In the initial NCAA Regional rankings, Upper Iowa Women's Soccer has checked in at eighth. The NSIC has five of the top ten teams in the central region, including the top seed Minnesota State. Augustana is ranked third, followed by Winona State in fourth and Minot State in tenth.
"We're pleased to be in the mix for the NCAA tournament, but there is still work to be done," said Head Coach
Brian Diaz. "We've put ourselves in a position to win the conference tournament and earn a berth into the NCAA tournament."
The Mid-America Athletic Association (MIAA) has five teams ranked with No. 2 Central Missouri, No. 5 Southwest Baptist, No. 6 Central Oklahoma, No. 7 Fort Hays State and No. 9 Missouri Western State. The Great American Conference (GAC) was not represented in the first rankings.
The top six teams in the region will advance to the NCAA region tournament on Nov. 14 & 16 and 21 & 23. Automatic bids are granted to the winners of the MIAA and NSIC postseason tournaments, with the remaining four spots awarded on an at-large basis. The 2014 NCAA DII Soccer Semifinals and Championship will be held at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium in Louisville, Ky. on Dec. 4 & 6 in conjunction with the NCAA DII Fall Sports Festival.
| RK | NCAA CENTRAL REGION | Overall |
| 1 | Minnesota State (NSIC) | 14-0-0 |
| 2 | Central Missouri (MIAA) | 13-0-1 |
| 3 | Augustana (NSIC) | 11-3-0 |
| 4 | Winona State (NSIC) | 13-1-0 |
| 5 | Southwest Baptist (MIAA) | 11-3-0 |
| 6 | Central Oklahoma (MIAA) | 9-3-2 |
| 7 | Fort Hays State (MIAA) | 8-4-2 |
| 8 | Upper Iowa (NSIC) | 9-4-0 |
| 9 | Missouri Western State (MIAA) | 8-5-1 |
| 10 | Minot State (NSIC) | 7-5-2 |
LIVE STATS: Minnesota Crookston ||
Bemidji StateWEBCAST: Bemidji State
NSIC Weekly Release
This week in Peacock women's soccer… Upper Iowa (9-4) hits the road with its nine-game win streak and will take on a two NSIC opponents in northern Minnesota. The Peacocks start the weekend with a match at the Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles on Friday at 3 p.m., then will take on the Beavers of Bemidji State on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Minnesota Crookston is 6-5-3 overall and 5-4-2 in NSIC play this season. The Peacocks are 2-0 all-time against the Golden Eagles. Bemidji State is 7-6-1 to start the year and 6-4-1 in conference. UIU is deadlocked at 5-5 all-time against the Beavers.
The Whole Nine Yards... The Peacocks current nine-game winning streak is the longest in the history of the UIU women's soccer program.
According to Diaz... "This has been something special and a testament to this group of players and this senior class. It's exciting to set a new benchmark for the program, but we try not to overwhelm ourselves with it. We focus on each game individually and what we can do in the next 90 minutes."
King Kaitlyn... UIU junior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Emanuel is second in the NSIC in save percentage (.879), third in goals against average (0.68) and tied for third in shutouts (4). Emanuel is the all-time leader in career goals against average at 0.93 goals per game. She is fourth in career saves (152), fourth in wins (21) and third in career save percentage (.822). According to Diaz... "Kaitlyn has had a great season. She worked tremendously hard in the offseason and that has shown this year. She's been a more aggressive and has proven to be one of the best goalkeepers in the conference."
Two-Headed Monster... Aimee Wronski and Madie Edwards paced the Peacocks with 36 and 25 points, respectively, in 2013. This year, Wronski and Edwards have been at it again. They are both tied for ninth in the conference at seven goals. Wronski leads the Peacocks with 20 points and Edwards is second with 16. According to Diaz... "Aimee and Madie are two important pieces to our offense because they are such great attacking players. But their success is often based on all the other players who don't show up on the stat sheet. We are fortunate to have players like Aimee and Madie, but also to be deep enough to make other teams pay when they solely focus on them."Last week for the Golden Eagles… Minnesota Crookston split a pair of games at home. The Golden Eagles opened the weekend with a loss against MSU Moorhead. Minnesota Crookston scored first, but then gave up two first half goals, losing 2-1. Then, UMC beat Northern State, 1-0, scoring a goal midway through the first half.
Last week for the Beavers… Bemidji State won two home matches. The Beavers won their first game against Northern State, scoring once in the first half and using three early second half goals to defeat the Wolves, 4-0. Then, BSU beat MSU Moorhead, scoring twice in the first five minutes of the second half and adding a late goal to win, 3-0.
