EMPORIA STATE SOCCER TRAVELS TO BEMIDJI STATE FOR SWEET SIXTEEN

Women's Soccer | 11/16/2022 10:26:00 AM

Game 24
NCAA Central Region Final
Emporia State Hornets (13-6-4, 7-1-3 MIAA)
at Bemidji State Beavers (16-2-5, 10-1-4 NSIC)
Friday, Nov. 18 • 3:00 p.m. • Chet Anderson Stadium • Bemidji, Minn.
Series Record: BSU leads 1-0 • Last Meeting: BSU 1, ESU 0 (11/21/21)
Up Next: Winner advances to NCAA Quarterfinals
Sunday, Nov. 20 • Chet Anderson Stadium • Bemidji, Minn

REGIONAL FINAL REDEMPTION
Emporia State will take on Bemidji State in the Central Regional Final as the Hornets take on the Beavers in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Hornets took on Central Missouri in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Emporia State broke through in the 72nd minute as Hannah Woolery headed in a cross from Angela Palmer to put the Hornets ahead 1-0. The Hornets were then able to keep the Jennies scoreless as Mackenzi Goen recorded her first solo shutout of her career.

THE COACHES
Bryan Sailer is 107-81-29 in his 11th season at Emporia State and is the winningest coach in program history and fifth winningest coach in MIAA history. He has a career record of 166-104-31 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 3-2 in the NCAA Tournament and 0-1 against BSU.
Jim Stone is 235-129-39 in his 21st season at Bemidji State. He is 1-0 against Emporia State. 

SCOUTING THE HORNETS
Emporia State is 13-6-4 on the season and finished 7-1-3 in the MIAA for second place in the regular season. The Hornet attack is led Mackenzie Dimarco who has 22 goals on the season plus two assists for a team-high 46 points. Dimarco also leads the Hornets in five offensive categories. Hannah Woolery is second on the Hornets with 31 points as she has added 12 goals and 7 assists. Aislinn Hughes leads five other Hornets that have scored multiple goals on the season as she has five of her own including a pair of game-winning goals. In defense, the Hornets are led by MIAA Co-Defensive Player of the Year Joanie Westcoat who leads the Hornets with 10 assists which is second in the MIAA. Westcoat has also led the Hornets to eight shutouts in the last 12 matches.

ABOUT BEMIDJI STATE
The Beavers are 16-2-5 on the season and won the NSIC Tournament Championship to claim the automatic bid and earn the second seed in the Central Region. Sara Wendt is leading the Beavers with 13 goals as she earned NSIC First-Team honors. As a team, Bemidji State has allowed just 13 goals on the season, which is tied for the second best rate of just 0.57 goals allowed per match. The Beaver defense is led by NSIC Defensive Player of the Year Megan Dahl. Dahl claimed the honor for the second straight season. In addition to Wendt's 13 goals, Allyson Smith and Erin Becker have added eight and six goals respectively. Bemidji State is outscoring opponents 38-13 on the season and have held opponents without a goal in 15 of their 23 matches this season.

SERIES HISTORY
Bemidji State leads the series 1-0 in the lone meeting that came in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season.

LAST TIME VS. THE BEAVERS
The Hornets and Beavers met for the first time in series history last season in the Central Regional at the ESU Pitch. Following first round victories from both teams, Emporia State and Bemidji State took to the ESU pitch for a spot in the regional final. The Hornets were on the front foot early and often in the match as they earned two corner kicks and recorded three shots in the first ten minutes of the match before the first Beaver shot came in the 11th minute. Bemidji State scored in the 34th minute and were able to hold off the Hornets to take the 1-0 win over Emporia State despite a 9-5 shot advantage for the Hornets and 11-5 advantage in corner kicks. 

UP NEXT
The winner will advance to the NCAA Quarterfnals on Sunday, November 20 from Chet Anderson Stadium in Bemidji, Minn.
GOING DANCING
Emporia State was one of five MIAA teams to be selected for the eight spots in the Central Region Tournament as the Hornets claimed the fourth seed. This trip to the NCAA Tournament is the third trip in program history and the third time in the last four seasons. The first NCAA Tournament victory came last season against Northwest Missouri State in the first round from the ESU Pitch. After defeating Fort Hays State and then Central Missouri in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, Emporia State is playing in their first Central Region Final in program history.

MIAA PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Emporia State has earned a pair of MIAA Player of the Week Honors with one coming from
Mackenzie Dimarco and the other from Joanie Westcoat.
Dimarco became the first player in MIAA history to score hat tricks in back-to-back matches as the Hornets defeated both Northwest Missouri and Missouri Western.
Westcoat received MIAA Defender of the Week honors after recording two assists in the Hornet victory over then #3 Central Missouri and leading a shoutout of Missouri Southern on the road. 

TOUGH TEST
The 2022 schedule has proved to be the most difficult in the history of the ESU Hornet Soccer program. The Hornets have taken on just three teams through the regular season who had a record below .500 during the 2021 season and in addition to a difficult conference slate, Emporia State played West Texas A&M in the first game of the season who earned the fourth seed in the South Central Region. The Hornets also handed Minot State, who advanced to play Bemidji State in the NSIC Championship, one of their three losses on the season with a 5-1 victory. In the NCAA Tournament, matchups proved to only increase in difficult with a third meeting against both Fort Hays State and Central Missouri. Entering the first round matchup with the Hornets, the Tigers had allowed just 10 goals through 20 matches before Emporia State defeated the Tigers 5-1. In the regional semifinal, Emporia State defeated Central Missouri while the Jennies were ranked inside the top five of the United Soccer Coaches Association National Poll. 

RECORD BOOK
Since 2018, four Emporia State has moved into the top three in eight different career categories in Hornet soccer history. 
Mackenzie Dimarco is the Hornet career leader in points, points per game, goals, goals per game, game-winning goals, shots and shots on goal. In addition to her multitude of career records, Dimarco holds the single-season record for points with 46 this season and goals with 22 this season. She also holds the record for game-winniing goals, shots and shots per game which were set during her freshman season. 
Hannah Woolery is the Hornet career record holder with 21 career assists. Woolery also ranks in the top three in points, goals and shots on goal in her career. Her eight assists during the 2021 season rank third in single-season history while her 31 points this season and 80 shots last season rank fourth in a single-season in Emporia State history.
Joanie Westcoat has 18 career assists over her three seasons at Emporia State which ranks second in Hornet history only behind Woolery. This season, Westcoat has tallied 10 assists which ranks second in single-season history, just behind the record of 11 held by Wendy Dunn. Her average this season of 0.43 assists is also second behind Wendy Dunn during the 2004 season. 
Aislinn Hughes scored six game-winning goals last season which ranks third in single-season Hornet history. In her career across 86 matches, Hughes has tallied 10 game-winning goals which ranks third on the career list, just one behind Brandie Booth who is second with 11 in her career.