Jamestown, N.D. - The University of Jamestown women's soccer team will begin a pivotal weekend on Friday night against Wayne State College in their penultimate home game of the 2026 season.
Jamestown will come into this game with a 4-5-4 overall record and a 4-3-3 mark in the NSIC conference. After going winless in their past four games, the Jimmies are on the outside looking in for the NSIC playoffs as they are in a tie for 8th place, though lose the tiebreaker to Concordia St. Paul.
In their last game, UJ tied 1-1 at Minot State on Sunday up in Minot. After an evenly matched first half, Julliet Lopez scored in the 56th minute off a pass from Vega Canada. However, exactly 16 minutes later, the Beavers got an equalizer to knot the score.
Lopez's goal was her fifth of the season while Canada got her first assist on the year. Ellie Dake played her first full-length game, stopping four shots and allowing one goal. Shots were 11-9 overall and 6-5 on goal, both in favor of Jamestown.
Lopez currently ranks seventh in the conference with five goals as well as eighth with 12 points. Bre Oettle has been a key contributor with two goals and an assist number of three which ranks inside the top 10 of the NSIC. Kyah Gabel is the third-leading scorer with two goals while three other Jimmies have notched three points.
In between the pipes, Dake's season numbers improve to a .783 save percentage and a 1.51 goals-against average. Taylor Musser has conceded an average of 1.68 goals per game with her save percentage at .789 through 11 games played.
Wayne State heads into Jamestown with a 4-6-3 overall mark. With 12 points in the conference off their 3-4-3 record, the Wildcats are right behind Jamestown and CSP in the standings at 10th place and currently three points, or one win, out of the playoff picture. Wayne State is currently just 1-4-1 away from home this season, scoring only four goals across those six games.
WSC most recently hosted the University of Sioux Falls, which resulted in a 0-0 draw down in Nebraska. Wayne State won total shots 12-10 and shots on net 5-2. Alexa Hofstetter in net for the Wildcats recorded her fourth clean sheet with two saves in the shutout draw.
The Wildcats went 6-8-4 in 2025 with a 5-8-2 conference record to finish 11th in the conference, which is also the same spot they were selected to finish in this season's NSIC Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Briella Thompsen and Olivia Thompson are the sparks for the WSC offense. Thompsen ranks inside the top 10 in the NSIC with four goals while Thompson's four helpers put her fifth in the league. Tyler Donaldson is another key contributor with six points on two goals and two assists.
Netminder Alexa Hofstetter has been one of the premier goaltenders in the NSIC. The junior from Missouri has played in all 1170 minutes in net, only allowing 12 goals while making 72 saves. Her .92 goals-against average ranks sixth in the NSIC while her .857 save percentage is third.
Jamestown and Wayne State played each other late in the season last year down in Nebraska, which resulted in a 4-2 win by the Wildcats. It 1-0 WSC at the half, but the Wildcats scored three more goals by the 62nd minute of the second half. The Jimmies tried a late comeback effort as Canada scored twice in the final 10 minutes, but it was WSC who emerged victorious by doubling up the Jimmies when all was said and done.
Canada scored two of her three goals of the season in the loss while Isabella Martinez got her first-career assist. Both teams had eight shots on goal with Wayne State winning total shot attempts 18-10.
Jamestown's final home game of the season will be on Sunday, October 18 when they host Augustana University at noon.
