November 11, 2009

Truman Soccer Perseveres to Attain Goals

By David Boyce

One game into the season, the Truman women's soccer team was dealt a blow that truly tested the Bulldogs.

Senior forward Jessica Wiegert, who entered the season as the program's seventh all-time goal scorer, suffered a serious knee injury. She tore her ACL and MCL.

The Bulldogs started 1-2-2, including a 4-1 loss at Nebraska-Omaha in the fifth game of the season.

"I think it was a huge wake-up call that we can't take any team lightly," said freshman forward Olivia Hayes. "We didn't take UNO lightly, but we knew we had to play every single game, away and at home, to our best."

Truman won its next 11 games, finished the season 14-3-3 overall and 13-2-1 in the MIAA for first place.

Another solid season earned the Bulldogs their third straight trip to the NCAA Division II South Central Regional. Truman will take on arch nemesis Nebraska-Omaha, 13-5-2, noon Friday in Canyon, Texas in the first round.

The winner will face No. 1 seed West Texas A&M, 1 p.m. Sunday in Canyon, Texas.

Even though Truman split with UNO during the regular-season and is 3-3 against the Mavericks the last three years in the regular season, the Bulldogs have not had success against them in postseason.

Truman is 0-4 against UNO in regional play.

"We don't have a good record against UNO in the postseason," said senior forward Riley Mahn. "They have ended our season four times, but it gives us more motivation to beat them.

"We know how they play. We beat them before. We know exactly what to expect. In a way, it is an advantage."

A year ago Truman finished second in the MIAA and got hot in postseason and won the South Central Regional and advanced to the quarterfinals.

"Every year is a little different, but that experience doesn't hurt," Truman coach Mike Cannon said.

The things that the Bulldogs have experienced this season might make them even more mentally prepared for postseason than ever before.

Losing one of their top scorers for what looked like a season-ending injury in her final year of soccer was difficult to deal with.

"We had to figure out how to score without her," Mahn said. "After a few games we got into the swing of things. We went on a really good run. We had a couple of tough games at the end, but overall I was pretty proud how we did."

The Bulldogs found scoring from a freshman source. Hayes leads Truman in goals with 12.

"Olivia is having a great season," said Mahn, who has five goals and four assists. "She just knows how to put the ball in the net, and that has been huge for us when Jess got hurt."

Hayes credits her teammates for making the transition from high school to college go so smoothly.

Still, she was nervous when Wiegert went down and the Bulldogs were counting on her to score goals.

"I felt a lot of pressure in general because she was such a big asset to the team," Hayes said. "I came in after she got hurt.

"I didn't know how much I was going to play having senior forwards and good players all around. I was really nervous. I just wanted to do the best I could."

Wiegert, though, was inspiring her teammates even when she wasn't playing in September and October. They knew she was working hard to rehab her knee to get back on the field.

All the hard work paid off. She played some late in the season and has been working out with the team in practice.

"It is pretty incredible what she did," Mahn said. "Not many people can come back from an ACL injury in a couple of months. Jess tore here ACL and MCL.

"She worked real hard, going through the therapy three hours a day. It was an impressive accomplishment to be able to come back and play at the end of the season."

Cannon likes the way his team has overcome adversity throughout the fall.

During the season senior midfielder Katie Reuck broke her wrist had to play with a cast, and that limited some of the things she could do.

Also, during a rainy October, Truman had some field issues and had to change locations and dates of some of their games.

"The kids did well with the uncertainty of when we were going to play," Cannon said. "At one point we played four games in eight days."

Truman has plenty of incentive to march through the playoffs. The Bulldogs tasted a regional title and a spot in the quarterfinals a year ago.

"It shows us the expectations we have for ourselves," Mahn said. "We know we have the potential to move through the post season, and not just getting there is enough."

And if they face a tough time in a postseason game they just have to look at Wiegert and what she went through to get back on the field. She didn't allow a serious knee injury to stop her.

So a 1-0 deficit shouldn't bother the Bulldogs. It should only make them more determined to find a way to win.

"I think it is a real big inspiration for us to keep playing well," Hayes said. "The fact she's playing like I saw her playing in preseason is just inspiration for us to keep pushing and do all we can to keep getting further in postseason."

On Thursday: Feature on the Central Missouri volleyball team.

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