Northern State basketball teams open this weekend against tough competition

The Northern State basketball teams open their seasons with tough competition this weekend.

As has been the case in recent seasons, the men open play with a pair of games in St. Joseph, Mo.

On Friday, Nov. 10, the Wolves play NCAA Division II preseason No. 1 Northwest Missouri State at 3:15 p.m. On Saturday, Nov. 11, they take on Missouri Western State at 5:30 p.m.

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Northern is picked to finish third in the NSIC preseason coaches poll. Minnesota-Duluth got 13 of 15 first-place votes and is the favorite. Minnesota State, Mankato got the other two first place votes and is second in the poll.

The Northern women have games Friday and Saturday in Claremore, Okla. They open with preseason No. 10 Central Missouri at 4 p.m. Friday. Saturday, they play Rogers State at 4 p.m.

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The Wolves lost an exhibition game to the University of South Dakota 85-57 on Monday, Nov. 6 in Vermillion.

In the NSIC preseason coaches poll, the Wolves are picked to finish 10th, receiving 87 points, the same as Wayne State. Minnesota State, Mankato is the favorite to win the conference, getting 14 first-place votes. Minnesota-Duluth is second in the poll, garnering the other first-place vote.

Northern soccer team loses in NSIC quarterfinals, ranked seventh in region

Two first-half goals proved too much to overcome as Northern State fell to the University of Mary 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference soccer tournament Monday, Nov. 6 at the NSU athletic and recreation fields.

Despite the loss, the Wolves moved up from eighth to seventh in the most recent Central Region rankings. The top eight teams in the region qualify for the 56-team NCAA Division II national tournament.

The selection show will be streamed at NCAA.com on 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 13. The Wolves are now 9-4-5.

Northern beat the Marauders 1-0 at home on Thursday, Nov. 2 to finish third in the regular season conference standings. But the tables were turned this week.

“We tried to project what they would change, but they didn’t really change a lot,” Northern coach Bob Casper said after Monday’s game. “The neat part was we had really relevant video, so to be able to understand what we needed to do was good, but some of those things didn’t really come off from us tonight. I felt like we left a lot of plays on the field, especially in the first half.”

The Wolves generated several scoring chances in the second half, including two headers by Megan Fastenau off corner kicks. But neither found the back of the net.

“We were able to pounce on some free balls in the wide area and that gave us some immediate options going forward,” Casper said. “It was just that last little bit. We just couldn’t get a big enough opening, I felt like, or the right angle to get one in during the second half.”

Mary 2, Northern 0

First Half: 1, UM, Malia Buke, 37th minute; 2, UM, Olivia Gardner, 41st minute.

Second Half: No scoring.

Goalkeepers: UM, Molly Fisher, 9 saves; NSU, Alexus Townsend, 11 saves.

Wolves drop final home football game to No. 21 Augustana

Northern State spotted No. 21 Augustana 17 points in the first half and could not fully recover, falling to the Vikings 31-21 Saturday, Nov. 4 at Dacotah Bank Stadium.

The Wolves dropped to 4-6 overall and in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

Augustana scored a pair of first-quarter touchdowns on a 4-yard Casey Bauman pass to Mitch Goodbary and a 3-yard run by Kyle Graham. A Jake Pecina 41-yard field goal made it a 17-0 at the half.

Northern starting quarterback Colton Hackel was forced to leave the game in the opening moments of the second quarter due to injury.

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Jacob Van Landingham replaced Hackel and led the Wolves to three scores in the second half.

Van Landingham scored Northern’s first touchdown with 8:51 left in the third quarter to make it a 21-7.

The Vikings opened the scoring in the fourth quarter when Bauman connected with Logan Uttecht on a 12-yard touchdown pass making it 28-7.

Bauman went 14 for 19 passing for 141 yards and two touchdowns.

Van Landingham had two touchdown tosses in the fourth, both going to Dewaylon Ingram. The first covered 16 yards to pull the Wolves within 10, 24-14, with 8:58 to go. They would connect again from a yard out with 18 seconds left.

Van Landingham completed 22 of 29 passes for 298 yards and two touchdowns. Ingram and teammate Dakota Larson combined for 270 yards receiving.

Ingram had 11 catches for 145 yards, giving him 65 receptions on the season for an NSIC-leading 1,135 yards. He’s just 26 yards shy of breaking his own conference record for receiving yards in a season. He is also tied for the league lead in touchdown receptions with nine.

Larson finished with nine catches for 125 yards.

Northern will wrap up the 2023 season on the road at Northern Michigan. Kickoff for the non-conference game in Marquette, Mich., is set for noon.

The Wolves have a good chance to finish the season at 5-6 as the Wildcats are 0-10 on the season and have given up 41 or more points in six games.

Sports news and notes

• Northern’s wrestling team opened its season on Saturday at the Jamestown Jimmy Invitation in Jamestown, N.D. Five Wolves claimed individual titles, including Landen Fischer at 125 pounds, Jason Henchel, Jr. at 133, Braydon Mogle at 141, Wyatt Turnquist at 149 and Chase Bloomquist at 165. Ranked 11th in the NCAA Division II preseason poll, the Wolves open their dual season against No. 25 Fort Hays State at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9 at the Barnett Center.
• Aberdeen Central will host Pierre in a Class AA volleyball SoDak 16 match at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9 in Golden Eagles Area. The Eagles (13-11) are the No. 8 seed. Pierre (10-10) is seeded ninth. Central split two regular season matches against Pierre, winning a four-setter at home on Sept. 2, then falling in five sets at Pierre on Oct. 21.
• The Northern State volleyball dropped a pair of road matches last weekend. The Wolves lost 25-11, 25-20, 25-8 to fourth-ranked Concordia-St. Paul on Friday, Nov. 3. The service line proved to be a huge advantage for the Golden Bears as they had 10 aces to just two for the Wolves. Natalia Szybinski led Northern with 9 kills. Northern traveled to Winona State Saturday and lost a four-setter, 25-23, 20-25, 25-16, 25-20. Morissen Samuels led the Wolves with 12 kills. Northern is now 17-8 overall and 9-7 in the NSIC, good for sixth place. The Wolves host Minnesota State, Mankato Friday, Nov. 11 at 6 p.m. and Minnesota-Duluth Saturday at 2 p.m. in their last regular season games of the season.
• The Northern State cross-country teams ended their season Saturday at the NCAA Division II Central Region Championships. No runners advanced to the national meet. The women finished in 19th place, led by Megan Pickering in 29th, with a 6-kilometer time of 21:46.2. On the men’s side, the Wolves were 24th and led by Josh Martin who finished the 10K race in 83rd.
• The Aberdeen Wings were swept at home by the Minot Minotauros last weekend. Minot skated to a 4-2 win Friday. Leonid Bulgakov’s team-leading 10th goal for the Wings tied the game 1-1 in the first period. Minot’s Jack O’Hanisain made it 2-1 in the second. Aberdeen would tie the game at two on a Bennet Koupal third-period goal with 7:48 to play, but Minot’s Ian Spencer scored the game-winner less than a minute later. Aberdeen lost 2-1 Saturday. Isak Holmstrom scored the only goal for the Wings. Aberdeen is 6-9-1-2. The Wings host St. Cloud at 7:15 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Odde Ice Center.