Women's Soccer Week 9 Notes: at #12 UCM | at SBU

Weekly Schedule:
Thursday, October 25 – at #12 Central Missouri – 7:00 pm – Warrensburg, Mo.
Live Stats

Saturday, October 27 – at Southwest Baptist – 12:00 pm – Bolivar, Mo.

PDF Notes
Twitter | @TrumanWS

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - The Truman women's soccer team will try to shake off an 0-2 home weekend when it travels to Central Missouri and Southwest Baptist this Thursday and Saturday to wrap up the 2012 regular season.

The Bulldogs (11-4-1, 7-3 MIAA) found themselves on the wrong end of a pair of one-goal matches last Friday and Sunday, as the purple and white lost 2-1 to Fort Hays State before dropping a 1-0 decision to Nebraska-Kearney. Truman struggled all weekend to put the ball on target, as the 'Dogs only landed eight of their 38 total shots (21.0%) on goal, resulting in just one goal in 180 minutes of work. Emily McMeekin scored her first collegiate goal in Friday's loss to FHSU.

Truman still sports a +20 goal differential on the season, with its 30 goals being supplemented by 28 assists for 88 total points. Trisha Shoemker, despite missing the team's last four matches, is the leader in both goals (9) and points (21), with Kelsey Twellman and Alexis Heffernan responsible for five goals each. Melanie Hunt added to her assist count, reaching a team-best seven, with her feed to McMeekin on Friday afternoon. Keeper Emily Bozdeck remains the MIAA-leader in shutouts with 10, and ranks second in goals-against average at 0.62.

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 264-94-38. 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:
The NCAA unveiled its first of three official regional rankings, and the Bulldogs were listed fourth overall, and third amongst MIAA programs. This week's poll will be unveiled this Wednesday, and will factor in the matches of last week/end.

Truman (21 points) joins Central Missouri (26 points) and Central Oklahoma (24 points) as teams that have punched their ticket to the MIAA tournament, with the Bulldogs needing just one point this weekend to secure a first-round home match on Tuesday, October 30. From there, the tournament then shifts to the site of the highest-remaining seed for the semifinals and championship on Nov. 2 and Nov. 4.

If the season ended today, the Bulldogs would be the No. 3 seed in the eight-team field and would face Fort Hays State in a re-match on the 30^th in Kirksville. Northwest Missouri (20 points) is one point back of Truman but has just one match remaining to try and hold the No. 4 slot, while Northeastern State and FHSU share fifth currently with 16 points each. NSU defeated FHSU earlier this season and would hold a tiebreak between the squads.

Missouri Southern and Nebraska-Kearney find themselves in a battle for the final two spots, both holding 14 points, with Washburn (12 points) and Southwest Baptist (11 points) needing wins and help this weekend to reach the tournament. Missouri Western (10 points), Lindenwood (3) and Emporia State (2) have been eliminated from post-season contention.

With the top-6 teams in the region qualifying for the conference tournament, the MIAA's automatic bid to the conference champion (determined by post-season tournament champion) could be important come Selection Monday on November 5.

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 233, 35 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 tied for fourth all-time in career shots, now with 182. She is tied with Carie Toczylowski (1994-97) and is eight shots back of Kathy Corson (1989-92) for 3^rd all-time at 190.

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:
#12 Central Missouri “Jennies” (12-1-3, 8-0-2 MIAA)
Central Missouri has gone unbeaten in its last six matches, following its sole defeat of 2012 – coming at the hands of Truman on Sept. 30 in Kirksville. While that match did count for regional consideration, it did ot count towards the MIAA standings, putting the primary focus of league championship implications in Warrensburg on Thursday night. The Jennies are 5-0-1 at home this season.

UCM has a +18 goal differential on the year but is averaging just 1.62 goals/game offensively. Alexis Robbers has been the team's top offensive weapon, scoring eight goals in 16 matches, with Becky Lackey adding six. Jessica Grindstaff has the most decisions in goal (and was in net during the last TSU/UCM meeting), but Morgan Hartzler has been getting the most minutes lately, posting a season-long 0.30 GAA and a 91.7% save mark.

Truman holds a 20-10-4 lead in the all-time series and snapped a six-match losing streak to the Jennies with the win earlier this season. Lewis Theobald is in his sixth season at the helm and has a career record of 91-17-11.

Southwest Baptist “Bearcats” (6-8-2, 3-5-2 MIAA)
Southwest Baptist will be looking to claw its way into the MIAA tournament, needing wins and help this week as they try to sneak in as the No. 8 seed. The squad has been struggling as of late, having gone 1-5-1 in its last seven, including going scoreless defeats its last three times out. The Bearcats are 3-2-1 at home this year.

SBU has a -4 goal differential this season, having scored just 13 goals (0.79/gm) offensively. They are one of the most physical teams in the conference, evidenced by 23 yellow cards and 173 total fouls (+41 compared to opponents). Karla Jamison is responsible for five of the team's 13 goals, while Ashley Creason has been credited with five assists. Megan Link has been the team's main keeper, posting a 1.05 GAA and an 84.9% save mark.

Truman has a 21-3-5 all-time lead in the series, including a pair of wins last season. Rob Podeyn is in his fourth season at the helm of the Bearcat program.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will learn their conference tournament fate on Sunday evening, with the possibility of hosting a first-round tournament match on Tuesday, Oct. 30. Full details will be made available when known at TrumanBulldogs.com or on Twitter at twitter.com/TrumanAthletics.

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