Weekly Schedule:
Saturday, Sept. 17 – at Central (Iowa); 4:00 pm; Pella, Iowa
Friday, Sept. 23 – at Columbia (Mo.); 7:00 pm; Columbia, Mo.
Sunday, Sept. 25 – at Upper Iowa; 3:00 pm; Fayette, Iowa
Full Notes (PDF)
Week At-a-Glance:
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - - After a long road trip to Colorado and a match against a future MIAA member, the Truman men's soccer team will be close to home for the three contests this upcoming week. The 'Dogs will start off the next set of matches in Pella, Iowa, facing the Central College Dutch on Sept. 17th at 4:00 pm. This will be the first ever match-up between the two schools.
Then, on Sept. 23rd, the Bulldogs will be even closer to home, traveling south an hour and a half to Columbia to face off against the NAIA No. 20 Columbia College for the 14th time in the program's history.
Finally, Truman will have their last game on the road before a four game homestretch by traveling north to compete against the Upper Iowa Peacocks, in a Div. II match-up on Sunday, Sept. 25th.
Following the Bulldogs:
Full coverage of Truman men'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.
Scouting the Dutch:
On Saturday, Truman will head to Pella, Iowa to face off against Div. III Central College. The Dutch are off to a 4-2 start after a comeback victory in their last match-up against Monmouth College (Ill.). Central had given up the first two goals of the game to the Fighting Scots, but rallied back with four goals to defeat Monmouth 4-2.
The Dutch are led by Jonathan Schroeder, who has collected three goals and one assist so far this season. Central has outshot their opponents 94-60 and has averaged 1.67 goals per game this season. Central is undefeated at home this season.
The Dutch are members of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and this will be the first meeting for the two teams.
Scouting the Cougars:
This past week, the Columbia College (Mo.) Cougars have jumped in the NAIA rankings to 20th on the list. The Cougars are 5-2-0 for the season and have another match-up before facing off against Truman on Friday, Sept. 23rd.
The Cougars are members of the American Midwest Conference and have wrapped up eight conference titles in the program's history. Truman has the upper hand with Columbia College, compiling a 7-3-3 record against the Cougars.
So far this season, Columbia College has racked up five shutouts, and has only allowed three goals on the season. In their last contest, the Cougars shutout conference rival Benedictine University 9-0. Freshman Majd Haidar led Columbia in the contest with three goals and Yudai Yamaguchi recorded two. Goalkeeper Matt McKenna has been named the conference's defensive player of the week twice so far this season.
Scouting the Peacocks:
Before the beginning of a four game homestretch, the Bulldogs will head north to face off against Div. II opponent Upper Iowa University. The Peacocks have recorded six goals this season including one shutout game against Cornell College on Sept. 10th.
Upper Iowa has been outshot 79-41 this season and has allowed 2.61 goals in the first four games. Senior Forward Derek Oelmann is a scoring and assist leader for the Peacocks with two goals and three assists. He has also taken twice as many shots as any other Peacock with half of those on goal.
As a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, Upper Iowa has compiled a 0-7-0 record against the Truman Bulldogs.
Bulldogs vs. CC/CC/UIU:
-Junior Andy Chapman led the Bulldogs with four shots and a goal against Columbia College in the 2OT match-up on Oct. 29th, 2010.
-Junior Ben Hasse recorded two shots against Upper Iowa on Oct. 11th, 2010.
-No Bulldog has ever faced Central College.
-Goalkeeper Tyler Knierim tallied up two saves in a 5-0 against Upper Iowa last fall.
'Dogs Produce High SOG percentage:
Although their record hasn't reflected it to this point, the Bulldogs are producing a higher “shots on goal” percentage than they have in recent years. They have been outshot 85-43 in the first five match-ups this season, but of the shots they have taken the 'Dogs have had almost 56% of those shots on goal. Truman's opponents have only had 34% of their shots to be considered on goal, which is the lowest percentage that any member of the current soccer team has contributed to.
Climbing the Ranks:
Junior Jonathan Brown has now found himself in the top ten on the career assists list. Before entering this season, Brown had racked up 17 assists in just his first two seasons as a Bulldog. Now with two more, he is ninth on the all-time list with 19 alongside former Bulldog Heine Anderson. Leading the career assists list is Matt Byers with 40, followed by Martin Clayes with 38. Brown is within reach of recent graduate Bobby Larkin as he is 4th on the list with 27.
Road Warriors:
The 2011 Bulldogs will spend the majority of the season away from Kirksville, as 12 of the 16 games are either road or neutral site contests. Overall, the 'Dogs will log just more than 5,000 miles this season, or, enough to go to Boston, Mass., and back…twice.
I'm Sorry, I Didn't Catch Your Name…:
Five teams on the 2011 slate are new opponents for the Bulldog program, including Dixie (Utah) State, Central (Iowa), Fort Hays (Kan.), Sioux Falls (S.D.) and Mary (N.D.).
Up Next:
The first home matches of the season await the 'Dogs, starting with Upper Iowa coming to Kirksville for a Div. II match-up on Wednesday, Oct. 5th. Two days later, MIAA rival Fort Hays (Kan.) State will head to Truman and compete for the first time in program history. Both games are scheduled to kick-off at 3:00 pm at the Truman Soccer Pitch.
