Match #6: Lewis (4-1, 2-0 GLVC) at Truman (2-1-2, 1-0-1 GLVC)
When: Friday, September 18, 2015 || 3:30 p.m. (CT)
Where: Kirksville, Mo. || Bulldog Soccer Park
Live Stats: http://sidearmstats.com/truman/wsoc/
Stats: Truman || GLVC || Lewis Match #7: Wisconsin-Parkside (2-2, 1-1 GLVC) at Truman
When: Sunday, September 20, 2015 || 2:30 p.m. (CT)
Where: Kirksville, Mo. || Bulldog Soccer Park
Live Stats: http://sidearmstats.com/truman/wsoc/
Stats: Truman || GLVC || UW-Parkside
A First Look:
The Truman women's soccer team will look to rely on its home turf and friendly crowd to overcome a weary stretch of scheduling this Friday and Sunday, as the Bulldogs close a stretch of five matches in 10 days with home tilts against Lewis (Friday, 3:30 p.m.) and Wisconsin-Parkside (Sunday, 2:30 p.m.).
The Bulldogs, at 2-1-2 overall on the season and 1-0-1 in the GLVC, have gone unbeaten through the first three matches of this current five-match stretch that started last Friday with a 0-0 draw at home against Maryville. From there, Truman got a Megan Whitehead goal to defeat Missouri-St. Louis on the road 1-0 on Sunday before Jessica Hanson's second-half free kick helped salvage a 1-1 road draw at Lindenwood on Tuesday night.
Katie Mattingly picked up conference player of the week honors for her play last weekend, while the Bulldog defense as a whole has helped lower the team's goals-against average to a mark of 1.10 in just shy of 500 minutes of total action so far this season. Alexis Heffernan – buoyed by her two-goal match against Ferris State to start the season – continues to serve as the team's offensive statistical front-runner, while Casey Maloney has handed out two assists to lead the 'Dogs in that regard.
This week, Truman faces the northern-most GLVC schools, as Lewis (Romeoville, Ill.) and UW-Parkside (Kenosha, Wis.) make a trip for road matches at Truman and Quincy. UWP and Quincy will battle at 5 p.m.
Head coach Mike Cannon – the winningest coach in program history with 292 career victories – is in his 23rd season at the helm of the Truman women's soccer program in 2015. He is seventh all-time in victories amongst all NCAA-II coaches.
Bulldog Tweet-ables (140 characters or less):- #WSOCHistory: This year marks the 32nd season of WS at Truman. The all-time record is 344-180-56 (.641).
- #GLVCStrong: The Bulldogs won 10 matches in each of their first two seasons of #GLVCws play, posting a .750 win%.
- #HomeSweetHome: The Bulldog women are 174-48-39 all-time at home, including a 17-2-3 mark since start of 2013 season.
- #Dramatics: The Bulldogs have scored all five of their goals this season in the second half.
- #30for30: The 2015 Bulldog roster features three seniors, five juniors, 11 sophomores, four redshirt freshman, and seven true freshmen.
- #ShowMeState: Of Truman's 30 players on the opening day roster, 22 hail from the state of Missouri. IL, KS, IA, and NE also repped.
- #DontHassletheHeff: SR Heffernan's 10 goals last year the most in a single-year by a TSU player since 2009 (Hayes, 12).
- #AlphabetSoup: 17 players return as previous letterwinners for the Bulldogs in 2015.
And Now, Let's Head to Brick Tamland for the Weather:- Friday at 3:30 p.m. – 80 degrees, Thunderstorms Likely, 8-mph from the southwest
- Sunday at 2:30 p.m. – 71 degrees, Partly Cloudy, 7-mph from the east-southeast
Scouting the Opponents:
Lewis "Flyers" – Friday at 3:30 p.m. – Kirksville, Mo.- The Flyers are off to a great start in 2015, posting wins in four of their first five matches, including a perfect 2-0 sweep of Indianapolis and Saint Joseph's last weekend to open GLVC play.
- Lewis has scored 10 goals (2.00/game) while giving up just four so far this year, as sophomore transfer forward Mackenzie Fuller and two-time all-GLVC performing senior Maggie Moran have scored three each.
- Sophomore Jennifer Meyer has made all five starts in goal, making 18 saves and recording a 0.84 goals-against average.
- After going 5-7-6 (5-5-5 GLVC) a season ago, the Flyers were picked to finish seventh in the 2015 GLVC preseason coaches' poll.
- The teams played to a scoreless draw in their last meeting on Oct. 19, 2014, in Romeoville, Ill. The Flyers out-shot Truman by a 14-5 margin on the day but just 3-1 on goal.
- Truman is 7-5-2 all-time against Lewis, having picked up draws each of the past two years with the previous meeting coming back in 1999.
- Chris Koenig is in his ninth season as the head coach of the Flyers.
UW-Parkside "Rangers" – Sunday at 2:30 p.m. – Kirksville, Mo.- The Rangers have started with a 2-2 record this year, including a split last weekend against Saint Joseph's (1-0 home loss) and Indianapolis (1-0 road win).
- Parkside holds a dominating shots advantage (84-34) on its opponents, but have scored just four goals on that number of attempts. Junior Lauren Bialas has scored twice for the Rangers this season to lead the squad.
- Freshman Sarah Dobrowolski has played all 360 minutes in goal, recording a 0.75 goals-against average with 14 saves and two shutouts.
- The Rangers put up a remarkable season a year ago, finishing 18-1-3 and reaching the NCAA-II round of 16 before falling to eventual national champion Grand Valley by a 1-0 score at home. This season, Parkside was picked to finish fourth in the GLVC preseason coaches' poll.
- Truman is 4-3 in seven all-time matches against UWP, with Parkside having won each of the last three meetings – two coming in the GLVC tournament.
- Brittany Nikolic is in her first season at UWP as the program's head coach
Prime Time in 2015:
For all 2015 Great Lakes Valley Conference soccer home doubleheaders, the Bulldog women will take the field second, following the men's game that starts 2.5 hours prior. This will be the first switch of game times during Truman's three-year membership in the GLVC.
All road doubleheader times are set by that host institution.
Huyck to the Hall:
Emily Huyck will join the Truman Athletics Hall of Fame as part of the 2015 induction class this fall.
Huyck was a two-time Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Most Valuable Player and a three-time first team all-conference goalkeeper for the Bulldogs from 1998-2001. She set a school record 43 shutouts and currently has the ninth longest shutout streak in Division II at 955:21. She is one of only three keepers in the top 20 with two shutout streaks over 850 minutes long.
Huyck is 13th in Division II in career goals against average, first in the MIAA at 0.49 and shares the conference record with fewest goals allowed in a season with seven. She was 21-1 in the first three years of women's soccer in the MIAA while the Bulldogs began a dynasty of winning seven straight league titles from 1999 to 2005.
During her senior season in 2001, Huyck became the first keeper in Truman history to earn all-America honors as she garnered National Soccer Coaches Association of America second-team honors while leading the Bulldogs to an 18-3 record and the NCAA National Quarterfinals.
Huyck went into the coaching ranks as she was a student-assistant for the MIAA champion and NCAA Tournament bound Bulldogs in 2002. Then while pursuing her master's degree at the Minnesota State University in Mankato, Huyck was a graduate assistant in 2004.
Huyck returned to Truman as a full time assistant coach in 2005. She is currently the Director of the Montessori Co-op School in Omaha, Neb., and continues her involvement with soccer by coaching various ages at the club level and runs her own introduction to soccer/skills camp for younger children.
Up Next:
The Bulldogs head east to Indiana for matches at Indianapolis (Friday, Sept. 25; 4 p.m. CT) and Saint Joseph's (Sunday, Sept. 27; 12 p.m.) before returning home the first weekend of October.
