Metro Sports Report

Goods named JUCO National Player of Year

Kirkwood sophomore Simone Goods was honored Friday with the 2017 Spalding NJCAA DII Women's Player of the Year Award after leading the  Eagles to the national title this season.

The selection was made by the DII women's basketball committee.

Kirkwood Coach Kim Muhl earlier was named the Spalding DII Coach of the Year by the committee.

Goods, a 6-foot-2 center from Omaha, averaged 16.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks this season. She shot 67.9 percent from the field, which led the country.

Goods transferred to Kirkwood for the 2016-17 campaign after spending one year at Western Kentucky.

Kirkwood finished with a perfect 37-0 record this year and won the seventh national title in school history.

Goods averaged 15 points and 8.5 rebounds in four games at the national tournament and was named the tournament MVP. She also was named the conference MVP and the regional MVP.

Goods collected 10 double-doubles this season and scored in double figures in 34 of 37 games.

No. 1 Eagles split with No. 5 DMACC

BOONE - The Kirkwood Eagles have the top-ranked softball team in the country, but they'll probably finish as the No. 2 team in their own league.

The Eagles split a doubleheader at DMACC Friday, winning the opener  2-1 and dropping the nightcap 8-5.

The split left DMACC with a 21-1 record in the ICCAC conference with  four games left in the race. Kirkwood is 20-2 and will need help from  another team to win the title.

Kirkwood trailed 1-0 heading into the top of the sixth inning in the  opener when it broke through with two runs.

Maddie Hansen collected a one-out single and was replaced by  pinch-runner Amanda Pipolo, who stole second to get into scoring position. Morgan Frost delivered a two-out double to tie the game 1-1, then Angie McBeain hit another double to drive in Frost and give the  Eagles a 2-1 edge.

Lexi Kinnaird (22-2, 1.25 ERA) kept DMACC off the board in the bottom  of the sixth and seventh to finish the victory. Kinnaird tossed a five-hitter for the victory.

Brrr ... Diebold lifts Saints by Hawks

When the wind-chill temperature dips into the mid-40's and there's a frigid gale whipping across the field, the last thing anyone wants is a soccer match that goes into overtime.

Paige Diebold spared all the fans who brought their winter coats, stocking caps and blankets to John Wall Field Thursday night when she scored the only goal as Xavier blanked Prairie, 1-0, in a Mississippi Valley Conference match.

Diebold connected from about 30 yards with 29 minutes, 17 seconds left in the second half when she lofted a shot that eluded the Prairie goal-keeper and nestled softly into the back of the net.

"We connected all the way from the back and then the shot was open," Diebold said about her clutch goal.

And the weather?

"You get warm when you give it your all," claimed Diebold, who wore soccer shorts like all the other players. "It was really windy, but the whole team kept up the pressure the whole game. We were able to  keep attacking."

Hansen making bid for JUCO Triple Crown

OTTUMWA - Taylor Nearad made a serious bid for the Triple Crown in junior college softball last year.

Now it's Maddie Hansen's turn for Kirkwood.

Hansen went 4-for-5 and belted two home runs Wednesday as the  top-ranked Eagles swept a doubleheader from Indian Hills, 9-2 and 5-1, in Ottumwa.

Hansen is batting .557 with 15 home runs and 72 RBIs. She leads all NJCAA Division II players in RBIs, is tied for second in home runs and  is third in batting average.

Nearad is not far behind her teammate. She went 4-for-8 with two home runs and four RBIs Wednesday and is hitting .527 with 15 homers and 63  RBIs.

Nearad has socked 45 home runs in two years at Kirkwood, tying the school mark set by Kayla Tatge in 2012 and 2013. Nearad hit 30 homers  last year to break the single-season record.

Kirkwood originally was scheduled to play DMACC Wednesday in a showdown for the conference lead, but that doubleheader has been switched to Friday in Boone.