Return Home

After 5 consecutive road games we finally played a home match against Cincinnati Christian. Right from the start we could feel the energy from the crowd and scored 2 goals in the first 10 mins. . Ameer scored scored first to give us a 1-0 lead. Then Irhad found the net for the second time this to increase the lead to 2-0. Just minutes after a Cincinnati Christian goal Ameer added his fifth goal of the season to push the lead back to 3-1 in favor of the Quakers. We finished the game strong defensively and held on for 3-2 victory. We will now focus on a very tough conference schedule beginning with Anderson at home this Saturday.

Highlights from the game

Freedom Trophy

The Freedom Trophy is coming home! We were on the road this weekend to play a very strong Oberlin team and earned a 1-0 victory. Irhad assisted Ammer for the lone goal of the match. That was the third time this season that Ameer has scored from an Irhad pass. Chris Marshall played in goal and had an outstanding game, coming up with a number of quality saves to earn the clean sheet. This was the our first win at Oberlin since 2002 and we are very proud of the way the boys played on the road. We are excited to be heading home to play Cincinnati Christian on Tuesday.

Wittenberg Tournament

Our first game of the tournament saw us play Mount Union. Both teams came out strong in the first half and even though we held a 6-3 shot advantage we went into the break 0-0. It took only 7 minutes of the second for Ameer to score his second goal in as many games and give us a 1-0 lead. Mount Union would pull level in the 60th minute. It would be an own goal in the final minute of the match which saw us lose 1-2. It was certainly a tough loss to take but there is no blame to go around, the effort was exceptional.

The second game of the tournament was against the host, Wittenberg. we did not get off to a good start and found ourselves down 1-0 just 5 minutes into the game. the player to his credit hit a wonderful volley from the top of the 18 into the top corner of the goal leaving our Keeper with little chance to save. We would go on to lose 2-0 in match that saw us out-shoot the home side 18-4. We will not play again until Saturday and we will use the time to fine tune a few areas of our game in preparation for our match against Oberlin where we will look to retain the Freedom Trophy.

First Win!

Traveling to Denison we knew we would be in for a tough match against the defending NCAC Champions. It was Lionel Mussoni who would open the scoring with a beautiful strike 35 yards from goal. we took the 1-0 lead into the break and started the second half with even more energy than the first. Less then 15 minutes into the second half Ameer Yusuf would score his first goal for the Quakers to put us up 2-0. We were able to hold onto the lead and grab our first win of the season.

At Wabash

we came out and started the first half very well. I was very proud with the energy the team brought into this match and the creativity was flowing offensively. However it was Wabash who would take a 2-0 lead into the break. 20 minutes into the second half Irhad Strika scored on a diving header to put the game in reach. However a second yellow card and subsequent ejection left the Quakers down a man only seconds after the goal. Playing with 10 men would not stifle our attack and it was nick Costello's first goal of the season which tied the match in the 80th minute. Just as the game was looking like it owuld go to overtime Wabash found the winner with only 2 minutes remaining. It was certainly a tough loss to take but the resiliency of the team is starting to show. Very proud of the way we fought back from a 2 goal defeciet and leveling the score playing down a man.

Ohio Northern

Ohio Northern grabbed the lead just 4 minutes into the match and and again with 4 minutes remaining in the half. Again we showed great resolve in the second half. Bannet scored his second goal of the season to bring the game within reach. We did not concede a single shot the whole of the second half even as we were pushing numbers forward. Nick Costello almost tied the game in dramatic fashion but it was the crossbar that denied him with 20 seconds to go. Again we had great support from the Quaker Army and we will miss them as we begin our 5 game road trip.

First Road Game

The first road game ended in disappointment for the Quakers. Case Western opened the scoring 20 minutes into the game. We responded immediately with Bannet showing a great display of strength on the ball leveled the score in less than a minute. The half ended at 1-1 but it was Case who seized control of the match scoring twice in the second half. The boys showed a great effort today on the road and we will look to build off that performance. I was really proud of the response we showed to immediately level the game after conceding the first, thats the attitude we are looking for.

Season Opens

Our first game of the season was against Thomas more and played in front of our home crowd. The Quaker Army was in mid-season form right from the start and really provided us with a lift. The game developed a start and stop pattern and strong defense early. As the game went on our attack opened up and we were able to create chances to score, but it was Thomas More who found the net with 15 minutes remaining and they were able to hold on to the one goal lead. We will be at case Western over the weekend and back at home next Wednesday for Ohio Northern.

Preseason in Full Swing

We welcomed a very large incoming class (15) and have a large returning group (21) making for the largest team (in numbers) I've ever had at EC. There are more than 20 languages spoken on the team, even counting the guys from New Jersey as part of the English speaking population. We are really Earlham players now since we have been through the traditional 3rd day morning warmup: Polish baseball. Even though the weather has been hot here (high 80's), we're lucky we weren't here last week when it was in the mid to high 90's every day.

We're still a little rough, not the finished product we hope to be in a few weeks and the depth of the team has presented us with a welcome problem as far as lineup and playing time issues. Unfortunately, the exceptionally adverse weather this summer has had a negative effect on the fields. The playing surface is the worst I've seen it since I came (Brick City bad) and there's little to be done about it. I hope I've convinced the guys that this will make us better: "It's easier to be a team coming from a bad field to play on a good one than the other way around".

Check the schedule out to see if you can make a game or look for home games to be posted on the team website the day after the match is played.

Team Reports

The 2010 season officially begins today. Most of the players have arrived and have been moving into their rooms this morning. The rest of today and tomorrow will consist of getting all the necessary NCAA details taken care of. After speaking with many of the players and their families there is a lot of positive energy on campus right now and everyone is eager to get the season started. The first training session will take place Thursday morning...

Heartland Conference Preseason Poll

Transylvania Picked to Capture HCAC Men’s Soccer Crown

GREENWOOD, IN – Transylvania University’s men’s soccer team has been selected as the front runner to win the 2010 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship. The Pioneers received eight first-place votes and 96 total points in a poll of the conference’s ten head coaches.

2010 HCAC Preseason Poll

Team
Points
1.
Transylvania
96 (8)
2.
Rose-Hulman
92 (2)
3.
Earlham
74
4.
Anderson
68
5.
Hanover
56
6.
Franklin
49
7.
Manchester
44
8.
Defiance
30
9.
Bluffton
22
10.
Mount St. Joseph
19
Rose-Hulman will look to claim its spot at the top of the HCAC men’s soccer standings for the third-straight season, as the Engineers totaled a second best 92 points and two first place votes. Earlham College placed third in the poll with 74 points. Anderson University finished fourth with 68 points and was followed by Hanover College (56 points), Franklin College (49), Manchester College (44), Defiance College (30), Bluffton University (22), and College of Mount St. Joseph (19).

Transylvania is coming off a 16-3-3 record in 2009. The Pioneers finished second in the HCAC last fall with a 7-1-0 record, and defeated Hanover in the conference tournament final 2-1. Transy advanced one win shy of the Final Four in the NCAA tournament last fall, falling to Calvin on penalty kicks, 1-1 in the sectional final. Transylvania led the HCAC in goals (54), assists (26), and goals allowed (12) last season.

The Pioneers return three First-Team All-HCAC selections from their 2009 team. Senior midfield Tony Spero (Lexington, Ky./Dunbar) scored eight goals for TU last fall and is the leading returning scoring to this year’s squad. Senior’s Kyle Jordan (Louisville, Ky./Ballard) and Kevin Jones (Middletown, Ohio/Bishop Fenwick) return to help lead the Transy defense which allowed only one goal in league play last season.

Rose-Hulman will look for their third consecutive regular season crown this fall. The Engineers finished the season 12-6-1 overall and 8-0-0 in HCAC action, but fell to Hanover in the semifinals of the HCAC Tournament. RHIT will try and replace the 2009 HCAC Most Valuable Player after losing Rhys Evans to graduation. Senior forward Corbin Clow (Martinsville, Ind./H.S.) will look to fill the void after leading the squad in scoring last fall, netting five goals and seven assists. Senior goalkeeper Andy Kruth (Cedar Park, Tex./Vista Ridge) returns in net for Rose after a successful junior season. Kruth allowed five goals and posted five shutouts in nine starts last fall.

Earlham College has been selected to finish third in their first year as a league member. The Quakers finished the 2009 season 7-8-3 overall and 2-6-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. EC returns their top two scorers from a year ago as senior forward Bannet Asingura (Mbarara, Uganda/United World College USA) and junior forward Nick Costello (Westwood, N.J./H.S.) return to the lineup. Asingura netted 11 goals and totaled 25 points last fall, while Costello added seven goals and an assist for the Quakers.

The 2010 men’s soccer season is set to begin on September 1.
-MORE-
Players to Watch

Anderson
Matt Young
Senior
Midfield
Westerville, Ohio/DeSales



Austin Fridley
Junior
Midfield
Anderson, Ind./Highland


Stephen Brown
Junior
Defender
Richmond, Ind./H.S.


David Droeger
Junior
Forward
Lebanon, Ind./H.S.









Bluffton
Brian Good
Senior
Goalkeeper
Elida, Ohio/H.S.



Nolan Phelps
Senior
Defender
Monroe, Ohio/Lemon-Monroe


Jacob Graham
Senior
Midfield
Gomer, Ohio/Elida



Defiance
Kevin Elson
Junior
Defender
Wauseon, Ohio/H.S.



Joe Loftis
Junior
Midfield
Armada, Mich./H.S.


Tony Cornell
Senior
Forward
Carroll, Ohio/Bloom Carroll


Matt Johnson
Senior
Defender
Monroe, Mich./Jefferson









Earlham
Bannet Asingura
Senior
Forward
Mbarara, Uganda/United World College USA


Nick Costello
Junior
Forward
Westwood, N.J./H.S.


Jonah Kreniske
Senior
Goalkeeper
New York, N.Y./Martin Luther King Jr.


Jeremy Pillow
Senior
Defender
Urbana, Ill./University Laboratory





Franklin
Craig Wood
Junior
Midfield
Fishers, Ind./H.S.



Cody Graman
Senior
Defender
Columbus, Ind./East


Drew Ferguson
Sophomore
Defender
Louisville, Ky./Whitefield Academy


Andreas Kapsalis
Sophomore
Forward
Fishers, Ind./H.S.





Hanover
Jake Stawick
Junior
Forward
Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North


J.P. Presley
Senior
Defender
Sunman, Ind./East Central

Kyle Bohnert
Junior
Midfield
Louisville, Ky./Trinity

John Wittich
Freshman
Midfield








Manchester
Corey Brueggeman
Junior
Midfield
Loveland, Ohio/Little Miami


Cody Freels
Sophomore
Defender
Auburn, Ind./DeKalb

Dian Radev
Sophomore
Forward
Burgas, Bulgaria/Vasil Levski

Carson McFadden
Sophomore
Midfield
Elgin, Ill./Larkin





The Mount
Nicholas Siko
Sophomore
Forward
Avon Lake, Ohio/H.S.


Timothy Pope
Junior
Forward
Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder

Thomas Sunderhaus
Senior
Defender
Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills

Lee Rogers
Sophomore
Midfield
Cincinnati, Ohio/Mariemont







Rose-Hulman
Corbin Clow
Senior
Forward
Martinsville, Ind./H.S.

Joe Salisbury
Senior
Midfield
Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead


Mitchell Ishmael
Senior
Defender
Knoxville, Tenn./Farragut


Andy Kruth
Senior
Goalkeeper
Cedar Park, Tex./Vista Ridge







Transylvania
Tony Spero
Senior
Midfield
Lexington, Ky./Dunbar


Kevin Jones
Senior
Defender
Middletown, Ohio/Bishop Fenwick

Peter Mikhail
Junior
Midfield
Park Hills, Ky./Covington Catholic









For more information on the 2010 HCAC men’s soccer season and up-to-date scores and statistics, please visit the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference website at www.heartlandconf.org. Also follow the HCAC on Twitter and Facebook throughout the 2010 season! Twitter: HCACDIII Facebook: Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference



Ryan Davis

EC Guys in Coaching

I'm going to update folks on everyone I know who's going to be coaching this fall at any level. If you have a team this fall, let me know and I'll include you. If you know of someone who is a coach (at any level) let me know about them as well.

First update is the nearest. Sam Byrd ('02) coaches the Richmond High School boys who are looking to defend their sectional title and climb the ladder in conference play. Sam sends us Alex Ferreira ('14) this fall and we are also looking at another boy in the next class. His players are almost all involved in club soccer and they play a skillful, attractive brand of football, not unlike their coach.

Way up in the mountains in Tennessee we find Rob Richardson, our most recent assistant coach, who has become the mens assistant at Tusculum College, a Division II school. Robert and I shared a room at the Score Tournament in Greensboro, NC. The Pioneers face a challenging schedule this coming year, not unlike Rob's beloved Sunderland. Wonder if he'll try hurling balloons onto the pitch (Liverpool joke). I predict we'll see Jersey kids on the Tusculum roster soon.

Manoj Khettry ('88) begins his 4th year at St. Bonaventure. The 2008 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year, Manoj has Dave Lapp's daughters (Hannah and Alyssa) in his team. Wife Moira, son Kiran, and daughter Lilli round out the home team. We hope to see Manoj this Fall at the HOF ceremony at EC.

Good luck to all...

Last Summer Tournaments

I am enjoying (?) the Score at the Shore Tournament at Greensboro, NC this weekend as temperatures approach 100 degrees. I know, there's no shore anywhere near Greensboro but that's what they call it. Next week we head for the last tournaments of the summer. Matt will be at the MSSL Showcase at Fort Dix while I head for the tall corn out in Muscatine, IA and the College Search Kickoff. The CSK is a favorite of mine and Sam Byrd's despite the lost cheese incident (ask us), the bruschetta bread incident, and the year my online directions took me through 50 miles of dirt roads through cornfields in Illinois.

After that---the season. What I know for sure is this: we will have the largest initial roster since I came to Earlham (36 at the moment). We will speak more than 25 languages on the team. This team has the potential to go very far in conference play. As for the rest of the story, stay tuned. Our schedule was posted here back in June and should be up on the website soon.

Chris Wilson on the move

Chris Wilson ('00) will be leaving his postition with the Columbus Crew to become Director of Ticket Services for the Portland Timbers, who are moving into MLS for next year. The Ice Man will arrive in the Great Northwest sometime in the early fall to help the Timbers prepare for the challenge. While we'll miss Chris' generosity and support here in the heartland, I'm sure you all in his new territory will want to look him up.

Work Under Way On Massive New Soccer Facility

Work is now well under way on an increase of almost 400% in square footage for Earlham's soccer facility. Soon to be home to a variety of cones, small goals, balls and other various soccer equipment, the new storage facility (don't say shed !) will no doubt be recognized one day in architectural journals.

Despite swarms of biting insects and punishing heat and humidity, the intrepid construction team has braved dangerous work on the towering roof of the facility and precise measurement of the component parts. You can just see the commitment in the expression on Matt Ward's face to completion of work. As of this posting I'd estimate the job is about 90% done with a little work on the storage areas inside the shed, er, facility.

Corey Campbell at Region II Tournament

Congrats to Corey Campbell '14 whose Cup Crew Juniors team won their group at the USYSA Region II tournament at the regionals in Dayton, OH. They advanced to the semifinal where they lost in overtime to the defending champion Javanon from Louisville, KY. Great job by Corey playing left back for CUP.

Matt at KISS

Assistant coach Matt will be headed to Michigan this weekend for the KISS Showcase. If you have a game there this week please let us know.

Roy at Fort Dix

I'm headed to Fort Dix this weekend for a showcase tournament. Hope Jersey guys let me know if they have games I could see.

Eli Santow

Congrats to Eli Santow and FC Drive u19's who won Saturday 2-0 to complete a perfect season and gain promotion to the NISL Premier League. Eli plays right back for the Drive. Eli played right back for us this spring.

Orion Creamer update

Orion ('99) lives in a remodeled (by him...and others, I suspect) Victorian house in Boulder, Colorado. Another veteran of Roy's Rental Properties LLC, Orion began by hanging refrigerator doors on the walls he had painted in periwinkle ice (woodwork in Valencia orange) as decor (?) and moved on to become president of Big Chill (www.bigchillfridge.com), a company which produces retro refrigerator packages. I have graciously sought no royalties from the firm.

Orion is married to Kristin Smith Creamer, daughter of EC VP for Finance Dick Smith. The Creamers recently added a new baby girl, Charlie, sister of 3-year old Maisie. He still plays on 2 adult teams despite having had ACL surgery a while back. He saw his old EC soccer crew recently at Paul Rauen's wedding in Ithaca, NY and rode on a float in the Mardi Gras Parade with Bert Lyons this year.

For those who aren't aware of Orion's career achievements, his career goals against average (0.82) was the best ever at EC and ranked 20th alltime in NCAA Division III when he finished. Having just watched USA-England on TV, I can assure you Orion would have had that one.

I hope to see Orion soon when he comes to Richmond for vacation.

1984 Team, Korben Perry Go Into Hall of Fame

At homecoming this Fall we will honor the 1984 Men's Soccer Team with admission to the Earlham Athletics Hall of Fame. Letters have gone out to individuals on the team inviting them to return on Homecoming (October 22-23) for the ceremony. This is the first of my teams to be honored and I am proud that this double conference champion (IICSC, CAC) will be recognized. I am listing the team members below and if we have omitted anyone, I would be pleased if you would tell me.

Korben Perry, a sophomore midfield player on that team, will be honored as an individual entrant to the Hall. Korben joins classmate Paul Schroeder, who was honored previously. Korben lives in Philadelphia and serves the city at Philadelphia Community Acupuncture.

1984 (fall) team

Kevin Beierle
Todd Benner
Dave Bowles
John Brueggemann
John Carter
Charles Clark
Wayne Copeland
John Dekadt
Addison Grimes
Mark Herzer
Manoj Khettry
Dave Kichler (deceased)
Eric Lowenstein
Shane Meridith
Tim Newlin
Korben Perry
Rob Richardson
David Rosenthal
Paul Schroeder
Bill Stassen
Nick Steenberg
Luke Uetrecht
Bill Vaselopulos

Joe Loux update

Got a call from Joe Loux ('91) the other day and caught up with him. Joe has lived in San Francisco the past 5 years after living for 10 years in Santa Fe, NM. Joey is married to Katy and enjoys visiting Katy's native England, especially London and environs. Wholesale and retail trade in ethnographic and tribal art, jewelry, textiles, sculpture and more occupies them professionally. Having focussed on Morocco and North Africa, Joe now includes Asia, SE Asia and Oceania as areas of interest and bronze, glass and gold artifacts and early Chinese masks as items of particular interest.

Joe also provided an update on Kent Mowrer ('91), now a middle school teacher whose family includes 2 children and their friend Evan ('91) who were the original occupants of the house I rented at 30 SW 3rd Street along with a dog named Carmine (briefly). The house still stands and I live there myself now.

Hope maybe Kent could give more detail on his doings---we're open for business.

Lapp's Laurel Lightning strike at state cup

The Laurel Lightning women's U18 team have repeated as Maryland State Cup champions. Coached by David Lapp (EC '89) and featuring Joy and Ikumi Doucette (current EC women's standouts), the team also features David's daughter Alyssa, a star midfield player, who plays (with her sister Hannah) for Manoj Khettry ('88) at St. Bonaventure. David, an assistant attorney general for the state of Maryland, obviously has his hands full with his club team and with son Zach, who also plays. I've seen this team play and they are a real credit to their coach and to the game.

If schedules ever meet: Bonnies away at Dayton and EC home at the same time we hope (they better come) to see both at our game.

Kyle Grady update

Kyle Grady's wife Lanna must be one of the most beautiful people in the world to have produced a child like Layla Rose Grady(pictured here) with Kyle. The Gradys live in the suburbs in Mass. where Kyle coaches girls soccer. Layla already has soccer cleats although she's still on the under 1 month team.

Kyle asks if I'll be in the East for a tournament, I will but not sure how far North. May have to hold off on his offer of "a beer or 7". My reaction on the new conference will wait for a later post as I need to be careful what I say that everyone can read. What I will say now is that the Heartland winner (Transylvania) have beaten OWU in the NCAA's 2 of the last 3 years.

Lastly, if Marc Sampson doesn't update with us soon I will post Kyle's account of his behaviour at a recent wedding.

Thank you, Kyle, for thinking of us and please continue to help Jocelyn (EC Women's coach) with suggestions for players.

Roy

2010 Schedule

Earlham Mens Schedule 2010

September 1 Thomas More H 6PM

September 4 Case Western A 2PM

September 8 Ohio Northern H 5PM

September 11 Wabash A 11AM

September 14 Denison A 7PM

September 18 Mount Union N 5PM @Wittenberg Tournament

September 19 Wittenberg A 4:30PM @Wittenberg Tournament

September 25 Oberlin A 2PM Freedom Trophy Game

September 28 Cincinnati Christian H 5PM

October 2 Anderson H 4PM*

October 5 Bluffton A 4PM*

October 9 Mt. St. Joseph H 3PM*

October 13 Transylvania H 4PM*

October 16 Hanover A 3PM*

October 20 Defiance A 4PM*

October 23 Manchester H 2PM*

October 27 Rose Hulman H 4PM*

October 30 Franklin A 3PM*

* Heartland Conference game

More Summer Tournaments

Matt and I are at the Creek Classic in Dayton this weekend. I'm looking at going to USA Cup in Blaine, MN and the College Search Kickoff in Muscatine, IA in addition to those already mentioned.

2009 Fitness Test Results

Here is a look at how everyone performed last year on the 5K run and the Beep Test. It might be beneficial to keep this results in mind this summer as you train.

Name	5k	BEEP
BA	9.25	12.3
CM	8.5	11.1
ES	8.75	10.8
EE	8.75	10.8
FB	8.75	11.5
GW	10	13.10
HB	8.25	12.7
IS	9.25	9.7
Jpa	7.75	9.1
Jpi	9.75	10.7
JC	9.5	12.2
JK	9.25	10.7
JV	9	10.7
KT	7	7.3
LM	7.75	8.11
MC	8.5	10.6
NC	9.25	11.1
OD	8.25	10.2
PHR	6.75	7.8
RB	9	11.11
WK	9.25	12.3

2009 Video

There is a 10 minute video posted on the GoEarlham site which is basically the Earlham athletics link from the college homepage. We're trying to get it changed to the Men's Soccer page but at least it's finally up. You can view the video directly by clicking the following link: 2009 Men's Soccer Video

Summer Success

Congrats to Jimmy Carter on the Galaxy Rattlers' move into the second round of the Cal South National Cup. Jimmy's playing center back for the Rattlers who will play in the next round this coming weekend (June 6-8).

Summer tournament plans

Matt Ward, our new assistant, and I will be out at a number of tournaments this summer. For the most part, these will be in the East (a couple at Fort Dix, NJ and a couple in Pennsylvania or Maryland) and the Midwest (notably the KISS tournament in Michigan and the College Search Kickoff in Iowa). If you're anywhere close to these or along the way, let us know. We can speak with rising seniors after they're out of school if that applies to you.

Saturday Crew Game

After going to the Warrior Classic on Saturday Matt and I enjoyed the Crew's game with LA Galaxy courtesy of Chris Wilson ('00). While we were there we saw Damon Buster (also '00). Kinda like old times; I even called Damon "Drew" a time or two just like I used to. Told them about seeing Imants Jaunarajs ('00) at a tournament in Indy a month or so ago. Mants has 3 kids now ! No word on how much they're bench pressing currently.

Memorial Day Weekend

I will be in Dayton on Saturday to attend the Warriors Classic Tournament along with my new assistant coach Matt Ward. On Sunday we will be going to watch the opening rounds of the Kentucky State Cup. We will also be attending the Columbus Crew vs LA Galaxy game Saturday night.