By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Washburn Ichabod soccer team returns home this weekend for a pair of MIAA contests, hosting Northeastern State at 6 p.m. on Friday and Rogers State at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Leah Henke
Sam Searcey The Ichabods, 7-2-2 overall, 4-0-1 in the MIAA, are riding a seven-game unbeaten streak into Friday's match that includes six wins and one tie and Washburn coach Davy Philips said it's important to continue building.
"Northeastern's really good,'' Phillips said. "They drew (Central Missouri) earlier in the year and they've been in the region top 10 most of it so they're going to be a really good challenge for us and then every game from here on out is really important to maximize our performance index points and RPI, so whether its Rogers on Sunday or Northeastern on Friday, both of those are equally important because it's important we max out all the points we can through every game now.
"It's a tough slate of games coming up no doubt, but one of the best things about it is I feel like we're growing every week. It feels good to see growth, but it's also important to acknowledge that we have a lot of growth still to accomplish.''
Last Friday night, freshman Leah Henke scored a four-minute hat trick -- the sixth in program history and the first since 2022 -- in a 5-1 win road win over Missouri Southern. Henke has eight goals this season, ranking second in the MIAA and tied for 17th nationally.
On Sunday sophomore Sam Searcey scored both Ichabod goals in a 2-0 shutout at Pittsburg State.
Washburn freshman goalkeeper Lili Everley has recorded five shutouts this season, the third-most in the conference.
Washburn has outscored opponents 18–10 and out-shot them 148–90 this season.
The Ichabods currently sit in second place in the MIAA standings and are ranked sixth in the USC Central Region.
The RiverHawks (6-4-1, 1-3-1) have outscored opponents, 20–9. They appeared in the USC Central Region rankings during the first five weeks of the season, reaching as high as sixth before falling out this week.
Northeastern State leads the all-time series, 7-3-3. Washburn has won the last two meetings.
Rogers State is 1-5-4 on the season entering a Friday game at Emporia State.
