November 13, 2022 – Emporia State defeated Central Missouri 1-0 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Early in the match, Central Missouri started on the front foot as they applied pressure to the Hornet defense. A shot from the Jennies' Madilyn Hamline inside the first two minutes forced a corner kick. Central Missouri earned two more corners by the seven-minute mark before recording their second shot to force the first save from Hornet keeper
Mackenzi Goen.
Following the save from Goen, Emporia State was able to steady the match and maintain possession in the Central Missouri half of the pitch. The first shot for the Hornets came from
Joanie Westcoat in the 13
th minute from the top of the box that went just wide left.
Central Missouri regained possession as they were able to again apply pressure to the Hornet backline. The Hornets would record just two more shots in the first with one each from
Hannah Woolery and
Mackenzie Dimarco. At the halftime break, the Hornets and Jennies remained knotted at 0-0 with the Jennies outshooting the Hornets 10-3 in the first half, forcing five saves from
Mackenzi Goen to keep the Jennies off the board.
After the intermission, Emporia State settled the flow of the match as they recorded the first shot for either team in the second half with
Alexis Cole shooting from the left side of the box to force a save from Jennies keeper. Following the save, the Hornets won possession back in the attacking half of the pitch as
Haley Sparks took a shot from the top of the box that was just off-target.
Emporia State handled a pair of shots from the Jennies over the next 10 minutes before the lone goal in the match came for the Hornets. Emporia State earned a throw-in deep in the Jennies half of the pitch which fell to
Angela Palmer in the box who played a left-footed cross in front of the Jennies keeper that found the head of
Hannah Woolery. Woolery slotted the ball into the top left corner of the goal to give the Hornets a 1-0 lead in the 72
nd minute.
The Hornets withstood attacking pressure from the Jennies over the final 18 minutes which included a trio of saves, with the final Jennies shot of the match forcing a save from Goen with under five minutes remaining to secure her first career solo shutout. Emporia State was able to run out the final moments of the match as the Hornets clinched their first trip to the Central Regional Final for the first time in program history.
Emporia State advances to the Central Regional Final against Bemidji State on Friday, November 18 from Bemidji, Minn. The match is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m.
