Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the family.

For those of you who are keeping track - Elise turned 5 years old this year, Eliana is 3 1/2 and Elijah is 9 months.

In your celebration of His birth, don't forget the reason He came. Read John 19 and 20. - C

More 2007 Pictures - Men

Here, Brett dropped the ball to Kirk who then carried the ball into the space to his left and made a great, driven cross to the far post. Exactly how we practiced. I'm sure it happened.

Friends and family picnic.

Don't ask. I'm just glad that I am not in the picture.

No caption needed.

I would not mind going into "battle" with these guys again.

2007 Men's Soccer Summary

Before the season began, I thought that the men's team might be in for a rough season. We had lost some key players and I was not sure how the recruiting class would work in to our system. There were two factors that I did not consider:

a) The outstanding contribution from our transfers
b) How well this group of young men would learn to work together

We always talk about the strength of team play, but this season the men allowed me to experience it firsthand. I will always be grateful for what the players demonstrated to me. There is no way that our team could be considered “talented”. We have some talented players, but most of the men simply worked hard and played their roles. By the end of the season, I felt like we could match up with anyone and have a reasonable shot at a win. Our leadership was consistent, other key players consistently followed that leadership and everyone tried to help their teammate succeed. At times, the coaching staff felt as if we could throw anyone into the line-up and they would play great.

Offensive MVP: Brett Hollenbeck
Defensive MVP: Bryan Oliver
Most Improved: Everett Callan
Leadership: Timothy Reinert
Jamie O’Dell: Daniel Kaminski

Daniel Kaminski finishes his career 3rd in saves in a single season with 161, 4th in saves per game over a career with 7.77, 2nd all-time in career saves with 397, and 2nd all-time in goalkeeper minutes with 4,562.

These men played in every match:
Kaminski, Riffel, Oliver, Hollenbeck, Board, Reinert, Esgar, Huber

These men started every match:
Kaminski, Riffel, Oliver, Hollenbeck, Board, Reinert

Our four year players are Andrew Swift. Swifty was unable to continue his playing career after 2005, but became a part of our staff and filled a valuable role as our goalkeeper coach. Aaron Hale’s career had some stops and starts, but he eventually worked his way into a strong role on our team. I often wonder if we had had one more player during that last weekend in October. . .

Tim Reinert is a young man whose college career was almost cut short by an ACL tear. Tim showed great determination and discipline in his rehab and returned at full strength by the following season and even played during out trip to Germany, six months after his surgery. Tim as always led by example on the field. He leaves big "boots" to fill.

Daniel Kaminski's work ethic made him one of the greatest goalkeepers in MBBC history. He did not arrive at college with great technique, but he constently drilled himself into a smart soccer player. Many of his saves were nothing short of amazing. No one who was at the game will forget his 23 saves against NBBC in September. . . The most remarkable thing about Dan is his walk with God. His teammates and coach are better men for having played with him.

Women's Soccer End-of-the-Year Speech

The 2007 Women’s Soccer season began with a great deal of optimism. While we had lost a large number of starters from the previous year, we were confident in the talent of our new players.

Our defense put up the best numbers in team history with a 1.78 GAA, even after giving up 14 goals in our first three matches. Jenny, Shasta, Shannon, Kat, Sierra, Laura and, of course, Barb all contributed to that accomplishment. Our problem this season was in goal scoring. At one point, we went 8 straight matches without putting the ball in the net (except for a PK by Melissa). We didn’t score in every way imaginable: off posts, off defender’s hands, great saves, goals called back, referee’s inattention, whiffs, shot’s over from 2 feet away, etc.

Yet, we played well enough to win a trip to the NCCAA II national tournament in Kissimmee, FL for the first time in program history. The experience was one that I will never forget and we had a lot of fun with the team – on the airplane, waiting for poor Miss Bolton with the van, having my own room all to myself, taking pictures with Kennedy, squeezing into Sunday School class, and playing soccer in summer weather in November. Good times.

We had a large number of players play in every match this season:
Gerlach, Nichols, Harrison, Harley, Kutz, Dow, Alley, Mikolowski, Muse, Collogan and Delaney

Ladies who started every match include:
Nichols, Harrison, Harley, Kutz, Mikolowski, Muse, Collogan and Delaney

Julie Muse is now 7th all-time in goals scored. Emily Kutz is 8th.
Melissa Nichols is now 6th in goals scored in a single season.
Julie is 4th all-time in assists.
Barbara Gerlach posted the all-time lowest GAA for an MBBC goalkeeper at 1.59 GA.

Our awards went to the following people:
Offensive MVP – Melissa Nichols
Defensive MVP – Shasta Mikolowski
Most Improved Player-Pamela Shetter
Leadership Award-Shasta Mikolowski

Our four-year seniors are Kristen Kowalcyk and Shasta Mikolowski. Both young ladies have great discipline and faithfulness. Kristen was especially good at making sure that we run things according to plan – she often reminded of statements that I have made and did not follow through on. I appreciate it a great deal. I hope Kristen goes on to coach this game. I think she understands it and can communicate effectively.

Our second senior was Shasta. Shasta’s leadership abilities grew immensely during her four years. I remember a younger player once telling me that Shasta had yelled at her so bad during a match that she cried. Forward that scene to this year, and Shasta’s encouragement was always positive and constructive. She truly helped the players around her to become better.

We need a picture

This annoucement just came through the on-campus, electronic newsletter called the Trumpeter:

Winner of the Girl's Dorm Decorating Contest - 12/7/2007

- The girl’s side of campus had a Christmas Spirit contest to see which dorm could generate the most Christmas spirit through decorated doors, dorm participation and overall holiday cheer throughout the dorm.
· The winner: HILSEN (Punch and homemade cookies will be delivered to their dorm on Saturday)
· MOST CREATIVE and FUN overall: Second Floor Day Dorm -Twelve Days of Christmas Maranatha style
Other creative and noteworthy doors the judges really liked:
· Hilsen: Hot Cocoa and Cookies
· Day: "'Twas the Night Before Finals" Poem
· Day: Fireplace with Ledge
· Weeks: All I Want for Christmas - Wish Lists
· Weeks: The soccer player poster door--very funny!

We need to see this door!

Pics From Kristen

I have been very lax (that is another form of the word 'lackadaisical' for Myles K.) in posting lately. I hope to get back to a regular schedule of posts very soon. One of our graduating seniors, Kristen Kowalcyk dropped off a CD of pictures the other day and I plan to post a large number of them. Kristen is faithful at taking good pictures throughout the season and I am always thankful for her work when I go to post on this blog during the off-season. Here are a few:

We are especially thankful for our Russian player, Babushka Dow.

Our goalkeeper shows off some of her outstanding technique. We think she learned this when she was a volleyball player.

Don't ask. All I can say is "I won".

Everyone knows the rule is: No dating until your senior year. Kristen followed it and look at how things worked out for her!

You can view more pictures from our season on the Men's and Women's Soccer homepages at www.mbbc.edu. More pictures to come! - C