VERMILLION, S.D. – The South Dakota Coyotes will hit the road for the first time in two weeks to face in-state rival South Dakota State on Friday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
 
    The Rundown
  Opponent: South Dakota State (5-0-3)
  Dates: March 19 and March 21
  Times: 6 p.m. and 1 p.m.
  Site: Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium
  Stream: GoJacks.com/watch
  Live Stats: Click Here
  Game Notes: USD | SDSU | Summit League
 


A LOOK ACROSS THE PITCH
The Jacks bring a 5-0-3 record into the weekend and sit third in the conference with 18 conference points.SDSU has three ties this season and has only given up two goals on the season. They tied with Omaha, swept Oral Roberts and Kansas City. Against Denver, the Jacks tied with them in the first game before recording a 2-1 2OT win in the series finale.

Offensively, the Jacks are led by Maya Hansen with five goals on the season, Reagan Anderson, Kaycee Manding and Rachel Hewitt all have two assists on the season as well.
In between the pipes, Hailee Fischer and Taylor Lock have split time with both playing in all eight games. Together they have recorded 20 saves and have a 0.23 goals against average.  

LAST TIME OUT
The Yotes swept Western Illinois with scores of 4-2 and 1-0. Aymar, Farrell, Centineo, Gailus and Ravelo all recorded goals against the Leathernecks. Lewis also recorded her first two starts of her career and recorded three saves and a shutout on the weekend.

CAREER FIRSTS
The Yotes have had six different players record career first thus season so far. Hattie Giblin, Shaylee Gailus, Taylor Ravelo, Lindsay Farrell and Kayla Aymar all record their first goals of their careers this season. Gailus in her second season leads the Yotes with three goals and has one assist on the season. She has recorded seven shots with four on goal this season.

Ravelo is second on the team with two goals on the season. She's been deadly along with Gailus on corner kicks this season. Ravelo has also recorded an assist on the season. Caroline Lewis started between the pipes for the first time in her career against WIU. In her two starts, she recorded three saves including a 1-0 shutout this past Sunday.

"We have a lot of talent on this team," Michael Thomas said. "We have freshman that haven't got their opportunity yet that could step in right now and contribute if called on. We are really excited about the youth on this team.

"The freshman are doing a great job pf executing when they get a chance whether its players in the back line or someone like Kayla who hasn't played much this season but came in and executed right away. We are really excited about what the freshmen have done and we're excited to see more of them get their chance."

CONFERENCE RANKINGS
USD ranks second in goals and assists per game with 1.63 per game. Gailus ranks seventh with three goals on the season. Ostrem ranks seventh also with three assists on the season.

SERIES HISTORY
USD is 5-7-1 against the Jacks all-time. USD is 1-5 all-time in Brookings with their only win coming in 2000. The two teams tied in last season's matchup.

"Obviously it's a big weekend for a couple different reasons," Thomas said. "SDSU is a very good soccer program. A lot of our players grew up playing with those players or against them. I think it's always a little different when you have so many connections within the two programs.

"They are a team that we've been able to compete with. We were able to gain a point against them last year with the tie and we were minutes away from doing it at their place two years ago. The players know what is at stake and always show up and compete really hard. SDSU has a really disciplined defense and breaking them down is hard but we just have to control what we can control this weekend."