KC-area players lead Central Missouri to NCAA Division II women’s soccer tournament

One of the biggest things Hannah Pyle learned during her soccer playing days at St. Thomas Aquinas was that she did not like to lose.

She won four consecutive state titles with the Saints and left there looking for another place to prove herself. She landed at Central Missouri, where she and a handful of other Kansas City-area players are preparing for the NCAA Division II Tournament.

It’s Pyle’s second tournament appearance and the fifth in a row for the Jennies, who will play host to Central Oklahoma at noon Sunday in Warrensburg. Central Missouri leads the season series 1-1-0 against Central Oklahoma.

“Their soccer program is constantly winning conference championships and that is what I’m used to,” Pyle said. “It’s just like playing the college level of Aquinas.”

The Jennies compiled a 17-0-1 regular-season record this year and picked up their fifth consecutive Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association regular-season title. They enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the Central Region after winning the program’s second MIAA Tournament title in four years with players from Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.

“Doing it with local kids means a little bit more than doing it a different way,” Jennies coach Lewis Theobald said. “They buy into doing it for the community and we are pretty lucky to have our school where it is because Kansas City is such a good soccer area and it makes my life recruiting easier.”

The Jennies present a balanced offense that has had goals from 12 different players so far this season. Julie Ireland leads the group with 12 goals and ranks third with six assists. Olathe East’s Alex Yockey is second with nine goals, and Pyle is tied at eight with Piper’s Megan Woolley.

Defensively, freshman goalkeeper Ana Dilkes is one win away from setting the Central Missouri single-season record with 20.

“The best part about this team is that it is a team and we are not relying on one or two players,” Theobald said. “It is a team effort, so on any given night or any given day it is a different player making a play or doing something to help us win a game. They have really bought in to the team concept and they play for each other.”

This story was originally published November 15, 2014 at 5:35 PM with the headline "KC-area players lead Central Missouri to NCAA Division II women’s soccer tournament."