Women's Soccer Brings National Ranking On Weekend Road Trip

****UPDATE*** Friday's match against Northwest Missouri State has been moved from Maryville to Chillicothe, Missouri and will be played at Chillicothe High School starting at 4 p.m. due to weather/field conditions.

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Women's Soccer team and their newly minted national ranking will face Northwest Missouri and Upper Iowa on the road this weekend. The Bulldogs will be in Maryville on Friday for a 4 p.m. match against the Bearcats and in Fayette, Iowa on Sunday for a 1 p.m. kickoff against Upper Iowa.

The Bulldogs 2-0 opening weekend garnered national recognition by the United Soccer Coaches Association. Truman was voted 23^rd in the first regular season poll of the year and third in the Midwest region after victories over Davenport (Mich.) and Southwest Baptist (Mo.). Both wins came via shutout and earned freshman goalkeeper Beth Hopwood the Great Lakes Valley Conference defensive player of the week award.

While the shutouts are common place among Truman women's soccer, the Bulldogs six goals the opening weekend bucked the trend from last year. In 2017, Truman got their sixth goal of the year in their sixth match and scored a total of 18 for the year.

Junior Hanna Liljegren and freshman Katie Vollmer had two goals apiece over the weekend with sophomore Paige Peterson and senior Jen Seithel added the others. Sophomore Hanna Burke assisted on two goals. The Bulldogs averaged 17 shots with 11.5 on goal during the two games.

Northwest Missouri is 1-1 after playing two GLVC schools last weekend. They defeated William Jewell 2-1 but lost to Rockhurst by the same 2-1 tally. Mollie Holtman has two of the three Bearcat goals. Last year, Northwest was 5-11-2 overall and were picked 10^th in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Coaches poll. Truman owns a 23-0-2 all-time record against Northwest dating back to the MIAA days with the last match occurring on September 16, 2012.

Upper Iowa is also 1-1 on the young season with a shutout win over Fort Hays (Kan.) State and a shutout loss to Washburn (Kan.). Freshman keeper Natalie Rudrud was named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference keeper of the week. Rudrud made 16 saves in the two games including one on a penalty against Washburn. The Peacocks were 5-11-1 a year ago and were slotted 11^th out of the 16 teams in the NSIC preseason coaches' poll. The only result between Truman and Upper Iowa was a 4-0 Bulldog victory in Kirksville in 2006.

Following the non-conference road matches, Truman will open up the GLVC season at home on September 14^th against Lewis University.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#10 Jen Seithel: M; 6' 2"; Senior

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

#16 Katie Vollmer: M; 5' 6"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

#10 Jen Seithel
: 6' 2"; Senior
: M

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

#16 Katie Vollmer
: 5' 6"; Freshman
: M