Sept. 30, 2015
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SPRINGFIELD - The Missouri State field hockey team will play in its conference opener and make its home debut this weekend as the Bears travel to Oxford, Ohio, to face the Miami RedHawks at 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, then return home to host rival Saint Louis at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4, at Betty and Bobby Allison North Stadium.
Road Trip Review
A combined two goals served as the difference in Missouri State's previous two games, as the Bears dropped a 2-1 contest to UC Davis and 4-3 decision to Pacific during their two-game stretch in California last weekend.
Andrea Soler Codina scored the lone goal for MSU in a strong defensive effort at UC Davis Saturday. The two teams went to halftime tied 1-1 and combined for seven shots and just one penalty corner before the Aggies notched the eventual game-winner in the 37th minute. The Bears rallied from a 4-1 deficit with 13 minutes remaining at Pacific Sunday with a chance to tie it at 4-4 in the final minute, but two shot attempts were saved and hit the post in the defeat to the Tigers.
Scherer Enters Top 10 All-Time List
Senior Holly Scherer catapulted into the MSU record book in MSU's last game at Pacific Sunday. With her two-goal performance, Scherer surpassed both Jemima Cameron and current head coach Gabby Gomez Sosa on the Bears' all-time points list. Scherer's 56 career points has her alone in eighth, a point ahead of Gomez Sosa's 55 and just two points shy of Casey Bayliss' 58.
Back to Allison North
Missouri State makes its home opener Sunday at Betty and Bobby Allison North Stadium. The friendly confines of Allison North served the Bears well last year. All of MSU's victories during the 2014 season came at home, including its first two games ever at its newly-built facility.
Heading Into Conference
Mid-American Conference matchups have already begun as MSU is the last MAC member to make its conference debut. The Bears open their MAC schedule Friday at Miami, which is already 1-0 this season in conference play with a 2-1 victory over Longwood on Sept. 18. Miami, along with Ohio and Kent State, each won their conference openers and are currently 1-0 in MAC action. Ball State was defeated by Ohio, 4-2, while Central Michigan was topped by Longwood, 5-2, in both teams' lone conference games to this point.
About Miami
The Miami (Ohio) RedHawks are 6-5 this season with all five of their losses coming against top-10 nationally-ranked teams. Miami currently has the 16th-best RPI in the country heading into Friday's game with the Bears. The RedHawks have three players that have double-digit point totals as Paula Portugal leads the team with five goals. Goalkeeper Alysa Xavier has been solid in net for Miami, giving up just 1.08 goals a game and owning an .829 save percentage.
Miami has a 22-10-1 record over Missouri State all-time, winning the last two contests by a combined 8-2 margin. The Bears won two straight matchups in 2011-2012, otherwise Miami has owned the series of late with the RedHawks winning 16 of the last 18 meetings.
About Saint Louis
The Saint Louis Billikens are 0-11 currently ahead of their match against Massachusetts Friday. The Billikens are led this season by Morgan Crowe who has a team-high five points behind two goals and an assist. Goalkeeper Tori Westhead has started every game for Saint Louis this year with the net-minder holding a .641 save percentage.
With a 5-4 overtime victory on Sept. 17 at Saint Louis, Missouri State took a 63-29-2 advantage in the all-time series over the Billikens. MSU has won seven of the previous eight meetings between the two squads, with the matchup earlier this season the first to go to overtime since 2005. Saint Louis had won the previous three games that went to overtime between the rivals.
Follow the Bears
Check out all of the latest news and information on the Bears field hockey team at MissouriStateBears.com and follow Missouri State field hockey on Facebook (MissouriStateFH), Instagram (@msufhbears) and Twitter (@MSUBearsFHockey) for photos and updates throughout the season.
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