Joplin, Mo. – The Missouri Southern soccer program hits the road this weekend to battle against #15 Emporia State and Washburn.

The Lions (3-9-2, 2-5 MIAA) are coming off a 2-0 win over Nebraska-Kearney on Senior Night and a 1-0 loss to Fort Hays State at home last week. Currently the Lions are ninth in the MIAA standings with six points, tied with Fort Hays on points but losing out in the head-to-head result. The leading goal scorer is Lions Ella Durocher with three off 25 shots with 14 shots on goal. Maya Greenquist has the most points with seven after scoring twice and providing three assists. Jori Hays has the most shots and shots on goal with 27 and 17, with most of her shots coming from outside the box. Riley Laver ranks third in the MIAA in saves per game (5.00), save percentage (0.820), fifth in goals against average (GAA at 1.128), sixth in shutouts (3) and seventh for saves (50).
 
Missouri Southern will kick off from the ESU Pitch against Emporia State Friday, at 3:00 pm and on Sunday against Washburn will kickoff at 1:00 pm from Yager Stadium. Both games will feature a stream and have live stats associated with them, you can find them at https://mssulions.com/coverage. 
 
Emporia State (12-1-1, 6-1 MIAA) is coming off its first loss of the season against Central Oklahoma 2-1 and rebounded with a 2-1 win over Newman on the road last week. Currently the Hornets are second in the MIAA standings with 18 points, one point behind Central Missouri for first place. The top goal scoring team in the MIAA the Hornets have scored 40 goals in 14 games led by Mackenzie Dimarco the MIAA freshman and Offensive Player of the Year in 2019. She has 14 goals (tied for 1st), 71 shots and 47 shots on goal (both 1st in the MIAA) this season. Hannah Woolery has seven goals from 45 shots (both 7th in MIAA) and has provided four assists (10th in MIAA). In goal Jillian Patton ranks third in GAA (1.053), seventh in shutouts (3), and tenth in saves (29) and saves per game (2.07). A win over Emporia State would snap a five-game losing streak and be the first win on the road since 2014 for the Lions.
 
Washburn (7-4-2, 3-3-1 MIAA) is coming off a 1-0 win against Newman before losing to Central Oklahoma 1-0 on the road last week. Currently the Ichabods are sixth in the MIAA standing with 10 points. Tera Lynch leads the team with seven goals scored (5th in MIAA), had 37 shots (10th in MIAA), 24 shots on goal (5th in MIAA) and has provided four assists (8th in MIAA). In goal Raegan Wells is fourth in saves (60), fifth in saves per game (4.62), seventh in GAA (1.240) and ninth in shutouts (2). A win over Washburn would snap a three-game road losing streak against the Ichabods.

Following this weekend the Lions wrap up the regular season with Central Missouri on the road on October 29th and Northwest Missouri at home October 31st.