The Missouri Western Griffons football team held steady at No. 6 in the latest American Football Coaches Association top 25 poll which was released Monday.

The Griffons defeated Nebraska-Kearney 31-19 last time out and will host Fort Hays State University on Saturday, September 28 at 6:00 p.m. in Spratt Stadium. This will also be the annual Wendy’s Hall of Fame Game.

Among other MIAA schools, Northwest Missouri is ranked No. 3 while Pittsburg State is ranked 12th and Washburn is 18th. Emporia State is ranked 24th. Missouri Southern received votes in the ranking.

Missouri Western has been ranked in the top 25 in the last 23 polls and has received votes in 43 of the last 44 polls by the American Football Coaches Association.

Click here to view the AFCA Top 25 poll.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western women’s soccer team gave up two goals in the second half falling 2-0 in their MIAA opener against Lindenwood on Sunday afternoon. The Griffons had nine shots falling to 2-5 on the season and 0-1 in MIAA play.

The two teams played the first half to a 0-0 tie with the Lions taking eight shots and Western had four. MWSU goalie Rayelin Garcia had four saves while the Bailey Tracy of LWU had two. Tara Russell and K.C. Ramsell both had two shots in the opening frame while the Lions were led by Kristen Crabtree and Miranda Huebner with three apiece.

The second half was all Lindenwood as Crabtree scored her first two goals of the season. She got her first goal in the 59th minute and then put the game away in the 68th minute with a blast form 20 yards out. With the victory the Lions improve to 5-2 on the season and 2-0 in MIAA play.

The Griffons will be back in action on Tuesday, September 24 with a home non-conference match up with Northwest Missouri State. Game time is set for 7:00 pm from Spratt Stadium.

— MWSU Sports Information —

After day one of the St. Cloud State Invite the Missouri Western golf team sits in 13th out of 15 teams with a 327. The leader of the event is Bemidji State who finished with a 291 which is eight strokes better than Concordia St. Paul.

Evan McCarthy, Scott Sheldon and Dylan Watts lead the Griffons with 81’s while Derek Hawkins and Tyler Gast finished with 84 and 89 respectively. Dylan Queen was playing as an individual and he finished with an 82.

AJ Oster of Bemidji State and Jack Pexa lead the way with an one under 71.

The final round of the event will be played tomorrow with tee times scheduled for 8:30 am.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western women’s golf team finished in 6th place at the Mustang Invite which was played at the Marshal Golf Club in Marshall, Minn. MWSU fired a two round total of 662 (334-328) which was four strokes better than Minot State (666) and three strokes behind St. Cloud State (659). Minnesota State-Mankato won the event with a 620 (300-320).

Callie Wilson led the Griffons with two rounds of 80 for a 160 placing her in a tie for 12th. Anna Kloeppel finished tied for 19th with a 163 (86-77) while Amber Chivington finished in a tie for 33rd with a 167 (78-89). Darcy Smith (90-86) and Shelby Stone (91-85) finished in a tie for 46th firing a two round 176.

The winner of the event was Kenya Sethasompobe of Minnesota State-Mankato with a two round 145 (70-75).

The Griffons return to action on Monday, October 7 and Tuesday, October 8 participating in the Northwest Missouri State Bearcat Fall Invite. The event will be played at Mozingo Lake Golf Course in Maryville, Mo.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The No. 6 Missouri Western football team defeated the University of Nebraska Kearney Saturday evening to win its second consecutive road game and stay unbeaten. The Griffons are now 3-0 on the season and 2-0 in the MIAA.

Dalton Krysa opened the game up with a 12-yard touchdown run. The Griffons led 7-0  midway through the first quarter.

Two more touchdowns followed as Missouri Western began to open up the lead. Stephon Weaver scored on a 13-yard pass from Travis Partridge. Weaver’s score made it 14-0 right before the first quarter ended.

Partridge plunged into the end zone on the next score from the 3-yard line, giving the Griffons a 21-0. UNK came right back and Bronson Marsh scored on a 9-yard carry to cut the Griffon lead to 21-6 after the ensuing point after try was blocked. John Schmiemeier nailed a 33-yard field goal to close the half with a 17-point lead.

Marsh scored two more touchdowns to push the Griffons into the fourth quarter with a slim lead, 24-19. Quarterback Dalton Sealey missed on a two-point conversion that would have cut the lead to three. But MWSU held the ball for over four minutes on the following possession. The drive ended as Weaver collected his second score. Weaver caught a 5-yard pass to go ahead 31-19.

That’s how the game would end in Kearney as the Griffons continued their six-game conference win streak.

Raphael Spencer carried the team with a ton of yards on the ground. Spencer’s 171 yards came on 27 carries for a 6.3 average. Weaver had six receptions for 50 yards and his two touchdown grabs. Dee Tolliver had four big catches that tallied 63 yards.

Partridge had a good game as well, throwing 22 completions on 35 attempts for 277 yards. Nick Williams led the defense with 10 tackles. The Griffons’ defense cause three turnovers on the day as well, with Marcus Thompson collecting two interceptions and Stephen Juergens had one.

The Griffons play against this Saturday at 6 p.m. in the Hall of Fame Game. At halftime, the 2013 Hall of Famers will be introduced.

— MWSU Sports Information —

 

The Missouri Western soccer team fell on the road 2-0 against the 13th ranked NAIA Graceland University. The Griffons had 11 shots in the contest with Teddi Serna getting four. With the loss the Griffons fall to 2-4 on the season.

Stephanie D’Cruz scored both goals for the Yellow Jackets. She got Graceland on the board in the 28th minute and then put the game away in the 53rd minute. Graceland had 22 shots with D’Cruz getting eight shots with five on goal.

Rayelin Garcia made six saves for the Griffons in goal as she made her first start of the season. She falls to 0-1 on the season.

The Griffons open up MIAA play at home on Sunday, September 22 with a 12:00 pm start against the Lindenwood Lions.

— MWSU Sports Information —

The Missouri Western women’s soccer team struggled on a damp day against the Bulldogs falling 4-0 in non-conference action.  Western gave up three first half goals falling to 2-3 on the season. This marked the first meeting between Truman and Missouri Western since their departure to the Great Lakes Valley Conference this fall.

Missouri Western gave up just nine first half shots but the Bulldogs made the most of them. Melanie Hunt got TSU on the board in the 8th minute off an assist from Sally Smith. Six minutes later Alexis Heffernan capitalized on an assist from Melanie Hunt and Kristinea Weishar giving Truman a 2-0 lead. The Bulldogs scored their final goal off the half on an own goal.

MWSU had six shots in the first period with four on goal while TSU had five shots on goal.

In the second half the Griffons managed just one shot while Truman had nine. Stephanie Williams got the final goal of the game for Truman in the 62nd minute helping them improve to 3-1-1 overall.

Tara Russell led they way offensively for MWSU with three shots and two on goal while Teddi Serna and K.C. Ramsell both had one shot on goal. Sarah Lyle picked up the loss playing just the first half falling to 2-3 on the season.

The Bulldogs finished with 18 shots with Heffernan leading the way with five shots and two on goal. She also had a goal and an assist in the game. Emily Bozdeck made four saves in the game for Truman.

The Griffons return to action on Friday, September 20 when they travel to Lamoni, Iowa to take on the 13th ranked NAIA Graceland Yellow Jackets. Kickoff is set for 5:00 pm.

— MWSU Sports Information —