The week ahead... The No. 9 Jennies (15-0-1, 12-0-0 MIAA) clinched at least a share of the MIAA regular season title in a 3-1 win at Northwest Missouri last week, and can clinch the title outright with a win or tie over either Lindenwood or Missouri Western. Central Missouri concludes their 2014 regular season slate this weekend against Lindenwood on Friday, Oct. 31 and Sunday, Nov. 2 against Missouri Western. Sunday is Senior Day, with the Jennies seniors being honored in a pregame ceremony.
Last week in two victories, junior
Julie Ireland tallied five points, scoring two goals (one game-winner) and an dealing out an assist. She enters the final week of the regular season as the team leader in points (18) and tied with seven goals.
Lindenwood will arrive in Warrensburg with a record of 6-7-3 including 5-5-2 in conference play. Missouri Western is 9-6-1 and 6-5-1 in MIAA competition, and will host Northwest Missouri on Friday night before Sunday's match with the Jennies.
Series History...Lindenwood: Central Missouri leads the all-time series, 5-2-0. The Jennies won the season's first meeting, 2-0 on Sept. 19 in St. Charles. UCM has won the past four meetings overall.
Missouri Western: The Jennies have never lost to the Griffons, holding a 16-0-0 lead. The Jens won the first match with the Griffons, 3-1 on October 24 in St. Joseph.
Laurie Kaminski (Lindenwood): Laurie Kaminski is in her 10th season as the head coach of the Lindenwood Lady Lions women's soccer program. During her career at Lindenwood she has compiled a record of 85-67-15 and the program has advanced to postseason play three times.
Lindenwood was the most improved team in the MIAA last season. The Lady Lions went 5-5-1 in conference action and advanced to the MIAA Tournament in their first season of eligibility. Lindenwood finished with an overall record of 8-10. Six Lady Lions were named to one of the all-conference teams, led by second-team honors for Taylor Buehne and Kat Roe. A total of 17 players were named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll, three were MIAA Scholar-Athletes, and one received the MIAA Academic Excellence Award.
Before coming to Lindenwood, Kaminski played four years of college soccer at Saint Louis University. Kaminski, a native of St. Louis and a Mehlville High School grad, is a current member of the Scrubs Soccer Club. She earned a bachelor's degree in Communications with a minor in Marketing from Saint Louis in 2003. In 2004, she earned a master's degree in Sport Management from Lindenwood.
Chad Edwards (Missouri Western): Edwards is in his fourth season as the Griffons' head coach. In 2013 the Griffons had a tough go of it with multiple injuries and set backs. The Griffons opened the season winning two of their first four games with junior Tara Russell collecting four goals and one assist in nine games before an injury ended her season. He had eight players earn MIAA All-Academic for having a 3.0 GPA or higher (Alexa Adams, Sydney Andrews, Emily Hoffmann, Katie Kempf, Drew Mantlo, Allie (AJ) Powers, K.C. Ramsell and Teddi Serna. His team earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award for the 2012-13 academic year for having at least a 3.0 GPA. It marks the fourth consecutive season and fifth time in the program's nine year existence (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2013) winning the award.
Edwards played at Missouri Southern from 1997-2000 where he was voted team captain and helped the team win a conference championship in 1997.
He graduated from MSSU in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing and earned a Master's of Business Administration from Baker University in 2005.
Head Coach Lewis Theobald Six-time MIAA Coach of the Year,
Lewis Theobald is in his eighth season as head coach at Central Missouri with a stunning 124-22-16 record, becoming the all-time winningest coach in Jennies soccer history during the 2012 season. He earned his 100th victory as head coach of the UCM program on September 27, 2013 at Washburn. He entered the 2014 season as the sixth-winningest active head coach in Division II women's soccer with a .798 winning percentage. He recorded more wins in his first three seasons than any other coach in school history.
He was the first assistant at Division I Indiana State, where he was the lead recruiter before coming to UCM.
He is a 1999 graduate of the University of Kansas.
Scouting the week's competition...Lindenwood: The Lions arrive in Warrensburg with a record of 6-7-3 and 5-5-2 in conference action. They have dropped two of their past three matches.
Offensively, Lindenwood has been limited to three goals in the past three games. They are led by Becky Roberts, who has netted seven goals and added two assists for 16 points. Three of her goals this season have been game-winners.
On defense, Kelsey Becker and Jackie Lindner cover the Lions' backline.
Goalkeeping duties are split between Melissa Weiss and Lauren Groathouse, who have combined for five shutouts and 80 saves. Groathouse is fourth in the conference averaging 6.0 saves per contest.
Missouri Western: The Griffons enter Friday's match with an 9-6-1 record, 6-5-1 in conference play.
On offense, Missouri Western is led by senior Tara Russell who has scored a team-high four goals and added two assists for 10 points. K.C. Ramsell, is second with three goals, while junior Sydney Andrews and redshirt freshman Bridget Blessie both have two goals apiece.
The defense features freshmen Courtney Kempf and Paige Phipps and Andrews. The trio have combined to allow five goals in the past eight matches and own eight shutouts, tied for second-most in the MIAA.
Between the pipes is sophomore Sarah Lyle, who has a record of 9-6-1 this season. She has saved 71 shots, fifth-most in the conference and has a 0.66 GAA, fourth among MIAA goalkeepers.
Going for the Outright MIAA Title...The Jennies can clinch the MIAA regular season title outright should they either win or ties one of their final two matches or if Southwest Baptist loses or ties one of their final two games. It would be the program's fifth straight outright conference title and seventh in the past eight years.
Striving for Perfection...Should UCM win their final two matches, they would become the second Jennies team to not lose a match during the regular season. The 2010 team finished the regular season with an 18-0 record.
Ireland Wins MIAA Offensive Player of the Week...Junior
Julie Ireland was the conference's Offensive Player of the Week, announced on Tuesday. Last week, Ireland started both games, leading the team with five points, scoring two goals and adding an assist. She is the fourth Jennie to win the award, joining teammates
Alex Yockey,
Taylor Thompson and
Mikala Modiri.
Ireland in Conference Games...This season in 12 matches against MIAA opponents, Ireland leads the team with 16 points (six goals, four assists). The 16 points are the most since Alexis Robbers in 2012 (eight goals).
Dilkes Between the Pipes...The Jennies have received excellent play this season from freshman goalkeeper
Ana Dilkes. The Wichita, Kansas native has 15 wins, two shy of Brook Cooley's freshman record of 17 wins in 2010. That season, Cooley made 30 saves, compared to Dilkes' 64 through 16 matches in 2014. Her 64 saves are the most for a UCM goalkeeper since 2009 when Lauren Bamvakais saved 68 shots.
Pyle-ing Up the Assists...Sophomore forward
Hannah Pyle currently owns seven assists this season. Entering the week, Pyle is four assists away from setting the Jennies' single-season record, which would pass Teleshia Joseph (2002)
Kayla Shain (2011) and
Carly Stanley (2013), who each recorded 10 in their respective seasons.
Perfect on the Road...The Jennies finished the regular season with a 8-0-1 mark away from Warrensburg, becoming just the second team in program history to not lose on the road. The 2011 Jennies went 10-0-0 away from the South Recreation Complex.
Jennies Soccer (By the numbers)...UCM owns a 128-71-14 record all-time against Missouri schools.
The Jennies are 64-27-4 all-time against Missouri schools at home.
