Chelsie Shepard had her first assist in a Park University uniform against MNU, helping the Pirates beat the Pioneers 3-2 on Tuesday.

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PARKVILLE, Mo. – The Park University women’s soccer team will attempt to win its third-straight game to open the 2010 season Friday night in Parkville, taking on Midland Lutheran College at Julian Field, with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m.

Park (2-0-0) got a scare from MidAmerica Nazarene University earlier this week, needing nearly two extra minutes to put the Pioneers away in overtime after it looked like the game was locked up in the final minute.

The Pirates did get two goals in the game from Dana Hemmingsen, who was tied for the team lead in scoring through regulation before Ashley Maxwell put through the game-winner in the 92nd-minute, pushing her team-leading goals total to three.

Maxwell has taken a team-leading 24 shots and 11 shots on goal, ranking in the NAIA’s top 10 in both categories. Juneille Watkins is tied with Hemmingsen for second on the team in scoring, posting two goals and an assist, and the Pirates have out-shot their opponents 62-13 with a 26-7 edge in shots on goal.

Defensively, Park has surrendered just two scores, both to MNU, also earning a 6-0 shutout on Aug. 21 to begin the 2010 season. Monika Stoiber owns both wins in goal for Park, making five saves, all against MNU, while allowing both Pioneer goals to reach a 1.11 goals-against average.

Midland Lutheran is 0-0-1 on the year after opening the season with a 1-1 draw against College of Saint Mary. Kayleen Colson, who led the Warriors with six shots and three shots on goal, scored MLC’s only goal in the game in the 77th minute, but CSM rallied back a minute later to score in the 78th, and both teams went scoreless over the remaining 42 minutes of play.

Anna Peterson played all 110 minutes between the posts for Midland against CSM, making five saves with a goal allowed, and the Warriors outshot the Flames 16-8, with an 8-6 edge in shots on goal.

MAXWELL STRIKES (AGAIN) IN OT
Ashley Maxwell has a way of freeing herself up to score in overtime in her Park University career. Not only does she now have 11 game-winning goals in her career, three of those goals have come in sudden-death overtime.

As a freshman, Maxwell helped Park beat William Jewell in Liberty, 1-0, and a year later, she scored again on the Cards in overtime for another 1-0 win. Maxwell’s Tuesday game-winner was very similar to the score that ended the 2009 game with Jewell, with Maxwell getting loose inside the 18-yard box on the north end of Julian Field.

Maxwell now has 32 career goals in a Park University uniform.

HEMMINGSEN GOES ON THE ATTACK AGAINST MNU
Dana Hemmingsen looked like she had something to prove on Tuesday night. The Johnson County native fired seven shots at MNU, just miles from her home in Prairie Village, putting three on goal, with two finding the back of the net. Through regulation, she was tied for the team lead in scoring with both Juneille Watkins and Ashley Maxwell, until Maxwell’s game-winner in overtime.

Hemmingsen has now taken 14 shots, good for second on the team, and she is also second with five shots on goal.

HEFNER TO COACH IN 100TH GAME AT PARK
Friday night’s contest against Midland Lutheran will be the 100th game coached by Ken Hefner at Park University, bringing a 62-28-9 record into the contest in five-plus seasons with the Pirates.

Hefner’s first game at Park was also against a team from the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC), a 3-1 loss to Hastings in 2005. His 50th game coached at Park was against another Nebraska opponent, College of Saint Mary, in 2007, and game No. 75 was Park’s 1-0 overtime win over William Jewell in the 2009 season.

HOMESTAND COMING TO AN END
Park University’s three-game season-opening homestand will come to an end with Friday night’s game against Midland Lutheran College, with the team’s next contest coming Sept. 12 at William Jewell College in Liberty.

After William Jewell, the Pirates will play at Benedictine on Sept. 15, and the team’s next home game is scheduled for Sept. 18, beginning conference play against McKendree University.