SIOUX FALLS – Closing the regular season, University of Sioux Falls Soccer will play two games in Sioux Falls this weekend. The Cougars (5-8-3, 4-6-3 NSIC) travel down Grange Ave. to take on crosstown rival Augustana (10-2-4, 9-1-3 NSIC) on Friday, Oct. 27 at 3 p.m. at Augustana's Morstad Field. In the regular season finale, USF hosts Wayne State (3-8-5, 2-7-4 NSIC) on Sunday, Oct. 29 at 1 p.m. at the USF Sports Complex, where they hill honor their seniors before the game.
 
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McClure scores overtime winner to highlight home weekend
Making her first career goal even more memorable, Danielle McClure scored in the 95th minute to lift the Cougars to a 1-0 victory over Minnesota Crookston this past Sunday. McClure's game-winner capped off a dominant game for USF, which held a 34-3 advantage in shots and the Cougars controlled possession throughout the game. Lauren LaFavre launched a team-high eight shots, while four different Cougars recorded at least two shots on goal, including Kassidy Graber, who would have added a third if her 66th-minute blast wouldn't have hit the crossbar. With a strong defense in front of her, goalkeeper Morgan Perkins only needed to make one save, but it was a big save in the 73rd minute, punching the ball over the crossbar off a long free kick from Minnesota Crookston. On Saturday, the Cougars conceded two early goals to NSIC-leading Bemidji State and the Cougars' second-half charge wasn't enough in the 2-0 loss.
 
Final weekend playoff chances show USF Soccer program's progress
With their fourth win of the conference season, a 1-0 overtime decision against Minnesota Crookston this past weekend, Sioux Falls maintained a sliver of hope in making the eight-team NSIC Tournament for the first time. The Cougars currently sit 10th in the league with 15 points from four wins and three ties. Minnesota Duluth holds the eighth and final spot for the conference tournament with 20 points and St. Cloud State occupies the spot between USF and UMD with 19 points. USF's lone shot at making the tournament field is to go 2-0 with wins over Augustana and Wayne State, and for Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State to lose both of this weekend's contests. However, UMD and SCSU both have winless Minnesota Crookston on their schedule for this weekend.  
 
Despite the slim playoff chances, the Cougars are one of 10 teams in contention for a playoff spot entering the final weekend, the latest in the season that USF has not been eliminated from the conference tournament since joining the NSIC in 2012. USF's four conference wins is a program-best, as is their 15 points in league play. Overall, USF's five wins this season is another program record and is more than half of the program's all-time wins entering the season (9). USF has scored a program-best 15 goals this season and allowed just 23 goals, which is on pace to break last season's record of 28 goals allowed as a program-low since joining NCAA Division II.
 
Series Histories
                Augustana – AU leads series 6-0-0
A glimpse at the progress USF has made this season was forcing overtime against Augustana in last season's final match. Although the Cougars ultimately fell 1-0 t the Vikings last season, it was the closest score line of the series since the USF joined the NCAA Division II ranks in 2012.  Augustana holds a 6-0-0 lead in the series, including a 2-0 record in games they host. Last season, the Cougars held a 7-4 edge in shots on goal, but it was tally in the 91st minute that handed USF their one-goal loss.
 
                Wayne State – WSC leads 5-0-0
Another of USF's eight one-goal losses came at the hands of Wayne State last year, as the Wildcats extended their series edge to 5-0-0 against the Cougars since USF joined the NSIC in 2012. In last year's matchup with Wayne State, USF cut their two-goal deficit in half when Lauren LaFavre scored in the 76th minute, but the Cougars couldn't find an equalizer in the final 15 minutes. At home, USF is 0-2 against the Wildcats, dropping games in 2012 and 2014.
 
Perkins NSIC leader in saves, top 10 in Division II active leaders
Maintaining her lead in the conference, Morgan Perkins added five saves to her season total, which sits at 105. The junior from Liberty, Mo. now has 351 saves in her career and a career .789 save percentage. Her .820 save percentage this season is 10th in the conference and is the best in her three years at USF. With 351 career saves, Perkins ranks 12th among all active NCAA Division II goalkeepers and her 6.86 saves per game average is 13th.
 
USF picked 13th in NSIC preseason poll
Coming off a year in which the Cougars recorded the most wins and points since their move to NCAA Division II, USF Soccer was picked to finish a program-best 13th in the NSIC preseason coaches' poll. The Cougars finished 14th in the final 2016 standings with a 3-10-2 record in NSIC play. Of the Cougars' 10 conference losses last season, eight were by a one-goal difference. The conference coaches took notice of USF Soccer's improvement under third-year head coach Brittany Domino and USF was slated 13th in the NSIC preseason coaches' poll, the highest in the poll since they joined the league in 2012. The Cougars collected 51 points in the poll while Minnesota State was the favorite with 11 first-place votes and USF's crosstown rival Augustana picked up the remaining five first-place nods to help them to second place.
 
Leader of the pride
In her third season at the helm of University of Sioux Falls Soccer, Brittany Domino looks to continue the growth of her program. Despite the 10-34-7 record in three seasons, Domino has turned the Cougars around with eight one-goal losses in 2016 and cutting her team's goals allowed by more than 30 in two years. A four-year starter for University of Nebraska, Domino is assisted by Kyle Halfpop and Gabe Wortman.