Women's Soccer Week 8 Notes: vs. FHSU | vs. UNK

Weekly Schedule:
Friday, October 19 – vs. Fort Hays State – 12:00 pm – Kirksville, Mo.
Live Stats

Sunday, October 21 – vs. Nebraska-Kearney – 12:00 pm – Kirksville, Mo.
Live Stats

PDF Notes
Twitter: @TrumanWS

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - Homecoming and Senior Day are on tap for the Truman women's soccer team this weekend, as the final homestand of 2012 gets underway Friday with a noon match against Fort Hays State before closing the weekend on Sunday at noon against Nebraska-Kearney.

The Bulldogs (11-2-1, 7-1 MIAA) earned a pair of hard-fought road wins last weekend, securing a 2-0 shutout of Washburn on Friday before shutting down Emporia State 1-0 on Sunday. The team's current unbeaten streak has hit a season-best seven matches (6-0-1), with the Bulldogs having surrendered just three goals during the 510 minute stretch. Truman is up to a +22 goal differential on the season, with its 29 goals being supplemented by 27 assists for 85 total points.

With Homecoming taking place officially on Saturday, the whole weekend will serve as a reunion for all past Bulldog players, culminating on Sunday with the recognition of this year's senior class. The Bulldogs will recognize seniors Stasia Montgomery, Kelsey Twellman, Kayla Doran, Emily McMeekin and Olivia Hayes, as well as Lindsay Brennan who is graduating early, prior to Sunday's match against UNK.

Junior Trisha Shoemaker, despite missing last weekend's matches, remains the team's (and MIAA's) top goal scorer with nine, while both senior Kelsey Twellman and freshman Alexis Heffernan have scored five times each. While the offense has been out-shooting opponents by 104 overall on the year, it's been the back line that's stolen the show, as Truman's defense has allowed just seven goals in 14 matches for a goals-against average of 0.49.

Junior keeper Emily Bozdeck ranks first in the MIAA with 10 shutouts while also posting 55 saves at an 88.7% clip.

Mike Cannon is in his 20^th season at the controls of the women's soccer program at Truman and has a career record of 264-92-38. He ranks seventh all-time in NCAA Div. II history in wins, and his teams have won 10 or more matches in now-18 straight seasons.

Weekly Recap with Coach Cannon:
To watch this week's weekly recap with coach Mike Cannon, click the video link below. If the video is not appearing, please access the full weekly notes at TrumanBulldogs.com.

Following the Bulldogs:
Full coverage of Truman women's soccer is available online at TrumanBulldogs.com, including results, upcoming match information and weekly updates.

When available, links to free online live stats are added to the Bulldog women's soccer schedule page as well as the top of each weekly update.

Keep up with the Bulldogs by tracking in-game updates (when available). Follow Truman Athletics on Twitter (@TrumanAthletics). Also be sure to sign up for Text Caster and Newsletter updates on the TrumanBulldogs.com homepage.

Conference/Regional Outlook:
Wednesday marks the first all-important release of the NCAA's official regional rankings, as the first of three published weekly rankings hits NCAA.com for all eight of the nation's regions. That release will be posted at TrumanBulldogs.com on late Wednesday afternoon.

In the MIAA, teams have either three or four league matches remaining, with no program having currently locked up a bid to the conference tournament. That can change this weekend, however, as Central Oklahoma (23 points, 9 games) leads a tight race with Truman (21p/8g) and Central Missouri (20p/8g) for first. Northwest Missouri (17p/9g) leads Northeastern State (15p/9g) by two points for fifth, while Fort Hays (13p/9g), Washburn (12p/9g), Southwest Baptist (11p/8g) and Missouri Southern (10p/8g) all find themselves fighting to secure one of the final three spots in the MIAA tournament.

Knocking on the door are both UNK (8p/9g) and Missouri Western (7p/9g), while Emporia State (1p/8g) and Lindenwood (0p/7g) have a significant amount of work to do.

The top eight teams qualify for the MIAA tournament at the end of the season, with the quarterfinal round taking place on campus sites on Tuesday, Oct. 30. The tournament then shifts to the site of the highest-remaining seed for the semifinals and championship on Nov. 2 and Nov. 4.

Senior Day Celebration on Sunday:
The Bulldogs will recognize five seniors and one junior who will be playing their final regular season home match on Sunday afternoon for the women's soccer program prior to the kickoff against UNK. Stasia Montgomery, Kelsey Twellman, Kayla Doran, Lindsay Brennan, Emily McMeekin and Olivia Hayes have combined to play in 264 matches, scoring 42 goals, adding 34 assists and helping guide the Bulldogs to 48 wins in the past four seasons.

Career Chart Check:
Three Bulldogs continue to make noise on the Truman all-time charts, as seniors Olivia Hayes and Kelsey Twellman, along with junior Emily Bozdeck, inch their ways up a variety of different lists.

Hayes sits third all-time in career shots with 226, 42 back of Shauna Putnam (1987-90) for second. In addition, her 24 career goals are just three back of Jessica Wiegert (2006-09) for seventh, and her 63 points sit just two behind Jill Benson (1994-97) for ninth.

Twellman, meanwhile, sits seventh all-time with 19 career assists. She will move into a tie for sixth with just one more and into a tie for fourth with two more assists. Kelsey also sits fifth all-time in career shots, now with 176. She is just six behind Carie Toczylowski (1994-97) for fifth.

Bozdeck, meanwhile, in her first full season as a starter, has 15 career shutouts, passing Emily Roark and drawing even with Janet Larson for fifth (1989-92). She is now eight behind current graduate assistant Jayne Grisham (23; 2008-11).

Checking Out the Competition:
Fort Hays State “Tigers” (8-5-1, 4-4-1 MIAA)
The Tigers found their way into the NSCAA Central region (unofficial) rankings this week at No. 10 following a 1-0-1 home weekend against Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri last Thursday/Saturday. The Tigers visit Kirksville on Friday, entering with just a 1-4 record outside of Hays this season.

Hays is a +18 in goal differential this season (+4 in MIAA-only matches), averaging a shade more than two goals per game while giving up just 12 in 14 contests. Jordan Hester and Sade Humphrey have six goals each this season, while Alexis Aiman has given out a team-high seven assists.

Two keepers have split time in net, combining for a 0.83 GAA and an 83.6% save percentage.

Truman is 1-0 all-time against the recently-formed Tiger program, picking up a 1-0 win in Hays last season. Craig Shaw is in his second season at the helm of the program, having compiled a 14-16-2 record.

Nebraska-Kearney “Lopers” (7-6-2, 2-5-2 MIAA)
First-year MIAA program UNK has already set a record for most wins in a season in program history and will be looking to add more when it travels to Lindenwood on Friday before stopping in Kirksville on Sunday at noon. The Lopers are 2-4 in true road matches this season, including 0-3 in the MIAA.

The team has a -2 goal differential on the season, averaging 1.53 goals/game with contributions from a variety of options. Eight different players have scored at least two goals this year, led by Tara Knowlton's three goals and four assists for a team-high 10 points.

Marissa Niday is the team's primary keeper, posting a 1.65 GAA with 57 saves in more than 1,300 minutes of work. She has two shutouts on the season.

Truman and the fourth-year program in Kearney have never met in women's soccer. Former MLS player (D.C. United) John Maessner is the interim head coach of the Loper program and is in his first season.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs close out the 2012 regular season with MIAA road matches at Central Missouri on Thursday (Oct. 25) and Southwest Baptist on Saturday (Oct. 27). Following Saturday night's match, Truman will learn its MIAA tournament postseason status with a possible home match on Tuesday, Oct. 30 in the conference quarterfinals.

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