KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Truman Men's Soccer team will begin their 2019 regular season slate with a pair of road games. The Bulldogs will play at Northwood (Mich.) on Thursday and at Purdue Northwest (Ind.) on Saturday.
Truman was picked fourteenth in the 2019 GLVC preseason poll after finishing 4-8-4 and 2-8-3 in conference matches a season ago. Head Coach
Duke Cochran enters his 15
th season and has compiled a 115-107-25 (.516) coaching mark thus far. Cochran has led his teams to the NCAA Tournament twice and has five seasons with double digit wins. Furthermore he is the program's all-time leader in coaching victories. Overall he leads a young team that features just seven upperclassmen.
Forward
Matt Yankowitz, the leading scorer from last year with six goals, returns for his senior season. His six goals were a career high, and he has 14 career goals. Fellow forwards
Collin McDonough and
Jeff Masters also return, and both scored multiple goals last season. McDonough scored three goals last season as a freshman with 15 appearances and five starts. Masters scored twice as a redshirt sophomore and added an assist. The team scored 23 goals last season, which was up from their 2017 total of 18.
Defender
Will Clayton also returns, he was named the Defensive MVP last season as well as team rookie of the Year and winner of the Bulldog Award. He started all 16 games, logging the most minutes on the team with 1480 and was Academic All-GLVC.
Sophomore keeper
Roy Hart returns after posting a .786 save percentage in three starts last season. He made five total appearances and allowed 1.35 goals against per game. Hart will compete for starts with incoming freshman
Joey Keane and junior
Julian Echeverri, a transfer from North Iowa Area CC.
Truman Against The Opponents:
Truman has played Northwood three times previously, with a 2-0-1 record against them. From 2004-2006 the two teams played each season, the most recent game being a 1-0 win for Truman at Northwood.
The Bulldogs have gone against Purdue Northwest just one time previously, which was a 3-2 win last season. The team rallied from down 2-1 with goals in the 72nd minute from Masters and the game winner from McDonough in the 81st.
About the Opposition:
Northwood finished 9-9-1 a season ago, including a 5-2 win over GLVC opponent Missouri S&T and a 3-0 loss at Indianapolis. They reached the conference championship game in the GLIAC where they fell 3-0 to Ashland. They were picked to finish third in the GLIAC by the preseason coaches' poll, and return an experienced roster which includes last season's leading scorer—Austin Hobbs. Hobbs led the team with four goals and added three assists as a sophomore in 2018.
Purdue Northwest also won nine games a season ago, finishing with a 9-7-1 overall record. They are led by second team all-GLIAC honoree Enrique Serna, who scored five goals last year; which ranked second on the team. Leading scorer Isaiah Nieves also returns, he scored six goals and 16 points in 2018—both team highs. They also reached last season's GLIAC tournament, but fell 1-0 to Ashland in the first round. They were picked sixth in the preseason coaches' poll this season.
Up Next:
The Bulldogs will begin their home schedule, as well as conference play, next weekend when they host rival Quincy on Sunday, September 15 at 12:00 p.m.
