WARRENSBURG, Mo. - • The Jennies will begin the 2015 campaign ranked No. 7 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) preseason poll. UCM is coming off of a season which saw the program win its fifth-straight, and seventh overall, MIAA Regular Season championship, second MIAA Tournament championship, first Central Region championship and the firstappearance in the NCAA Elite Eight in school history.
• UCM will travel to Sioux Falls, S.D. to kick off their season against Minnesota-Duluth on Sept. 4, followed by a matchup against Augustana (S.D.) on Sept. 6. The Jennies will look to start 2-0 for the second consecutive year.
Series HistoryMinnesota-Duluth: UCM leads 1-0
The Jennies earned a 2-0 victory over the Bulldogs early in the 2014 season in the only previous matchup between the two programs.
Augustana: UCM leads 1-0
UCM won the only previous matchup between the two schools with a 2-0 shutout over Augustana in the 2014 season opener.
Scouting the Competition
Minnesota-Duluth • The Bulldogs are coming off of a 9-10-1 campaign which saw the team enter the 2014 season ranked No. 8 in the NSCAA preseason poll. The program fell out of the top 25 after dropping the first two games of the season. UMD saw their season come to an end last year during the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) semi-finals with a loss to Winona State.
• The Bulldogs finished 8-6-1 in conference play and finished seventh in the final NSIC standings.
• Despite finishing with a sub-.500 record, UMD went 1-1-0 against ranked teams during the 2014 season.
• The Bulldogs will be relying heavily on underclassmen in the 2015 season as the program returns only five members from last year's team who played in at least 10 games. Junior midfielder Marissa Ganske is the leader amongst those returning in points scored with six. Those points came on two goals and two assists.
• The Bulldogs matchup with the Jennies will be the first game of the season for both teams.
Augustana• Augustana looks to build off of a season that saw the Vikings win a program record 14 games.
• Augustana finished 12-3-0 in conference play which was good enough for a second-place finish in the NSIC regular season standings.
• The Vikings were a tough opponent at home in 2014 as the team went 8-1-0 on their home field.
• The Vikings are sitting on a three game losing streak entering the 2015 season with losses to Southwest Minnesota State, Minnesota-Duluth and Central Oklahoma in the final game of the regular season, first round of the NSIC tournament and first round of the NCAA tournament respectively.
• The Vikings will be led by returning sophomore forward Samantha Tymkowicz. Tymkowicz finished fourth on the team in points last season with 14 on six goals and two assists.
• Augustana will play an exhibition match against St. Thomas (Minn.) and a regular season match against Southwest Baptist before squaring off against UCM.
Opening Weekend• The Jens are 11-8-1 in season openers, and have not lost a season opener since 2009 when the Jennies fell to Abilene Christian 1-0.
• Central Missouri has out-scored oponents 35-29 in season openers.
• The Jennies are 1-1-0 in season openers played at a neutral site. UCM was defeated 3-0 at the hands of North Dakota State in 2003, and recorded a 3-0 shutout over St. Cloud State in 2006.
• With victories against Minnesota-Duluth and Minnesota State last season, UCM is 13-6-3 all-time against Minnesota schools, and improved to 4-2-0 against schools from South Dakota with a season opening victory over Augustana last year.
• Central Missouri is 13-7-0 all-time in the second game of the season, and they are 5-3-0 when the second game is played on the road.
Bringing home the hardware• UCM returns a host of award winners for the 2015 campaign including conference Defender of the Year junior
Emily Eldridge, Co-Goalkeeper of the Year sophomore
Ana Dilkes, six selections to the All-MIAA First Team, one selection each to the second and third team, and two Honerable Mention honors to go along with MIAA coach of the year
Lewis Theobald.
• In 2014, Dilkes, Eldridge and Ireland earned Daktronics All-American Honors with Eldridge named to the first team, Dilkes to the third team, and Ireland recieving Honorable Mention honors. Ireland and Eldridge also earned NSCAA All-American honors with Ireland being named to the first team, and Eldridge to the third.
• The Jennies also look to repeat their success in the classroom as the 2014 squad saw two members earn the Academic Excellence Award, six winners of the Scholar-Athlete Award, and 13 members named to the Academic Honor Roll.
One for the record books• The 21 wins accumlated during the 2014 season is the record for most wins in a season not only for UCM, but also for any team in the MIAA. Other MIAA records set by the team include most points scored during the season with 179, and tying Washburn (2008) for most games played in a season with 24.
• Individually, the 2014 Jennies had four members enter the MIAA record books.
Julie Ireland,
Alex Yockey,
Abby Rhodes and Anna Dilkes all tied the record for most games played in with 24. Yockey, Rhodes and Dilkes tied the record for most games started with 24. Dilkes set the MIAA record for most minutes played by a goalkeeper in a season with 2,216:26.
• In addition to her MIAA records, Dilkes set team records in most wins in a season with 21, and most shutouts in a season with 13.
