Emporia State Hornets (0-0-0, 0-0-0 MIAA)
vs Harding University (0-0-0, 0-0-0 GAC) •
Live Stats
Friday, Aug. 31 • 7:30 p.m. • Searcy, Ark.
Series Record: ESU Leads 3-1 Last Meeting: ESU 2, HU 0 (Sept. 1, 2017)
Emporia State Hornets (0-0-0, 0-0-0 MIAA)
vs Ouachita Baptist (0-0-0, 0-0-0 GAC) •
Live Stats
Sunday, Sept. 2 • 1:00 p.m. • Searcy, Ark
Series Record: ESU Leads 1-0-1 Last Meeting: ESU 2, OBU 1 (Sept. 3, 2017)
Up Next: Lindenwood Tournament
Friday, Sept. 7, Sunday Sept. 9 • St. Charles, Mo
LET'S GET THINGS STARTED
Emporia State will begin their 18th season of intercollegiate soccer at the MIAA-GAC Challenge in Searcy, Ark. It is the fifth straight year the Hornets have opened against a pair of teams from the Great American Conference. Emporia State is 6-1-1 in the first four years of the Tournament.
THE COACHES
Bryan Sailer is 48-62-20 beginning his eighth year at Emporia State and is the winningest coach in program history. He has a career record of 107-85-22 that includes coaching four years at the community college level.
Greg Harris enters his 18th season as the head coach of the women's soccer team at Harding.
Kevin Wright enters his seventh season as the head coach for Ouachita Baptist women's soccer.
ABOUT THE HORNETS
Emporia State finished last season 8-9-2, 4-6-1 in the MIAA. They are ranked eighth in the preseason MIAA coaches poll. The Hornets will have 13 new faces on the team this season as they return 11 players from last years team. Among the returners are three of the four top scorers from 2017. Olivia Miller had five goals on the season while Tanna Benefiel and Kennedy Hoffman each had four. Â
ABOUT HARDING
Harding finished last season with a record of 7-9-3, 6-5-1in the Great American Conference (GAC). The Bison are picked to finish third in the GAC preseason coaches polls. They return their top scorer from the previous two season in Bethany Sutherland. As a junior last season Sutherland led the team with 14 goals.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the fifth meeting between the Hornets and Bison with all four prior matches being in the MIAA/GAC Challenge. The Hornets lead the series 3-1.
LAST TIME AGAINST HARDING
The Hornets defeated the Bison 2-0 on Septempber 1, 2017. Sammy Boese scored on a header in the box in the 40th minute of the match and Harding gave up an own goal in the 74th minute for the Hornets to seal the win.
ABOUT OUACHITA BAPTIST
Ouachita Baptist finished last season with an overall recrod of 3-13-1, 3-9-0 in the GAC. The Tigers are picked to finish fourth in the preseason GAC coaches poll. The Tigers return their leading scorer in senior Bryson Thomas. Thomas scored six goals for the Tigers as a RS Junior.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the third meeting between the Hornets and the Tigers. Emporia State leads the all-time series 1-0-1.
LAST TIME AGAINST OUACHITA
The Hornets defeated the Tigers 2-1 on September 3, 2017. Brianna Lozano put the Tigers on the board with a goal in the 20th minute to give OBU a 1-0 lead. Olivia Miller got the equalizer nine minutes later off a corner kick on a header from Leah Mettam. With 2:18 left in the first half Kennedy Hoffman scored what would be the game winner on a header from Sammy Boese.
UP NEXT
Emporia State travels to St. Charles, Mo. to take on Missouri S&T on Friday September 7 before facing Drury on Sunday Sepetmeber 9 on the campus of Lindenwood.
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