HCC Sports Information

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Over the first 11 years of women’s soccer at Hutchinson Community College, the Blue Dragons have had some incredible yearly battles with the other two Jayhawk Conference powers in the sport – Johnson County and Butler.

The 2016 regular season was void of those showdowns with the new split conference – Hutchinson plays in the west while Johnson and Butler are in the East. That won’t be the case in the 2016 postseason, however.

No. 11-ranked and Jayhawk West champion Hutchinson (17-1) will meet Johnson County (11-5-1) in the second Region VI semifinal at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday at Hummer Sports Park in Topeka. No. 2-nationally ranked and Jayhawk East champion Butler will play Coffeyville in the first semifinal at 4 p.m.

If victorious over Johnson County on Thursday, the potential for another Hutch-Butler showdown would be at noon on Friday in Topeka.

Thursday’s matchup will be the eighth postseason showdown between the Blue Dragons and Cavaliers, the sixth semifinal showdown between the two programs since 2005. Last season, Johnson County bested the Dragons 4-1 and holds a 5-2 postseason advantage over Hutchinson.

Overall, Thursday’s meeting will be the 19th game played between Hutchinson and Johnson County. The Blue Dragons are 7-10-1 against the Cavaliers.

The Blue Dragons will bring one of the top forward lines in the nation on sophomores Jordan Downing, Jazmin Hartshorn and freshman Sheena Nicol, the only trio in Blue Dragon history to score 20 goals or more in the same season.

Downing, one of five players in Jayhawk Conference history to score 40 goals in a single season, leads the nation in points with 114 and is second in goals with 44. Downing and Hartshorn are 1-2 in the NJCAA in assists with 26 and 22, respectively.

Nicol is tied for seventh in the nation with 27 goals and her 67 points are tied for fifth in the NJCAA.

Sophomore midfielder Jordan Smith has quietly put together a solid season with nine goals and 13 assists.

Defensively, the Blue Dragons have posted five consecutive shutouts and sophomore goalkeeper Caroline Howard (12-1-0) has a goals-against average of 0.53 and a save percentage of .863. She has posted four full-time shutouts and been part of eight others.

The Blue Dragons are averaging a conference-best 7.21 goals per game, second in the NJCAA. They have allowed the eighth fewest goals in the country this season with eight goals against.

Johnson County is averaging 3.29 goals per game and allows 1.05 goals per contest.

The Cavaliers are balanced offensively led by sophomore Sarah Taylor, who has 10 goals and 10 assists. Sydney Foster has seven goals, while Paige Downey, Lauren Lambrecht, Erica Petry and Joanna Taylor all have six.

Freshman keeper Menguy Li has a 10-4-1 record this season with an .832 save percentage and 1.16 goals-against average. She has four shutouts this season.

The Blue Dragons are looking to advance to the Region VI championship game for the first time since 2014. Hutchinson is 6-5 all-time in the Region VI semifinals.