Mount Mary

Over the last few years our matches against Mount Mary have been lopsided but fun for our players, especially those who do not get a great deal of playing time in closer games. When our soccer program began in 1997, we had four games - two against NBBC and two against MM. MM beat us pretty badly in both games and we defeated NBBC both games for a record of 2-2. In 1998, we lost to MM at their place and then when they came to our field, we beat them for the first time. It was one of the most exciting games I have been a part of and I remember how excited all of the players were. Julie, Melissa, Colleen, Vianne, Kelly, Tsunami, and all the rest worked very hard for that win.
Today's game was a little different as we coasted to an 11-1 victory. Several players scored their first goals of the season and everyone got to play. Here is a link to the stat page for this game http://northernathleticsconf.com/sports/soccer_women/statistics/2006/mb07.htm. Now we can turn our focus to our conference match on Saturday at Lakeland. Please pray for a number of key playes who are nursing small injuries. Pray that they do not become more serious. We had a great answer to prayer as one of our players with financial difficulties as God provided a way for her to meet her obligations. - C

North Central

The men's team bounced back from a string of bad defeats to defeat North Central College from Naperville, IL. We have had some wild matches with this team over the past few years. Several years ago, before I was the coach and during a game in Naperville, Maranatha scored four goals in the first half and then NCC scored three goals in the second half with MBBC barely holding on for the victory. I think Greg Wright scored all of the MBBC goals. I believe that we also played a match against this team in which three penalty kicks were called. Maybe if Ben or Greg Wright happen across this blog they can help out my memory. In 2004 we defeated NCC at home in a 2-1 game where NCC dominated, but couldn't put the ball in the net. NCC's Nick Aguilar unleashed shot after shot that Andrew Swift barely deflected each time. We had played a women's match that afternoon, so the game was started late. It was so dark that I wasn't sure if Swifty could even see the ball. In 2005, NCC won down in Naperville in a hard fought contest. Stephen Roby scored on a free kick from almost 40 yds and hit the post on another. NCC's second goal of the contest was one of the hardest hit balls that I have ever seen.
Coming into the 2006 match, both teams had been struggling lately. NCC scored first on a own goal, the ball was spinning a great deal and the wind also affected it's flight. I don't think the NCC player was even shooting. We scored on a nice hustle (does he score any other way?) goal by Mark Scally to even the score at half-time 1-1. I thought we would end up with another 2-1 game when Mike Knepp scored with a nice shot from the righ side of the goal. Unfortunately, NCC scored again less than a minute later. This game was not over, however as the men increased the pressure and Joel Smith was able to find the net twice in the last 20 minutes.
Overall, I was very happy just to get the win and to score a few goals. Our attack was much stronger than it had been of late and our defensive intensity was greatly improved. I am a little concerned with our attacking and defensive shape, but we have a couple of days to work on it. We resume conference play on Saturday against Lakeland College. - C

MSOE

Saturday was a great day for soccer at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee. The women played first at 1 pm and won a hard fought victory. Emily Kutz scored the only goal of the contest on a great hustle play where she stole the ball up front and then beat the keeper. The main story of this game was our defensive effort. Jenny Harley, Shasta Mikolowski, Angela Fenstermacher, Deborah Hale, Carrie Rauba, and Holly Meissner all played major minutes in the back to help goal keeper Autumn Byers tally her second straight shutout. Our midfield also played a large role in effort with Abby Kalschuer winning almost every loose ball in the middle third during the second half. All this, on a day when we were without the services of senior captain Sarah Beardslee who is planning to be back in action on Thursday against Mount Mary. We are now 3-3 on the season, 1-1 in conference and Angela Fenstermacher was named the player of the week in the Northern Athletics Conference

http://www.northernathleticsconf.com/releases/2006_09/20060919a.html

The men did not fare so well as we lost to MSOE 5-1. We consistently give up an early goal and we are struggling to find the answer to that problem. Fortunately we are only 0-1 in conference and with 9 conference games remaining, we have a great opportunity to turn things around. - C

Benedictine

The ladies came into the match with Benedictine on a 3 game losing streak - furthermore a streak where we had lost every game by one goal. Unfortunately the match had to be played off-campus at Brandt-Quirk Park about a mile from Maranatha, but we made the best of it. We controlled most of the game, but we are still having trouble getting the ball in the net. Losing Sarah Beardslee probably had something to do with that. Our team is really starting to possess the ball well. Some of our freshmen - Emily Dow and Emily Kutz are learning the game very quickly. Karen Beardslee has also developed into an outstanding passer. Of course, Angela Fenstermacher had another great game, shutting down Benedictine's best player and leading the defense to a conference shut-out. Melissa Nichols had a great performance at center mid, putting great shots on goal, but the Benedictine keeper did a very nice job to hold us to only two goals. Final score 2-0. - C

Dominican University

This was the first conference match of the season for both teams. Conference matches are like the playoffs. The tension is greater and typically both teams play their best matches with the conference record on the line.
The men's match began at 2 pm and was a little complicated by our missing an exit on the way down. Turning the bus around while traveling the Illinois Tollway is not an easy thing. . .Dominican came into the game as the 14th ranked team in NCAA III http://nscaa.com/seniorRes.php?it=152. There are over 400 teams in NCAA III. We thought we had a good gameplan in place as we entered the match, but Dominican backed up their ranking quickly. At half-time we changed our tactics and had a little more success, however, the score was still a lopsided 8-0. I would have to check to make certain, but I think it is the worst loss by the men's squad since I have been coaching. Dan Kaminiski actually had a good game in the net. He made several very nice saves in poor conditions. Andrew Solarek, Mike Knepp and Brett Hollenbeck also played well. We are certain that we can play better against teams of this caliber and we are looking forward to MSOE on Saturday.
The ladies gave a good account of themselves yesterday, holding the top goal scorer in NCAA III in 2005 to one goal on the afternoon. Unfortunately that goal was the difference in the match. We had several good opportunities to get on the board, including a breakaway in the first half, but couldn't convert. This is our third one-goal loss in a row. This weekend we play a conference match on Friday night against Benedictine and a non-conference match against MSOE on Saturday.

North Central

This game has been a great match-up for our ladies for the past five years. Our game with North Central College are always close - unfortunately we have ended up on the losing end more often than we would like. NCC is from the tough CCIW conference in Illinois that includes Wheaton, Elmhurst, Illinois Wesleyan and a number of other schools that are powerhouses in NCAA III women's soccer. Here are our all-time scores against NCC:
2002 L 0-2
2003 L 0-1
2004 W 2-1 2OT
2005 L 0-1
2006 L 1-2 1OT
This year was no different. NCC scored early on a shot to the "upper 90", but we quickly settled in and played well. Julie Muse had a great chance on a break-away, but the NCC keeper made a nice 1v1 save on the ground. Late in the second half, Sarah Beardslee who has always been one of our greatest players under pressure, took a header from Emily Dow and stuck it in the net to even the score at 1-1. We then went to OT. The game was fairly even at this point, but I thought that our attack was stronger than theirs. Unfortunately, we were unable to score early and we committed a foul in the box that led to a penatly kick that ended the game - a tough way to lose a close match. Overall, I was pleased with the level of effort and intensity that the ladies played with. We definitely have some work to do in the area of possession. - C

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