Lake Forest

We knew we were going to have our hand's full against the Foresters. They are a team that is often in the regional rankings and play in the Midwest Conference. It was a pretty nice day for soccer, a little chilly and cloudy, but not much wind. We did not match up well with their team speed and they were consitently splitting our defensive double teams. We gave up our typical early goal and then played pretty steady the rest of the match. Mike Knepp was able to get us on the scoreboard with a nice free kick from about 25 yds out. Even though we were defeated, some positives came out of this match:
1) We showed that we can play with top teams for short periods of time.
2) We are closer to finalizing our line-up and formation.
3) This game was great preparation for NAC play that begins on Tuesday.
Tim Reinert had one of his better games this season. Kirk Riffel has really developed into a top defender at this level. Justin Monge's goal kicks are some of the best that we have had on this team over the past few years. Please continue to pray for Justin. - C

Dubuque University

Once again we made the long trip to Dubuque, Iowa for the second time in four days. We only had a men's game this time, so we took two of the school vans. For some reason, we did not allow quite enough time for travel and so our warm-ups were more rushed than usual. I thought the men were ready to play and the conditions and field were in great shape. Unfortunately, we started slowly and never really recovered. Dubuque spread the field well and consitently found attacking space in our defense. Brian Oliver had a great game in the back and Mike Knepp hit another nice penalty shot for our only tally of the match. The score was 4-1.

Clarke College

Both teams suffered disappointing losses on Labor Day. The players concern for Justin did not help our mindset.
The men gave a great deal of effort, but we did not adjust well to the weather conditions. We had several strong attacks in the second half, including a header by Mike Knepp that was probably over the goal line. We need to focus on not giving up early goals. The score was 3-2
The ladies played a solid game overall, but we are still having trouble working together. Some of that is because I haven't finally settled on a line-up. Emily Dow had a very good goal near the end of the match and we really put some pressure on the net during the last 10 to 15 minutes. The score was 2-1.

Justin Martinez

Please pray for one of our team members, Justin Martinez from Schaumburg, IL. Justin was involved in an accident on his motorcycle on Sunday night. He was severely injured and is in critical, but stable condition at a hospital near Milwaukee. A number of his teammates witnessed the accident.
Justin is a young man who attended a number of our soccer camps over the years and who had just played his first collegiate soccer game on Friday night against Ashford. Our team will miss him a great deal over the next few weeks. I have always enjoyed Justin since I met him at soccer camp in 2004. His number has been in my phone for over a year now and I always looked forward to hearing how his soccer matches were going and how he was doing. As most freshmen, Justin was having a little trouble adjusting to the college game, but he was improving quickly and was always willing to do exactly what I asked him to work on. We are hoping and praying to see him back on our sideline by the end of the season. - C

Ashford University

The first game of the season is always one of the most exciting of the season. We really did not know what to expect from Ashford, and NAIA school from Iowa. Both of the men's and the women's programs had been up and down over the last couple of years. Their new coach seemed to be building some momentum, however and it looked like it would be a quality match.
The Ashford women's team had some very athletic players who never quit the entire match. I have been worried about our ability to possess the ball this season after Laura Frazee, Kim Gavitt and Christine Yogerst graduated, however we did reasonably well in this area. Abby Kalscheur continues to improve and Melissa Nichols carried over her strong shooting from a year ago. Abby had a great hustle goal in the second half and Sarah Beardslee had a shot that went through the keeper's legs for the two goals of the game. As a team, we had put several outstanding shots that hit the post, so it was kind of ironic that our only scores were "pick up the trash" goals. I would also like to recogize Angela Fenstermacher for another strong game. She has been our most consistent player for the last 3 years and this game was no different.

I expected a strong game from the Ashford men's team, it would be a real test for our young team. We started three freshmen: Mike Knepp, Brett Hollenbeck, Joel Smith; three sophomores: Andrew Solarek, Kirk Riffel, Brian Oliver; three juniors: Dan Kaminski, Tim Reinert, Mark Scally and two seniors, Steve Dow and Justin Monge ( two year player). Ashford came out strong and it took us a moment to adjust to the speed and level of physical play. The first half ended with a 0-0 tie that included several outstanding opportunities for us and a save on the goal line by Monge.

Our first goal in the second half was a hustle goal all around, while giving the assist, Andrew Solarek sustained a pretty good hit that took him out of the game for 15 minutes. Mark Scally took Solarek's pass in front of the net, but managed to get the ball in the net even while his feet were being grabbed by Ashford's goalkeeper. Mike Knepp then scored on a beautiful header off of a free kick by Brian Oliver. Our next tally was an own goal that was forced by the play of Tim Reinert and the final goal was on a great header by Oliver off a corner kick. The men played a great all-around game and we were able to get every one into the match. - C