The most successful, consistent program over the past 20 years at Truman has to be Mike Cannon’s soccer team. For the 10th time, they won a conference regular season championship, made their 12th NCAA postseason tournament and, in typical Truman soccer style, were one of the nation’s stingiest teams in goals allowed and shutouts posted.

Truman opened the season with a 1-1 draw at home to Ashland (Ohio) but then reeled off 11 straight wins, 10 by shutout, to take control of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. A hiccup in the middle of the season with a pair of ties and a road loss allowed Rockhurst (Mo.) to tie Truman for the regular season title with a 12-1-2 conference record.

After failing to advance in the GLVC tournament semifinals due to a loss in penalty kicks, Truman earned the No. 2 seed in the Midwest region for the NCAA tournament and had a rematch with McKendree from that GLVC semifinal.

Freshman Hanna Burke scored three minutes into the match and junior keeper Katie Mattingly recorded her record-setting 15.5 shutout of
the year in the 1-0 win over the Bearcats.

Truman moved into the regional championship game against No. 1 Grand Valley (Mich.) State, but the Bulldogs were dealt a 2-0 loss from the three-time defending national champions.

Mattingly had a slew of postseason honors thrown her way. She was named: an All-American by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association; an Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA); the GLVC Defensive Player of the Year; and she was a four-time GLVC Defender of the Week winner. She finished with a school record 0.32 goals against average and was among the national leaders in goals against and save percentage.

The postseason honor roll also included all-region selections of seniors Megan Whitehead, Allison Lockett, Stephanie Williams, junior Caity Schmitt and sophomore Laura Ney. Cannon was named the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Midwest Region Coach of the Year and the GLVC Coach of the Year.

Katie Mattingly

Megan Whitehead

Craig McLaurine

The Truman men’s soccer team finished year number 12 under head coach Duke Cochran with an overall record of 6-7-4, which included a Great Lakes Valley Conference mark of 4-7-3. The Bulldogs longest winning streak of the year was two, Sept. 13 and 16, against Southwest Baptist (3-2) and Bellarmine (1-0) in the home opener. Their longest streak without losing lasted from Oct. 7-14 with contests against Saint Joseph’s (1-0), Indianapolis (1-1) and Wisconsin-Parkside (1-1).

Three of Truman’s 17 matches came against ranked foes, the first two of which were against then-No. 16 Drury (2-3) and then-No. 1 Rockhurst (0-2). The third time was the charm for the Bulldogs as they sent their seniors out on Senior Day with a 2-1 win over then-No. 18 Missouri-St. Louis. In that match, Craig McLaurine put the home team up 1-0 and senior Tyler Luebbert sealed it in the 74th minute with his first goal of the year.

McLaurine was tied for the team lead in goals with four next to a standout freshman in Matt Yankowitz. McLaurine also led the squad in assists with five, three more than the next-closest Bulldog. His 13 total points were also first among the Bulldogs while Yankowitz was able to put more than 38 percent of his shots on goal (5 of 13). In goal, Zac Suazo started 15 matches and Jory Knernschield was the starter in the other two.