2008 Woodie Awards
'Dogs seek MIAA title
Joe Bell
Issue date: 8/17/08 Section: Sports
The MIAA becomes tougher for the Bulldog women's soccer team this season.
The University of Nebraska-Omaha, a major regional rival of the Bulldogs, joins the MIAA this season. The Mavericks have advanced to at least the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament every year since 2002.
Truman beat UNO in the regular season, but lost to the Mavericks in the first round of the MIAA Tournament last year. UNO will add to the depth of good teams the MIAA will feature this year.
"It's going to be a battle," head coach Mike Cannon said. "Last year, there were … five teams who had a legitimate shot to win the conference. This year, it will be six out of nine with UNO coming in."
The Bulldogs, though, expect to remain near the top of the pack. Truman has captured the MIAA title eight times in the last nine years, and they have their sights set on doing it again this year.
"Our goals [for this year] are to out-work the other teams and to, overall, win conference again," junior forward Isabel Gaeta said. "We're taking it one game at a time, but in the back of our minds that's everyone's ultimate goal is to repeat the [conference] win and to make it back to the [national] tournament."
The team returns eight of its starters from last year, though the Bulldogs lost several key components from its team that finished 15-7-1 last year, including all-region defender Emily Newsham and starting goalie Emily Roark. The influx of eight freshmen, a transfer from Missouri Southern State University and the returning veterans could prove to be the puzzle pieces needed to build another MIAA championship team.
"[Junior] Denise Childress is our only returning goalie," Cannon said. "She backed up last year, and she was our starter in the spring and did well. I think going in, right now, she's 'in the lead' [to replace Roark]. We still need to get a better feel for the freshmen, since we've only seen them for a couple of days, to see if either of them will push Denise. It's an open competition, though … so it's up for grabs."
The University of Nebraska-Omaha, a major regional rival of the Bulldogs, joins the MIAA this season. The Mavericks have advanced to at least the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament every year since 2002.
Truman beat UNO in the regular season, but lost to the Mavericks in the first round of the MIAA Tournament last year. UNO will add to the depth of good teams the MIAA will feature this year.
"It's going to be a battle," head coach Mike Cannon said. "Last year, there were … five teams who had a legitimate shot to win the conference. This year, it will be six out of nine with UNO coming in."
The Bulldogs, though, expect to remain near the top of the pack. Truman has captured the MIAA title eight times in the last nine years, and they have their sights set on doing it again this year.
"Our goals [for this year] are to out-work the other teams and to, overall, win conference again," junior forward Isabel Gaeta said. "We're taking it one game at a time, but in the back of our minds that's everyone's ultimate goal is to repeat the [conference] win and to make it back to the [national] tournament."
The team returns eight of its starters from last year, though the Bulldogs lost several key components from its team that finished 15-7-1 last year, including all-region defender Emily Newsham and starting goalie Emily Roark. The influx of eight freshmen, a transfer from Missouri Southern State University and the returning veterans could prove to be the puzzle pieces needed to build another MIAA championship team.
"[Junior] Denise Childress is our only returning goalie," Cannon said. "She backed up last year, and she was our starter in the spring and did well. I think going in, right now, she's 'in the lead' [to replace Roark]. We still need to get a better feel for the freshmen, since we've only seen them for a couple of days, to see if either of them will push Denise. It's an open competition, though … so it's up for grabs."
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