SPRINGFIELD – Wrapping up three consecutive road matches, Missouri State women's soccer heads to Carbondale, Ill to take on Southern Illinois Thursday at 6 p.m.
Match Details
The Missouri State women's soccer team (5-4-2) concludes their three-game road trip Thursday at 6 p.m. in Carbondale, Ill. against Southern Illinois (4-2-2).
For all the latest information and in game updates on the Missouri State women's soccer team, visit MissouriStateBears.com or follow @MSUBearsWSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.
Scoring Summary
• Six Bears have found the back of the net so far.
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Joey Fosnow (Fr., F, Lee's Summit, Mo.) has three goals. Fosnow scored the first goal of the year for MoState in the 54th minute vs. SEMO (8/25/22), netted her second in 24th minute at Drake (9/22/22) and scored in the fourth minute at Northern Iowa (9/25/22).
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Gracie English (Jr., F/M, Belleville, Ill, Saint Louis) has two goals, with both of her scores coming in the first half on Sept. 4 at Oral Roberts.
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Kaeli Benedict (So., M, Bridgton, Mo.) has two goals, scoring against SEMO (8/25/22) in the 67th minute and netting a game-winning penalty kick goal in the 16th minute against Kansas City (9/11/22).
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Grace O'Keefe (So., F, Overland Park, Kan.) has two goals. O'Keefe scored on a penalty kick in the 29th minute against Tulsa (8/28/22) and netted the game-winning goal in the 78th minute of the conference opener vs. Evansville (9/18/22).
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Riley Smith (Fr., F, Platte City, Mo.) has one goal, finding the back of the net in the 85th minute vs the Golden Hurricane (8/28/22).
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Iraia Arrue (So., F, Caracas, Venezuela) has one goal, scoring in the 34th minute at Northern Iowa (9/25/22).
Quick Kicks
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Joey Fosnow (Fr., F, Lee's Summit, Mo.) leads the Bears in goals with three (tied for the most in the MVC), in shots with 25, and in shots on goal with 16. Fosnow is also tied for the most points in the Valley (7, 0.64 Avg/G).
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Gracie English (Jr., F/M, Belleville, Ill, Saint Louis) is also one of four MVC players to score two goals (at ORU, 9/4/22) in a single game. She is alongside Drake's Emma Nagel (at Kansas City, 8/18/22), Northern Iowa's Allison Whitaker (vs. St. Ambrose, 8/28/22) and Illinois State's Allison Baker (vs. Lindenwood, 9/8/22).
• Through 11 games,
Kyli Jackson (Sr., D/M, Overland Park, Kan.) has logged the most minutes of any Bear at 924.
• Three freshmen have seen over 640 minutes of action in 11 games for the Bears.
Gabbi Schlapper (Fr., M, St. Charles, Mo.) has played 691 minutes, Fosnow has played 650 minutes and
Hailey Chambliss (Fr., M, Eureka, Mo.) has played 641 minutes.
• Since the beginning of the 2021 season,
Abby Couch (Jr., M, Kearney, Mo.) and
Carly Raunig (Jr., D, Olathe, Kan.) have started every match (28 total).
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Camielle Day (Jr., GK, Dardenne Prairie, Mo.) has a goals against average of 1.10, ranked 4th in the MVC. Day has also posted four shoutouts, tied for 2nd most in the MVC (and tied for 49th most nationally), and a save percentage of .773, good for 3rd highest in the conference.
• MoState has a shutout percentage of .455, tied for 68th in the nation.
• Fosnow has put 16 of her 25 shots on goal, good for a shot accuracy of .640, tied for 25th highest nationally.
Head Coach Kirk Nelson
• Head coach
Kirk Nelson took the reins of the Bears on Jan. 1, 2022, after eight seasons as associate head coach. Nelson replaced former Bears' head coach and founder of the MSU women's program Rob Brewer, who retired last season after 26 years. Prior to joining the Missouri State staff, Nelson spent four seasons at the University of Nevada, including one as associate head coach. During his last two seasons in Nevada, Nelson led the Wolfpack to back-to-back Mountain West Conference Tournaments. Nelson also had success as a high school head coach near Phoenix, AZ, spending time at both Mountain Pointe High School and Chandler High School. Nelson racked up 175 wins and competed for a pair of 5A state championships during this time. Nelson is certified as a USSF National "A" License coach, one of the highest coaching certifications given out by the federation and holds both an NSCAA Premier Diploma and a Goalkeeping Diploma.
Bears From Abroad
• The Missouri State women's soccer features three international players on their roster this season.
Eydis Helgadottir is from Reykjavik, Iceland (Commercial College of Reykjavik) while
Iraia Arrue and
Ana Paula Fraiz are from Caracas, Venezuela (both from Colegio Jefferson). Helgadottir is the second player in Bears in program history from Iceland while Arrue and Fraiz are the first Missouri State players to hail from Venezuela.
Built Some Bears
• The Missouri State coaching staff has developed quite a pipeline from St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Overland Park, Kansas in recent years as five alums are on the roster.
Bella Bryson,
Carly Raunig,
Kyli Jackson,
Grace O'Keefe and
Abby Hansen all played for the Saints. All-time, there have been nine Aquinas graduates to take the pitch for the Bears.
Series History
• Missouri State leads the series vs. Southern Illinois all-time, 2-0-0 (1-0-0 at home, 1-0-0 on the road).
• The two teams last met in Carbondale on 9/17/21. The Bears defeated the Salukis, 3-0 behind goals from
Grace O'Keefe,
Isabel Burke and
Kaeli Benedict.
A Look Ahead
• After the game at SIU, the Bears return home on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 1 p.m. for a matchup with Valparaiso.
#BearsUnite
