Women's Soccer 9/3/2019 3:40:00 PM

Women's Soccer Heads North To Kickoff 2019 Campaign

Ferris: Live Stats | Live Video
Davenport : Live Stats | Live Video

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Women's Soccer team will begin their 2019 regular season slate with a pair of road games in the state of Michigan. The Bulldogs will play at #12 Ferris State on Friday and at Davenport University on Sunday.

Truman was picked first in the 2019 GLVC preseason poll and returns the bulk of their scoring and starting keeper from last year's tri-GLVC championship team. The Bulldogs finished 14-4-1 and 9-3-1 in conference matches to share the league title with Southern Indiana and McKendree.

Head Coach Mike Cannon enters his 27^thseason and has a 340-131-59 (.710) coaching mark. Cannon has guided the Bulldogs to 12 NCAA Tournament appearances and 11 conference regular season titles. He was the GLVC Coach of the Year following last season.

The team topped 30 team goals for the fourth time in nine years last season with redshirt junior Hanna Burke leading the way with five goals and five assists for 15 points. Burke was named a first team all-GLVC player and is joined by fellow all-conference returners Maggie Beem (second team) and Hanna Liljegren (third team).

Beem had four goals and four assists and Liljegren added three goals and one helper. Fourteen different players hit the back of the net for the Bulldogs and eight were multiple goal scorers.

Sophomore keeper Beth Hopwood recorded nine shutouts during her first season. She stopped 79 of the 96 shots on goal for an .832 save percentage and was named GLVC Defender of the Week three times in 2018.

Truman Against The Opponents:
Truman has taken both meetings with Ferris State but this will be the first time the Bulldogs will be the visitors. Truman won 2-0 in a neutral site match played in Allendale, Michigan in 2014 and 3-1 in a home contest in 2015.

The Bulldogs opened the 2018 season with a 2-0 win over Davenport in the first meeting between the two schools. Paige Peterson and Liljegren had the tallies for Truman while Hopwood made six saves for the shutout.

About the Opposition:

Ferris posted a 17-4-3 overall mark and won matches in the first two rounds of the NCAA Division II Tournament. They defeated McKendree 2-0 in the first round and Ohio Valley 1-0 in the second before falling in the Midwest regional championship to nemesis Grand Valley State 2-1. The Lakers accounted for three of Ferris' four losses with the other coming in the season opener to Missouri-St. Louis in double-overtime. They were picked second behind GVSU in the GLIAC preseason coaches poll and are under the direction of first-year head coach Greg Henson.

The Bulldogs were ranked 12^thin the United Soccer Coaches national poll and return six of their seven all-GLIAC performers for last year. Pia Nagel led the team with 10 goals and four assists for 24 points while Alison Chesterfield posted five shutouts and a 0.97 goals-against mark.

Davenport was selected sixth in the GLIAC preseason survey and finished the 2018 season with a 6-10 overall mark and 4-5 conference record. The Panthers will also debut a new head coach in Paige Eli, having taken over the program in early July. Junior Madeleine Zayan and Roheema Bennett are the returning leading scorers for DU. Bennett scored three goals and added two assists while Zayan scored twice and had one assist.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs will begin defense of the GLVC crown by hosting rival Quincy on Sunday, September 15 at 2:30 p.m. Truman has only two of their first seven GLVC contests on the home pitch to start the conference slate but will finish with six of their last eight at home.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

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

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