132 shots on goal.  Defensively, they only have allowed 15 goals on the year.

INSIDE THE SERIES...
The Yellowjackets and the Saints have met 17 times on the pitch with the Yellowjackets winning 10 of them.  MSUB has won two straight in the series, including a hard-fought 1-0 win last year in Billings.

LAST MEETING WITH CARROLL
The Yellowjackets scored a goal in the 84th minute to break a scoreless tie against Carroll and won the game 1-0.  Chelsea Libby scored on a header off a penalty kick from former Yellowjacket Mandy Ploskonka to seal the victory.  MSUB dominated the shots to the tune of 14-7 and 9-4 in shots on goal, but Katie Beall made seven saves for the Saints.  Jordan Fenwick had four saves for the Yellowjackets in the shutout.

WOMEN’S SOCCER RANKED REGIONALLY
For the first time since the end of the 2006 season, the MSUB women’s soccer team is ranked regionally in the first NCAA Division II West Region Poll.  The Yellowjackets are 10th in the region in the initial poll.  The newest poll had not been released for the week of Oct. 12 when this was written.

THE J & J SHOW
Montana State Billings freshmen Jaucelyn Richter and Jennifer Larsen lead the the team and the conference in a number of areas.   Richter and Larsen are numbers one and two on the team in goals, nine and seven respectively.  The also lead the team in shots, shots on goal and points.  In addition, Richter leads the league in goals with nine and goals per game (0.82), as well as shots per game (44, 4.00) and points and points per game (21, 1.91).  Larsen is tied for second in goals with seven and second in goals per game at an 0.58 clip.  She is third in points (15) and second in points per game (1.25).

NATIONALLY SPEAKING
The Montana State Billings women’s soccer team currently is ranked 67th nationally in scoring offense at a 2.08 clip.  Individually, Jaucelyn Richter is 40th in points per game (1.91) and 42nd in goals per game (0.818).  Chelsea Libby is 79th in assists per game at a 0.42 clip.

LIBBY SECOND IN ASSISTS
Senior Chelsea Libby is tied for second in the league in assists with five.  Kelly Irving of Western Washington also has five assists.  Kaycie Hutchins of Central Washington leads the way with six.

LISTEN TO COACH TRENHAM
Fans can listen to head coach Don Trentham’s weekly coaches show with Ken Adelblue by logging on to www.msubillings.edu/athletics and clicking on women’s soccer and listen to Coaches Show. 

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.