GRIFFON SOCCER WEEK 3
Friday, Sept. 14, 7 p.m. at Lindenwood
Sunday, Sept. 16, 1 p.m. at Northwest Missouri
ST. JOSEPH – After splitting a pair of games in South Dakota last weekend, Griffon soccer (2-2) will play two more road matches, this time non-conference games against MIAA opponents Lindenwood (2-1-1) and Northwest Missouri (1-2).
After a 1-0 loss to open last weekend at Augustana, Missouri Western rebounded with a 2-1 win at Sioux Falls. The Griffons were aggressive from the beginning, as
Lillian Davis put Missouri Western up 1-0 by scoring her first goal of the season within the game's first minute. The Griffon offense created many more scoring opportunities in the second game, finishing with 19 total shots with 15 of those coming in the second half.
Madison Utley extended the Griffon lead to 2-0 in the 57
th minute. Less than two minutes later, Sioux Falls' McKayla Philippi scored on a header off of a corner kick to give the Cougars their lone goal of the game. Goalkeeper
Anna Mayer rejected the other six shots on goal.
After Davis and Utley scored their first goals of the season on Sunday, all four of Missouri Western's goals this season have been scored by different players. The two games in South Dakota were also the first games in which Coach
Chad Edwards elected to play just one goalkeeper, as
Anna Mayer played all 90 minutes in both of the weekend's games.
Missouri Western has scored four goals on 24 shots on goal this season. Its opponents have scored seven on 35 shots. The Griffons have goals from
Cassidy Menke,
Lillian Davis,
Ashley Mathis and
Madison Utley this season. Menke leads the team with 15 shots. In goal,
Anna Mayer has started all four games and has a 1.33 goals against average with an 83 percent save percentage.
LINDENWOOD
The Lions (2-1-1) will be coming off a weekend in which they picked up their first two wins of the season. The Lions shut out Drury by a score of 4-0 on Friday. Their defense remained impressive in the Sunday match as they also shut out Missouri S&T 1-0. The Lions have been led this season by Morgan Weller, who has scored three of the team's six goals while also leading the Lions with two assists. Missouri Western shut out the Lions in both games last season.
NORTHWEST MISSOURI
The Bearcats (1-2) host Missouri Western after dropping their last two games. Northwest will face some stiff competition over the weekend as the defending NCAA Champion and top-ranked Central Missouri Jennies play the Bearcats on Friday. Facing the top two finishers in the MIAA last season will be an early season challenge for first-year head coach Marc Gordon. Gordon comes to Northwest after serving as the head coach at Ottawa University since 2010. Mollie Holtman, a 2017 All-MIAA Honorable Mention, leads the Bearcats with two goals this season.
