Nov. 6—BEMIDJI — The second NCAA D-II women's soccer regional rankings were announced Wednesday afternoon, and the Bemidji State women's soccer team came in at fifth in the latest Central Region ranking ahead of the regular-season finale.

The Beavers hold a 13-2-3 record against Division-II opponents this season, trailing just Minnesota State (15) and Pittsburg State (13) for most D-II wins in the region. The No. 2 Mavericks lead the Central Region rankings, with Washburn, Pittsburg State and Central Missouri above the Beavers. BSU is one of fivw teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in the rankings.

The NSIC, the Mid-America Athletic Association and the Great American Conference make up the 36-team NCAA Central Region. The top eight teams in the region will advance to the NCAA region tournament. The two top-seeded teams in each region shall be offered the opportunity to host, provided minimum site selection criteria are met and a bid has been submitted. Automatic bids are granted to the winners of the MIAA, GAC and NSIC postseason tournaments, with the remaining five spots awarded on an at-large basis.

The NCAA Women's Soccer selection show will be streamed online at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 17, at NCAA.com.

The month of October saw great success for the program, going 7-0-2 during the month and averaging 2.22 goals per game while holding opponents to just 0.56 goals per game. Senior Katrina Barthelt led the Beavers during the month with 15 points and scored seven goals. She scored a goal in five of nine matches in October, including two multi-goal efforts.

Graduate goalkeeper Sonia Alfieri was nearly flawless during the month with an unbeaten 7-0-1 record between the posts for the Beavers. She allowed just four goals in October, totaled four shutouts, made 23 saves and boasted a 0.52 goals against average and .852 save percentage.

On the season, Bemidji State averages two goals per game while averaging just 0.59 goals allowed per game to rank second in the NSIC with a 1.41 scoring margin. The Beavers' 34 goals scored are the third most in the NSIC, while their 10 goals against are tied for the third least in the conference. BSU has scored first in 13 of 17 matches this season, tied for second most in the NSIC.

The Beavers have clinched home-field advantage for the first round of the NSIC Tournament and play at Chet Anderson Stadium on Monday, Nov. 10.

No. 2 Minnesota State secured its eighth NSIC regular-season championship this past weekend and clinched the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage in the tournament.

Fans of the Ada High School football team will have to pull double duty in Week 10.

Not only do the fifth-ranked Cougars hope to have a strong following at No. 7 Sallisaw for a Top 10 District 4A-4 showdown Friday night, but Ada faithful must also become temporary fans of the Poteau Pirates.

Poteau hosts No. 4 Broken Bow in another key district matchup, and the Pirates could help Ada claim the district title if they can upset the Savages.

Ada would capture the district championship with a win over the Black Diamonds and a Poteau victory. In any other scenario, the Cougars would settle for second or third place in the 4A-4 standings.

The top two teams in the district are guaranteed at least one home playoff game.

“This game will change a lot of things in the district. You can go up or you can go down. It’s absolutely a big, big game for our district and our program,” Boyles told The Ada News.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Perry F. Lattimore Stadium.

Sallisaw enters Week 10 at 7-2 overall and is tied with Ada and Broken Bow at 5-1 in district play. The Black Diamonds opened the season with a 45-22 loss to Class 5A No. 4 Pryor, and Poteau edged them 28-13 in Week 8. Sallisaw has an unblemished 5-0 record at home this season.

The Cougars are 8-1 overall.

“They’re really good. They’re well-disciplined and execute well on both sides of the ball,” Boyles said.

Ada leads the series 5-1 since 1994 and has won the previous three meetings. The Cougars rolled past Sallisaw 40-14 last year and edged the Black Diamonds 7-0 in 2023.

Scouting Sallisaw

Sallisaw has been lighting up the scoreboard lately, scoring at least 35 points in each of its last six victories.

“They do a lot of different things offensively,” Boyles said. “They’re primarily a rushing team, but they can throw it too.”

Junior quarterback Kase Adams makes the offense tick. He has completed 101 of 154 passes for 1,105 yards and eight touchdowns, while also rushing for 809 yards and 11 scores.

“Their quarterback is a good football player. He makes them go,” Boyles said. “They’re more of a run-heavy team, but they’re really good on offense.”

Senior running back Jackson Harris has rushed for 820 yards and 18 touchdowns. Kenyan Hill has added 187 yards on 44 carries..

Sallisaw’s leading receivers are Brodi Nickell and Caden Blount. Nickell has 30 receptions for 307 yards and four touchdowns, while Blount has 20 catches for 286 yards and two scores.

Boyles said the Black Diamonds are also fundamentally sound on defense.

“Defensively, there’s no drop-off either. They give you some different looks and are very sound. They just do everything right and try to make you snap it over and over again and try to make you drive the ball down the field to beat them,” He said.

Linebacker Noah Briley has been a disruptive force with a team-high 74 tackles. Blount is next with 65 stops and three interceptions, while defensive end Hunter Smith has recorded 39 tackles and eight quarterback sacks.

Air revival

Boyles and offensive coordinator Joe Foster hope to get the Ada passing game back on track after back-to-back subpar performances. Quarterback Brock Boyles has completed a combined 12-of-40 passes in games against Broken Bow and Glenpool.

Wade Boyles expects Sallisaw to force the Ada offense into passing mode after running back Caron Richardson has erupted for 446 yards during his last two outings — including a school-record 347 yards in Ada’s 42-6 win over Glenpool last week.

“We just have to take advantage of some of the things they give us, especially in the passing game. We expect them to stack the box and make them beat us throwing the ball because we’ve been running the ball so efficiently the last couple of games,” Boyles said.

The Ada coach said the Cougars’ aerial attack has looked much sharper in practice this week.

“The last couple of weeks, we’ve kind of sputtered, throwing and catching the ball. It’s either getting to them and we’re dropping it or we’re not putting it on them like we should,” he said.

“Our kids know they have the ability to make big plays at any point in time. We’ve worked on that this week, and they’ve caught a lot of balls during practice,” Boyles added. “We’re certainly not afraid to throw the football — that’s for sure. But our running game has been really good, so hopefully we can establish that and keep it rolling as well.”

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DISTRICT 4A-4 SCENARIOS

Key Games: Poteau at Broken Bow, Ada at Sallisaw, Hilldale at Tulsa McLain

Broken Bow: First with a win and Sallisaw loss. Second with a win and Sallisaw win. Can finish second or third based on district points with a loss and Sallisaw win. Fourth with a loss and Sallisaw loss.

Ada: First with a win and Broken Bow loss. Second with a win and Broken Bow win. Third with a loss and Broken Bow win. Can finish second or third based on district points with a loss and Broken Bow loss.

Sallisaw: First with a win. Third with a loss and Broken Bow win. Can finish second or third based on district points with a loss and Broken Bow loss.

Poteau: Second with a win and Ada win. Fourth with a win and Sallisaw win. Fourth with a loss and Hilldale loss. Fifth and out with a loss and Hilldale win.

Hilldale: Fourth with a win and Poteau loss. Fifth and out in any other scenario.

Nov. 5—PULLMAN — Washington State is adding another running back to its class of 2026.

The Cougars' latest commitment comes from New Orleans native Tre Garrison, who announced his decision Wednesday morning, becoming the 21st member of WSU's class of 2026.

Listed at 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds, Garrison was previously committed to FCS Nicholls, a school local to New Orleans. But in mid-October, Garrison received an offer from WSU, and he visited Pullman last weekend. A few days later, he's a Cougar.

A senior at Edna Karr High in New Orleans, Garrison also turned down offers from FCS Alcorn State and NAIA Graceland to join WSU's class of 2026, which now has three running backs: Junior college transfer Daniel Swinney and Houston-area native CJ Toney, both of whom announced their decisions in October.

In a win last weekend, Garrison totaled 19 carries for 102 yards and two touchdowns.

Garrison adds another member to the Cougs' class of 2026, which has now had seven players decommit from the class. The latest was three-star offensive lineman Beckett Schreiber, who announced Monday night he's flipping his commitment to Minnesota.

In October, five players decommitted, including running back Gabriel Wilson, safety Kaden Olson, wide receivers Maurice Purify II and Hudson Lewis (flipped to Utah), and linebacker Josh Faraimo — all three-star prospects. Three-star running back John Hebert, a Houston native, flipped his commitment from WSU to Houston earlier this summer.

WSU has about a month until college football's early signing period, which runs from Dec. 3-5.

The Cougars' updated class of 2026:

—RB Tre Garrison (Edna Karr, New Orleans, La.)

—3-star CB Willie Breland (Mississippi Gulf Coast, Perkinston, Miss.)

—3-star S Jarvse Dickerson (Brazos, Wallis, Texas).

—CB Bryce Heckard (City College of San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif).

—RB CJ Toney (Atascocita, Humble, Texas)

—RB Daniel Swinney (Iowa Western CC, Council Bluffs, Iowa).

—DL Andy Burburija (Iowa Western CC, Council Bluffs, Iowa).

—Three-star OL Ashton Mozone (Iowa Western CC, Council Bluffs, Iowa).

—Three-star QB Hudson Kurland (Lake Oswego, Lake Oswego, Oregon).

—Three-star edge JaVon Joseph (Oak Ridge, El Dorado Hills, California).

—Three-star S Matthew McClain (Prestonwood Christian, Plano, Texas).

—Three-star TE Luke Galer (Del Oro, Loomis, California).

—Three-star TE Drew Byrd (Rocky Mountain, Meridian, Idaho).

—Three-star CB Kameron Hurst (Lift For Life, St. Louis).

—Three-star edge Jacob Lopez-Veasey (San Antonio).

—Three-star edge Tyler Burnstein (Liberty, Peoria, Arizona).

—Three-star S Bradley Esser (Harrisburg, Harrisburg, South Dakota).

—Three-star OL Kingston Fotualii (O'Dea, Seattle).

—Three-star OL Cooper Daines (Spokane).

—Three-star DL Jake Jones (Campo Verde, Gilbert, Arizona).

—Three-star ATH Landon Kalsbeck (Dakota Ridge, Littleton, Colorado).