NSIC in Minnesota Season Kickoff: "Contenders", "Underdogs" and "So You Think There's a Chance?" tiers of the Northern Sun Conference

Mark Privratsky (@markprivratsky)

BSU win their first ever NSIC Tournament (Photo Credit, BSU Beavers)

​Welcome to NSIC in MN, where we cover some of the best Division 2 soccer in the country, highlighting the nine Minnesota squads playing in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Last year Bemidji State and Minnesota State Mankato both advanced in the NCAA Tournament, with BSU making it all the way to the Quarterfinals (along with their first ever NSIC Tourney Crown). In advance of this weekends D2 kickoff, we present your ultimate NSIC in MN Season Preview. It’s easiest to break the teams down in tiers, which we’ve dubbed “The Underdogs”, “So You’re Saying There’s a Chance?” and “The Contenders”. We’ll give you the breakdown on each team, the tiers of squads, and show you how and where to watch games. Thankfully, the Northern Sun is one of the easiest Conferences to stream in all of College Sports. Their website streams every game for free (nsicnetwork.com), and they now feature an NSIC Network App as well. In a world of increasing cord cutting cost, this is about as accessible as it gets. One wrinkle of the NSIC schedule you will see below is that because of the loss of Upper Iowa to the Great Lakes Valley Conference, multiple squads have NSIC opponents on their early non conference schedule and will then play them again when it counts in NSIC standings. ​

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Tier 1: "The Underdogs"

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Year after year we as fans are reminded why the Northern Sun Conference is one of the best Division 2 conferences in the country. You know who doesn’t need reminding? The smaller programs that fight to climb up a tier in the NSIC. The Underdogs are Southwest Minnesota State, MSU Moorhead, and Minnesota Crookston. Each season they work to find stability in a tough league, hoping to build year over year into a team that finds its place in the mid table and contends for NSIC Tournament play. Don’t let the underdogs fool you though, every year a big team gets tripped up or drops a seed due to one of the underdog NSIC squads. Even if they don’t contend for titles, they can fight for Rivalry trophies, like the incredible Hwy 75 Rivalry Rock that puts some drama in the MSU Moorhead vs Minnesota Crookston matchup each year. 

University of Minnesota - Crookston

2023 NSIC Coaches Poll: 15th
Last Year: 2-15-1 (1-13-1 NSIC)

​Notable Win: 2-1 over Northern Iowa. The lone NSIC win for the Eagles meant that Sioux Falls(who would draw 6) would be the only squad to not win a game in the Northern Sun that year.

Players to Watch: 
Sarah Burgum, Fwd (Mandan, ND)
Jada VanOverbeke, Def (Hartford, SD)

Thur Aug 31, 2pm 
UMC at Wayne State College

Sun Sep 3, 1pm 
UMC vs Minot State (HAWAIIAN SHIRT DAY)

Fri Sep 8, 7pm
UMC at Concordia St Paul (non conf)

Sun Sep 10, Noon
UMC at Upper Iowa (at Bemidji State) 

Minnesota State - Moorhead

2023 NSIC Coaches Poll: 13th 
Last Year: 2-11-3 (2-10-3 NSIC)

Notable Win: 1-0 at UM Crookston to secure the HIGHWAY 75 RIVALRY ROCK

Players to Watch: 
Jensen Seidel, Mid (Fargo, ND) 
Sara Alfrida Munk Nielsen,
​Def (Aarhus, Denmark)

Sat Sep 2, Noon
MSU Moorhead vs Western Colorado
 
Mon Sep 4, Noon
MSU Moorhead at U Mary

Fri Sep 8, 4pm
MSU Moorhead vs Wisconsin Parkside

Sun Sep 10
MSU Moorhead at St Cloud State

MSU Moorhead with the Hwy 75 Rivalry Rock after beating rivals MN-Crookston last year (Photo Credit: MSU Moorhead Athletics)

​Southwest Minnesota State University

2023 NSIC Coaches Poll: 11th
Last Year: 3-8-7 (3-8-4 NSIC)

​Notable Win: 2-0 vs UMD

Players to Watch:
Dare Kroeten, Fwd (St Louis Park, MN)
Laney Brill, Mid (Belle Fourche, SD)

Fri Sep 1, 2pm
SW MN State vs Morningside (Iowa)

Sun Sep 3, 1pm
SW MN State vs Central Missouri 

Fri Sep 8, 6pm
SW MN State at Washburn (Kansas)

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 "So You're Saying There's a Chance?"
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​While it can be safe to assume the top 4-5 teams of the Northern Sun (especially the top 3 MN teams), the middle of the conference is a battle of atrophy. These are the Minnesota teams that are in the mix for postseason spots, but can never feel complacent in their place in the standings. The "So You Think There's a Chance" squads are Winona State, Minnesota Duluth and St Cloud State. Winona took a step up and snagged the 6th seed in last years NSIC Tourney, with Duluth and St Cloud just missing out in 9th (1 point out) and 10th (3 points out). All three of these squads will come in with realistic hope of making the postseason, but betting odds would say not all three can get to the NSIC Tourney without big steps forward.

Winona State University

2023 NSIC Coaches Poll: 10th

​Last Year: 9-6-4 (7-4-4 NSIC)
Notable Win: 2-1 vs Concordia St Paul

Players to Watch: 
Reanne Weil, Mid (Crystal Lake, Ill)
Callie Menzel, Def (Iowa City, IA)

​Fri Sep 1, 2:30pm
Winona State vs McKendree (at Upper Iowa)

Sun Sep 3, Noon
Winona State at Upper Iowa

Sun Sep 10, Noon
Winona State at Truman State 

University of Minnesota - Duluth

2023 NSIC Coaches Poll: 9th
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Last Year: 8-7-3 (7-5-3 NSIC)
Notable Win: 1-0 at Minot State (Honorable Mention: 1-1 Draw vs MSU Mankato)

Players to Watch:
Jackie Jares, Fwd (Muskego, WI)
Rachel Boelke, Def (Eden Prairie, MN)

Thu Aug 31, 2pm
UMD at Northern Michigan

Sat Sep 2, 11am
UMD at Michigan Tech

Fri Sep 8, 6pm
UMD vs St Cloud State (non conf)

Sun Sep 10, 1pm
UMD vs Northern State (non conf)

(If you post highlights of goals, we will use them constantly!)

​St Cloud State University

2023 NSIC Coaches Poll: 8th

Last Year: 7-7-4 (6-5-4 NCIS)
Notable Win: 2-0 vs Winona State (Honorable Mention: 0-0 tie vs Bemidji State)

Players to Watch:
Ellie Primerano, Fwd (St Joseph, MI)
Rheana Zerna, Def (St Michael, MN)

Thu Aug 31, 6pm
St Cloud State at Michigan Tech

Sat Sep 2, 11am
St Cloud State at Northern Michigan

Fri Sep 8, 6pm
St Cloud State at UMD

Sun Sep 10, 1:30pm
St Cloud State vs MSU Moorhead

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"The Contenders"

​It’s not hard to separate out the top 3 Minnesota NSIC teams over the past few years. Minnesota State Mankato is again picked to win the Northern Sun Conference by the Coaches, but as always with the NSIC, it’s more about the tiers of teams throughout the league. Mankato is joined by Bemidji State (last year's NSIC Tourney Champion) and Concordia St Paul as real MN contenders to win the Northern Sun. Bemidji State comes into the 2023 season after a historic run to the NCAA Quarterfinals last year, where they beat the aforementioned Mavericks in double overtime. We choose to include Concordia St Paul, who was picked to finish 4th after a “down year” finishing tied for 6th in 2022. Don’t forget the Golden Bears are a team that won the NSIC Title in 2019. They’ll hope to improve on their first round NSIC Tourney loss to MSU Mankato last season. If you’re looking for the most notable games in Non Conference overall, it's the murderers row of opponents coming to Mankato to play the Mavericks at “The Pitch”. After traveling to #16 Emporia State, the Mavs host #13 Central Missouri and #8 Grand Valley State next weekend in a likely NCAA regional preview for later this year. 

Concordia - St Paul

2023 NSIC Coaches Poll: 4th 

Last Season: 7-7-5 (7-4-4 NSIC)
Notable Win: 1-0 at Bemidji State (Honorable Mention: 0-0 draw at Minot State

Players to Watch:
Katie Anderson, Fwd (San Diego, CA)
Tori Miller, Def (Bloomington, MN)

Fri Sep 1, Noon
CSP at Upper Iowa

Sun Sep 3, 2:30pm
CSP at McKendree (Ill)

Fri Sep 8, 7pm
CSP vs Minnesota Crookston (non conf)

Sun Sep 10, 1pm
CSP vs Wisconsin Parkside

CSP with "Pram the Pig" after beating BSU in their rivalry game! Details on the trophy will be found this year! (Photo Credit: CSP Athletics)

#13 Bemidji State University

2023 NSIC Coaches Poll: 3rd

Last Season: 16-3-6 (10-1-4)
Notable Wins: 4-2 win over MSU Mankato in NCAA 2nd Round (Notable NSIC Win: 1-0 at Augustana in regular season, 2-0 over Augustana in NSIC Tourney)

Players to Watch
Maria Stocke, Mid (Andover, MN)
Halle Peterson, Def (Stillwater, MN)

Fri Sep 1, 7:30pm
Bemidji State at Missouri Western State

Sun Sep 3, 11am
Bemidji State vs Rockhurst (in St Joseph, MO)

Fri Sep 8, 4pm
Bemidji State vs Upper Iowa

Tues Sept 12 
Bemidji State vs Minot State (non conf)

#21 Minnesota State - Mankato

2023 NSIC Coaches Poll: 1st

​Last Season: 14-2-6 (11-0-4 NSIC)
Notable Wins: 1-0 at Grand Valley State, 1-0 at Concordia St Paul (4-1 vs CSP in NSIC Tourney)

Players to Watch
Allie Williams, Mid (Waukee, IA)
Mackenzie Rath, GK (Pierre, SD)

Thu Aug 31, 3pm
MSU Mankato vs Oklahoma Baptist

Sun Sep 3, 1pm
MSU Mankato at Emporia State

Fri Sep 8, 4pm
MSU Mankato vs Central Missouri

Sun Sep 10, 2pm
MSU Mankato vs Grand Valley State

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​Streaming the Northern Sun Conference

​The Northern Sun is one of the easiest Conferences to stream in all of College Sports. Their website streams every game for free (nsicnetwork.com), and they now feature an NSIC Network App as well. In a world of increasing cord cutting cost, this is about as accessible as it gets.

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