VERMILLION, S.D. — South Dakota junior Sammie Villwock is set to play her final two games of the regular season with the Coyotes women's soccer team this weekend, which are also the final regular season games of her career.
 
The Lake Villa, Illinois, native participated in Senior Day last Friday after completing enough credits to graduate from USD in just three years.
 
"Graduating in three years was not initially the plan," Villwock said. I brought in a lot of credits from high school and I took the normal number of credits per semester. It turned out that I had enough to graduate after three years."
 
Villwock will walk across the stage in May to receive her bachelor of business administration in management.
 
She plans to move back to the Chicago area following graduation to job search with a possibility of going to graduate school for sports management.
 
She received some hands on training in her field this past summer after interning with AIM Specialty Health, a specialty benefits management company based in Deerfield, Illinois.
 
"I was a business analyst intern," Villwock said. "I worked in the summer and helped construct documents and shadowed various people in the company."
 
Villwock, the Coyotes' leading scorer in the 2016 season, has tallied nine goals in her career and is one of 12 Coyotes all-time to have recorded a hat trick. She finished her hat trick when she scored the game-winning goal in overtime to defeat Green Bay 4-3 on Sept. 6 2015.
 
"It was one of a kind," Villwock said about her accomplishment. "I had never done it before and Danielle Anderson played me a through ball a minute or two into overtime. I was able to slot it into the far corner.
 
"It was the best feeling. Everyone came and hugged me. It was incredible."
 
The goal was one of four game-winning goals over her career, including the game-winner against Fort Wayne this season.
 
Villwock and her teammates play the final two games of the regular season Thursday at South Dakota State and Sunday at Omaha, fighting for a spot in the Summit League Tournament. South Dakota needs to win both games, coupled with losses by Denver and Oral Roberts to open tie-break scenarios.
 
The Coyotes face South Dakota State in the second event of the South Dakota Corn Showdown Series. South Dakota claimed the first point of the series with a 3-0 win in volleyball on Oct. 13.
 
The Jacks, currently leading the Summit League with a 5-0-0 record, and are 9-4-3 overall. Nicole Hatcher and Leah Manuleleua have each tallied six goals with Hatcher leading the team with 18 points. Maggie Smither has started 15 games in net for SDSU with 77 saves. She has allowed just one goal during Summit League action.
 
Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. at Fishback Soccer Park in Brookings.
 
Sunday's contest at Omaha is a 1 p.m. kickoff. The Mavericks enter the weekend with a 1-4-0 record in league play and are 4-10-1 overall. Abby Meader and Natalie Johnson lead the team with three goals each, with Meader holding the top spot with seven points. Haley Johnson and Erin Bunker have split time between the pipes, each seeing action in nine games. Johnson has eight starts with a 1.16 goals against average while Bunker has seven starts with a 2.29 goals against average.