SPEARFISH, S.D. - The 2026 season opens at home for the Black Hills State University women's soccer team, beginning the year with an in-state battle against Sioux Falls on Thursday, August 27, at the Black Hills Power Sports Complex in Spearfish, before a neutral site battle against Minnesota Crookston is hosted at the Black Hills Surgical Sports Complex in Rapid City on Saturday, August 29. It will be just the second all-time meeting between the Yellow Jackets and Cougars who will face off for the first time since 2018 as BHSU looks for its first season-opening victory since 2023. Then the Green & Gold looks to continue their momentum in the series against UMC as they get set to face off for the third consecutive year. 

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO VS. SIOUX FALLS 

Date/Time/Location: Thursday, August 27 / 7 p.m. / Spearfish, S.D. / Black Hills Power Sports Complex 
Live Stream: RMAC Network (Pay-Per-View) 

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO VS. MINNESOTA CROOKSTON 

Date/Time/Location: Saturday, August 29 / 11 a.m. / Rapid City, S.D. / Black Hills Surgical Sports Complex 
Live Stream: RMAC Network (Pay-Per-View) 

BLACK HILLS STATE STORYLINES 

• Black Hills State posted a school record in wins during the 2025 campaign, notching a 4-9-5 (1-8-3 RMAC) mark to finish 12th in the league standings. 
• The Yellow Jackets recorded the best start to a season in program history last year, recording a 4-1-2 start through seven matches, including back-to-back victories in their first two home contests. 
• The Green & Gold have played to a draw in each of the previous two season openers, with the last and only season opening win occurring in 2023 in head coach John Hutchison's first game with BHSU. 
• For the second consecutive year, Black Hills State broke the school's single season points record with 52 in 2025 by way of 17 goals and 18 assists. 
• Defensively, the Yellow Jackets posted a school record five shutouts and held opponents to one goal or less in 12 matches, the most in a single season in BHSU history, in 2025. Additionally, they limited the opposition to 200 total shots and 103 shots-on-goal, the fewest in a single season for Black Hills State. 
• Of the 12 different players to score a goal for the Yellow Jackets last season, the trio of Peyton Hill (4), Aubri Roth (1), and Ally Boysen (1) return in 2026. 
• Roth additionally led the team with three assists, tying the school's single season record. 
• Hill became just the sixth different player in program history to score ten or more points in a single season as she added a pair of assists alongside her four goals for ten points in 2025. 
• The Yellow Jackets return the top two goalkeepers from a year ago, including Rian Barthel who appeared in ten matches while making nine starts. She recorded a pair of wins while allowing just a 1.26 goals against average and making 44 saves. She set the school's single season shutouts record with four. Also back is Karsyn Fraser-Slothower, who played in and started seven matches, posted one shutout, and made 20 saves while allowing just 1.43 goals per match. 
• Hutchison enters his fourth season as the head coach of the Black Hills State program, guiding the Yellow Jackets to a 10-32-11 mark during his tenure. Overall, in his collegiate coaching career he enters year eight with a career record of 21-75-19 after four prior seasons at Presentation. 

SIOUX FALLS STORYLINES 

• Sioux Falls comes off their second-best season as an NCAA Division II program in 2025 where they went 6-10-2 (4-9-2 NSIC) as they finished 12th in the league standings. The six wins were their most since an 8-win 2011 season as they transitioned from NAIA. 
• Addison Van Zee and Mara Nelson will lead the charge in 2026 for the Cougars as their NSIC Players to Watch, while the team was picked 12th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll. 
• Van Zee started all 18 contests for The Coo, scoring a team-leading eight goals for 16 points en route to Second Team All-NSIC honors a year ago. She scored three game winning goals and notched a hat trick against Minnesota Crookston. 
• Including Van Zee, USF returns their top three point scorers, as Sadie Hunter scored three goals for six points, and Mariah Siem scored two goals and one assist for five points. 
• Defensively Nelson recorded the most minutes of any player for Sioux Falls in 2025, tallying 1,554 minutes and starting all 18 matches. She added an assist in the match against Jamestown. Additionally, the defense pitched five shutouts and limited the opposition to one goal or less in 13 contests. 
• In goal for The Coo, Morgan Jost started and played in 15 match-ups, recording five victories and notching four clean sheets. She made 53 saves and held a 1.20 goals against average. 
• Andy Janssen enters his first year as the head coach at Sioux Falls, arriving at USF after nine seasons as the associate head coach of South Dakota State. 

SERIES HISTORY 

• Thursday night will mark just the second all-time meeting between Black Hills State and Sioux Falls on the soccer pitch, with USF holding a 1-0 advantage in the series. 
• The lone meeting in the series saw the Cougars capture a 4-0 victory over the Yellow Jackets in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on September 3, 2018. 

MINNESOTA CROOKSTON STORYLINES 

• Minnesota Crookston ended the 2025 season with a 2-13-3 (1-12-2 NSIC) mark for a 16th place finish in the league standings. The two wins were the most for the Golden Eagles since 2022. 
• The pair of Kedin Geremiah and Emmah Burnes were named the NSIC Players to Watch for UMC as the team was picked 15th in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll. 
• Minnesota Crookston returns their leading goal scorer (2) and points leader (4) from a year ago as Elise Lefers returns for her junior season. She recorded 14 total shot attempts with nine on target, while also notching the game-winner against MSU Moorhead in non-conference action. 
• Other returning goal scorers from 2025 include Burnes (1), Marsia Green (1), and Autumn Rabe (1). 
• Defensively, Burnes anchored the defensive back line and earned Second Team All-NSIC honors in 2025. She is one of two key pieces returning to the back line for the Golden Eagles as she ranks second on the team among returners with 1,515 minutes played behind only Tessa VanOverbeke who returns with 1,522 minutes played in 2025. The pair has started all 18 matches in each of the last two seasons. 
• UMC returns a pair of goalkeepers from last season, including Payton King who made nine appearances and starts which led to three shutouts, 59 saves, and a 1.41 goals against average. Their other goalkeeper, Phoenix DeBrusk, saw her lone appearance and start against the Yellow Jackets, playing the full 90 minutes and making six saves, while surrendering four goals. 
• Danny Burstein enters his second season as the head coach at Minnesota Crookston, holding a 2-13-3 career mark with the Golden Eagles after one year. 

SERIES HISTORY 

• Saturday morning marks just the third all-time meeting on the soccer pitch between Black Hills State and Minnesota Crookston, with BHSU holding a 1-0-1 advantage. 
• The Yellow Jackets secured a 4-1 victory over the Golden Eagles in the match-up last season on September 7, 2025, in Crookston, Minnesota. 
• In the one prior meeting in South Dakota, the teams played to a scoreless draw at the Black Hills Power Sports Complex in Spearfish on September 15, 2024.