Northwest Missouri Soccer Reaches New Heights

By David Boyce

Northwest Missouri's women's soccer team caught something last year that it has no intention on losing.

In fact, coach Tracy Hoza said the Bearcats worked extremely hard during the summer to make sure they kept it.

At 7-1, Northwest Missouri has a serious case of the winning bug and it has spread throughout the team.

A year ago the Bearcats went 10-8-2. For teams like Central Missouri, Truman and Southwest Baptist, that's a subpar year.

For Northwest Missouri, the season was a breakthrough. It was the first time in the program's 10-year history that the Bearcats got double-digit victories and finished with a winning record.

"Traditionally, we haven't had success against the top teams," Hoza said. "They got the confidence of winning last year. It is just as contagious as anything.

"They work hard for each other. That's one of the things we see. They have great camaraderie. They will do anything on the field to get results."

The Bearcats are proving that last season was the first step upward in a quest to be among the best.

Instead of being satisfied with the best season in the program's history, the Bearcats were after more.

"During the summer they had dedication to improving physically and mentally," Hoza said. "That was really evident in our first few sessions in preseason.

It's even more obvious now, especially after Northwest Missouri handed Southwest Baptist its first loss of the season on Saturday.

"They are the purple Bearcats and we are the green Bearcats so we tried to stand up for that," said senior Sara Meidlinger of the 2-1 victory over Southwest Baptist.

Actually, Northwest Missouri is making a stand that it is much better than its preseason No. 6 ranking in the MIAA coaches' poll.

The Bearcats are 3-1 in the MIAA. Making the postseason regional tournament is definitely not out of the realm of possibility.

"We are already showing that we have what it takes to go that high," senior Andrea Tritz said. "If we keep playing like we are playing we definitely have a chance."

Tritz scored both goals in the victory over Southwest Baptist and earned MIAA offensive player of the week.

A junior college transfer from Iowa Central Community College, Tritz has made a big impact on the Northwest Missouri soccer program. Last year she led the Bearcats with 18 points.

Tritz is doing just as well this year. She has scored four goals and has nine points.

"Andrea has brought a scoring threat," Hoza said. "She can put goals away. Our team has been very defensive minded over the last couple of years. We struggled upfront. Andrea came in and is definitely a scoring threat for us."

A team effort is behind the fast start. Hoza brought in a lot of new players last year and the new group has mixed well with the four-year seniors.

"It's our connection on the field," Tritz said of the success. "Last year it took a while to get into it, but now we already know where to pass the ball. Once you get used to the players you are playing with you kind of know where to go for passes."

Beating Southwest Baptist was another bonding experience.

"That was a really exciting game just because we haven't beaten them in a while," Tritz said. "I've only been here a couple of years. We've wanted to beat them, and it meant a lot to the players who have been here for four years."

The Bearcats are after another feel-good moment on Thursday when they travel to rival Missouri Western.

Hoza said it is important for her team to perform well on the road. It's that reason why she was more pleased with the Bearcats' 1-0 victory at Missouri Southern on Sept. 17 than the win against Southwest Baptist.

"Taking care of business on the road is one of our main goals this year, and we are off to a good start with that," Hoza said.

The way Tritz sees it, every game left will be difficult. But the way the Bearcats finished last year and have begun this season has given them confidence to handle any situation.

"I know last year we had a rough patch during the season," Tritz said. "Towards the end we started winning big games against two higher ranked teams.

"The confidence level has gone way up, and that's good because you need that when you play."

To reach David Boyce, contributing writer for The MIAA, e-mail dboyce@themiaa.com.