Edition 2

SPORTS

Men’s Soccer Breaks One Streak; Extends Another
By Matt McNulty

Marian played a spirited game against cross-town rival IUPUI Thursday night losing to the Jaguars 2-1. Marian did break its scoreless streak with a goal by Mark Manning with 9:38 left in the 2nd half but it wasn’t enough for the Knights, who fell to 3-10 on the season.

The two teams played to a scoreless draw in the first half but the Jaguars struck first with Nate Ohlmer’s first career goal with 7 minutes gone in the 2nd half. The Jaguars extended their lead with 18:57 left in the 2nd half when Ben Heidari headed the eventual game winner in a corner kick off the foot of Taylor Rhodes. Manning’s goal cut the deficit to one, scoring to the right of the keeper off a cross from Don Oldham.

Coach Sean Bray was impressed with his team’s ability to fight against a Division One team. “It was nice to score,” he said, adding that “I’m proud of them, it gives us something to build on for Goshen.”

The Knights last scored against Urbana on September 17th, only had a few quality chances against the Jaguars before Manning’s goal, the best being T.J. Rauch’s shot on goal off a cross from Michael Forester with 20 minutes left in the 1st half. The Jaguars badly outshot the Knights 26-6. Goalkeeper Brad Sontag prevented a much wider deficit with his 9 saves on 11 shots on goal.

Notes: Marian hadn’t scored in over 500 minutes of play…The Knights who are 0-4 in the MCC travel to play Goshen this Saturday at 7 p.m. … The Knights are currently in 9th place in the 9 team MCC….Only the top 8 teams make the Conference tournament….defender Conner DeLong injured his right knee as time expired in the first half. The extent of his injury will not be known until a doctor examines him.



Undefeated women’s soccer team thrives by the motto:
The only one who can beat us is ourselves!
By: Michele Sizemore

Every year the women’s soccer team gathers around the same white board laying out the goals for the season. These women have accomplished the goal to increase their overall record every year for the past four years. The older and wiser team now with eleven seniors has three big goals for the season—to have a winning season, winning conference, and Nationals. Senior goalie, Allison Arth, added, “Winning our last game is a goal of ours.” This means that they would have advanced as far as possible and accomplished a National Championship.

With these big goals the team must prepare and work hard to meet these dreams. Senior Brittney Knies said, “We can accomplish these goals by having the belief, focusing, and coming together as a team. We have to constantly work hard toward our goals and have the right mindset.” TheKnights strive to be better and put the time in during the off-season. To these student athletes there is no off-season. Arth commented, “We began working hard starting the very first day after regular season play.” She added, “We are getting ready by giving it 110 % in practice.”

Although this season is fresh and new with the new Multi-Purpose Athletic Facility one thing has not changed for these women; Indiana Wesleyan continues to be nationally ranked in the top 25 and hold the title of winning the last 10 Mid-Central Conference Championships. Despite Indiana Wesleyan the Lady Knights are pumped up and ready to battle for the title. Knies commented, “Wesleyan is always our toughest opponent. They have less talent this year, but are still seeded number one. We are expecting to win; not wanting, not hoping, but going to win!” Arth agrees that Wesleyan is on of their toughest along with St. Francis. They secured one feat by beating St. Francis on Saturday October 4th. “One down, one more to go (Wesleyan),” Arth said enthusiastically. These ladies have already defeated two teams in the conference to improve their record to 9-0-1.

It sometimes is hard to find teams that can all get a long and work well together, but this bunch of girls prove that it can be done. Knies stated, “We are all good friends. We realize that it is us against everyone else and we need to be united.” This women’s soccer team is not only together on the field or even during the on-season, but instead they take the time to have girl’s nights, cookouts, and even icebreakers before the season starts to get to know one another. Arth believes that their relationship on and off the field is a major strength for the team. Because of their great bond soccer is so meaningful and fun for them. “Practice is always a good time,” Arth added.

One major component for the team is that everyone is “showing up” to practice and games. “No one is putting forth more effort than anyone one. Everyone gives their 100 %. We are a lot more focused this year and that is reflecting in practices and games,” Knies said. Other strengths for the Knights are the team’s quickness and better one-two passes. Knies stated that one of their weaknesses is, “Intensity throughout an entire game. Sometimes we get too lax out there.” Both Arth and Knies agree that they could work on winning more balls out of the air.

As for the new facility the ladies are playing on this year, the soccer team is very enthused. “It plays an advantage since most other teams do not play on turf,” stated Knies. “We love it, we’re quick and a big field serves us well,” Arth added.

All the ladies want to say thank you for cheering them on! “We really appreciate the fans that come out and recognize that we are working hard. We LOVE the support,” exclaimed Arth. It is very encouraging and exciting for the team when they see a crowd of people rooting for them.

Wish these hard working Knights luck as they continue working to improve and fight for the Mid-Central Conference Championship. Make sure to visit: http://www.marian.edu/athletics/sports/WomensSoccer/Pages/wscschedule07.aspx to see how the team does against Taylor on October 11, 2008. The next home match is scheduled for October 14, 2008 against Indiana Wesleyan at 7:30 p.m. under the lights at the Multi-Purpose Facility.


Men’s Soccer Look to Hold Strong in Conference
By: Michele Sizemore

Marian College Men’s Soccer Team is in the process of rebuilding and learning their roles on the team. The men lost six of their starters from the previous year due to graduation and one was lost due to transferring. Senior Gabe Peters said, “We are coming together better now; at first it was hard. It is difficult for a freshman to come in at this speed of play and work well in new positions with new teammates.” The team is not letting this hold them back and are making strides in adjusting.

The Marian Knights plan to never sell themselves short. “Our goals are to finish better in conference play than last season, advance further in the conference tournament, and achieve a better overall record than last season,” Peters said. Senior Brad Sontag, goalie, agrees stating, “We want to accomplish finishing in the top half of the conference.”

Last season the Knights won four conference matches and tied Bethel. In conference play their record ended up being 4-5-1. One major accomplishment for the Knights last season was beating Taylor 4-1 in the conference tournament just eleven days after losing to them during regular season play 2-4.

For these gentlemen to accomplish their goals they must win their next six games against very tough competitors. Peters is confident they can pull off this feat, “We are well matched with every other team (in conference) if we show up to play.” There are some fears playing on Goshen’s home field. Last season the Knights lost to Goshen 0-2 in the second round of the Mid-Central Conference Tournament. “Goshen has a crazy crowd. Crowds are a big factor with soccer,” Peters stated. Goshen is known for their school spirit by dressing in school colors, singing during the game, playing the drums, and even body painting when it is frigid weather. The momentum from the crowd can really motivate their team on the field and discourage the other.

The Knights have been preparing for their challenging conference—including top 25 ranked Indiana Wesleyan and a nearly rated Bethel—by playing more solid and tough teams in non-conference matches. “We gain more experience under our belt by playing tougher teams. Not only are they testing their ability against strong teams but also training hard everyday. We never take a day off,” Sontag commented. Sontag also believes that team unity plays a big part in being successful. “We do a lot of team bonding to create team chemistry. We watch soccer at my house and kick around with one another outside of practice. A lot of our friends are on the soccer team, which makes it pretty easy,” Sontag said.

These men appreciate their strengths and plan to carry them out. “We have a fast team with a lot of different individuals that could be a playmaker (a player who initiates an offensive play designed to create a scoring opportunity).” Peters chimed in, “We are possession oriented, control the ball rather than just kicking it, and play a quicker pace game.” Peters also praises his team members stating, “Don (Oldham, junior) is really holding it in the back, Conner (DeLong, freshman) stepped up as a freshman, Benton (Schafer, senior) really holds the team together especially the midfield, and Mark (Manning, junior) has really been playing well this year and has the ability to change a game for us when he is not injured.”

The team owns to its weaknesses and realizes that they haven’t had a lot of experience playing together yet. “We haven’t established the playmakers and players haven’t realized what their role is on the team. Everyone is there to make the team better no matter what role they have or if they are a freshman or fifth year senior,” Sontag said. “We did lose a lot of big powers and we needed time to adjust,” he added. Peters recognized another weakness, “We have lots of chances to score, but are not finishing.”

Wish these Knights luck as they challenge themselves to get better everyday and take on the goal of continually improving their record. The men take the field Thursday October 9, 2008 at 7 p.m. at IUPUI. Come out and support the team!

FRUSTRATION MOUNTS: KNIGHTS UNABLE TO SCORE
By Matt McNulty

Five games without a goal. Five consecutive losses. The Knights were dominating on the stat sheet, out shooting the opposing Grace Lancers (4-5, 2-3MCC) but not on the scoreboard. Grace’s Lucas Brader scored with 4 minutes left in the 2nd half to give the visiting Lancers the 1-0 victory at the Multi-Purpose Field last night. Marian dropped to 3-9 overall and 0-4 in Mid-Central Conference. After the game Marian didn’t have any answers for their performance.
“It is a mystery why we can’t finish our shots,” said Sean Bray Marian’s head coach. “It’s frustrating because we had chance after chance.” Marian did dictate the tempo of the game for most of the first and second halves in a game that was played through an almost constant rain.
It was a frustrating for both teams, Marian unable to capitalize on their 23 shots and nine shots on goal, and Grace being unhappy with two yellow cards given out to their players. “It’s always difficult for the officials,” said Matt Hotchkin Head Coach of Grace. “Don’t like to see the players get a yellow card, it has an impact after (the game).” Two Grace players, Obiora Agusiobo and Greg Fulton, received yellow cards.
T.J. Rauch, Gabe Peters, and Conner DeLong led Marian with shots on goal with two each. Goalkeeper Brad Sontang stopped two of three shots in the loss. Marian did have several good scoring opportunities to score, the two best being Adam Sheckler chance of a partial breakaway with 10 minutes left in the 1st half, and Connor DeLong’s chance when his shot was deflected in on goal giving the keeper trouble. DeLong also had another chance off a free kick in the 2nd half but again Grace keeper Justin Evans came up with the save. “Sooner or later, we’ve got to have someone step up and score,” Coach Bray concluded.

Notes: Senior David Case missed the game because of an automatic suspension because he accumulated too many yellow cards this season. Tyler Kitchen was the last Knight to score, against Urbana on September 17th. The Knights return to action this Thursday against IUPUI at 7pm in a non-conference match.
Sports Editor Michele Sizemore contributed to this story.


Knights Struggle, Fall to .500
By Matt McNulty

Marian has made huge strides their second season. It just didn’t seem like it on Saturday as the number two ranked St. Francis (IN) (6-0) defeated the Knights (3-3) 63-14 at Grosskoff Stadium Saturday.

The Cougars pounced from the very beginning scoring on their first three possessions never giving the Knights a chance. The first play from scrimmage for St. Francis was a double reverse that resulted in a 31 yard TD pass from receiver Mickey Cassidy to Jared Clodfelter 14 seconds in.

The barrage continued with Clodfelter catching his 2nd TD, a 16 yard pass from QB Jeff Wedding. Touchdown runs by Daniel Carter of 11, 5, and 2 yards and an interception return of 60 yards by Paul Carter resulted in St. Francis leading 42-0 score at halftime.

The lone bright spot for the Knights was the play of backup QB Clay Coomer who came in for the injured Matt Rogers. Coomer was 13 for15 for 151 yards and two TD’s, leading the Knights to both their scores after replacing Rogers. Their first score came on an 11 play 73 yard drive that ended in a nine yard pass from Coomer to Ryan Ferguson with 5:56 in the third quarter. The score broke six consecutive quarters that St. Francis had shut out their opponents.

Marian’s only other score was a 48 yard pass from Coomer to Julian Williams capping off a six play 82 yard drive.

The 14 points the Knight scored was the most points given up by the Cougars this season matching the total that St. Ambrose had earlier this season.

Notes: The Knights return to action next Saturday against Grandview College for homecoming. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. … St. Francis has outscored their opponents 162-0 in the 1st half of games this season...