Crookston, Minn.- With an opening stretch of six straight road games, the UMC soccer team will return to the highways again this weekend as they head to Fayette, Iowa and Winona, Minnesota for a pair of NSIC games. The conference road will be a tough one as the NSIC as a conference has started off 2016 in a winning fashion. Head Coach Joe Alianiello is in his sixth season at the helm of the Golden Eagle soccer program and he feels his team is well equipped to make a playoff run in 2016. "It's been a learning process for the first four game," said Alianiello. "I'm hopeful that we are now more prepared for the start of the rest of conference play."
 
In the weekend opener, on Friday, the Golden Eagles will look to improve on their 0-1 conference start against a very tough Upper Iowa team who knocked off #13 Winona State University, last week. The Peacocks won the game 2-0 and improved their overall record to 2-1, 1-0 in NSIC play. UIU has been led by Brianne Fenton (Sr., Crystal Lake, Ill.) who has notched a pair of goals while Birgit Rijnders (Fr., Berlaar, Belgium) has helped out with a pair of assists.
 
Sunday's match at Winona State will be another tough road date for UMC as the Warriors are off to a 3-1 start and after suffering the 2-0 loss to Upper Iowa, they bounced back with a 3-2 win over Ferris State University. WSU has a pair of scoring leaders as Abby Bohanski (So., Plover, Wis.) and Courtney Wiencek (Fr., Mequam, Wis.) have each found the back of the net twice.
 
The Golden Eagles dropped their conference opener to the 2016 scoring machine Bemidji State University then bounced back with a couple close nonconference losses last weekend; including a 1-0 overtime loss to Missouri Western State University. Lindsey Daml (Fr., North Pole, Alaska) has led the scoring effort for UMC as she has chipped in with two goals, but the team will have to help her out a little as they have only scored three total goals through four games played. Senior, Kallie Gau (Monticello, Minn./Early Childhood & Elementary Education) has the other UMC score.
 
The goal keepers have been busy in net for the Golden Eagles with Lexie Gauger (Sr., Green Bay, Wis./Criminal Justice), Jaqueline Burke (Fr., Anchorage, Alaska) and Olivia Puttin (Fr., Rogers, Minn.) seeing time between the pipes. Gauger backstopped the UMC squad to their win over Minnesota State University Moorhead.
 
"We are a little banged up this weekend," noted Coach Alianiello. "We will have to really show some grit and be willing to grind out some results if we are to do well." Opening whistle in Friday's game is scheduled for 3:00 pm and opening kick is at 1:00 pm on Sunday.
 
For more information, visit the Golden Eagle Athletics website at www.goldeneaglesports.com.
 
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The University of Minnesota Crookston is an NCAA Division II Institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). The Golden Eagle Equestrian team is a member of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA).