The No. 17 Central Missouri Jennies soccer team (5-0-1) travels to the state of Kansas to face MIAA foes Emporia State and Washburn this week. The Jennies will play the Hornets on Friday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. and conclude the weekend in Topeka for a 2 p.m. first kick against the Ichabods on Sunday.
The Emporia State Hornets enter Friday night's match with a 3-1-2 record and have tied their only home match this season.
Washburn is in search of its first victory in 2014. They are 0-1-0 this season in Topeka. They play at Lindenwood on Friday, Sept. 26 before hosting the Jennies on Sunday afternoon.
Junior forward
Julie Ireland leads the Jennies offense with three goals and eight points this season. She scored two goals and added two assists for six points last week in two shutout victories for UCM.
Defensively, the Jennies have shutout their opponents five times in six games. The five shutouts are the most through the first six games since 2010 when UCM had four.
Series History...Emporia State: The Jennies lead the all-time series with the Hornets, 18-3-2. The Jennies are 8-2-2 all-time in Emporia. Last season, the two foes played to a 0-0 tie on Sept. 29, 2013. UCM had won the previous 12 meetings, dating back to 2006.
Washburn: UCM leads the all-time series 14-5-1. The Jennies won last year's match, 3-0 on Sept. 27, 2013. The Jennies have won six matches in a row and nine of the past 10.
The Coaches...Bryan Sailer (Emporia State): Bryan Sailer is in his fourth season as the head soccer coach at Emporia State after a break through year in 2013 in which he led the Hornets to just the second winning record in the 13-year history of the program.
After combining for seven wins in his first two years (which was more than Emporia State had in the previous four years combined), Sailer led the Hornets to a 9-8-3 record in 2013. They advanced to the MIAA Tournament semifinals for the first time in school history and set a program record with ten shutouts on the season.
Taking over a team that had won one game the year before, the win total has increased every year under Sailer. The Hornets went 3-10-5 in his first year and 4-11-2 in 2012 before the nine win season in 2013. He is 16-29-10 in his first three seasons at Emporia State.
Sailer and his wife Tasha have son Brayden, and daughter Addison.
Tim Collins (Washburn): Washburn head soccer Tim Collins is in his 12th season at the helm of the soccer program in 2014 leading it two NCAA regional tournaments, two MIAA Tournaments as well as the MIAA regular season title in the program's fourth season in 2006. He's the only coach the Ichabod program has ever known.
Collins was named the first head coach in Washburn history on Dec. 23, 2002 bringing experience and winning traditions from the high school ranks to the Washburn campus.
In his 11 seasons at the helm of the Ichabod program, he has coached 62 players who have earned all-MIAA honors including 11 first team selection. He has also coached two All-Americans, two MIAA MVPs, three CoSIDA Academic All-American and 24 all-region selections. He has also coached 148 Washburn soccer players who have received academic all-MIAA honors and 28 MIAA scholar athletes as well.
Collins and his wife, Tina, have two boys Nico and CJ.
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 114-22-16 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...Emporia State: The Hornets enter this week's match with a record of 3-1-2, 0-0-2 in conference play. Emporia State is coming off a 0-0 double-overtime tie against Fort Hays State last Sunday. The team's last two matches have gone to double overtime (lost to Washburn, 1-0 on Sept. 19).
Emporia State's offense is paced by freshman forward Grace Linton, who leads the team with three goals and six total points. Senior forward Jordan Foutch is the only other player with multiple goals (2). Freshman forward Jessica Schellhase has a team-leading three assists.
Defensively, the Hornets have allowed eight goals in six games. Goalkeeper Yadira Rivera has logged all 580 minutes between the pipes and has saved 35 shots, while registering a 1.24 GAA.
Washburn: The Ichabods (0-5-1) will host Lindenwood on Friday night before welcoming the Jennies to Topeka for Sunday afternoon's match.
Emily Stauffer, Devon Schmitz and Audra Keehn each have one goal apiece for the Washburn offense this season. Sara Specht has a team-high two assists. Washburn has attempted a conference-low 49 shots for an average of 8.17 per game.
The Ichabods defense has allowed nine goals in its six matches, tied for second-to-last in the MIAA.
Between the pipes stands Tori Fuglister, a 5-8 senior from Edina, Minnesota. In six starts this season, she has allowed nine goals and saved 25 shots in 495 minutes.
Dilkes Named MIAA Goalkeeper of the Week...For the second time in three weeks, Jennies freshman goalkeeper
Ana Dilkes earned MIAA Goalkeeper of the Week honors, as announced by the league office on Tuesday.
Last week, Dilkes saved all four shots she faced, while delivering two shutouts, giving her five this season, an MIAA high.
Ireland Pacing the Offense...Junior forward
Julie Ireland has carried her offensive momentum from last season into 2014. A season ago, Ireland finished 2013 with the second-most points with 23 and led the team with 11 goals.
Through six games, UCM's leader in goals (3) and points (8) is the only returning player with multiple goals in 2014.
Jennies Success in Emporia...Central Missouri enters Friday night's match with a seven-game unbeaten streak. The Jennies last loss at Emporia was Oct. 23, 2005 (2-0 final).
Jennies by the Numbers...Entering this week, UCM is tied with Southwest Baptist for the most goals in the MIAA with 13, an average of 2.17 per game (MIAA high). They are also first in points (37), assists (11) and GAA (0.32). Their defense has allowed an MIAA-low two goals.
Offense Coming up Big...The Jennies offense has scored at least two goals in each of the first six matches this season. The last time this happened was 2006. That scoring streak ended after six games, as the offense was held to just one goal in the seventh game.
Looking for a Strong MIAA Start...With a victory at Emporia State on Friday night, the Jennies would open the MIAA season at 3-0 for the third time in four seasons. It would also mark the sixth time under head coach
Lewis Theobald's watch that the Jennies would open MIAA play at 3-0.
Jennies Soccer (By the numbers)...The Jennies are 40-15-3 all-time against Kansas schools.
Central Missouri is 18-10-3 all-time against Kansas schools on the road.
