SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University women's soccer team opens the 2018 regular season with matches against Minot State, Northern State, and Sioux Falls. The Yellow Jackets take on the Beavers on Thursday, August 30, before playing the Wolves on Saturday, September 1. On Monday, September 3, they will take on the Cougars in Sioux Falls.

Scouting the Beavers (0-0)
Minot State University, located in Minot, N.D., plays in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The Beavers finished the 2017 season with a 12-5-2 overall record, and were 11-3-1 in conference play. They were recently selected to finish fourth in the NSIC in the Preseason Poll, after finishing fourth last season, falling to the University of Mary (1-0) in the conference tournament.

The Beavers return six players who earned All-Conference honors last year. Haley Berryman was named First Team after leading the squad with six assists. She also had seven goals, which was second on the squad to fellow First Team member Sofia Lewis (12 goals, five assists). Goalkeeper Erin Rafferty had nine shutouts last season, earning All-NSIC Honorable Mention.

Scouting the Wolves (0-0)
Northern State University is located in Aberdeen, S.D., and plays in the NSIC. After finishing 12th in the conference last season, the Wolves were selected to finish 10th this year. Northern was 5-10-2 overall, with a 4-9-2 conference record in 2017.

Two returning Wolves garnered All-Conference honors. Stephany Estrada led the squad with five assists on the way to a spot on the All-NSIC Third Team, while leading scorer Shianne Rosselli (four goals) was named Honorable Mention. Northern State brings in 10 freshman to its squad this year, returning just five starters.

Scouting the Cougars (0-0)
The University of Sioux Falls, located in Sioux Falls, S.D., also plays in the NSIC. The Cougars were selected to finish 12th this year, after ranking 10th in the conference last season. They finished 2017 with a 5-9-4 overall record, going 4-7-4 in Northern Sun games.

Returning for the Cougars is Lauren LaFavre, who scored a season-best five goals, garnering All-NSIC Third Team honors. USF also returns Honorable Mention midfielder McKayla Philippi.

Scouting the Yellow Jackets (0-0)
Black Hills State University finished the 2017 season with a 1-16 overall record, although the victory earned was the first ever Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory for the young program. The Yellow Jackets defeated Colorado Christian, 3-2, in double overtime on October 22.

BHSU returns five starters from last year's squad, including leading scorer, Katie Nielson. The junior led last year's team with three goals, and also added one assist. Other starters who are back this year are Mikayla Hernandez, Caitlin Kelly, Alexandria Lisenbe, and Rose Miller. Also returning to the squad this year are Zoe Baldwin, who played six games in goal, and Abigail Carlson. Isabella Goddard comes back after a redshirt year.

Last Time They Met
The Yellow Jackets fell to Minot State, 6-0, in the opening game of the 2017 season. BHSU then fell to Northern State, 4-0. The meeting between the Yellow Jackets and the Cougars will be the first in BHSU's short history.

Up Next
Following this weekend's games, the Green and Gold head to Billings, Montana, for matches against the University of Mary and Montana State Billings on September 6 and 8.
  Black Hills State is located in the Northern Black Hills of South Dakota, sponsoring 13 NCAA sports with membership in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the NCAA emerging sport of women's triathlon and NIRA rodeo. For all information regarding Yellow Jacket Athletics, please visit BHSUAthletics.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @BHSUAthletics.