KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The first conference road trip will be a big test for the Truman Women's Soccer team as they head to the Kansas City area for a showdown with both Rockhurst and William Jewell. The Bulldogs will face the Hawks at 5 p.m. on Friday and the Cardinals at noon on Sunday.
The Bulldogs notched their first win of the season this past Sunday when
Faith Branson put a loose ball into the back of the net in the 71
st minute to give Truman a 1-0 victory over Quincy.
Beth Hopwood stopped all 11 shots and earned the Great Lakes Valley Conference Defender of the Week award. Hopwood has two shutouts on the season and has stopped 30 of 31 shots faced thus far for a 96.8% save percentage.
Truman is 15-2-2 all-time against the Hawks but the team shared the GLVC regular season title in 2016. That year, the teams finished with identical conference records with Truman earning the 1-0 road win in the head-to-head matchup. Last year, the Bulldogs escaped Kansas City with a 3-2 overtime win. Rockhurst grabbed a 2-1 lead early in the second half before
Maggie Beem got the equalizer five minutes later.
Faith Branson got the winner two minutes into the extra time off a pass from Beem.
Rockhurst received votes in this week's United Soccer Coaches Division II poll and were the number three team in the regional poll behind Grand Valley and Ferris State. The Hawks have started the season 3-0 and have outscored opponents 10-4. They are 1-0 in the GLVC with a 4-1 win over William Jewell on Sunday. The Hawks were picked fifth with a first-place vote in the preseason poll released by the conference.
William Jewell is 0-3-1 with two offensive goals in the first four games. They have been outshot 74-45. They were 7-10-1 a year ago and finished the season on a five-match losing streak, including a 3-2 loss at home to the Bulldogs in the season finale. The Cardinals led 2-0 in that match with goals in the first seven minutes but
Maggie Beem and
Hanna Burke tied the contest before half. An "own-goal" by a Cardinal defender in the 75
th minute proved costly and stood up as the difference in the match.
Truman is 7-0 all-time against the Cardinals with five of the matches going down as 1-0 victories for the Bulldogs.
Both matches will be streamed for free on the Great Lakes Valley Conference Sports Network (GLVCSN.com)
Up next, Truman will split a weekend with a road match at the University of Indianapolis before coming home to face Bellarmine on Sunday.
