The Game
South Dakota continues the Summit slate with the first weekend road trip of the conference schedule. The first stop on the trip is in Macomb, Illinois, for a Friday afternoon game against Western Illinois. The game will have a live stream available as well as live stats available to follow along.

The Series
The Coyotes lead the all-time series 9-4-1 with the Leathernecks. Though Western Illinois took last season's contest in 2-1 fashion, the Coyotes previously had a five-game winning streak stretching back to the 2017 season. USD will return to Macomb for the first time since 2018 where they walked away with a 2-1 victory.

The Coyotes
South Dakota is coming off a home weekend in which they tied Omaha on Friday and fell to Denver on Sunday. Ashby Johnston netted the game-tying goal in the final minutes of Friday's game versus Omaha for a 1-1 draw. On Sunday, the Coyotes kept pace with the top team in the league before Denver pulled away with two goals in the second half. Johnston recorded her second goal of the weekend in that game while Joana Zanin picked up her third goal of the year to tie the game heading into the break.

Shaylee Gailus and Zanin lead the team with identical statistics that include three goals, one assist, and seven points. Fifth-year senior Taylor Cotter added to her team-lead in assists this weekend and leads the team with eight points this year. At least 11 Coyotes have recorded a point in 2022.

The Leathernecks
Western Illinois heads into Friday's match at 3-6-3 and 1-3 in Summit play. The Leathernecks dropped their last two conference matches to North Dakota and North Dakota State last weekend. Their lone conference win came against Kansas City in a 2-0 shutout back on Sept. 25.

Two-time all-Summit selection Amy Andrews does it all for the Leathernecks on the pitch. She leads the Summit League in shots (52), shots on goal (29), and goals (7). Andrews is second in the Summit with 15 points total and 1.25 points per game. The forward from Birmingham, England, scored twice the last time she played the Coyotes. Isabel Navas Rodriguez has played in all 12 games and started 11 of them for WIU. She has made 66 saves on the year and owns a 1.30 goals against average.

One Last Thing
The Coyotes rank third in the conference with 111 shots and 17 goals this season. Zanin stands in fourth in the conference with 12 shots on goal while Cotter's four assists are fourth-best in the Summit.