#17 EMPORIA STATE SOCCER TAKES ON NORTHWEST MISSOURI IN MIAA SEMIS

Women's Soccer | 11/10/2021 6:07:00 PM

Game 20
MIAA Tournament Semifinals
#17 Emporia State Hornets (16-2-1, 9-2-0 MIAA)
vs. Northwest Missouri Bearcats (13-5-1, 8-2-1 MIAA)
Friday, Nov. 12 • 12:00 p.m. • South Rec Complex • Warrensburg, Mo.
Series Record: ESU leads 11-9-3 Last Meeting: ESU 4, at NWMSU 1 (10/3/21)
Internet (Video): themiaanetwork.com/esuhornets
Live Stats • Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: winner advances to MIAA Championship Match
Sunday, Nov. 14 • 1:00 p.m. • South Rec Complex • Warrensburg, Mo.

SEMIFINAL FRIDAY
The #17 Hornets take on Northwest Missouri in the MIAA Tournament semifinals.

LAST TIME OUT
Emporia State advanced to the MIAA Tournament semifinals for the third straight season with a 3-0 victory over Northeastern State on a windswept ESU Pitch.
The RiverHawks had a steady 20-25 mph wind at their backs for the first half and they were able to out shoot the Hornets 6-3 with a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks. In the second half Mackenzie Dimarco took the ball about 35 yards out on the left side and drove right before splitting two defenders with a slide shot that found its way back into the left lower corner of the goal with 35:29 left in the match. Two minutes later Hannah Woolery sent a free kick from outside the box on the left side that Northeastern State's keeper Ainsley Cunningham batted out, but Aislinn Hughes was able to get a head on it and put in the goal for a 2-0 lead.   Woolery made it 3-0 when her corner kick with 6:16 left was deflected into the goal by Cunningham. T

THE COACHES
Bryan Sailer is 91-74-25 in his tenth year at Emporia State and is the winningest coach in program history and seventh winningest coach in MIAA history. He has a career record of 150-97-27 that includes coaching four years at the community college level. He has led the Hornets to eight straight .500 or better regular seasons, four straight MIAA Tournaments and their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance. He is 7-5-0 against Northwest Missouri, 0-1 in their only meeting in MIAA Tournament play in 2011.
Marc Gordon is 21-30-4 in his fourth season at Northwest Missouri. He is 0-4-0 against Emporia State and this is his first meeting with the Hornets in the MIAA Tournament

SCOUTING THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 16-2-1, 9-2-0 in the MIAA, ranked #17 in the nation, #3 in the NCAA Central Region and are the #2 seed in the MIAA Tournament. They are leading the MIAA and in the top 25 in the nation in goals, points, shots and shots on goal while ranking third in the MIAA in goals against. Mackenzie Dimarco is second in the nation in goals scored, ranks third in shots on goal, fifth in total points, sixth in shots, and ninth in game winning goals.

ABOUT NORTHWEST MISSOURI
The Bearcats are 13-5-1 overall, 8-2-1 in the MIAA, are fourth in the Central Region and the #3 seed in the MIAA Tourney. They have won five straight matches. NWMSU is third in the MIAA in scoring while ranking sixth in defense.

SERIES HISTORY
Emporia State leads the all-time series 11-9-3 and have won seven of the last eight meetings.

LAST TIME VS. BEARCATS
Emporia State had dominating 4-1 win at Northwest Missouri. Mackenzie Dimarco scored less than two minutes in to give ESU a 1-0 lead. It would stay until the 34th minute when Ashlyn Lakin fed Aislinn Hughes off a throw to give Emporia State a 2-0 lead. Northwest Missouri made it 2-1 in the 51st minute. Dimarco answered in the 55th minute to give Emporia State a 3-1 lead. The Hornets got their final goal in the 67th minute when Haley Sparks scored following a corner kick from Hannah Woolery. For the match Emporia State had a 23-12 advantage in shots, a 14-4 advantage in shots on goal, led 6-1 in corner kicks and possessed the ball for 54% of the match with 68% of that time in their attacking end.
 
UP NEXT
The winner advances to the MIAA Tournament Championship Match on Sunday against either Central Missouri or Central Oklahoma.
MIAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Emporia State is 4-6-1 all-time in the MIAA Tournament with wins in each of the last three tournaments. This will be the third straight to the semifinals for the Hornets. Emporia State has played five road, three neutral site and three home matches in their previous 11 MIAA Tournament match-ups and they are undefeated on the ESU Pitch in MIAA Quarterfinal action.

IN THE RANKINGS
Emporia State is ranked #17 in the United Soccer Coaches Association National Poll.
In the more important for post season play NCAA Division II Regional Rankings, Emporia State is ranked third behind Central Missouri and Bemidji State.  The MIAA has four of the top six regionally ranked schools. The automatic qualifiers from the MIAA, NSIC and GAC along with the next four highest regionally ranked teams advance to the NCAA Central Region Tournament.

REGIONAL RANKING CRITERIA
The following criteria go into the regional rankings:
 ? In-region winning percentage.
 ? Division II winning percentage.
 ? Division II strength of schedule (opponents' average winning percentage and opponents' opponents' average winning percentage).
 ? Division II head-to-head competition.
 ? Results versus Division II common opponents.
 ? In-region non-conference won-lost record.
 ? In-region strength of schedule (opponents' average winning percentage and opponents' opponents' average winning percentage).
 ? Performance indicator.

BUILDING BLOCKS
Emporia State's 16 wins is a school record for the most wins in a season. It is the third straight season the Hornets have posted double figure victories. They are in the MIAA Tournament for the fifth straight season and are hosting a quarterfinal match for the third straight season. Emporia State has finished the regular season with at least a .500 record for eight straight seasons.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Emporia State players have earned eight MIAA Soccer Athlete of the Week awards this season.
Mackenzie Dimarco has picked up three Offensive Player of the Week awards, first on September 14, again on September 28 and on November 2 for the final week of the season.
Joanie Westcoat has twice been named the Defender of the Week, first on September 14 and most recently on October 12.
Ashlyn Lakin was named the MIAA Defender of the Week on September 21.
Hannah Woolery was named MIAA Offensive Player of the Week on September 21.
Jillian Patton earned Goalkeeper of the Week honors on September 28.

RECORD BOOK
Since 2018 Emporia State has set seven individual single season school records and moved into the top five in three other categories.  Hornets have also set four individual career records.
Mackenzie Dimarco holds Emporia State single season records for points, points per game, goals, goals per game, game winning goals, shots attempted, and shots per game.  She is the career record holder for game winning goals, shots and shots on goal.
Jillian Patton has the Emporia State career record for wins in goal.
Hannah Woolery is third in single season shots, tied for third in single season assists, and tied for second in career assists.
Ashlyn Lakin is tied for second in career assists and tied for third in single season assists.

THE MARC
Forward Mackenzie Dimarco (So./Pleasant Hill, Mo.) was a First-Team All-MIAA selection at forward. She is leading the MIAA in goals, game winning goals and shots this season and is ranked second in total points and fourth in shot on goal accuracy. She is second in the nation in total goals, third in shots on goal per game, fifth in total points, sixth in goals and shots per game, and ninth in game winning goals. She had her second career hat trick against Neb.-Kearney on the way to the second of her three MIAA Offensive Player of the Week awards. Her three Offensive Player of the Week awards were tied for the most in the MIAA this season. She is one goal shy of the MIAA record 20 goals in a season set by Jada Scott of Central Missouri while playing in 23 matches in 2018.
She was the MIAA Offensive Player of the Year and a First-Team All-Central Region selection in 2019.  She had a school record 18 goals and 40 points scored on her way to MIAA Freshman of the Year honors as well.  Her 40 points rank tenth on the MIAA single season list. She also has the Emporia State single season records for points per game, goals per game, shots attempted and shots per game as well as the career mark for game winning goals, shots and shots on goal.
She is a three-time MIAA Offensive Player of the Week this season and earned the honor one time during her record setting freshman campaign.

FLIPPING OUT
Defender Ashlyn Lakin (Jr./Wichita, Kan.) was a First-Team All-MIAA selection. She is second in the MIAA in assists this season with seven, six of them on flip throw ins. She scored her first career goal against Rogers State.
She earned second-team All-MIAA and All-Central Region honors as a sophomore in 2018 before sitting out the 2019 season with a knee injury.
She was named MIAA Defender of the Week on September 21 of this season.
She is tied for second in career assists and third in single season assists at Emporia State.

WOOLY BULLY
Midfielder Hannah Woolery (So./Overbrook, Kan.) earned First-Team All-MIAA honors this season. She is second in the MIAA in assists, third in points, fourth in shots and shots on goal, while ranking fifth in goals and seventh in shot on goal accuracy this season. She had a goal and two assists against Central Missouri and has two multiple goal games this season, most recently scoring both goals in a 2-1 victory over Washburn.
She is ranked third in single season assists, shots, and shots per game while ranking fourth in assists per match on the Emporia State single season list.
She was an honorable mention All-MIAA performer as a freshman in 2019.
She was named MIAA Offensive Player of the Week on September 21 following her two goal effort against the Ichabods.

WARM COAT
Defender Joanie Westcoat (So./Lee's Summit, Mo.) was named Third-Team All-MIAA this season. She is tied for fourth in the MIAA and on the Emporia State single season assist list with six this year. She has scored three goals on the season. She helped lead a Hornet defense that allowed an MIAA low 7.8 shots on goal per match this year, a full two shots fewer than the second place team.
She was twice named Defender of the Week in the MIAA this year.

DREAM A LITTLE DREAM
Midfielder Aislinn Hughes (Jr./McPherson, Kan.) was named third-team All-MIAA after earning honorable mention in 2019.  She is tied for fourth in the MIAA with four game winning goals and is tied for fifth with nine total goals this season.  She had the game tying and game winning goals in Emporia State's 4-3 double overtime win against Central Missouri.

CORR MUSCLES
Defender Kailey Corr (Grad./Wichita, Kan.) was named honorable mention All-MIAA this season. She helped lead a Hornet defense that allowed an MIAA low 7.8 shots on goal per match this year, a full two shots fewer than the second place team. She was named honorable mention All-MIAA on defense in 2019.

PATTON PENDING
Keeper Jillian Patton (Jr./Olathe, Kan.) is third in the MIAA in goals against average, fifth in shutouts with four and ranks 12th in saves on the season.  
She was a second-team All-MIAA selection as a freshman in 2018. She holds the Emporia State record with 35 career wins between the pipes and is second with 17 career shutouts.  Her seven shutouts as a freshman ranks second on the Emporia State single season list.
She was named the MIAA Goalkeeper of the Week on September 28 after posting 135 minutes without allowing a goal including the first half against Neb.-Kearney and a full shutout of Fort Hays State.

ALL-MIAA HONORS
In addition to the already mentioned athletes, three other current Hornets have earned All-MIAA honors in their career. Sydney Martens (Jr./Wichita, Kan.) was an honorable mention All-MIAA defender as a freshman in 2018 before earning third-team honors as a sophomore in 2019.