Women's Soccer Sets Off For Final Three Regular Season Matches

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Women's Soccer team has a showdown set for Friday evening with McKendree University to start the final three games of their regular season.

McKendree sits atop the Great Lakes Valley Conference with a 7-2-1 league record and has one more win than the Bulldogs overall with 11. Truman is 6-3-1 in the conference and 10-3-1 after defeating Indianapolis last Friday 2-0 and tying Bellarmine 0-0 on Sunday.

Following Friday's match, Truman will play at Illinois Springfield (2-10-2/2-8 GLVC) on Sunday and will conclude the conference regular season on Wednesday evening against William Jewell (7-7-1/4-6 GLVC) in Liberty, Missouri.

The first set of NCAA regional rankings was released on Wednesday and surprisingly the Bulldogs were not listed among the top 10 teams in the region. Grand Valley (Mich.) State at 14-0-1 leads the group with Ferris (Mich.) State, Saginaw Valley and McKendree claiming the top four spots.

In the United Soccer Coaches regional poll, the Bulldogs are fourth and McKendree is fifth.

A lot will be decided in the final three conference matches with seven teams having either seven or six league wins. Eight teams make the conference tournament with the top four teams hosting on Sunday, October 28.

The Bulldogs reached 10 wins for the 23rd out of their last 24 seasons with their 2-0 win over UINDY last Friday. Maggie Beem and Hanna Hickey scored first half goals for Truman and Beth Hopwood made three saves for the shutout.

Hopwood had a little more work to do on Sunday as she faced and stopped a season-high 11 shots on goal and helped preserve the scoreless draw with Bellarmine. The Bulldogs were outshot in that match 22-8 with an 11-1 total on shots on goal.

That outing gave Hopwood her third GLVC Defender of the Week award. She has eight shutouts and a 0.55 goals-against average. The eight shutouts ties her with McKendree's Zoe Brouchu atop the GLVC leaderboard.

Faith Branson leads the team with four goals scored and as a team Truman is third in the GLVC scoring race with 23. Rockhurst leads with 28 and Southern Indiana is second with 26. Hanna Burke and Hanna Liljegren both have three goals and a total of 11 players have found the back of the net this season.

The Bulldogs are 5-0-2 against McKendree with the teams playing a scoreless tie last season in Lebanon. The Bulldogs won 1-0 in the NCAA Tournament in 2016 after the Bearcats eliminated Truman in the GLVC semifinals with a scoreless tie decided by penalties.

The Bearcats have a +12 goal differential with 17 goals scored and only five allowed. Jane Skaggs has four of the 17 goals to lead the team. As mentioned earlier, Zou Brochu has eight shutouts and has allowed only five goals for a 0.35 goals-against average.

Truman is 4-0-1 against Illinois Springfield with the only blemish on the ledger being a 1-1 tie last season in Kirksville. Delaney Kooken scored early in the second half for Truman and Karisa Rogers answered with 19 minutes left to play. Maggie Juhlin leads the Prairie Stars with three goals scored. Paloma Guljarro has been in goal for the majority of the matches played and has a 1.16 goals-against average with two shutouts.

William Jewell has only one goal in six losses to Truman in the past. The Bulldogs have shutout the Cardinals in four-straight matches and have won each by a 1-0 score. Last year in Kirksville, Paige Peterson picked up the goal just before half in the win. Jewell is 4-6 in conference and fighting for one of the top eight spots in the tournament. Allison Malott has six goals on the season to pace the Cardinals with 15 points, Kayla Crowder has four goals and three assists for 11 points. On the backend, Kaylie Kappelmann and played in 15 matches with three shutouts and a 1.92 GAA.

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Players Mentioned

#11 Delaney Kooken: M; 5' 1"; Senior

#8 Maggie Beem: F; 5' 4"; Junior

#22 Hanna Burke: M; 5' 7"; Redshirt Sophomore

#7 Hanna Hickey: M; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#23 Hanna Liljegren: M; 5' 2"; Junior

#15 Paige Peterson: M; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#0 Beth Hopwood: GK; 5' 7"; Freshman

#3 Faith Branson: F; 5' 6"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#11 Delaney Kooken
: 5' 1"; Senior
: M

#8 Maggie Beem
: 5' 4"; Junior
: F

#22 Hanna Burke
: 5' 7"; Redshirt Sophomore
: M

#7 Hanna Hickey
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: M

#23 Hanna Liljegren
: 5' 2"; Junior
: M

#15 Paige Peterson
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: M

#0 Beth Hopwood
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: GK

#3 Faith Branson
: 5' 6"; Freshman
: F