MACOMB, Ill. - The Fighting Leatherneck (6-5, 0-2) women's soccer team will return home where they look to improve their home unbeaten streak. Two of the top programs in the Summit League will be MacKenzie Alumni Field this weekend. The Purple & Gold will host South Dakota State (6-5-1, 2-0) on Friday at 3:30 p.m. and North Dakota State (9-2-1, 2-0) on Sunday at noon.

Western Illinois will look to rebound from an 0-2 weekend to being Summit League play after losses at South Dakota and UMKC on Friday and Sunday.

The Match Up
Who • Western Illinois (6-5, 0-2) vs. South Dakota State (6-5-1, 2-0)
When • Friday, Oct. 7 (3:30 p.m. CST)
Location • Macomb, Ill. • John MacKenzie Alumni Field (1,000)

Coverage
Live Stats • GoLeathernecks.com

The Match Up
Who • Western Illinois (6-5, 0-2) vs. North Dakota State (9-2-1, 2-0)
When • Sunday, Oct. 9 (Noon CST)
Location • Macomb, Ill. • John MacKenzie Alumni Field (1,000)

Coverage
Live Stats • GoLeathernecks.com

SCOUTING THE JACKRABBITS: Head coach Lang Wedemeyer (Old Dominion, 1994) is in his 12th season leading the Jackrabbit program... South Dakota State is 6-5-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play with wins over Oral Roberts and Southern Utah... SDSU is 4-1 at home and 2-3-1 away from Fishback Soccer Park... in 2010 SDSU was 11-3-5 and 6-2-1 in the Summit but lost to North Dakota State on penalty kicks to in the opening game of the Summit League Tournament... SDSU returns 20 letterwinners and seven starters from that squad... it will be the seventh meeting all-time between the two programs and Western trails the series 1-4-1 with the lone win coming in 2007... last season the Leathernecks and Jacks' played to a 1-1 tie in Brookings, S.D.

JACKRABBITS TO WATCH: Seniors lead the way for the Jackrabbit women's soccer program... senior forward Kayla Braffet collected five goals and three assists in 2010 and has four goals and three assists in 2011... senior forward Kelsey Ferguson has contributed three goals and two assists this season... junior midfielder/forward Christa Nyblom and senior midfielder Cori Bonte both have two goals so far in 2011... senior goalkeeper Kat Donovan has played every minute in net this season for the Jacks'... she has a 1.14 goals-against average and a .754 save percentage while collecting five shutouts.

SCOUTING THE BISON: Head coach Pete Cuadrado (TCU, 2000) is in his ninth season at the helm of the Bison women's soccer program... North Dakota State is 9-2-1 overall and 2-0 within the Summit League... in 2010 NDSU was 12-5-6 overall and 6-2-1 in conference play and won the 2010 Summit League Tournament to advance to its first ever NCAA Division I Tournament and lost to Texas A&M on penalty kicks... the Bison return 16 letterwinners and eight starters from that historic team... it will be the eighth meeting all-time between the two programs and one team will look to move ahead in the series as it is tied 3-3-1... NDSU has won the last three matches and Western's last win was in 2008 in Macomb... in 2010 NDSU defeated Western 3-1 in Fargo, N.D.

BISON TO WATCH: The Bison offense has had 11 players contribute goals so far in 2011... junior forward Holly Christian is following up a five goal performance in 2010 with a four goals in 2011... sophomore forward Katie Tallas has four goals while freshman midfielder/forward Morgan DeMike and freshman Anisha Kinnarath both have three goals this season... the team also returns senior defender Abbey Moenkedick who is a two-time First Team All-League selection and senior midfielder Michelle Gaffaney who was a 2010 Second Team All-League selection in 2010... senior goalkeeper Kalani Bertsch has started all 12 games for the Bison and has a 1.11 goals-against average and a .723 save percentage... 16 career shutouts... named to the 2010 All-Tournament team.

BY THE NUMBERS: The Leathernecks are near the top of the Summit League in almost every stat category... 169 shots (2nd).... 18 goals (2nd)... 13 assists (3rd)...18 goals allowed (T4th)... 49 points (3rd)... 1.64 goals per game (2nd)... 1.18 assists per game (3rd)... Trisha Quinn and Victoria Kappel also rank near the top of the league in a few individual categories... Quinn is tied for second with her three assists... Kappel is third with her 46 saves and 3rd with her four shutouts.

DEFENDING HOME TURF: Western Illinois has not lost at home since Oct. 18, 2009 (9-0-3)... the win over Grand View continued that undefeated streak... under Coach Guinn the Leathernecks are 24-6-5 (.788) on MacKenzie Alumni Field including unbeaten seasons at home in 2007 (8-0) and 2010 (5-0-3).

EVEN DISTRIBUTION: Western has had 14 different Leathernecks score goals this season... already surpassing 2010's mark of 13... the goal-scoring group of 2011 includes four newcomers.

STRENGTH THE PENGUIN: Shaymus Guinn, son of head coach Tony Guinn, recently entered the hospital to begin his second fight against cancer... After overcoming Ewing's sarcoma, Guinn now must face A.L.L. leukemia... Shaymus had made previous road trips this season, including to Iowa City, and was an inspiration on the sideline for the team. Shaymus will be alongside the team on Friday in the form of his favorite animal, a penguin... In honor of Shaymus, Coach Guinn has asked the team to represent his son by bringing a penguin, named Strength, to all games and practices... read more about the story here.

VICTORIA-OUS: Freshman goalkeeper Victoria Kappel (6-5, 0-2) is providing excellent play in net for the Leathernecks... her four shutouts are third most in the Summit League... Kappel has 46 saves, which is third in the conference... she was named Summit League Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 19 after her shutout at Green Bay.

QUINN: Freshman M/D Trisha Quinn was involved in every goal against SIUE and Drake and all three started with Quinn taking a corner kick... in the win over SIUE she collected an assist and a goal in a late first half flurry, both on her corner kicks... against Drake she again provided the offense with a corner kick that found Katie Condon for the goal... to top her weekend off she earned Summit League Offensive Player of the Week.

FAST START: The 4-1 start was the best start that the Leathernecks have had under Coach Guinn and one of the best in program history.... in 2008 the Purple & Gold started 4-1 before falling to 4-4... in 2007, Western set a program record with 16 wins and started 5-1-1 before improving to 12-1-1 before its next loss.

PRESEASON POLL: The Leathernecks were picked to finish fourth in The Summit League... Head Coach Tony Guinn's squad received 48 points and a first-place vote... Western has become accustomed to exceeding expectations as it was slotted in the fifth-place slot prior to the 2010 season.

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM: Western returns two members of 2010's Summit League All-Freshman team... Kristin Becker and Jordan Spaciel both collected the honor after strong debuts for the Purple & Gold... Spaciel collected four goals and one assist in 20 games and 10 starts and notched the game-winning goal against Green Bay... Becker played a large role in a strong defense and will be asked to do the same in 2011.

TRENDING UPWARD: 2010 saw the Leathernecks put up some impressive numbers as a team... the 10 wins is the third most in program history... the squad also collected nine shutouts, the most in program history... the 76 points last season is fifth all-time... the Purple & Gold put 151 shots on goal, which is second all-time while taking 291 total shots, also second all-time.

CLUTCH: Last season the Purple & Gold won four of the last five regular season games to qualify for the Summit League Tournament... the program has reached the tournament three out of the last four seasons.

HIGH SCHOOL ALL-AMERICAN: The strong recruiting class will offer exceptional depth and talent across the board... included in that class is NSCAA All-American, Sarah Hall... Hall was named All-State after she finished her prep career with 88 goals, 33 of which came as a senior... she also dished out 20 assists and was a Gatorade Indiana Player of the Year candidate.

2011 SENIORS: This season will  be the final one for four longtime Leathernecks... Laura Lins, Nora Potempa, Kristin Kuhar and Lauren DeWolf all have played their entire careers for the Purple & Gold... Amy Unzicker will also exhaust her athletic eligibility this season.