Match #5: Lewis (0-3-1, 0-1-1 GLVC) at Truman (1-3, 1-1 GLVC)
When: Friday, September 18, 2015 || 1 p.m. (CT)
Where: Kirksville, Mo. || Bulldog Soccer Park
Live Stats: http://sidearmstats.com/truman/msoc/
Stats: Truman || GLVC
Match #6: Wisconsin-Parkside (2-2, 2-0 GLVC) at Truman
When: Sunday, September 20, 2015 || 12 p.m. (CT)
Where: Kirksville, Mo. || Bulldog Soccer Park
Live Stats: http://sidearmstats.com/truman/msoc/
Stats: Truman || GLVC
A First Look:
The Truman men's soccer team will kick off the 2015 Family Weekend festivities on campus this Friday afternoon, as a 1 p.m. showdown with long-time rival Lewis opens a two-match homestand that concludes Sunday against Wisconsin-Parkside at noon.
The Bulldogs (1-3, 1-1 GLVC) are coming off a split weekend to open Great Lakes Valley Conference play last Friday and Sunday, as Truman kicked off league action with a 1-0 home win against Maryville on Friday, Sept. 11. However, that momentum could not carry over through Sunday, as Truman was defeated 2-0 on the road at Missouri-St. Louis to put the 'Dogs at 1-1 through two of the 15 scheduled league affairs.
This weekend, Truman plays host to the conference's northern-most schools, as Lewis (Romeoville, Ill.) and UW-Parkside (Kenosha, Wis.) make the weekend trip through Kirksville and Quincy to battle the Bulldogs and QU Hawks. Lewis will come into Friday afternoon's match at 0-3-1 overall and 0-1-1 through the first GLVC weekend. UW-Parkside, after playing at Quincy on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. will enter the weekend at 2-2 overall and 2-0 through opening GLVC action.
Truman's top goal entering this weekend is to continue to develop the offense, as the Bulldogs have scored just one goal in four matches of action this season. Senior Corey Nolte converted a penalty kick in the team's 1-0 victory against Maryville on Friday, but on the season, Truman has been out-shot 52-31, with senior John Lee and sophomore Nate Luebbert splitting top billing with four shots taken apiece.
Freshman goalkeeper Drew Orf has been the man in net for all 360 minutes thus far, posting a 1.75 goals-against average with 15 saves. Eight different players have started all four matches, including Orf, N. Luebbert, Nolte, Matt McMillin, Zach Hollstrom, Brian Kane, Nicholas Klemm, and Josh Hall.
Head coach Duke Cochran – who needs just three victories to become Truman's all-time winningest coach – is in his 11th season at the helm of the men's soccer program in 2015.
Bulldog Tweet-ables (140 characters or less):- #MSOCHistory: This year is the 37th season of MSOC at Truman. The program's all-time record is 370-225-53 (.612).
- #IGotYourBack: The Bulldog defense has already been credited with two team saves this season.
- #ThirtyOne: The 2015 Bulldog rosters features three SRs, four JRs, 11 SOs, seven redshirt-FRs, and six true FRs.
- #ShowMeState: Of Truman's 31 players on the opening day roster, 24 hail from the state of Missouri. CO, IL, KS, and MN also repped.
- #HighLevel: The Bulldogs now feature three players who have seen the NCAA-I level, including newcomers Kane and Klemm.
- #AlphabetSoup: 12 players return as previous letterwinners for the Bulldogs in 2015.
And Now, Let's Head to Brick Tamland for the Weather:- Friday at 1 p.m. – 78 degrees, Chance of thunderstorms, 13-mph from the south
- Sunday at 12 p.m. – 71 degrees, Mostly Cloudy, 6-mph from the east-southeast
Scouting the Opponents:
Lewis "Flyers" – Friday at 1 p.m. – Kirksville, Mo.- The Flyers are still in search of their first goal of 2015, as Lewis has started 0-3-1 overall, including an 0-2 mark on the road.
- Lewis kicked off GLVC play last weekend with a 0-0 home draw against GLVC-preseason favorite Indianapolis before falling 1-0 at Saint Joseph's on Sunday.
- The Flyers have been out-shot 63-40, with senior Krystian Nowak's 10 pacing the Lewis offense. Senior Justin Salazar has started all four matches in goal, recording a 1.21 goals-against average with 21 saves (80.8%) and one shutout.
- Lewis, who went 11-5-3 a season ago and fell in overtime in the GLVC semifinals at Quincy, was picked to finish fifth in the 2015 GLVC coaches' preseason poll.
- Last season, Lewis defeated Truman by a 2-0 score on Oct. 19, 2014, in Romeoville, Ill. The Flyers got goals by then-junior Robert Zieba (36') and Nowak (52') to win, despite Truman out-shooting LU 16-15.
- Lewis leads the all-time series, 14-10-1, with the Flyers having won both meetings with the teams as members of the GLVC. Truman's last win in the series came three matches ago, in a 1-0 road victory on Oct. 17, 2010.
- Evan Fiffles is the head coach for the Flyers and is in his 24th season at the helm.
Wisconsin-Parkside "Rangers" – Sunday at 12 p.m. - Kirksville, Mo.- UW-Parkside, who got off to a rough start by allowing seven goals in two losses to open the 2015 season, got back on track with 1-0 victories against Saint Joseph's and at Indianapolis last weekend.
- Four different players have scored one goal each for the Rangers, while freshman Jaime Collin has been responsible for assists on two of the four tallies. Junior Remi Bibal was named the GLVC's Defensive Player of the Week after posting back-to-back shutouts last weekend and making 11 saves. They were the first two games of the season for Bibal.
- After going 9-7-2 a season ago, Parkside was picked to finish 10th in this season's GLVC preseason coaches' poll.
- Last year, UW-Parkside defeated Truman 2-0 on Oct. 17, 2014, in Kenosha, Wis. Nemanja Medic (no longer on the team) scored in the eighth minute, before then-junior Antonio Gonzalez added an insurance tally in the 52nd minute. Truman out-shot UWP 15-10 overall and 7-5 on goal.
- The Bulldogs lead the all-time series, 9-6, with the two squads having split the two matches since Truman became a GLVC member prior to the 2013 season. The Bulldogs won at home, 2-1, on Sept. 22, 2013.
- Jason Zitzke is in his fifth season as the head coach for the Rangers.
Bulldogs Picked 11th in GLVC Preseason Poll:
The Truman men's soccer team was picked 11th in the 2015 Great Lakes Valley Conference preseason poll, as league coaches awarded 90 total points to the Bulldogs in the 16-team poll.
The Bulldogs landed just two points back of preseason-10th place UW-Parkside and were eight points clear of preseason-12th place McKendree. Indianapolis picked up the top slot with 206 points and six first-place votes, while Quincy received the most first-place votes (8) of any team but came in three points back at 203.
Rockhurst (194) fell in third in front of Drury, who garnered the remaining pair of first-place votes and 188 total points. Lewis (178), Missouri-St. Louis (161), Bellarmine (142), and Missouri S&T (113) closed out the top eight.
Southern Indiana (107), UWP, Truman, and McKendree slid in the 9-12 slots, while Maryville (52), Illinois Springfield (51), William Jewell (40), and Saint Joseph's (21) rounded out the poll.
The top eight teams will qualify for the 2015 post-season tournament, to be held Nov. 1 (quarterfinals) and Nov. 6-8 (semifinals/final) on campus sites.
Up Next:
The Bulldogs hit the road to the state of Indiana for two matches next Friday and Sunday. Truman will battle Indianapolis at 6:30 p.m. (CT) on Sept. 25 before facing Saint Joseph's in Rensselaer, Ind., on Sept. 27 at 2:30 p.m. (CT).
