Findlay, Ohio - The University of Findlay women's soccer team, ranked no. 24 in the country, will open their much-anticipated season with a game at no. 17 Ferris St. on Thursday, Sep. 2. The top-25 matchup will begin at 1:00 pm in Big Rapids, Mich. It is the first time in the NCAA history of the program that the Oilers will play a game against a top-25 team while, themselves, being nationally ranked.

Follow the Contest Live

A live stream of the contest will be made available by the Bulldog Sports Network and can be WATCHED HERE.

Live stats will also be available HERE.

The Matchup

Since 2002, Findlay and Ferris State have played 18 times with the Oilers holding a 5-10-3 record in the series. The Bulldogs hold the longest win streak in the series since 2002 as they rattled off four consecutive wins against the Oilers from 2003-2006.

The two teams have not played since October 14, 2016, a game Ferris State won by a score of 1-0 in Big Rapids. For the Oilers, their last win in the series came in October of 2014, a 2-1 on the road.

Big Time Turnaround

A snapshot of these two programs from 2016, the last time these teams played, would look dramatically different than one taken today. In that season, the Oilers finished with a record of 5-11-1 and were in the midst of seven consecutive seasons without a winning record. Ferris State was not in much better shape as they finished 2016 with a record of 6-8-4 and had losing seasons in eight of their previous 11 seasons.

Fast forward to today and the Oilers have three consecutive winning seasons and a record of 35-8-5 in the last three seasons and have achieved an NCAA preseason top-25 ranking for the first time in program history. Ferris State has seen similar success as they have a record of 38-10-6 in their previous three campaigns including a run to the NCAA DII Midwest Region Championship in 2018.

#24 Findlay (0-0, 0-0 G-MAC)

The Oilers are led by Great Midwest Offensive Player of the Year Olivia Frank, who is the headliner as she returns for her junior season after scoring a league-best seven goals and also adding a pair of assists on the season. In her career, Frank has scored 17 goals, eighth of which have been game-winners, has four assists, and has taken 105 shots.
 
Madison Mlsna and Anna Meixner each ranked top 10 in the conference in assists last season to help make the Oilers offense work efficiently. Elizabeth Talabac is also among the league's elite at finding the net as she was among six players who scored five goals in the spring alone.

With the absence of first-team performer Lindsey Ahbe, defenders Sydney Demyan and Madeline Nartker will be asked to play a bigger roll as they help keep opponents at bay for a defense that has been one of the best in the country over the course of the last three seasons.
 
Freshman keeper Kennedy Slovak only allowed four goals in 11 games while logging over 850 minutes. Conference Freshman of the Year Alyssa Stark started all possible 12 games for the Oilers and played a key role in locking down the middle of the field while earning player of the week accolades as well.

2021 Roster

#17 Ferris State (0-0, 0-0 GLIAC)

FSU will begin the fall 2021 season right where it left off as one of the nation's top 20 teams as the Bulldogs were picked 17th in the United Soccer Coaches Division II Preseason National Rankings.

The Bulldogs, who were ranked as high as #11 in the country this past spring, concluded the spring season with an 8-1-1 overall record, winning the GLIAC Regular Season Championship for the first time in school history and finishing 17th in the final national poll.

Overall, the Bulldogs were one of two GLIAC member schools to finish in the top 20 in the nation along with ninth-ranked Grand Valley State this past spring.

This past spring season represented the third consecutive year in which the Bulldogs have been found in the top 25 nationally.

The Bulldogs' #11 national ranking last spring tied for the second-highest in school history only behind FSU's final #10 listing in the last poll of the 2018 campaign. FSU was also ranked 11th in the 2019 season.

Along with winning the GLIAC's regular-season championship, the Bulldogs also played host to the GLIAC Semifinals/Finals for the first time in program history this spring. FSU allowed only two goals over the course of the entire campaign, including only one during the regular season when Ferris State compiled an 8-0-1 mark as the league's only unbeaten squad.

2021 Roster