VERMILLION, S.D. – The South Dakota Coyotes will travel to Colorado to compete in the Summit League Tournament on Thursday at 2 p.m. CT. The Yotes will be the No. 4 seed and face No. 1 seeded Denver. The game will be a rematch of last year's semifinal game between the same two teams. The winner goes on to face either South Dakota State or Omaha for the conference championship Saturday at 3 p.m.

 The Rundown
    Opponent: No. 1 Denver
    Date: Thursday, November 4 at 2 p.m.
    Site: Denver, Colorado
    Stream: Summit League Stream
    Live Stats: Summit League Stats
    Game Notes: USD | Summit League




THE WHO, WHAT, WHEN

The South Dakota Coyotes and Denver Pioneers will be meeting for the second straight season in the Summit League Tournament semifinals. Last season, the Pioneers defeated the Yotes en route to a Summit League Tournament Championship. USD and Denver faced off this past weekend right here at the Denver Soccer Stadium. South Dakota needed a win or a tie in its final two games of the season to clinch a spot and did it with a 1-1 tie against the Pioneers.

This wil be the third time the Yotes have made the tournament and second straight. The winner advances to the Summit League Championship on Saturday at 3 p.m. to face the winner of Omaha and South Dakota State.

THE RECORD

South Dakota is 0-2 all-time in the Summit League Tournament while holding a 0-5-1 record all-time at the Denver Soccer Stadium. This will be the second tournament appearance for fourth year head coach Michael Thomas. As mentioned above the Yotes fell to Denver last season in the semifinals in Thomas' first appearance in the tournament.

QUICK HITS

South Dakota played in just the fifth overtime game since the conference changed its name to The Summit League in 2007. It is also the only game since 2007 in which both teams have scored more than three goals. The Coyotes would be the seventh No. 4 seed to earn a spot in the championship game and be the second No. 4 all-time to win the championship.

NATIONAL RANKINGS

The Yotes defense has been making a name for themselves on the nationally level ranking in the top 10 in several categories.

USD boasts the 10th-best shutouts percentage in the nation (.588) and the third best save percentage (.880) in the nation.

Goalkeeper Emma Harkelroad boasts the fourth-best save percentage (0.885) in the country this fall as well as leading the Summit by five percent. She also leads all Summit goalkeepers in goals-against average (.599) and ranks 18th nationally for that Statistic. Her seven shutouts are 38th in the country.

MOVING ON UP

Fifth year senior Alexis Mitchell's goal against UND moved her into a tie for seventh all-time in goals scored at USD. She currently has 20 and would need three more goals to be in the top five all-time in goals scored.

Mitchell has also moved into a tie for sixth place all-time with 53 career points. She is two points shy of being in the top five. Mitchell also sits fourth in all-time assists with 13.

Taylor Cotter sits third all-time with 17 assists and needs two assists to take sole possession of second place.

Maddison Sullivan has continued to pile on the assists recording two vs. NDSU. She now has six on the season and has entered the top-10 all-time list with 11 career assists.

ALL-CONFERENCE AWARDS

South Dakota had five players earn all-Summit honors on Wednesday. That number is the highest the Yotes have received in a single season since joining the league in 2011.

Alexis Mitchell earned first team while Jordan Centineo, Abby Ostrem, Taylor Ravelo and Emma Harkleroad earned second-team honors.

SERIES HISTORY VS DENVER

USD is looking to get its second win over the Pioneers in the all-time series history.

The Yotes have taken the Pioneers to overtime in two of their last three regular season meetings.

The Pioneers hold a 9-1-1 record all-time and a 5-0-1 record while at home.

A LOOK ACROSS THE PITCH

It is a rematch of last year's Summit League Tournament semifinal in Omaha. Denver earned the top seed with its win over South Dakota State this past Sunday while Omaha was able to defeat USD to keep its tournament hope alive and earned the three seed. SDSU with its loss to Denver earned the No. 2 seed for the second straight season. Denver boasts the 2021 Summit League Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Coach of the Year and seven players to the all-conference teams.

CATCHING UP WITH SOCCER - ALEXIS MITCHELL & ABBY OSTREM