November 11, 2023 – Emporia State Soccer clinched the MIAA Championship and their second title in three seasons with a 3-2 win over #15 Central Missouri on Saturday night from Stryker Soccer Complex in Wichita, Kan.
Early in the match, Central Missouri was on the front foot as they earned a corner and recorded their first shot of the game within the first 90 seconds of the match.
The Jennies recorded two more shots before the first shot came for Emporia State, an attempt from
Mackenzie Dimarco 23 minute into the match.
Emporia State's first shot on goal would come from
Hannah Woolery in the 39
th minute as she collected a loose ball in the box and forced a save from the Central Missouri goalkeeper in the bottom right corner.
Both teams combined for just five shots in the first period as the score remained deadlocked at 0-0 entering the halftime break.
Following the intermission, Central Missouri pounced on the first opportunity of the half with a goal just 90 seconds in to take a 1-0 lead over the Hornets.
The Hornets wasted little time in response as they scored just over a minute later to tie the match 1-1.
Emporia State earned a free kick deep into the Central Missouri half and after the initial kick was cleared of the box, the ball fell to
Abby Bachman who played a diagonal cross over the Jennies' backline and into the path of an oncoming
Hadlie Lowe who slid the ball past the keeper for her sixth goal of the season.
Two minutes later, in the 50
th minute, Emporia State would score on the next shot attempt to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Immediately after a Central Missouri goal kick, the Hornets won possession in the attacking half and the ball eventually fell to
Mackenzie Dimarco roughly 35 yards from goal. Dimarco was able to create space from the initial Jennies defender before ripping a shot from 25 yards away that beat the goalkeeper to the top left corner.
With the goal,
Mackenzie Dimarco passed Jada Scott of Central Missouri (2014-17) for the most career points in MIAA history.
After the second goal for Emporia State, Central Missouri began applying pressure to the Hornet defense, recording four shots and a pair of corner kicks over the next fifteen minutes.
Central Missouri was able to finally secure the game-tying goal in the 82
nd minute on their eighth corner kick of the match.
As the final minutes approached, the Hornets were able to generate one final scoring chance that proved to be the deciding goal. In the 88
th minute, after long ball forward into the attacking half,
Hannah Woolery won possession in the midfield. After gaining possession, Woolery lofted a pass beyond the Central Missouri defense as
Mackenzie Dimarco raced towards goal with just the keeper to beat. Dimarco lifted the shot over the onrushing goalkeeper and into the back of the net to give Emporia State the 3-2 lead.
Emporia State withstood one final shot from the Jennies as they held on for the 3-2 win in the MIAA Championship over Central Missouri.
This is the second MIAA Championship for Emporia State Soccer in the past three seasons.
Hadlie Lowe scored her sixth goal of the season and scored in all three MIAA Tournament matches for the Hornets.
Mackenzie Dimarco scored twice and has 19 goals on the season with 42 points.
Hannah Woolery and
Abby Bachman each recorded an assist while Woolery extended her Emporia State program recorded to 30 career assists.
Emporia State clinched the MIAA automatic bid and will await their seeding for the NCAA Central Regional.
