The 30th season of NDSU soccer is underway as the Bison look to claim their 1st Summit League title since 2016. The team has started hot with a 2-0-1 record, all being non-conference opponents. This past week, they traveled to Hawaii for three matches, all in the state of Hawaii. 

at Hawaii Pacific (Tuesday, August 27th) Won 1-0

The Bison would get off to a hot start in their 1st game of this long week in Hawaii against Hawaii Pacific University. The final was 1-0 as the Bison racked up 13 shots counter to Hawaii Pacific’s one single shot. The only goal in the game came from the junior out of North Vancouver, Devon Kavanagh. It was a pretty clean game, as there was not a single foul or a ton of action, but the Bison pulled through to advance to 3-0-1 in the season, showing the strength of their defense. 

at Grand Canyon (Thursday, August 29th) Loss 0-1

The Bison would resume play just two days later against Grand Canyon. They eventually fell 0-1 to lose their 1st regular season game of 2024. There were only 17 total shots in this match. Five came from NDSU, and 12 came from GCU. The Bison’s goalie, Payton Mulberry, had four saves that day, the only saves in the entire match for both teams. The one goal she would give up was at the 3:46 mark in the match. There were 19 fouls in this match, six being against the Bison. Another very quiet game resulting in a low-scoring affair shows the strength of the Bison defense this year. 

The Bison would fall in the finale to the University of Hawaii 4-1. They have four more non-conference games, three at Dacotah Field. The three home games will be against Idaho State next Sunday, Weber State next Thursday, and Saint Ambrose on September 20th. The one road non-conference game they have left will be on September 15th against the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Throughout the next two weeks, the Bison will attempt to maintain a winning record through non-conference play for the 3rd straight season dating back to the fall of 2022.