Emporia State hosted the second round of the Central Region Championship match of the 2023 Division II Women’s Soccer tournament on Nov. 19 at the ESU pitch. The Hornets faced off against the Bemidji State Beavers who are ranked No. 9 in the central region and No. 6 in the tournament bracket.
The Hornets came into the game with an overall record of 14-5-4 and conference play record of 8-2-1. Similarly, Bemidji State had a record of 13-4-6 overall and 7-3-4 in conference play.
Like the Hornets, the Beavers, who are part of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, also claimed their conference tournament for an automatic bid to the Division II Women’s Soccer tournament.
The Beavers went into their conference tournament as the No. 4 seed but upset the top-ranked St.Cloud State in a 2-0 victory in the semi finals matchup. They later won the championship match against the No. 6 ranked University of Mary Marauders 2-0.
The Hornets and Beavers faced off for the third consecutive year in postseason play. The Beavers were 2-0 against the Hornets coming into this year’s season as Bemidji State took a 1-0 win during the 2021 season and took another win in 2022 after beating Emporia State in penalty kicks.
The Beavers came out with a quick 1-0 lead over the Hornets as they scored the first goal in the 17th minute of play. The Hornets later tied up the game in the 29th minute with a goal by graduate student midfielder Hannah Woolery and assist by senior midfielder Angela Palmer. The rest of the first half remained even at 1-1.
The beginning of the second half was rather quiet until graduate student forward Mackenzie Dimarco scored for the Hornets in the 76th minute with an assist by freshman midfielder Paige Putter, putting ESU at a 2-1 lead going into the final minutes of the game.
ESU’s defense held the Beavers scoreless for the last 14 minutes of the game, resulting in a 2-1 victory for Emporia State.
The Hornets had a total of 17 shots throughout the game while the Beavers tallied a total of five.
The Beavers also accumulated a total of 15 fouls with six in the first half and nine in the second half. ESU totaled nine with six in the first half and three in the second half.
Dimarco led the Hornets in shots with a total of six, followed by Paige Putter who tallied three. Hannah Woolery and Aubree Blackman both finished the game with two shots.
The Hornets have now advanced to the Sweet Sixteen where they will now face off against MIAA foe Washburn University.
The Hornets and Ichabods have met a total of three times this year, meeting twice during the regular season and once during the semifinals of the MIAA Conference tournament. The Hornets are 2-1 against the Ichabods so far this year.
Both teams will travel to Ashland, OH, home to the top-seeded Ashland University Eagles, to compete for a spot in the quarter finals. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. central time on Dec. 1.
The winner will face the winner for the Midwest Region, which will be either No. 1 ranked Ashland who is 19-0-4 on the season and nationally ranked second or No. 3 ranked Grand Valley State.
