The week ahead... The 10th-ranked Jennies are riding a seven-game win streak, their longest winning streak since the 2011 season. UCM will close out its four-game homestand with matches against Missouri Southern and Southwest Baptist this weekend. The Jennies host the Lions on Friday, October 10 at 7 p.m. and will finish with a Sunday afternoon match against the Bearcats at 1 p.m.
Missouri Southern enters the match with a record of 3-6-1 and 1-5-0 in conference play. The Lions have lost three of their four road games. Southwest Baptist will play at Lindenwood on Friday night prior to making the trip to Warrensburg. The Bearcats enter the week with a 8-2-0 record overall and are 5-1-0 in MIAA competition.
Last week, the Jennies had five different players score goals. Yockey is the Jennies leader with six goals and is tied with
Hannah Pyle with 12 points.
The Jennies have allowed a goal or less in seven-consecutive matches, one short of their run last season from September 14 through October 6.
Series History...Missouri Southern: The Jennies lead the all-time series, 17-8-2. UCM lost last season's match at home to the Lions, 2-1. The loss snapped the Jennies' then 48-game unbeaten streak against MIAA opponents.
Southwest Baptist: UCM leads the all-time series 23-8-2. The Jennies have won 10 out of the past 11 meetings and have not lost to SBU since 2007 (3-2 overtime loss in Warrensburg).
The Coaches...Alese Woolard (Missouri Southern): Alese Woolard is in her fifth season at the helm of the MSSU women's soccer program.
The 2013 campaign saw the Lions beat both of the top finishers in the MIAA, 2-1 over then 11th ranked Central Missouri and 2-0 over second place Northeastern State. Woolard would add three more All-Conferece performers in Dana Wilhelm (Third Team), Tiffany Laughlin (Honorable Mention) and sophomore Karley Thomas (Honorable Mention).
In Woolard's third season, the Lions finished the year with a 5-10-3 overall record, the Lions qualified for their second consecutive MIAA Post-Season tournament thanks to a 1-0 win in double overtime at Northwest Missouri. Four Lions would earn All-MIAA honors including senior forward Megan Stueve who finished the year with a MIAA league-leading 13 goals and 27 points. Senior midfielder Candis Clark, senior defender Cortney Sanders and junior forward Tiffany Laughlin were also named All-MIAA honorable mention.
Woolard graduated from Southern in 2005 and holds a Master of Education in Workforce Development Education with an emphasis in Adult Education from the University of Arkansas.
Rob Podeyn (Southwest Baptist): Coach Podeyn led the Bearcats to their first MIAA Championship during the 2013 season, the MIAA Tournament title, as SBU advanced to the NCAA National Tournament for only the second time in school history. Podeyn coached is first SBU All-American last season when Ashley Creason earned Honorable Mention honors. The Bearcats also had three athletes earn All-Region honors.
Prior to SBU, Podeyn took NAIA power Northwood University from a #212 national ranking and 3-12 regular season record to as high as #34 nationally and two consecutive conference championships. His teams produced 16 All-Conference players, two All-Region players, one conference MVP, one National Player of the Week, and one All-American in his three years at Northwood. His conference record at Northwood was an impressive 16-7-1 in three years, with four of those losses coming in his first year.
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 118-22-16 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...Missouri Southern: The Lions have lost their last three matches, and four of their past five. MSSU has managed just one goal during its three-game skid.
On offense, Casey Vitale leads the Lions with four goals, one coming via penalty kick. Hannah Bomar has distributed three assists and added three goals for a team-best nine points. She has also taken 27 shots, most among Lions this season.
Missouri Southern's defense has yielded 17 goals in 10 games this season, 10 of those goals coming in the second half. They have also been outshot, 73-49 in the final 45 minutes as well.
In front of the net is Beth Hammons, who has played in 10 games, making nine starts. The native is 3-6-1 this season and has saved 64 shots, first in the MIAA. Her GAA is 1.65 (17 goals allowed).
Southwest Baptist: The Bearcats (8-2-0, 5-1-0) enter the week a full game behind the Jennies in the MIAA standings. They play at Lindenwood on Friday night before playing UCM on Sunday.
On offense, SBU is paced by Karla Jamison, who leadsthe team with seven goals and 15 points. Four of Jamison's goals have won games for the Bearcats. Kate Jamison trails her sister with five goals and 12 points this season. Elin Hammar is first among Bearcats in assists with six.
The SBU defense has yielded just 9 goals in 12 games and has two shutouts this season (both coming in two of the past three matches). Opponents have scored just once against SBU over the last three games.
Between the pipes is Cheyenne Forshey, who is 7-2-0 with 32 saves this season. She owns two shutouts (one combined) and owns a 1.16 GAA.
Thompson Named MIAA Offensive Player of the Week...Jennies freshman midfielder
Taylor Thompson was named the MIAA Offensive Player of the Week, the second time in as many weeks a Jennie won the award (
Alex Yockey). Last week, Thompson earned her first collegiate goal, scoring the game-winner in a 2-1 overtime win against Fort Hays State. Along with Yockey, Thompson joins goalkeeper
Ana Dilkes and defender
Emily Eldridge as the other Jennies to win MIAA Player of the Week accolades in 2014.
Fantastic Freshman...Freshman midfielder
Alex Yockey scored her team-leading sixth goal in the Jennies 3-0 win against Nebraska-Kearney last Friday. In the past two seasons, the team's leading scorer was in her freshman season (2013-
Hannah Pyle with 10 goals, 2012- Alexis Robbers with 11 goals).
Another Shutout for Dilkes...Freshman goalkeeper
Ana Dilkes picked up her sixth shutout of the season last week against the Lopers. The Wichita, Kansas native has nine wins this season, eight shy of Brook Cooley's freshman record of 17 wins in 2010. That season, Cooley made 30 saves, compared to Dilkes' 23 through 10 matches in 2014.
Pyle-ing Up the Assists...Sophomore forward
Hannah Pyle currently owns six assists this season. Entering the week, Pyle is five 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.
Chasing the Home Wins Record...The Jennies are 5-0-0 in home matches this season and need just four more to tie the program record of nine (2008, 2010, 2013). The team has four home games remaining with the possibility of hosting an MIAA Tournament game should they claim the regular season title.
Jennies Soccer (By the numbers)...UCM owns a 124-71-14 record all-time against Missouri schools.
The Jennies are 62-27-4 all-time against Missouri schools in Warrensburg.
