Weekly Schedule:
Friday, Nov. 4 – vs. Missouri Southern/Southwest Baptist; 1:00 pm; Kansas City (UMKC)
*Sunday, Nov. 6 – vs. TBD in MIAA Championship; 1:00 pm, Kansas City (UMKC)
* - if win/advance on Nov. 4
Full Notes (PDF)
Week At-a-Glance:
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - It all comes down to the MIAA tournament in Kansas City for the Truman women's soccer team, as the Bulldogs can control their postseason destiny with a pair of wins this Friday and Sunday on the UMKC campus and Stanley H. Durwood Stadium.
The Bulldogs (11-5-2) head into the tournament as the No. 2 seed after a 2-0 loss to top-seeded Central Missouri last Saturday – the final day of the 2011 regular season. However, by virtue of winning their previous eight matches, the Bulldogs earned a bye from Thursday's first round and will take on the winner of 3rd-seeded Missouri Southern and 6th-seeded Southwest Baptist at 1:00 pm on Friday.
From there, should the Bulldogs advance, the team would be one game away from claiming the MIAA's automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, needing to advance victorious out of Sunday's MIAA championship match – also set for 1:00 pm.
The Bulldogs have played both the Lions and Bearcats twice this season, getting a pair of overtime wins against Southern and a double-OT road win and a shutout home win against SBU.
MIAA Tournament Information:
The MIAA tournament makes its return in 2011 after a four-year absence, with this year's six-team event taking place at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. The 850-seat facility will serve as the host for the three-day event, with a $5 daily ticket charge for all patrons ages seven and older. Children age six and under will be admitted at no charge.
Thursday's matchups will pit #3 MSSU against #6 SBU at 3:00 pm and #4 NWMSU and #5 ESU at 6:00 pm. Friday's schedule will have #2 Truman taking on the MSSU/SBU winner at 1:00 pm and #1 Central Missouri facing the NWMSU/ESU winner at 4:00pm. The championship match is set for Sunday at 1:00 pm.
Official NCAA tournament procedures will be in place for the event, with the teams observing normal timing rules (two 45-minute halves, followed by two 10-minute golden goal overtimes if still tied) before the implementation of penalty kicks to determine an advancing team if necessary.
NCAA Postseason Outlook:
With the latest poll set to come out on Wednesday afternoon, the Bulldogs went through last week sitting in the No. 7 spot – one outside of the top-6 to qualify for the South Central regional. Truman trailed top-seeded Abilene Christian, Central Oklahoma, UCM, St. Edward's, Midwestern State and Dallas Baptist.
The Bulldogs, based on last week's results, are unlikely to climb into the top-6 this week, making this weekend take on greater importance as Truman looks to reach the NCAA tournament for the fifth straight season and 10th time overall.
Following the Bulldogs:
Full coverage of Truman women's soccer is available online at TrumanBulldogs.com, including results, upcoming game information and weekly updates.
When available, links to free online live stats are added to the Bulldog soccer schedule page as well as the top of each weekly update.
Keep up with the Bulldogs by tracking in-game updates (when available). Follow Truman Athletics on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TrumanAthletics. Also be sure to sign up for TextCaster updates on the Bulldog homepage.
Canine Corner:
Through 18 regular season matches, Truman scored 26 goals (1.44/gm) and allowed 21 (1.17/gm), improving that mark in conference-only matches to a 12-3 margin. The Bulldogs also took 332 total shots to 146 for their opponents (155-42 in MIAA matches).
Junior Kelsey Twellman and sophomore Trisha Shoemaker are tied for the team-lead in goals scored with eight each, while junior Olivia Hayes has scored four goals and added four assists. Senior Megan Buri continues to be the team-leader in assists with seven.
Senior keeper Jayne Grisham has been part of all eight Bulldog shutouts this season, making six on her own and two in conjunction with sophomore Emily Bozdeck. Grisham has a goals-against average of 1.06 in 1364 minutes of action this year, allowing just 16 goals.
Checking Out the Competition:
The Bulldogs will face either Missouri Southern (7-9-1) or Southwest Baptist (4-11-2) in Friday's semifinal, having posted a combined 4-0 record against the two squads this season.
Both matches between Truman and Missouri Southern have been nailbiters, with the Bulldogs winning in similar fashion twice. On Sept. 22, in the first MIAA match of the season, Kelsey Twellman scored on a free kick blast in the 4th minute of the first overtime to give the 'Dogs a 2-1 win in Joplin. Then, on Oct. 20, Twellman did it again, finding the back of the net on a free kick – this time in the 8th minute of the first overtime – to again send the Bulldogs home 2-1 winners. Trisha Shoemaker scored in each match against the Lions as well.
Southern closed the regular season winning seven of its last nine, with its only losses coming at the hands of Truman and UCM. Shannon Kuhn and Megan Stueve – both goal-scorers against Truman this season – lead the way with six goals apiece on the season.
Against SBU, a hectic 3-2 double-overtime win for Truman in Bolivar was countered with a relatively calm 2-0 MIAA victory in Kirksville later in the season for the Bulldogs, as Truman earned the regular season sweep. On Sept. 24, Olivia Hayes scored the game winner in the 8th minute of the second OT, backing up goals from Shoemaker and Melanie Hunt. Then, on Oct. 22, Jaclyn Schumann headed in a Twellman corner kick in the first half before Twellman added an insurance goal midway through the second 45 for the Bulldog shutout. In the two matches combined, Truman outshot SBU 60-13 and took 12 corner kicks to SBU's two.
Kelly Isaac is responsible for half (six) of SBU's goals on the season. Isaac scored both goals in the Sept. 24 meeting.
Should Truman advance to the championship, a likely rematch is in store against 8th-ranked and top-seeded Central Missouri (17-1), who earned the No. 1 seed. The Bulldogs also have the possibility of facing one of the two quarterfinalists – Northwest Missouri (9-6-2) or Emporia State (3-9-5). Truman went 0-2 against UCM during the regular season, falling by 2-0 scores each time, but went 1-0-1 against NWMSU (0-0 in Kirksville, 2-0 in Maryville) and 2-0 against ESU (1-0 both in Kirksville and Emporia). Kelsey Twellman and Trisha Shoemaker both scored goals against NWMSU and ESU.
Bulldogs Making Noise in Record Books:
A quartet of Bulldogs – three seniors and a junior – are inking their names into the Bulldog record book as the 2011 season begins to wind down, including:
· Megan Buri – 10th in career assists (18); t-8th in games played (83)
· Jaclyn Schumann – 10th in games played (82)
· Jayne Grisham – 4th in shutouts (23); 5th in minutes played (4509); 7th in saves (157)
· Olivia Hayes – 5th in shots (175); t-8th in goals (22); t-10th in points (55)
Up Next:
The Bulldogs will learn their NCAA tournament fate on Monday, Nov. 7, via a webcast on NCAA.com. The time will be announced later this week.
