Catching up. . .

I have not posted much lately and I need to catch up on a few things.There were several weddings over the last month that deserve mention here at Maranatha Soccer.

First, Sarah Beardslee married Cole Gelderneck on December 15th. Sarah is third all-time in goals scored for the women's soccer team and she was a part of one of our best squads that won 13 games in 2003. This was a tough wedding for us to miss, but we enjoyed checking out the pictures on her sister Karen's facebook page.

Emily Yogerst was married to Dave Marriott on December 21, during a huge snowstorm in Wisconsin. Lack of a babysitter and the weather kept us away from this one, although it would have been great to see Travis and Christine and other former soccer players at their wedding.

Erik Eloe and Erika Licht (their first names are not a typo) were married on January 12. We were able to attend this wedding since it was in Watertown at our homechurch and I was an usher and a nursery was provided (Thanks Elise Jones!) It was a beautiful wedding. Both the bride and groom played on the Maranatha soccer teams and each of the bridesmaids were also former Maranatha soccer players: Shasta Mikolowski, Emily (Yogerst) Marriott and Charell Kukowski.

After observing the number of weddings that I have seen over the last 11 years as the women's coach, I have come to some conclusions:

• I am quickly becoming an expert at running wedding rehearsals. Coaching a soccer practice is just like running a wedding rehearsal.


• While you may want me to run your rehearsal, you do not want me to decorate for your wedding.


• I enjoy being the MC at wedding receptions, although you need to prepare to be embarrassed. Boy, I wish I had been on the mike at KJ's wedding. . . I also do bar mitzvah's and sweet 16 parties too.


• It is fun to attend weddings with your spouse, as long as we can leave the children at home.


• If I ever let a guy come near enough to ask one of my daughters to marry him and I say yes, I will strongly suggest that they elope and I might even pay for the honeymoon if they agree to the plan.

Four Year Players

Here is a picture of the 4-year shirts that have arrived and I will be giving out over the next couple of weeks. If your name is in the picture, stop by my office!

Why Did They Give?

I am in the process of writing thank you notes to the many folks who have donated to the Women's Soccer trip to NCCAA Nationals and it struck me that many of the individuals are people whose gift was their first to the college. Many of them have had a relationship with the college for a long time, so the question is - What changed? What motivated them to give this time and not all of the other times that we have expressed a need for money?

I don't know the exact answer to that question, but at the risk of being presumptuous, let me float two theories:

Theory #1 - There has always been a perception, real or imagined, that athletics do not get the support from the college administration that many of us on the athletic side would hope for. The perception may not always be true, but it has been a fairly constant comment or viewpoint for the 15 years that I have been a part of Maranatha athletics as a player and coach. What is different about this trip is that there is no doubt that the administration is behind us and has given us our best shot at a quality performance by stepping out and giving us the opportunity to fly. Flying reduces travel stress, reduces missed class time, and allows our nursing students avoid missing clinicals in order to participate. If we had missed more class time, there is a high likelihood that two starters may not have been able to make the trip. Many donors gave because they saw initiative on the part of the college to support this endeavor.

Theory #2 - The second theory is that many who gave a gift have a strong connection to Maranatha soccer and they saw an opportunity to help something that they believe in.

Maybe they just gave because they needed a tax break this year. . . Anyway, I want to thank all of our donors and we are excited about this opportunity. The ladies are working hard to make sure that their studies and jobs are prepared for their absence.

Please pray that we are a good representation of our team, our school and our Lord. -C

Trip to Utica

Our soccer program has had a strong relationship over the years with a small church and school about 40 minutes away in Utica, WI. Many of their young people have attended Maranatha - and done quite well academically and athletically. A good sized group from their school has always been a big part of our soccer camp, even going back to the first couple of attempts at a girl's soccer camp. I think that three out of the six campers in 2002 were from Utica. Several of our college men's and women's soccer players attend their church and help with various ministries while at school in Wisconsin. I don't have any 'hard data' on this, but I think that Utica Bible Baptist might be the strongest per capita supporting church that Maranatha has. Three young ladies on our soccer team graduated from their school and I hope to get a few players for the men's team over the next several years. We usually go down and run a boys and girls soccer clinic on their field every spring. Furthermore, their church also made a generous donation toward our 2006 Mission's Trip to Germany.

Last Sunday, about 15 members of our women's soccer team had the privilege of attending a Singspiration at their church. I often joke that as the soccer talent on our team has increased, the singing ability has decreased - but last Sunday proved that assertion wrong. We have at least four young ladies who are in choir at the college, several others who play instruments and all the rest can sing very well. All in all, the ladies were able to provide eight different pieces of special music and several testimonies that were a blessing. Utica also took a love offering and made a generous gift toward our trip to NCCAA Nationals.

The ladies who were able to attend included: Shannon Delany, Elise Jones, Jenny Harley, Shasta Mikolowski, Lisa Collogan, Sierra Miller, Emily Kutz, Emily Dow, Laura Kennedy, Melanie Killingsworth, Cara Harrison, Julie Muse, Hillary Lockhart and possibly someone else who I am forgetting. . . I'm sure someone will chime in on the comments below - wait, Barb Gerlach, our goalkeeper was there. Not sure how I forgot her.

The ladies were a great testimony and truly ministered. It was a blessing to attend the service and I appreciate the hospitality afforded us at Utica Bible Baptist Church.

JBoe's Team Finishes Season Strong

Minooka Park's bid to go to the state championship ended in a tough 2-0 loss in the supersectionals. The team is coached by Maranatha soccer alum, Jason Boe. Their final game was played at Toyota Park in Illinois.

You can read the article here.

Check out Heather's blog and pictures here.

Read about their earlier game a few days ago here.

Congratulations on a great season. We look forward to the future of this team. - C

The Final at Northland

We had a great day for soccer on Saturday as we made preparations for our NCCAA II Midwest Region final against Northland Baptist. There was a strong wind, but it was sunny and dry. We had a great night's rest the night before. We were treated very well at the AmericInn in Iron Mountain. We slept five men to a room. A great bonding experience. Most of the players employed the use of hot and cold treatments - going from the whirlpool to the regular pool and back again every 6 to 7 minutes - to rejuvinate tired legs from the 2OT victory against Moody that daty. Dan Reid, as our unofficial trainer, spent a busy night dealing with strains, pulls and several ankles that needed attention.

We had a great continental breakfast the next morning, some of the men had to take a quiz for Old and New Testament classes at the hotel and we left for NBBC. We arrived about two hours prior to kick-off and we took 5 minute to check out field conditions: the turfwas a little loose and there were some pretty good sized divots in front of each net, but other wise pretty good for late October in northern WI.

The match turned out to be a physical, see-saw battle. We scored first when Tim Reinert headed in a cross from Hollenbeck, but NBBC countered a few minutes later with a goal of their own. After our goal, the rest of the coaching staff and I figured we would need to score about three more to have a chance in this match. They have a very potent attack. Next, Northland scored on a free kick from outside the penalty area. We countered with a penalty kick by Hollenbeck after Andrew Solarek was pulled down in the box. Northland broke the tie and eventually led by two goals at 4-2. I was afraid that things were going to get out of hand.

But our team held fast, with everyone giving everything they had and with about 5 minutes to go, Hollenbeck pulled a great move on the right goal line, dribbled near post and beat the keeper on a great ball on the ground. For the last five minutes we mounted several strong attacks, but the Northland defense held strong.

Final score 4-3.

I can't say enough good things about how our men responed to adversity and played as a team against really strong odds. My greatest prayer is that they transfer that same intensity and strength of character to dealing with the challenges of life and ministry.

Our four year seniors, Kaminski and Reinert both had great games. Both of them started and played almost every minute of every match this year. I believe that Kaminski will be the all-time leader in GK minutes played and they will have one of the winningest four year records in quite some time.

I will have to look at the books, but I am curious to know the last team to score more than three goals at Northland - much less the last NCCAA II team. Here was our starting line-up for that match. Each of the men are to be commended:

Kaminski*
Riffel
Oliver
Esgar*
T. Solarek
E. Callan
Hollenbeck*
Reinert
Board
White
A. Solarek*

*All-Midwest Region team.

Five of our starters have had brothers play for the Maranatha soccer team and the last time that Maranatha defeated Northland, there was a Solarek and a Callan on the squad.

Speaking of JBoe: the men advance at Northland

In 1996, the Maranatha men's team had a great game against Moody Bible that went into double OT. We eventually lost in the seventh round of penalty kicks. Jason Boe had an unbelievable game in the net. Alumni from that era always talk about that match when we get together.

The same scenario replayed itself today. We entered the match after a sub-par performance against Marian College on Tuesday. Moody came to regionals with almost two weeks of rest. Both teams play well. Moody took the lead on a break away goal. We think he was off-side. . . but the call was not made.

MBBC 0 Moody 1

Several minutes later, Brett Hollenbeck made a brilliant move at the top of the box and hit a bending shot inside the left post with his left foot. One of the best goals I've seen all year.

MBBC 1 Moody 1

Shortly before half-time, Andrew Solarek was taken down in the box and Hollenbeck scored again on a penalty kick.

MBBC 2 Moody 1

After halftime, Moody came out with a strong push and we struggled with organization. In the chaos, one of our ow player tried to clear a ball out of our box and unfortunately hit a teammate. The rebound went right into the net for an own goal.

MBBC 2 Moody 2

This score held and we went to overtime. I was just hoping that we could keep our legs under us. We have had quite a few matches in a short period of time - and three out of our last four matches have gone to extra time. We are not particularly deep at the moment without the services of Marino or Hale. I don't think that I have subbed anyone on the back line for a month it seems like. But the men kept playing their hearts out. Moody carried play for most of the first overtime period as exhaustion began to affect us to a greater extent. Bryan Oliver went down after a hard hit, but stayed in the match. Toward the end off the first overtime, we were able to attack a bit more and Jarid Lawson who had replaced Everett Callan, began to hit a few crosses from the right midfield position.

One minute into overtime, Bryan Oliver passed out to Jarid on the right side. Jarid took the ball forward and drove a cross to the far side, where Dave Esgar, our left defender was there to head the ball into the net for the win. It was the second time in three games that Esgar has had the gamewinning header in overtime.

All the men gave everything they had. Andrew Solarek was unable to finish but kept the Moody defense on the run the whole game. Reinert slowed down the Moody attack in the midde, Riffel shut down attackers in his corner and Board gave us great possession in the middle. White, Huber, Jochum, Deiss and Foy all gave us quality minutes off the bench.

But we have a big one tomorrow at 1 pm: Northland Baptist. -C

JBoe's Team Advances

One of the objectives of the Maranatha Soccer program is to produce young men and women who can coach soccer and disciple young people at the same time. Whenever possible, we like to highlight alumni who have moved on to the coaching ranks and who are coaching with an eternal mindset.

I did not coach Jason Boe. I was his teammate for a time - you might remember him from the Top 11 Men post from a year or so ago. For several years now, Jason has been the head men's soccer coach in Minooka, IL. Here is a news article about how his team is advancing through the playoffs. It is a good story and we wish Jason and his team all the best. In the article, Jason has an opportunity to reference his faith in Christ in a public way. I am certain that even though Jason is coaching soccer in a secular setting, his players know for Whom he lives:

"This is business for us," Minooka coach Jason Boe said. "We're not surprised by this win. Even though we upset Bloom, it's not a surprise to us. Because we know what type of players we have on our team, the leadership that we have, the ability that God's given us. And it's not a surprise. We're basically telling the world, 'We're here. Welcome to our world.' "

Here is the thing: Jason would not have the opportunity to coach and mentor and disciple in a public school if he did not possess athletic talent and training. The doors of ministry for someone who knows their sport and walks with God are wide open right now.

There are three young men and two young ladies who will be graduating from our soccer program this season. All of them love God and know the game of soccer. Furthermore, a person who can survive the rigors of 4 or 5 years at MBBC, can survive almost anything. Their character has been proven. If you are looking to hire someone for your business or ministry in the coming year, you must consider Daniel Kaminski, Tim Reinert, Andrew Swift, Kristen Kowalcyk or Shasta Miklowski. I can't promise that you will compete for a state title like JBoe, but you will never question their faithfulness or competence.

I'm just trying to get a couple of them to stick around and be my assistants next year. . . -C

Happy Birthday, Susie!

Susie on the left, Lindsey on the right. Lindsey will hate me for that picture, but she knows that she is still my all-time favorite player. (By the way, shortly before this picture, she had just scored her first collegiate goal with three minutes remaining in the match, on Parent's Day, in her final home game as a senior.)

I'm terrible at birthdays, so the rest of you should not expect a mention. I only have to remember one birthday a year and on April 27th. However, when Susie was on our team, she remembered everyone with a card - even though she was the busiest person on campus - choir, band, orchestra, work, soccer, local church ministry, ministry society, etc. So I thought she deserves a post.

Wish Susie (Ferris) Yuen a happy birthday with an email to ferrismusic at gmail dot com. I think it was actually yesterday the 23rd. If you haven't seen pics from her wedding yet, click here.

If you would like to write a post recognizing another MBBC soccer player's birthday, you can write it in an email or Word document, send it to jcaucutt at mbbc dot edu, I will edit it, and post it. Even anonymously if you so desire. - C

Alumni in Chicago

After the women's game on Saturday in River Forest, IL, our ladies team was invited to the home of Laura and Tony Shaver who live about five minutes (depending on traffic) from CUC. They have a cozy apartment into which we squeezed (not a fat joke) 23 players, 2 coaches, 4 soccer alums, and 3 soccer alumni husbands - two of them are actually football alums. They dont' really know what is going on, but we like them at games because they make a lot of noise. They served pizza, veggies and lots of desert. It was a great time for me to catch up with some former players and a chance for our current players to meet them.

We had five members of the starting line-up from our 2003 squad that won 13 games in attendance: Jen Adam, Hayley McGrail, Laura (Frazee) Shaver, Kim (Gavitt) Terpstra and Angie (Fenstermacher) Aulph. It is really difficult to keep up with the name changes sometimes, but I am doing better - we did decide that Angie will always be "Fenster". We also argued about who was a better player: Melissa or Laura. We had a great time of fellowship - we just wished we could have added a victory to the evening. . .

The last few days have brought a lot of contact with alumni. Some of whom have donated for the Women's soccer nationals trip. I don't want to embarrass any of them, but here are some email excerpts:

Wow, I cannot believe how many life-lessons, exciting memories, solid, godly friendships and an assemblance of decent health I can attribute to Maranatha
Soccer!

I am so excited for you guys getting to go to the tournament! That is absolutely awesome...wish I was going =) I can't afford much, but I want to do what I can to help the team since the time I was on the team made a huge impact on my life.

We wish the rest of you could come as well. We consider all of the soccer alumni out there to still be a part of our program. I hope to blog often while we are in Kissimmee - don't forget that the men also have a chance to earn a trip to nationals this week- we play NAC opponent Marian today. We earned the #2 seed in the Midwest Region and so we will play Moody at 3 pm on Friday, if we defeat Moody, we will advance to the region final on Saturday.

Praisemen Out East

Check out reports and pictures from the MBBC Praisemen. What does this have to do with soccer? Two of the men are former MBBC soccer players: Jon Bennett and Geoffrey Stertz.

Autumn Byers

Autumn Byers, a three year goalkeeper for the Maranatha Women's Soccer team, was recently recognized in the Wall Street Journal. Here is the announcement that was in the on-campus Trumpeter:


Alumna Autumn Byers Recognized in Wall Street Journal - 9/27/2007- Maranatha alumna Autumn Rose Byers ('07) was recognized in last Saturday’s edition of the Wall Street Journal (Page R 13) for excellence in education along with other recipients of 2007 Student Achievement Awards.


Here is the link to the on campus award announcement. It is in pdf format. The Wall Street Journal is 'subscription only', so I can't link to the actual story.


Congratulations, Autumn! - C

Kim (Gavitt) Terpstra

Hopefully this picture doesn't get me in trouble. . . it was all Kim's fault.

Kim Gavitt was married over a month ago, but I have just gotten around to posting a link to Kim and Caleb's wedding pictures. Scroll down if you don't see them right away. I was unable to find a permalink to the wedding post itself. Thanks to Laura (Frazee) Shaver for sending the link. The pictures look unbelievable, too bad they had to go all the way to Alaska to get this kind of scenery.

Mrs. Coach spent a summer working in a Bible camp in Alaska and tells me about it all the time. I would love to go up there some day. . . but I think the chances of us having another women's soccer player from AK who gets married up there are slim. . . Congratulations, Caleb and Kim! - C

Parents and Senior Day

Parent's and Senior Day came a little early in the season this year so it was a scramble to get everthing together, but in the end, everything turned out well. We had a good number of parents who were able to attend and the weather could not have been better for soccer.

Both teams earned victories and we had a great picnic at Riverside Park. I need to thank my wife, Sarah for all her hard work in planning and executing the picnic. There were also several other families who live in the area and helped with the preparations - the Moses', Kutz's, Dow's and Harrison's. The Parent's Day picnic is one of the highlights of our season. I greatly enjoy spending time with the players and their families away from soccer. The players on our teams are a great joy to be around. Only two got dumped in the river as far as I know. . .

Here are the notes that were read during our recognition of the seniors before each match last Saturday:

Aaron Hale
Aaron has been a faithful member of the Maranatha men’s team since 2003. He was a big part of a team that won 9 games in 2004 and continues to provide faithful leadership in a supporting role this season. Congratulations for a great four years and for finishing the course!

Andrew Swift
Swifty came to Maranatha in 2004 and won the starting goalkeeper job. His presence in the net was a great asset to our team. Unfortunately, injury limited him to two seasons but he agreed to remain with the team as a member of our coaching staff. He has played an integral role in training keepers for both the men’s and women’s teams for the last two seasons. Congratulations, Swifty!

Timothy Reinert
Tim was a member of Coach C’s first year as the men’s coach and made an immediate impact. He is a strong and smart player on the field and a leader off it. The greatest accomplishment of Tim’s career was when he tore his ACL in September and rehabbed in time to take a mission’s trip to Germany in June of 2006. Tim is a second year captain and hopes to finish his career with a great season. Congratulations, Tim!

Daniel Kaminski
Dan did not start as a freshmen, but earned a spot as the regular keeper in 2006. He has had an outstanding career. He is close to being the all-time leader in goalkeeper minutes in Maranatha history. He is a great player and a great teammate even though he is from the state of Oregon. Congratulations, Dan!

Kristen Kowalcyk
There has been a Kowalcyk as a member of the Maranatha women’s team every year since 1999. Kristen has remained faithful to our program and we hate to see her move on. Kristen has played a key role off the bench and was a great part of our Germany 2006 Mission’s trip. Congratulations on a job well done, Kristen!

Shasta Miklowski
Owner of the all-time great names in Maranatha women’s soccer history, Shasta is a four-year starter and the leader of our defense. However, Shasta’s most significant accomplishment has been playing four years of college soccer while studying to be a nurse – and she hopes to finish in four years! This accomplishment is unlikely to be repeated. Congratulations, Shasta! - C

Weddings (and preseason)

This has been the worst weather that we have ever experienced for a preseason for as long as I have been at Maranatha. In fact, it has been so depressing that I don't even want to post about it. So, "Let's be positive!" (as Swifty keeps telling me) and look at pictures of Susie (Ferris) and James Yuen's wedding here.

As well as send congratulations to Kim (Gavitt) and Caleb Terpstra who were married last Saturday in Alaska. If anyone (Laura) who was there can send me a few pictures, everyone (Mrs. Coach) will be very happy. - C

KJ's Baby

I have been out of town and finally got around to posting this announcement:

Andi Rae McCuistion was born Friday, August 3rd at 12:54am. She was 21 1/2 inches long and 7 pounds 1 ounce.

. . .a little small for college soccer, but we'll take her.

KJ (Kowalcyk, now McCuistion) was a four year player from 1998 to 2001 for the Maranatha Women's Soccer team. Congratulations, KJ and Drew! -C

Wedding

Susie Ferris, four year player, former assistant coach and all-time leader in games played is getting married this weekend. Unfortunately, the wedding is in Phoenix, so I probably will not be making the trip. Here is their wedding blog. Congratulations, James and Susie! - C

Better Late Than Never

Four year soccer player and two year assistant coach James Solarek and his wife, Aisling are new parents. James Converse Solarek IV ("Conor") was born on Friday, July 20 at 12:30 pm. He weighed 8 lbs. 3 ozs. and was 20 1/4 inches long. Check out their blog and leave a comment. - C

One of My Favorite Pictures

The purpose of this blog is not to raise money, however, I think it is appropriate to share a need from time to time.

In 2003, Xactware provided the funds necessary to purchase a nice set of warm-ups for the women's soccer team. The contact was made through a parent of one of our players. In 2005, Xactware once again generously provided warm-ups for the women's team and they have served us well. This year, the women's team is once again in need of a new set of warm-ups. We could use the old ones for a third year. . .but they are not in the best shape. This last winter, we were able to take advantage of an internet deal and purchased new jackets that look sharp and will fit the team very well. The problem is, we did not have the finances to purchase the matching pants. We have some of the money necessary due to some fundraising and a lead gift by a member of the college admnistration, but we still need approximatelly $700 in order to finish the project.

If you know of an individual or company who may be interested in this cause, please contact me. All gifts are tax-deductible and I will gladly post an ad for their company on this site if requested.-C

Itinerary and Schedules

Next week, I will be conducting a soccer camp at Rochelle High School in Illinois. If you are in the area, you are welcome to contact the high school there and sign up for the camp. The Rochelle camp is for boys.

The following week is our own Maranatha Soccer Camp here at the college. We have ordered the new t-shirts for the year and we will once again be selling Maranatha Soccer sack packs. If there is anyone out there who is interested. Email me and you can purchase a sack pack for $5 or a t-shirt for $8. Purchase both for $12. There may also be a charge for shipping. You can pay by check, credit card over the phone, or paypal. My email address is jcaucutt at mbbc dot edu. Email me and we can work out the best way to do payment. The t's are ice gray with a dark blue logo. The sack packs are navy with a white logo.

For college athletes who are planning to attend preseason in August, I have the following documents available through email:

Preseason Training Schedule, Regular season game and training schedule, and Summer Workout. -C