Muleskinner

Issue date: 10/12/06 Section: Sports

MOVING FORWARD-- Forward Kayla Rupp brings the ball up the field during a 2-0 win over Northwest Missouri State Sept. 27.

net attack-- Forward Hazel Cox attempts a shot against SBU goalie Sara Eppler during a 2-0 win Sept. 20. The Jennies will travel to Joplin Friday to battle with Missouri Southern in a rematch of a Sept. 23 game, which resulted in a 1-1 tie.

The Jennies' soccer squad will face-off with Missouri Southern for the second time this season Friday. When the Jennies travel to Joplin it will begin a four-game home stand for Missouri Southern.

The Jennies have played Missouri Southern evenly in that past years with an all-time record of 6-6-1. Earlier this season the Jennies settled for that only tie when they hosted the Lions.
Since that game, the Lions have won three of their past four games, with the other game ending in a tie. Two of the teams they defeated, Truman State and Washburn, have defeated the Jennies.

The Jennies have also won three of their past four, with one win and one loss last week. The first of those games was a hard-fought loss to Truman State. The second game was a triumph over Southwest Baptist in Bolivar, MO. The win avenged the loss SBU handed the Jennies earlier in the season.

Friday, the girls were handed a tough 1-0 loss at the hands of Truman State. The Jennies played very close but couldn't find the back of the net, or many opportunities. The Jennies only managed to get five shots on goal the entire game.

The Jennies did have two shots that almost got in the goal. The first came off of a strike from Hazel Cox that was punched over the goal by the keeper. The next came on a corner kick when Angela Dobbie headed a ball over the goal. Both of the close calls came in the second half.

"It was a great soccer match," head coach Geoff VanDeusen said. "They're the seven time conference champion for a reason and they found a way to win it. We have a young team, only starting one senior and two juniors, and we're still learning to find a way to win it."

In the second game this week the Jennies found a way to win, pulling off a 1-0 victory at Southwest Baptist, on Tuesday.

"It was huge," VanDeusen said. "It was a total team effort today. Liz Casey played incredible in goal and gave us some big saves. The defense shut down didn't give up many opportunities. The forwards really worked hard and played a very good game offensively and defensively,"

The Jennies survived the close game by managing one goal from sophomore Hazel Cox. The play was assisted by Melanie Hall and Landri Schmitt.

With the win and loss this week the Jennies are now 9-3-1 with a 4-3-1 conference record. The Jennies are currently sitting sixth in the conference standings, with Washburn at the top. Van Deusen said this doesn't mean that it's time to panic.

"It looks like we're going to be in the top four in the NCAA poll that comes out Wednesday," said VanDeusen. "We're going to take this one day at a time. We know if we play well we always have a good shot at winning."

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