By: Clint Neumann
The Sioux Falls women's soccer team begins the 2025 campaign on Friday evening with an exhibition contest at Dordt University. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. at the Dordt Soccer Complex in Sioux Center, Iowa. The match marks the first outing for head coach Joe DeMay, who leads the Cougars into a new era with an experienced core, a new playing identity, and optimism surrounding the season ahead.
Scouting the Cougars
USF enters 2025 looking to build off a season of growth, finishing 2-15-1 overall (2-11-1 NSIC) in 2024. Despite the record, several returners gained valuable minutes and will play central roles this fall.
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Mariah Siem, a junior midfielder and one of USF's 2025 NSIC Players to Watch, logged over 1,000 minutes last season and fired 14 shots. Known for her technical ability in the attacking third, she will be a focal point in DeMay's proactive offensive system.
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Alivia Tindall, the Cougars' senior captain and defensive anchor, returns after starting all 18 matches in 2024. A three-year starter with 53 career appearances, she brings leadership, composure, and consistency to the back line.
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Mara Nelson (2 goals) and Lily Dahler (1 goal, 2 assists) return as USF's top point producers from 2024, each finishing the season with four points.
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In net, junior Delani Daubman appeared in eight matches with five starts, posting a 1.54 goals-against average and recording one shutout.
As a team, USF averaged 0.67 goals per match and showed second-half resilience, scoring 7 of its 12 goals after halftime. The Cougars will look to build on that competitive edge with a more aggressive approach in DeMay's system.
"The work put in by the team on and off the field during pre-season was phenomenal," said DeMay. "It was another chapter of change for the program as the schedule and rhythm were different than previous seasons, but they embraced everything and demonstrated a high level of information retention from the spring."
Scouting Dordt
Dordt enters 2025 with high expectations after being picked third in the GPAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, earning 97 points and one first-place vote. The Defenders return 13 players who started at least one match from last year's 12-5-1 squad that finished third in the conference and advanced to the GPAC Tournament semifinals.
The program also welcomes a new leader, as first-year head coach Payton Chitwood takes over following the team's strong 2024 campaign.
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Karinna Tel, the reigning GPAC Player of the Year and a two-time NAIA All-American, leads the charge after a record-setting 2024 season in which she scored 34 goals with 8 assists. Tel is already Dordt's all-time leader in goals, assists, and points.
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Joslyn Terpstra, a 2024 first-team all-conference selection, returns as one of the team's top playmakers with 9 goals and 16 assists last year.
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Veteran defenders Abby Worthy (second-team all-conference), Paige Miller, and Hayden Jennett (both honorable mention) provide experience and stability in the back line.
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In goal, Lydia Zylstra played in four games last season, starting two and held opponents to 1.67 goals allowed per game, earning two wins with one shutout.
DeMay acknowledged the importance of the exhibition and the unique challenge Dordt presents.
"It's important to get an exhibition contest leading into the start of the regular season next week to test our ideas of how to play the game and observe how different combinations of players interact to make our style of play come to life on the field," he said. "Dordt offers some interesting challenges for us and, like us, they have a new coach in place who we expect will add some different wrinkles we did not see when we faced them this past spring."
The Defenders were particularly tough to beat at home last season, going 8-1 in Sioux Center and outscoring opponents 48-6 at the Dordt Soccer Complex.
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