MORRIS, Minn. – Minnesota Morris will not host an athletic event on Saturday for the first time since September 12
th. The Cougars will have one home game this weekend as women's soccer hosts Wisconsin-River Falls on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Additionally; golf is just down the road in Alexandria today and tomorrow for the final two rounds of the UMAC Championships.
FOOTBALL Minnesota Morris will be looking for their third straight win for the first time since 2012, when the Cougars won four straight in the middle of the season.
The Minnesota Morris defense is seventh in the nation with eight fumble recoveries in 2015.
Jeremy Sloneker is first in the nation with four fumble recoveries alone. Overall the team has forced 13 turnovers this year, which ranks 19
th in the NCAA.
Morris had 333 yards on the ground last week, more than the four previous games combined. It was the most rushing yards since October 26, 2008.
Devan Griffin (125) and
JC Cummings (104) became the first tandem to have 100+ yards rushing in a single game since Leandro Dower and Todd Gramenz in 2011.
Morris picked their first win on Homecoming in eight years, beating MacMurray 44-43. Prior to that the last win came Sept. 23, 2006 when the Cougars won 67-0 over Trinity Bible.
On the year the Cougars have 41 tackles-for-loss this year, an average of 8.2 per game, which ranks 45
th in the country.
Kicker
John Hoff is 6-6 on the year and ranks 25th in the country in made field goals per game. He is one of 12 kickers in the nation who are perfect on the year and one of two who are 6-6 on the year.
Minnesota Morris is 28
th in the nation in penalties per game and 25
th in fewest penalty yards per game.
Martin Luther is looking to snap a four game losing streak when they host Morris at 1 p.m. In four UMAC games the Knights have giving up an average of 51.5 points per game. Morris and Martin Luther have just one common opponent so far this year. Northwestern beat both Martin Luther (55-14) and the Cougars (27-0).
Matt Olson leads the Knights offense; he has 325 yards rushing and five touchdowns to go along with 759 yards through the air and seven touchdowns. He has just two interceptions on the season. Tim Keller leads the team with 408 yards rushing. Joshua Arndt and Josh Rathje have combined for 25 receptions, 657 yards and seven touchdowns. The offense has been halted by 13 lost fumbles.
Defensively Martin Luther has given up 18 rushing touchdowns and ten passing touchdowns. Teams are averaging over 200 yards on the ground and almost 200 yards through the air. The defense has forced just four turnovers this year, ranking 209
th in the nation. Their -11 turnover margin is 236
th in the country.
MEN'S SOCCER Minnesota Morris will play Wisconsin-Superior for the sixth time in program history but the first time with the YellowJackets as members of the UMAC. In addition, it was selected as the UMAC Game of the Week. Morris leads the series 3-2 and is 1-0 all-time in Superior. The last meeting came in 2012 with the Cougars emerging victoriously 1-0 in a match played in Duluth.
Morris trails Wisconsin-Superior by two games in the loss column. Currently the Cougars in fifth place in the UMAC, tied with Northwestern, but the Eagles beat UMM earlier this season. The Cougars have four UMAC matches remaining and all of them could have serious implications on the UMAC Tournament matchups.
Former Cougar Trent Holmes will take on his former teammates for the first time since transferring to Wisconsin-Superior.
Austin Keller has a goal in three of the last six matches; two of them are match winners.
Cody Christ is averaging just over six saves per start this season.
Last year's leading scorer for the Cougars,
Shingo Yamane has been held to just two points this year. Last season he finished with 23 points.
WOMEN'S SOCCER The Cougars snapped a three match losing streak with a 3-1 win over Martin Luther on Wednesday afternoon. On Saturday they look to make it two in a row as they travel to Wisconsin-Superior. UMM is 6-0 all-time against Wisconsin-Superior.
Currently Morris is in fifth place in the UMAC but three of their remaining four matches come against teams below them in the conference. This will give the Cougars a chance to move up in the standings before the UMAC Tournament begins in November.
On Sunday the Cougars will host Wisconsin-River Falls in the annual "Kicks Agianst Breast Cancer" game. The Cougars will wear black wristbands with a pink ribbon on them. At halftime a drawing will take place that allows spectators to win some prizes:
1. US National Women's Team Pink baseball cap (Nike cap with US National Team logo and Breast Cancer Ribbon logo on it)
2. A pink mini soccer ball with "The Cure" logo on it
continues to lead the team in goals with nine goals, an average of one per game. The Cougars are 4-1 when she scores this season.
VOLLEYBALL Morris has just one match this weekend as they travel to take on Bethany Lutheran on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Cougars will look to move to 4-0 in the UMAC at the halfway points of the conference season. Currently Minnesota Morris and Northwestern are tied with a 3-0 record at the top of the conference.
Marissa Ekness ranks 12
th in the nation with 4.34 kills per set and is eighth in the NCAA in total kills with 304 (through last weekend). Her 956 attacks this year ranks second in the nation (through last weekend). She is just 188 attacks away from setting a new school record for most attacks in a single season. She needs 130 more kills to set a new school record in kills for a single season.
Brooke Decker ranked 21
st in the country with 695 assists through last weekend, she has 782 this year after Tuesday's matches. She has 2,109 assists in her career which ranks fifth in school history and fifth person to reach 2,000 assists in a career. She passed that mark during the Cougars win over Wisconsin-River Falls last Saturday.
