Women defeat UNO, lose to West Texas

Although the women's soccer season is over, the team accomplished two of its preseason goals - win the MIAA conference and make the playoffs.

Beating the University of Nebraska-Omaha for the first time in the postseason Friday was just icing on the cake.

"The MIAA race was pretty close down the stretch," head coach Mike Cannon said. "[UNO] kind of faltered a bit allowing us to win the conference. This match certified that we were the MIAA champs. Losing to them in the playoffs wouldn't have taken away our title, but it could have brought up doubts about us winning the conference."

The Bulldogs, who finished the season 15-4-3, defeated UNO 1-0 Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to No. 13 West Texas A&M 1-0 in the second round Sunday.

UNO had previously dominated the Bulldogs in the playoffs, outscoring them 11-2 in four previous wins.

Truman improved to 6-12 all-time against UNO. The team has four wins in its last seven matches against its biggest rival. UNO is the only MIAA team the Bulldogs have an overall losing record against. Since UNO joined the MIAA in 2008, the Bulldogs are 3-2 against the Mavericks.

Senior forward Riley Mahn scored her sixth goal of the season in the 68th minute to give the Bulldogs the victory. Senior midfielder Kristin Haluszczak had an assist on the play.

"We came out really hard to begin with, and that really helped us," Mahn said. "We played really well and it was a hard-fought game. It felt really good to beat UNO in the postseason. Any time we play UNO, it feels like you're playing for all the alumni that have been part of that rivalry."

The West Texas defense, along with some wind, forced Truman to play out of its comfort zone. The match was even throughout, however. West Texas took four more shots than the Bulldogs in the second half. Cannon said the Bulldogs couldn't put anything together offensively.

"It was another tight game," Cannon said. "The weather conditions were difficult for both teams. Since we are such a possession team, the weather made it more difficult to keep the ball. The ball was flying around everywhere because of the wind and it didn't stay inbounds."

After West Texas scored its goal early in the second half, the Buffs changed up their defensive strategy. They normally play a 4-3-3, but with the lead, the Buffs fell back into a 4-5-1, a defense designed to guard the goal more.

Senior midfielder Katie Reuck said the Bulldogs played a good match overall despite the loss.

"[West Texas] played a lot of kick-and-run and we didn't fall into that game too much," Reuck said. "We possessed the ball well and had a few shots but didn't finish. We like to keep the ball on the ground and the wind didn't really allow us to do that. We did a pretty good job adjusting to the wind and used it to our advantage sometimes."

The Bulldogs won their ninth MIAA conference title in the 11 years the conference has sponsored soccer.

Truman had eight seniors on the team that compiled a 59-20-9 record during their four years of soccer. The seniors won two MIAA championships and advanced to the NCAA Tournament three times. They reached the NCAA quarterfinals last year for the first time since 2001. Cannon said the seniors set a great example for the younger players to follow.

"[The seniors] are the ones who know what it's like not to win the conference and not to make the NCAA tournament," Cannon said. "They learned from the older kids when they were younger and built on that success. For them, it's a good way to leave."

The Bulldogs had 14 shutouts, which puts them in a tie for the second most in Truman history. They also posted an 11-match win streak. During that stretch, the Bulldogs outscored opponents 27-1. Overall, Truman dominated the second half, outscoring its opponents by 17 goals.

"Obviously we didn't get quite as far as last year," Cannon said. "We started a little bit slower this year, had the injury to [senior forward Jessica Wiegert] and it took us a while to get going. However, we had an 11-game win streak, we won conference and we got our first win against UNO in the playoffs. We had a really good season and I'm pleased with the team."