Crucial Road Matches Ahead for Kangaroos Over Weekend
10/18/2012 3:17:00 PM | Women's Soccer
The Opponents
» South Dakota State Jackrabbits (3-9-2, 1-3-1 Summit League as of Oct. 18)
Entering Friday's match, the Jackrabbits are in game three of a season long four-game homestand. To begin its recent home stretch, South Dakota State settled for a 1-1 tie with the IUPUI Jaguars (2-12-2, 0-3-2 SL), followed by an upset 2-0 victory over Western Illinois (11-4, 3-2 SL).
Offensively, four players have scored three or more goals this season, led by midfielder Stacy Guijarro with four. Behind her, forward Diana Potterveld, midfielder/forward Christa Nyblom, and midfielder/defender Darci Miller have each tallied three scores, while Potterveld and Nyblom are tied for a team-high three assists.
In the net, keeper Elisa Stamatakis has seen the majority of the minutes for South Dakota State as she's posted a 3-8-2 record with four shutouts, 42 saves, and 23 goals allowed.
» The Head Coach: Serving as the only coach in the program's history, Lang Wedemeyer is in his 12th season at the helm. Last season, Wedemeyer earned his third regular season title in The Summit League, but first outright title. In the league tournament, however, South Dakota State fell 1-0 to tournament host Oakland in the semifinal round to end its season.
» The Series: The Kangaroos are 0-3 all-time against South Dakota State. In their last meeting, Kansas City suffered a 1-0 loss at home in what was a showdown for second place in The Summit League standings.
» North Dakota State Bison (6-8, 3-2 Summit League as of Oct. 18)
So far this season, the Bison are 4-0 at home as they are currently riding a two-game winning streak with wins over Western Illinois and IUPUI.
Their offensive attack is led by leading scorer Anisha Kinarth with three goals and five assists for 11 points, while midfielder Jordyn Wallenborn leads the Bison in goals with four. Also, midfielder Steph Jacobson and forward Lizzie Lukas each have three goals on the season.
Defensively, keeper Sierra Bonham has recorded 85 saves, posted two shutouts, and allowed 17 goals for a 5-7 record to lead North Dakota State.
» The Head Coach: Mark Cook is in his first season at North Dakota State and is the fourth head coach in the program's 17-year history. At his previous stop, Cook served as the Director of Coaching at the Minnesota Thunder Academy for 11 years, where he grew a four-team program into one of the premier club programs in the Twin Cities with 65 teams in 2012.
» The Series: The Kangaroos are 0-1-2 all-time against North Dakota. Last season, the two squads met twice as the regular season match in Kansas City resulted in a 1-1 tie. In the second meeting, the Blue & Gold fell 2-1 in the semifinal round of The Summit League Championships.
Last Time Out...
Kansas City concluded its home schedule with matches against Oakland (7-4-3, 4-1 SL) and Fort Wayne (7-6-1, 3-1-1 SL).
Despite being out-shot, 18-4, the Kangaroos came away with a 2-0 victory over the Golden Grizzlies as keeper Nina Tzianos recorded her third shutout of the season and tallied a career high 12 saves to tie senior Jami Finnell (1-2) for the third most in a single match in team history.
During the 41st minute, Kansas City took a 1-0 lead when defender Sarah Todd (1) placed a free kick deep in Oakland's goalie box as midfielder Sophie Rackham (1) was there to knock it in.
Later in the second period during the 82nd minute, Todd (1) fired a free kick about 15 yards away from Oakland's box out of the reach of keeper Shannon Coley to put the Kangaroos up, 2-0.
About two minutes later, Oakland had a chance to cut the deficit in half when forward Sarah Reynolds was awarded a penalty kick after being fouled in Kansas City's box. However, Reynolds failed to capitalize as her shot went wide to the right.
Two days later on Senior Day, the Kangaroos settled for a 1-1 tie with the Fort Wayne Mastodons.
During the seventh minute, Kansas City took a 1-0 lead when midfielder Zaina Mayer found Rackham (1) in front of the net as her shot was saved by keeper Sam Pavilka, yet midfielder Ashley Gann (2) was there for the rebound and score.
After halftime, the Mastodons tied the match during the 55th minute when midfielder Tylar Allison (4) placed a free kick in Kansas City's box as midfielder Erin Gill (3) scored via a header shot.
As the second period progressed, the Kangaroos out-shot Fort Wayne, 12-6, but could not break through as an extra period was needed to decide a winner.
In the first overtime, the Mastodons came away with two shots, both going wide of the net, while Kansas City's Hannah Chadick tallied the lone shot for the Kangaroos that went wide as well.
During the second overtime, neither squad tallied a shot.
At game's end, the Kangaroos out-shot Fort Wayne, 13-8, while Tzianos came up with one save.
Where They Stand in the League Standings
Entering Friday's match, Kansas City sits sixth in The Summit League standings behind North Dakota, Western Illinois, Omaha (3-11, 3-1 SL), Fort Wayne, and Oakland, while the Jackrabbits, IUPUI, and South Dakota (1-11-3, 0-4-1 SL) trail the Kangaroos, respectively.
Todd and Tzianos Earn Player of the Week Honors
Monday, Sarah Todd was named The Summit League's Co-Offensive Player of the Week and league player of the week by College Sports Madness, both for the first time in her career, while Nina Tzianos picked up her first Summit League Defensive Player of the Week honor as well.
With their accomplishments, this marked the seventh time this season a member of the Kangaroos has earned a player of the week award.
In the first two weeks of 2012, Jami Finnell earned back-to-back Summit League Defensive Player of the Week honors, followed by forward Taylor Bare being named offensive player of the week by The Summit League (Sept. 4) and league player of the week by College Sports Madness (Sept. 24). Also, Hannah Chadick came away with her first Summit League Offensive Player of the Week award on Sept. 24.
A Look Back
In their first ever league tournament match, the Kangaroos saw their postseason hopes dashed by North Dakota State last season in a tough 2-1 loss in the semifinal round.
Trailing 1-0 in the second half, Kansas City caught a break during the 54th minute when Bison midfielder Michelle Gaffney was issued a yellow card in NDSU's territory. As a result off a free kick taken by defender Kaely Tott, Ashley Gann scored via a header shot to tie the game.
As the second period progressed, the Bison had two opportunities to reclaim the lead when midfielder's Stephanie Jacobson and Jaclyn Scanlan registered back-to-back shots at close range. However, Jami Finnell saved both attempts to keep the game knotted at one.
With less than two minutes to play with the ball in UMKC's territory, the Bison scored the game-winning goal when midfielder Danielle Boldenow found defender Taylor Stainbrook for the goal.
Through 16 Games Last Season...
The Kangaroos were 5-0-1 in league play and 7-5-4 overall coming off a 1-1 tie with North Dakota State at home.
Coming Up Next...
UMKC will face South Dakota on the road in its season finale on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 1 p.m.
