Kangaroos Head to Tulsa for Conference Battle with ORU
10/21/2011 1:38:00 PM | Men's Soccer
The Game:
The Kangaroos head on the road for a huge Summit League game on Saturday, facing Oral Roberts at 5:00 pm in Tulsa. The Kangaroos are tied for first in the league, and are a couple wins away from locking up a conference tournament berth.
The Coaches
In his 14th season at UMKC, Rick Benben is the winningest coach in school history, posting a 105-125-25 record. Under his guidance, UMKC has captured four Summit League regular season titles and has made three appearances in the NCAA College Cup with the most recent appearance coming in 2008. Benben, the fourth head coach in the Division I era, began the 2011 season with 100 wins to his credit.
Steve Hayes is in his 14th season as the head coach at Oral Roberts, and has an 99-122-22 record there. He has led ORU to three regular season conference championships, and one NCAA Tournament berth.
The Series
It will be the 26th meeting with Oral Roberts in the overall series, tied 11-11-3. The 'Roos won last season's meeting by a 4-2 score, but were knocked out of the conference tournament semifinals in penalty kicks after tying 0-0.
On the road, the 'Roos are 4-4-1 against ORU. The 'Roos have not lost to the Golden Eagles since 2007, and are 2-0-2 against them in the last for meetings. Benben is 7-7-3 vs. EIU, while Hayes is the same vs. UMKC.
Scouting the Competition
The Golden Eagles come in at 4-9 overall and 1-2 in Summit League play. They defeated Oakland in their lone win while dropping games to IPFW and Eastern Illinois.
They are led by Jarrett Hamilton with six goals on the year, while Aaron Birk has three goals and five assists. Offensively, they are among the best in the league with 22 goals, while defensively they have allowed 33 goals.
A Win vs ORU Means...
- UMKC would increase its streak to five games since the last time they lost to ORU.
- The Kangaroos would have three wins in Summit League play, and be close to clinching a spot in the conference tournament.
- UMKC would be above .500 in the all-time series vs. ORU for the first time since 2003.
