University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
North Dakota State (Exhibition)
Panther soccer faces North Dakota State this Saturday in preseason exhibition
8/7/2025 12:30:00 PM | Women's Soccer
UNI set to take on reigning Summit League champions in lone preseason matchup.
UNI soccer (0-0-0 / 0-0-0 MVC) vs. North Dakota State [Exhibition] (0-0-0 / 0-0-0 Summit)
- Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025
- 2 p.m. CT
- Richfield, Minn. | Academy of Holy Angels
Â
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- A new chapter of UNI soccer will kick off this Saturday afternoon as the Panthers get their first opportunity for live on-field competition as they take on the North Dakota State Bison in an exhibition match this weekend in Richfield, Minnesota.
Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT at the Academy of Holy Angels with attendance free and open to the public. No live stream or stats will be made available for online viewing.
The exhibition will be Northern Iowa's first opportunity to compete after opening preseason training last week under the leadership of interim head coach Alex Place Thomas.
UNI is scheduled to open the 2025 regular season on Aug. 14 when it visits South Dakota in Vermillion at 4 p.m. CT.
The Panthers return 14 athletes from last season's roster that posted a 9-6-4 record and finished in a tie for fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) standings with a 4-3-3 mark, ultimately falling to Illinois State in the opening round of the conference tournament. UNI boasted the league's top scoring offense a season ago with 37 total goals and was the third-best passing team in the MVC with 1.26 assists per match.
Among the key returners for the Panthers are Olivia Knoepfle, who finished second on the team with six goals and a team-high four assists to earn Second Team All-MVC honors. Defender Macy Smith scored four goals for the purple and gold in 2024, with Olivia Bohl notching three goals, while the Panther defense will continue to be anchored by seniors Sophia Balistreri and Caroline Hazen. Denise Camarena will also look to climb the program's all-time assists list, tied for ninth in program history (7).
UNI added ten new faces to its roster in the offseason, including the addition of six high school players in Ava Hall, Addie Lange, Allison McCleery, Olivia Mehl, Abby O'Brien and Aynslea Ulschmid. The Panthers were also active in the transfer portal this past winter and spring, signing Milan Cordone (North Dakota), Allison Flies (Utah Tech), Anya McKay (Nebraska) and Thordis Melsted (North Alabama).
Â
SCOUTING NORTH DAKOTA STATE
Saturday's matchup will be the second preseason exhibition for the Bison, who faced off with Creighton on August 2 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. NDSU is slated to open its 2025 regular season on Aug. 14 at Green Bay.
The Bison posted a 10-5-4 record with a 6-1-1 mark in Summit League play to capture the conference's regular season title. North Dakota State would fall, however, to Oral Roberts in the semifinal round of the conference tournament.
Led by eighth year head coach Mike Regan, NDSU returns its leading scorer from 2024 in Morgan Russman, who led the Summit League with 11 total goals last year. The Bison also return goalkeeper Payton Mulberry, who posted a league-high six shutout performances a year ago with a .794 save percentage and allowed just 0.90 goals per game.
Â
UNI women's soccer action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Panther Soccer), X (@UNI_Soccer) and on Instagram (@unipanthersoccer). The full 2024 schedule and roster, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.
