The Truman State women’s soccer team advanced to the NCAA regional tournament for the 11th time in program history, earning a win against Cedarville University and losing to GLVC rival Bellarmine University last weekend. After winning the GLVC Conference, the team had the opportunity to compete against regional opponents during the postseason.
Sophomore defender Caity Schmitt says winning the GLVC title gave the team momentum going into the NCAA Tournament. Schmitt says this excitement helped the team defeat its first tournament opponents, the Cedarville Lady Jackets.
“Winning the GLVC Conference was absolutely amazing because it created a team-wide desire to keep winning,” Schmitt says. “We were all super determined because we had never played [Cedarville] before and it was a really special game for a lot of the girls.”
It took the Bulldogs more than a full half before senior midfielder Megan Frkovic scored during the 50th minute. Four minutes into the second half, the Bulldogs earned a corner, which was taken by Frkovic. Frkovic sent a ball into the box, which was quickly returned out to her just off the end line. Her shot at the goal carried just enough to go over the hands of the CU keeper and into the goal, giving Truman a 1-0 lead.
Much of the possession during the second half belonged to the Bulldogs. However, the Bulldogs were not able to find the back of the net despite outshooting Cedarville 7-1 during the second half. The Lady Jackets put together one last effort during the final three minutes with two late corner kicks, but the Bulldog defense kept the Lady Jackets at bay and earned a spot in the next round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Bulldogs led many categories in the stat book, out-shooting CU 7-2 during the first half alone. Truman outshot CU by nine and took eight corner kicks to the Lady Jackets’ two. Senior midfielder Alexis Heffernan took five shots, and junior forward Stephanie Williams took four. Sophomore goalkeeper Katie Mattingly recorded her 12th shutout of the year, making two saves against a Cedarville offense that had scored 76 goals on the season entering Thursday night’s match.
For the full story, pick up a copy of the Index or click here to read online on Issuu.