Weekly Notes: Men's Soccer Preps for Home Contests

Truman Men's Soccer Weekly Notes (Matches 5-6)
Full Notes (PDF)

Match 5 (Live Stats):
Truman (3-1, 1-1 GLVC) vs. Lewis (2-0-2, 1-0-1 GLVC)
Date: Friday, September 20 (3:30 PM)
Series Record: Lewis leads, 12-10-1
Last Meeting: Truman won, 1-0, on Oct. 17, 2010 (Romeoville, Ill.)

Match 6 (Live Stats):
Truman vs. Wisconsin-Parkside (2-1-1, 1-1 GLVC)
Date: Sunday, September 22 (2:30 PM)
Series Record: Truman leads, 8-5
Last Meeting: Wisconsin-Parkside won, 2-1 in OT, on Aug. 30, 2005 (Kirksville, Mo.)

Social Media: @TrumanAthletics || #TSUGameDay || @TrumanMSoccer

Opening Kickoff:
A pair of key, early-season conference matches are on the docket for the Truman men's soccer team this Friday and Sunday, as the Bulldogs welcome a pair of eastern GLVC teams in Lewis (Ill.) and Wisconsin-Parkside to the Bulldog Soccer Park.

Truman will face Lewis on Friday at 3:30 p.m. before bringing in Wisconsin-Parkside for a 2:30 p.m. tilt on Sunday afternoon. Despite the distance between the schools on a map, the Bulldogs have a decent amount of games played in the series history with both, as Friday will be the 24^th meeting between the Bulldogs and Flyers. Sunday will be 14^th meeting for Truman with UW-Parkside.

The Bulldogs are coming off their first setback of the 2013 season, as Missouri-St. Louis rallied from a 1-0 deficit to score twice in the final 15 minutes on Sunday afternoon. Truman did, however, start GLVC play with a 2-0 home win against Maryville on Sept. 13, giving the Bulldogs three points through the first two contests of the year.

The offense has been a point of emphasis this season, as Truman has put up astounding numbers with 18 goals and 16 assists through four games. Nick Tolmais is the team leader both in goals (4) and points (9), while Austin Hayden (3), Nick Franta (3) and Zach Hollstrom (2) have each found the back of the net multiple times already this year. Truman is out-shooting its opponents 80-38, including a 39-13 edge in shots on goal.

Meanwhile, the Bulldog defense has posted two shutouts and only two goals that came in the run of play, giving primary keeper Drew Garrone a 0.83 goals-against average in 325 minutes in net. As a team, Truman's GAA is 0.75 with a 76.9 save percentage.

Duke Cochran has an 84-52-12 (.608) record at the helm and is in his ninth season with the program.

Following the Bulldogs:
Full coverage of Truman men'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 men's soccer schedule page as well as the top of each weekly update.

Keep up with the Bulldogs by tracking in-match 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.

Bulldogs Making National Waves:
The NCAA released its first set of national rankings on Monday, and Truman is among the league leaders in nearly all offensive categories. The Bulldogs rank first in all of Division II in total points (52), total goals (18), and total assists (16).

Truman also ranks third as a team in assists per game (4.00), fourth in points per game (13.00), and fifth in scoring offense (4.50/game).

On an individual level, Tolmais ranks eighth in the nation and first in the GLVC with four goals and 11^th in the nation with nine total points. Chris Mansfield, meanwhile, ranks 13^th in the country and first in the GLVC with three assists.

Record That Record:
The season-opening 11-0 win against Iowa Wesleyan provided the Bulldogs the opportunity to etch their names into program history, as Truman's 13 assists in the contest broke the previous record of 10 – set three different times, but most recently in 1999.

Home, Sweet Home:
The Bulldogs will play 11 of their 18 matches this season at the Bulldog Soccer Pitch, having been scheduled eight of 15 GLVC contests as well as adding all three non-conference tilts on the home schedule.

'Dogs Picked 12th in Opening GLVC Campaign:
The Bulldogs were picked to finish 12th in its first season of Great Lakes Valley Conference action, as announced on August 22nd by the league office.

The Bulldogs earned 79 points to come in 10 points behind 11th-place Missouri S&T and 19 points ahead of 13th-place UW-Parkside. Defending conference champion Rockhurst took home 14 of 15 possible first-place votes (coaches cannot vote for their own team) to lead the poll, followed by Drury (200), Quincy (195; one first-place vote), Bellarmine (175) and Lewis (149) to round out the top-five.

A total of 21 of the 33 GLVC standouts to earn All-Conference recognition last season return in 2013, including seven first-team selections.

New League Welcomes Truman in 2013:
After floating for 34 years between MIAA and Independent status, the Truman men's soccer team finally has a place to truly call "home", as the Bulldogs begin play as a Great Lakes Valley Conference member in the 2013 season.

Like the Truman men's soccer program, the Great Lakes Valley Conference began its sponsorship of men's soccer in the 1979 season, marking 2013 as the 35th year of competition for the league. The league has put a total of 35 teams into the NCAA Div. II tournament, with its lone national championship coming via former member Northern Kentucky in the 2010 season. The GLVC has landed at least one team into the national tournament each of the past 16 seasons dating back to 1997 and has sent a team to the national quarterfinals in every year since 1999 excluding 2003 and 2012.

The Bulldogs have a substantial history against current GLVC opponents, having compiled a 119-77-21 (.597) record against the other 15 current league programs. Truman has the most history with former MIAA members Missouri S&T (22-9-5) and Missouri-St. Louis (16-14-5), while having also topped the 20-match mark against Rockhurst (12-15-1), Lewis (10-12-1) and Quincy (12-6-4).

All GLVC teams will play 15 league matches in a single round-robin format, with the overall top team by percentage at the end of the season earning champion status. The top eight teams qualify for the conference tournament, with the top four seeds earning a home quarterfinal match on Sunday, November 3. The four advancing teams then travel to the top remaining seed for the conference semifinals and championship the following weekend, with the league's automatic berth to the NCAA tournament handed out on Sunday, November 10.

The Bulldogs now compete in the Midwest region, with the GLVC, GLIAC and Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) combining to compete for regional bids. No automatic bids for conference champions are awarded in men's soccer, with the Midwest region set to receive five bids in 2013.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs hit the road for their first extended road trip of 2013 next weekend, as the purple and white are set to visit Indianapolis (Friday, Sept. 27) and Saint Joseph's (Sunday, Sept. 29).

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