Girls Soccer
Manding sisters bring touch of Hawaii to South Dakota State


A little bit of Hawaii can be found in the city of Brookings, South Dakota.

Of the approximately 24,000 residents of Brookings — the fourth-largest city in the state and home to South Dakota State University — are a pair of soccer-playing sisters from Waipahu who have been doing their part to spread the aloha spirit.

"We have the Hawaiian flag in our room," declared Kaycee Manding, a 2020 alumnae of Waipahu and freshman midfielder/defender for the undefeated Jackrabbits (4-0-2).

Her older sister and roommate, Karlee, is a junior midfielder and in her third season on the team.

"Any chance that we have to rep Hawaii, we are in there," laughed Karlee, a 2018 Waipahu graduate.

The sisters — both of whom were four-year varsity players for the Marauders and helped them to an OIA Division II championship in 2017 — have certainly represented their home state well so far on the pitch this season.

Karlee has started all six matches and played a total of 383 minutes, while Kaycee has played in five matches, including two starts, and logged 218 minutes in her very first collegiate season.

"It's a different level compared to what high school is and like how club soccer is," said Kaycee, an All-OIA West First Team selection in both 2019 and 2020. "Everyone's here to compete and is the best of the best and it's good to compete with high intensity and for me, I'm just growing as a player and looking to get better and doing the one-percent gains every day is going to help me with these upcoming four years that I have here."

Karlee, a two-time All-OIA West Second Team pick (2017 and 2018), already has a couple of solid seasons under her belt at South Dakota State. In her freshman season, she was tied for the team lead with five goals and had two assists. She started and appeared in 14 games to earn Summit League All-Freshman Team honors, but missed the final five contests due to a torn ACL. Last year she started 20 of the 21 games she played in and scored three goals with two assists and was an All-Summit League Second Team pick.

"I feel like you are kind of just like a sponge, you just soak up all of the new information, all of the new things that you learn as you go through college, whether it's through academics, soccer, social life — you are just introduced to a plethora of new things," Karlee said of her two-plus years at SDSU.

As for how she ended up there?

"I get this question quite often," she laughed before recalling the story of how Jackrabbits assistant Andy Janssen watched her play in a tournament in Washington state.

"I was left a card that told me ‘good game' and it was a South Dakota State Jackrabbits card and I was like, ‘South Dakota State? Like, what?"

Manding connected with the coaches and eventually took a well-timed recruiting visit to the campus in August of that year.

"When it was nice and sunny and green — not cold," she laughed. "I just fell in love with the campus and the community and the people and I think that was a very important factor for me, was finding a community that I could thrive in because I would be so far away from home and I found a second family here in Brookings … so not your typical recruit story."

Kaycee remembers when the family made the trip to South Dakota to drop off Karlee for her first semester at SDSU. She figured while she was there, she might as well sign-up for the Jackrabbits' summer camp.

"I absolutely fell in love with the culture here," Kaycee explained. "It's a lot like home, they're so family-based. Our coach stresses that family is important and I feel like the teammates around us just give such a positive and friendly environment to grow in and that's a huge reason why we're both here."

Initially, SDSU was nowhere to be found among Kaycee's desired college destinations, but her older sister ended up being quite the influence on her — even if she didn't plan on it.

"Although I was here, she still had her own journey and kind of had her own process despite her sister being there," Karlee said.

Kaycee detailed: "It's kind of funny because in my recruiting process I literally told myself that I don't want to be anywhere else except for the west coast or stay at home, like that was kind of my thing and Karlee was honestly a big reason why I came here and her journey because it was inspiring and she had insight to everything; she told me all that there was that South Dakota had to offer."

The Jackrabbits posted a 12-6-1 record in 2018 — Karlee's freshman year — and reached the Summit League championship. However, a loss to Omaha ended their season.

The following year, however, SDSU won the Summit League crown to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. A 1-0 loss to Oklahoma State led to a first-round exit, but the experience was memorable to say the least.

"At the end of the day we put everything that we had onto the field and unfortunately we didn't come out with a win against OSU, but we're ready to get back and do a round two this season, hopefully," Karlee said.

SDSU graduated five seniors from the 2019 team that finished with a 15-5-2 record. That team won a string of 12 consecutive games that year, which was was ignited by a 1-0 win over the University of Hawaii in a match played in Brookings.

SDSU Sports Information    View image

"There was a lot of pressure, I felt like, going in," recalled Karlee, who started in the midfield and played 77 minutes against the Rainbow Wahine. "I really just wanted to perform well and ultimately do my best and as a team I think that we did that and we came up on top."

That was the first time that SDSU and Hawaii met on the pitch. The second time will be this September, when the Jackrabbits visit the islands in what will be a homecoming for the Manding sisters. UH's home field, Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex, is a mere stone's throw away from Waipahu High School.

"So we'll be back," Karlee interjected. "I'm very excited for the both of us."

But that's technically next season and unlike the Rainbow Wahine — who never got the opportunity to take the field after the Big West Conference announced the cancelation of the women's soccer season back in December — the Jackrabbits still have a lot to play for this year.

Since a couple of scoreless ties against Omaha to open the COVID-adjusted spring schedule, SDSU has won its last four matches — all of them by shutout.

In a 2-0 win over Oral Roberts on Feb. 26, Kaycee recorded an assist off the bench. She repeated the feat two nights later and just about two minutes after that, Karlee registered an assist on another goals in the two-nil Jackrabbits' victory.

"It was a nice feeling to be back on the field with her and I think that (in) the two years that we didn't spend together, we have grown into really different players and now that we're here again, I think that we complement each other in the best ways and I can personally say that she has provided support for me off the field that has translated to on the field and I think that's the biggest benefit to having her here because as a player you step on the field and your chemistry with your teammates needs to be strong," Karlee said.

SDSU scored a season-high four goals against Kansas City in another shutout last Friday. In Sunday's rematch, Karlee Manding opened the scoring with her first goal of the season in the 51st minute.

Kaycee Manding was on the field when her older sister scored ninth career goal in the 2-0 win.

"Oh, my gosh, when that ball went in I screamed, I jumped, I was so happy. I'm very proud of her," Kaycee said. "I feel like this is just the beginning of it though. She's an impactful player and I feel like this is just one of many that she's going to have this season."

But for Karlee the results aren't what motivates her.

"A big thing that we stress as a team is we're not very outcome-based," she said. "We're really process-driven and kind of just trusting doing the little things in the day, like whether it's nitpicking the smallest details and doing the little things better than others; I think that's one of our biggest goals."

Record aside, Karlee has been encouraged by the progress the team has made so far through its 16-game schedule. But with roughly half of the roster (13 of 27 total players) being either freshmen or sophomores, she has taken it upon herself to provide more leadership for the group.

"Now that I am in my third year I feel like I've kind of seen and done a lot of things and still have a lot more to grow, but I feel like it's kind of put me in a different role on the team, to kind of help shepherd our freshmen and our sophomores to kind of be leaders themselves," she said. "Our team is very young, but the growth that we already have shown within the first part of the season has been pretty immaculate, to say the least, and I'm excited to see what's in store for us for the rest of the season."

The Jackrabbits will face their toughest test to-date this weekend when the host first-place Denver (8-0) Friday and Sunday. The teams split their two meetings in the 2019 season, with the Pioneers taking the regular-season contest. SDSU avenged that loss when the teams faced off in the Summit League championship game and came away with a win in penalty kicks.

"I think these next couple games will be crucial and I have no doubt that our team will show up for them," Karlee said. "I trust in our preparation and ultimately, all we can do is go out there and do our best and as a team I think we're all ready to deliver our best and I know that there's a lot more in store for us and our team has a lot more to grow and to show."

Denver was picked by Summit League coaches as the preseason favorite back in January, just ahead of South Dakota State. The Pioneers won the regular-season title in 2019.

"I feel like this weekend is going to be like the championship match, to be honest," Kaycee said. "Last year (SDSU) beat them in the league (championship), so right now they're probably feisty and ready to take that win back, but we have to be ready for that and well-prepared and I feel like this week is just really important for us to get two wins, back-to-back; that will really set the tone for the rest of the league."

Kick-off for Friday's game between SDSU and Denver is scheduled for 11 a.m. Hawaii time at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, while Sunday's game is set for a 7 a.m. start. Both matches will be streamed live on gojacks.com.

Note: South Dakota State has signed King Kekaulike senior midfielder/forward Teani Arakawa, the reigning All-Hawaii Offensive Player of the Year, to its 2021 recruiting class.



Reach Kalani Takase at [email protected].




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