No. 2 Seed Jennies to Host No. 7 Seed Northwest Missouri in MIAA Tournament Quarterfinals Sunday

Andrew Mather | University Photographer

Women's Soccer | 10/30/2026 2:56:00 PM

MIAA Women's Soccer Tournament Quarterfinals
Match 19: No. 2 Central Missouri (13-1-4) vs. No. 7 Northwest Missouri State (5-9-3)
Sunday, Nov. 1 | 7:00 p.m. | Warrensburg, Mo. (South Recreation Complex)
Radio: 1450 KOKO AM, 92.1 FM (Greg Hassler, play-by-play; Jim Ricker, color commentary)
Live Video (PPV) | Live Stats | Live Audio | Buy Tickets

2026 Jennies Soccer Roster | 2 026 Northwest Missouri State Roster | 2026 MIAA Women's Soccer Tournament Central

Scene Setter

Second-seeded and No. 20-ranked University of Central Missouri Jennies Soccer (13-1-4) is set to host the No. 7-seeded Northwest Missouri State Bearcats (5-9-3) in a MIAA Women's Soccer Tournament quarterfinal round match on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 1, at 1 p.m. at the South Recreation Complex in Warrensburg.
Central Missouri concluded its 2026 regular season with a 4-0 shutout win at Missouri Southern on Wednesday, Oct. 28, in Joplin, Mo.
Through 18 matches, the Jennies are paced offensively by sophomore midfielder Coryn Jespersen (4 G, 13 A, 21 Pts., 37 Shots, .108 shot percentage, 21 SOG, .568 SOG percentage, 3 game-winning goal) and senior forwards Mikayla Ernst (8 G, 16 Pts., 48 shots, .167 shot percentage, 27 SOG, .563 SOG percentage, 4 game-winning goals) and Hadley Lockhart (8 G, 16 Pts., 35 shots, .229 shot percentage, 20 SOG, .571 SOG percentage, 1 game-winning goal). Senior goalkeeper Kristen Wright (13-1-4, 5 GA, 0.29 goals-against average, 55 SV, .917 save percentage, 9 shutouts, 4 combined shutouts, 148 shots faced, 1,543:15 minutes) leads UCM between the posts.
Through 18 matches, the Jennies lead the MIAA in scoring with 42 goals and rank second in goals allowed, giving up just five goals on the season so far. Individually, Coryn Jespersen leads the MIAA and is third in NCAA Division II with 13 assists. She is third in the conference with 21 points and tied for third with three game-winning goals. Mikayla Ernst and Hadley Lockhart are tied for fifth in the MIAA with eight goals, while Ernst is tied for first with four game-winning goals. Kristen Wright is second in goals-against average at 0.29, shutouts per game (.500), and saves (.917 save percentage).

Tickets for Sunday's Match

Tickets for Sunday's MIAA tournament quarterfinal contest can be purchased online at UCMAthletics.com/tickets or at the ticket booth on the east side of the South Recreation Complex on game day. UCM Students receive free admission with a valid student ID courtesy of the UCM President's Office.

All-MIAA Honors Abound for Jennies

Eight University of Central Missouri Jennies Soccer student-athletes garnered All-MIAA Women's Soccer honors for their performances on the soccer pitch during the 2026 regular season, it was announced by the conference on Friday, Oct. 30. Defenders Gracie Knight and Ryann Clark, midfielder Coryn Jespersen, and forward Mikayla Ernst were named First Team All-MIAA; goalkeeper Kristen Wright, midfielder Hazel Douglas-Trotman, and forward Hadley Lockhart received Second Team All-MIAA recognition; and midfielder Aspen Patterson earned Third Team All-MIAA accolades.

2026 MIAA Weekly Honors

MIAA Offensive Athlete of the Week: Coryn Jespersen, Sept. 15, Sept. 29, Oct. 20; Mikayla Ernst, Oct. 6
MIAA Goalkeeper of the Week: Kristen Wright, Sept. 1, Oct. 20

Record Watch

Coryn Jespersen is already second in Jennies single-season history with her 13 assists this season. She is three assists shy of tying the program's single-season record of 16, set by Kassie Newsom in 2021.
Kristen Wright is third in career saves with 285 in 82 career contests.

UCM in the Rankings

The Jennies check in at No. 20 in the most recent IWSOC/United Soccer Coaches Division II Coaches Poll released on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
Central Missouri remained No. 4 in the latest NCAA Division II Central Region NPI Rankings released on Monday, Oct. 26. The top eight teams in the final Central Region NPI rankings released on Monday, Nov. 9, during the NCAA-II Women's Soccer Tournament Selection Show on NCAA.com will advance to the 2026 NCAA-II Women's Soccer Central Regional Tournament.

Last Time Out: No. 20 Jennies Cap Regular Season with 4-0 Shutout Win at Missouri Southern

No. 20-ranked University of Central Missouri Jennies Soccer capped its 2026 regular season schedule with a 4-0 shutout victory over the Missouri Southern Lions late Wednesday evening, Oct. 28, at Hal Bodon Field.
Central Missouri took a 1-0 lead just 11 minutes into the match after Mikayla Ernst corralled a free ball on the left side of the box and blasted it into the upper right corner of the net for her team-best eighth goal of the season.
The Jennies upped their lead to 2-0 four minutes later when Aspen Patterson slid a pass to Hadley Lockhart, who hammered the ball into the lower right corner for the goal. It was her team-best-tying eighth goal and Patterson's fifth assist of 2026.
Kylie Richardson delivered the third goal of the match for UCM, powering a shot home from the center of the box off a feed from Alexandra Hofbauer in the 66th minute, making it 3-0, Jennies. If marked Richardson's fourth goal and Hofbauer's second assist of the season.
Habiba Lamrani netted the final goal of the contest for Central Missouri in the 89th minute, scoring her second goal of 2026 on a shot from the left side of the box, for the 4-0 Jennie victory.
Central Missouri goalkeepers Kristen Wright (13-1-4) and Jamie Ricker teamed up to secure UCM's 12th shutout of the season after giving up zero goals in 90 minutes. Wright made six saves in just under 80 minutes between the posts before Ricker stepped in for the final minutes of the match, making one save and preserving the clean sheet.
For the match, UCM and Missouri Southern (4-9-4, 3-6-3 MIAA) both tallied 15 shots, but the Jennies inched past the Lions in shots on goal, 8-7. Central Missouri also bested MSSU in corner kicks, 4-2.

Home Sweet Home

Dating back to the 2016 season, the Jennies are 97-9-6 at the South Recreation Complex. During that span, UCM has surrendered just 74 goals.
All-time at the South Recreation Complex, UCM is 172-19-13 under head coach Lewis Theobald and 236-40-14 in overall program history. The Jennies have compiled undefeated home records five times.
The 2026 season will mark a new era for Jennies Soccer at the South Recreation Complex, as UCM will play on a new, state-of-the-art turf playing surface that was installed during the summer of 2026.

Series History vs. Northwest Missouri State

The Jennies and Bearcats will meet for the second time this season and the 50th time in the all-time series. UCM leads the series, 39-3-7. Earlier this season in Maryville, Mo., on Oct. 4, UCM and Northwest Missouri played to a 1-1 tie. UCM and NWMSU have met just twice in the MIAA Tournament, with the Jennies winning both encounters (3-2 in the 2024 quarterfinals, and 4-0 in the 2011 quarterfinals).

Head Coach Lewis Theobald
Lewis Theobald, now in his 19th year, has transformed the Jennies Soccer program into one of the premier programs not only in the MIAA but also in NCAA Division II.

The 11-time MIAA and five-time region Coach of the Year has an impressive 332-58-35 record. He recorded more wins in his first three seasons than any other coach in school history and is the all-time winningest coach in both Jennies soccer and MIAA women's soccer history. He brought home the program's first-ever National Championship in the 2017 season.

Theobald enters the 2026 season as the winningest active coach in Division II women's soccer with an .822 winning percentage, among coaches with at least five years on the sidelines. He is also the all-time D-II leader among coaches with at least 10 years and is fifth all-time in all NCAA Divisions.

During his tenure, Theobald has coached 23 All-Americans in Mikayla Ernst, Ashleigh Martin, Andree Orcutt, Lindsay Edmonds, Julia Kristensen, Kassie Newsom, Caroline Cole, Ana Dilkes, Emily Eldridge, Baylie Edwards, Randi Fernsler, Allysa Gann, Kayla Hamner, Julie Ireland, Becky Lackey, Cindy Lackey, Abby Rhodes, Alyssa Rhodes, Jada Scott, Carly Stanley, Jenna Stones, Makayla Toth and Megan Woolley and has led 63 players to All-Region status. He also coached Dilkes, a goalkeeper, to a National Player of the Year honor during the 2017 season.

He has coached 156 All-Conference players, including Most Valuable Players Melanie Hall, Kayla Shain and two-time Player of the Year Alyssa Rhodes; Offensive Players of the Years Carly Stanley, Julie Ireland, Jada Scott, Kassie Newsom and Julia Kristensen; Freshmen of the Year Alyssa Rhodes, Stanley, Hannah Pyle, Alexis Robbers, Nicki Wisnasky, Caroline Cole, Julia Kristensen and Izzy Joyce; Defenders of the Year, Emily Eldridge, Allysa Gann, Cindy Lackey and Abby Rhodes; two-time Goalkeeper of the Year Lindsey Johnson and four-time Goalkeeper of the Year Ana Dilkes.

A 1999 graduate of the University of Kansas, Theobald received his bachelor's degree in education with a concentration in physical education.

On the Horizon
If the Jennies win, they'll move on to the MIAA tournament semifinals on Friday, Nov. 6, in Wichita, Kan., at the Scheels Stryker Sports Complex.

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