?Roos Continue Road Trip in the Prairie State
9/4/2014 12:55:00 PM | Women's Soccer
UMKC 'ROOS (1-2-1) at EASTERN ILLINOIS PANTHERS (0-4)
Date: Sept. 5, 2014
Site: Charleston, Ill. / Lakeside Field
Live Stats: EIUPanthers.com
Twitter: @UMKCwSoccer
Series: UMKC leads 1-0.
Last Meeting: The 'Roos knocked off EIU for the team's only victory of 2010.
Cissell vs. Opponent: First meeting.
UMKC 'ROOS (1-2-1) at SIUE COUGARS (1-2)
Date: Sept. 7, 2014
Site: Edwardsville, Ill. / Ralph Korte Stadium
Live Stats: SIUECougars.com
Twitter: @UMKCwSoccer
Series: Tied 1-1
Last Meeting: Freshman Emily Herndon provided the difference-making goal in UMKC's 1-0 season-opening victory over SIUE last season.
Cissell vs. Opponent: 1-1
The Games
The UMKC women's soccer team will make the first of a pair of trips to the state of Illinois when it heads to Charleston, Ill., to take on Eastern Illinois, before doubling back westward for a matchup with SIU-Edwardsville. The Kangaroos, who went 0-1-1 last weekend at the Tulsa Invitational, have never faced the Panthers under head coach Chris Cissell. The meeting with SIUE will be their second in as many years.
The Coaches
Entering his fourth year at the helm, UMKC head coach Chris Cissell is looking to build on the most successful season in program history in 2013. Under Cissell's leadership, the 'Roos set program marks for virtually every win-related category, including overall wins (12) and conference victories (eight), en route to the team's first appearance in the conference title game.
Cissell has compiled a record of 26-26-9 – marked success for a program that won just two games in two seasons prior to his arrival.
Jason Cherry was named head women's soccer coach on Aug. 1, 2013 after spending the 2012 season as assistant coach with the Panthers.
In his first season at the helm of the program, he was named OVC Coach of the Year – becoming only the fourth coach in conference history to earn the award in their first season. Cherry led the Panthers to the OVC Tournament after being absent from the tournament in 2012 for the first time in school history.
The 2014 season marks Derek Burton's seventh as the women's soccer head coach at SIUE. He has led his team to back-to-back appearances in the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.
In 2013, Burton's team won 13 games, marking a program high at the NCAA Division I level. SIUE's 6-3-1 record and fourth-place finish in the OVC also were program highs.
The Series
The 'Roos will look to take control of each series with a pair of victories this weekend. The 'Roos opened 2013 with a 1-0 victory over SIU-Edwardsville to even the all-time record versus the Cougars at 1-1.
Scouting the Competition
Eastern Illinois and SIUE were picked sixth and third, respectively, in the Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Poll.
The Panthers are off to a rocky start, dropping each of their first four games by an aggregate score of 12-1. Most recently, EIU dropped a pair of contests to Marshall and Louisiana Tech at the tournament hosted by the Panthers last weekend.
SIUE got off on the right foot, knocking off in-state rival Illinois-Chicago 2-1 in the opener. The Cougars suffered through a turbulent trip to Indiana last weekend, however, falling to IUPUI 2-1 on Friday, before losing 4-1 at Purdue on Sunday.
Despite missing the season opener, junior midfielder Cassidy Sherman has led the way offensively for SIUE with a pair of goals thus far.
