The St. Scholastica women's soccer team will play host to the University of Dubuque and No. 23 Carleton College for the 2011 Advantage Emblem Cup, starting Saturday.

Game Time:
-- Saturday -- St. Scholastica vs. University of Dubuque – Noon
-- Sunday – University of Dubuque vs. #23 Carleton 1 p.m.
-- Monday – St. Scholastica vs. #23 Carleton – 2 p.m.

GameDay Media: Live Video | Live Stats

Last Action:
The women last played in St. Paul at Macalester College for their season opener. Despite Bailey Mahlum (Bismarck, N.D./Bismarck HS)'s 12 saves, the Scots scored the winning goal to beat the Saints, 1-0 with 2:25 left in the first overtime. Macalester out-shot the Saints 25-4, and the Scots' Rosie Glenn-Finer only needed to make one save to open the season with a shutout.

St. Scholastica Saints (0-1-0, no UMAC games)
After losing just two seniors from last year, the Saints still have a fairly young, but experienced team. Early season jitters seemed to overtake the Saints in the first match of the year at Macalester, and led to some mental errors in the season opener, handing St. Scholastica their first loss of the season. CSS will look to bounce back after a solid performance by senior goalkeeper Bailey Mahlum (Bismarck, N.D./Bismarck HS), who had 12 saves in the opener. The Saints look for bounce back at home in the Advantage Emblem Cup, and get plenty of production from their two leading goal scorer's from 2010, Andrea Beatt (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove HS) and Shannon Carlson (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury HS).

Carleton Knights (2010 -- 15-3-2, 9-1-1 MIAC)
The Knights will open the season at the Advantage Emblem Cup. They come into the season as favorites to win the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) and are ranked 23rd nationally. The Knights won the MIAC regular season championship a year ago, but fell short to Concordia-Moorhead in the conference tournament. With an at-large bid to the national tournament, the Knights made it to the second round before losing to Wheaton (Ill.) 4-1. Carleton returns six of their top eight scorers from a season ago, including their top four scorers, junior Marlena Hartman-Filson (29 points), senior Niki Tomita (21), senior Lily VanderStaay (20), and senior Cassie Burke (14). The Knights also return one of their starting goalkeepers from a season ago in Beth Ashinsky. Last season, Ashinsky played in ten games, going a perfect 10-0-0 with four shutouts. The Knights look to be a tough team with a very experienced squad, who has the potential to go deep into the post season once again in 2011.

Last Meeting: (CSS All-Time Record vs. Carleton: 2-3-1)
The Saints and Knights last met in Northfield in 2010. The Knights defeated the Saints in a close 1-0 game.

University of Dubuque Spartans (2010 -- 11-8-2, 6-2-0 IIAC)
The Spartans will also be kicking off their season at the Advantage Emblem Cup. Dubuque comes off a solid 2010 season, going 11-8-2 with a 6-2-0 conference record, helping them earn the fourth spot in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Poll. Dubuque returns seven starters from last season's team that finished third in the league. The sophomore forward Alexandra Watkins, a first team all-conference pick last season, will be the center of a Spartan offense that lost five of its top scorers from 2010. Watkins led the team with 27 points on a team-high 12 goals, and three assists. She ranked third among all IIAC players in both points and goals. Maddy Mobile, a two time All-IIAC midfielder, will look to bounce back to lead the team after missing most of last season with an injury. The Spartans will depend a lot on their defenders, senior Gina May and junior Ashley Barwick, after graduating two-time all-conference goalkeeper Natalie Baker, who had a 1.06 goals against average and a .823 save percentage last season.

Last Meeting: This will be the first meeting between the Saints and Spartans.