Emporia State Hornets (0-0-0, 0-0-0 MIAA)
vs Harding University (0-0-0, 0-0-0 GAC)
Friday, Sept. 1 • 3:00 p.m. • St. Joseph, Mo.
Series Record: ESU Leads 2-1 Last Meeting: HU 1, ESU 0 (Sept. 6, 2016)
Emporia State Hornets (0-0-0, 0-0-0 MIAA)
vs Ouachita Baptist (0-0-0, 0-0-0 GAC)
Sunday, Sept. 3 • 11:00 a.m. • St. Joseph, Mo.
Series Record: Tied 0-0 Last Meeting: ESU 0, OBU 0 (Sept. 4, 2016)
Up Next: MIAA Tournament • Friday, Nov. 4 • TBA
LET'S GET THINGS STARTED
Emporia State will begin their 17th season of intercollegiate soccer at the MIAA-GAC Challenge in St Joseph. It is the third straight year the Hornets have opened against a pair of teams from the Great American Conference. Emporia State is 4-1-1 in the first three years of the MIAA-GAC Challenge.
THE COACHES
Bryan Sailer is 40-53-18 beginning his seventh year at Emporia State and is the winningest coach in program history. He has a career record of 99-76-20 that includes coaching four years at the community college level.
Greg Harris enters his 17th season as the head coach of the women's soccer team at Harding.
Kevin Wright enters his sixth season as the head coach for Ouachita Baptist women's soccer.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State finished last season 8-9-2, 6-5-0 in the MIAA. They are ranked seventh in the preseason MIAA coaches poll. The Hornets are set to return seven of the 11 players that scored a goal last season including their top three scorers in sophomores to be Maddie Taylor, Tanna Benefiel and Kennedy Hoffman. The trio had three goals apiece and combined for seven assists last season.
ABOUT HARDING
Harding finished last season with a record of 11-7-2, 7-4-1 in the Great American Conference (GAC). They have won two straight GAC tournament championships and are picked second in the GAC preseason coaches polls. They return their top three scorers from 2016 in Bethany Sutherland, Morgan Springborn and Carley Stevens.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the fourth meeting between the Hornets and Bison with all three prior matches in the MIAA/GAC Challenge. The Hornets lead the series 2-1.
LAST TIME AGAINST HARDING
The Hornets fell 1-0 to the Bison on Septempber 6, 2016. The lone goal of the game came from Carley Stevens in the 53rd minute of the match.
ABOUT OUACHITA BAPTIST
Ouachita Baptist finished last season with an overall recrod of 8-8-2, 8-3-1 in the GAC. The Tigers reached their sixth straight conference tournament last season and have been picked to finish fourth in the preseason GAC coaches poll. They return goalkeeper Erin Webster, forwards Kasey Smith and Bryson Thomas and midfielders Natalia Arteaga and Barbara Pascale.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the second meeting between the Hornets and the Tigers. Emporia State and Ouachita Baptist are tied at 0-0-1.
LAST TIME AGAINST OUACHITA
The only meeting between Emporia State and Ouachita Baptist came on Sept. 4, 2016. Goalkeeper Yadira Rivera posted her first shutout of the 2016 season for the Hornets. The match ended in a two overtime tie. The Hornets outshot the Tigers 20-10 in the match with seven of the shots coming in the overtime periods.
UP NEXT
Emporia State travels to Minot, N.D. to play in the Minot State Classic. On Friday, September 8 the Hornets will play Minot State followed by Augustana University (SD) on Sunday, September 10.
