Rivalry Week

This week was a big week for us as we played two in-state rivals. First up was Marquette on Wednesday. We knew they would come out with a lot of energy and we would need to match it. The game against Marquette is always a physical, hard-fought game and this was definitely the case this year.

Marquette scored first off of a corner kick in the 21st minute. We answered in the second half when Sperl sent another great free kick into the box. Apple headed back across the box and I slipped it past the Marquette goalie. Our defense played really solid throughout the game and held off the Marquette offense. Regulation time ended in a 1-1 draw so we were headed to overtime. During the first overtime we were literally inches (or centimetres for us Canadians) from scoring to win the game. Kenzie sent a perfect ball over Marquette’s back line for Apple to run on to. Apple headed the ball over the goalie’s head. Unfortunately, the goalie was able to recover and tip the ball onto the crossbar, barely keeping it from crossing the line. The game ended in a tie, but not before the referee suffered an unfortunate hamstring injury causing him to miss most of the second overtime period, and a number of Marquette fouls.

Our second game of the week was against the University of Wisconsin in Madison on Wednesday. A few minutes into the game Apple injured her ankle and needed treatment. There is a substitution rule that if a player exits the game in the first half, they can’t re-enter until the second half. Because of this, we didn’t make a substitution for Apple but played a man down so that she would be able to finish the first half after she got her ankle dealt with. While we were playing a man down, Wisconsin was able to score off a corner kick in the 17th minute. For the rest of the game, we controlled a majority of the possession and dictated the play. However, our attacking was lacking something. We didn’t seem to have that team drive or individual initiative to score goals. The game ended in a disappointing 1-0 loss.
Next weekend we travel to Kansas and Missouri. We’ll try to come away with two wins before our conference play begins.

Michigan State and the start of school...

After school starting and a long week of training we were definitely ready for our game against Michigan State on Sunday. We were also more than ready to turn things back around after a tie and a loss last weekend. This attitude was clear from the beginning of the game as we came out strong and really took control of the game. In the eighth minute Helen played a great ball over the Michigan State defense to Apple, who beat a defender and then slid to slip the ball past the goalie. We continued controlling the game for the rest of the first half and scored two more goals. Kenzie headed one in off a corner kick from Helen and I slid one in after Apple flicked on a long ball from Sperl. Coming out of halftime we knew that Michigan State was going to come out really hard to try to break down the 3-0 lead we had taken. When we came out we looked too comfortable with our lead and played flat. Michigan State scored in the 47th minute and again in the 54th minute. The second goal finally woke us up a bit and we stepped it back up. We prevented any more goals against and created a few more chances of our own. We made the game a lot more exciting than it needed to be by letting Michigan State back into it but in the end we were able to hold them off and come away with a win. Next up are two instate rivals: Marquette on Wednesday and Madison on Sunday!

Welcome back for the 2010 season!

As always the summer seemed just a little too short but I think all of us players were excited to be back playing together again. Preseason’s two-a-days went well and some early exhibition games made for some good preparation for the tough schedule ahead. We got things started with scoreless ties against Creighton and the Alumni before uncovering our goal-scoring ability in a 4-0 win over Northern Illinois in our last exhibition match.

We always find ourselves facing a tough out-of-conference schedule and this year would be no different beginning with our season opener against Ohio State. Going into the game Ohio State had been receiving votes for the Top 25 in the nation. A win against the Buckeyes would mean putting ourselves on the radar early on. We drove to Columbus on Thursday night and had a good training session. Friday was spent resting in the hotel and preparing for the game. For some of us this meant several hours playing our new favourite card game, Shanghai Knights (Rummy), courtesy of Helen Steinhauser. When we finally arrived at the field for game time and warmed up there was definitely an air of confidence among the team. We were all ready to go out and get a result. This was evident on the field when Apple scored within the first two minutes for us to take a 1-0 lead. Ohio State tied it up in the eighth minute off of a corner kick but for the rest of the game we really seemed to control the play. When we did have breakdowns, Deebach and Forbes each came up with some big saves. Finally in the last ten minutes the ball popped free to Sperl with the Ohio State goalkeeper off of her line. Sperl sent a great chip over the goalie’s head and into the net. Final score: 2-1 Milwaukee, a great way to start the season.

The following day we drove to South Bend for a game against Notre Dame on Sunday. We had another training session after dinner at Olive Garden in which Mary set a new record for the amount of food consumed (6 breadsticks, really?). Sunday morning we were all anxious for a chance to play against the #4 team in the nation and to really prove ourselves. Last year when we played Notre Dame they scored in the first ten minutes and we never really looked settled against them. This year was a very different story. We came out and controlled the first half of the game, generating a number of quality chances. Going into halftime the score was still tied at 0-0. The second half started out similar to the first until a Notre Dame shot took an unlucky deflection and ended up in our net. Notre Dame then scored a second goal off of another redirection, followed by a third and final goal. It was a disappointing loss but the score was not entirely reflective of the game. We controlled much of the play and generated the same number of shots.

This last weekend took us to Valley Fields for the Milwaukee Cup with New Mexico, Auburn and Marquette. Friday night’s game was against New Mexico. The first half of the game was not one of our best performances and we are definitely capable of better. Despite this, the score heading into the second half was tied at 0-0. New Mexico then scored early on in the second half and lit a bit of a fire under our butts. We still lacked the same play we showed during our first two games but managed to score an opportune goal to bring the score level. Mary sent a ball in off of a free kick and after a bit of chaos in the box, Laurel finished it off. The score remained at 1-1 through the rest of the second half and two overtime periods.

We then met Auburn on Sunday. Our possession throughout the first half was not as good as what we’re capable of, lacking crispness and quality of passes. We entered halftime down 1-0. We stepped things up a little bit in the second half and took control of the game a bit more. Then in the 68th minute, Laurel sent a ball to me in Auburn’s box. I played it off to Mel and, after a deflection of an Auburn player; I sent it into the net. Unfortunately, against the run of play, Auburn scored a second goal and the game finished 2-1.

Looking back at the weekend it’s frustrating not to have come away with two wins against teams we are capable of beating. We have a week of quality training ahead of us before trying to earn some redemption in the three tough games ahead in the next two weeks.

Week 10: Nicole Sperl

Horizon League Semifinals - Loyola

Friday was just our second game in almost three weeks, and we were ready to play. Not only was it our first conference tournament game, but it was against Loyola—a team we typically have a hard-fought battle against for 90 minutes. Both teams came out with high energy, but we were able to stay focused and control the play of the game and finally squeaked a goal in the 25th minute by Kenzie (Gillaspie). We knew it wouldn’t be enough to deflate Loyola’s energy. We went into halftime knowing they were capable of coming back and causing chaos. We came out at halftime and just had intense ball pressure. Apple (Hagen) finally found the back of the net in the 75th minute from Laurel (Ragalie). We were able to keep them away from our goal… only giving four shots for the whole game.

Horizon League Championship - Valparaiso

The league championship game was Sunday and we were ready to make history being the first number one seed to win the championship (since the top seed was awarded hosting rights). It was a really nice Sunday afternoon and just being around the team you could tell everyone was ready to go. It didn’t take long for Apple to score her first of four goals, within the first 10 minutes. Which, last time we played Valpo she also had four goals! She scored again in the 13th, 25th and 58th minutes. Apple got MVP of the tournament again for the second year in a row. Forbes, Kenzie, Megna, and myself made the all-tournament team. I think we have really grown as a team, and we are ready for the first round of the NCAA tournament. We find out who and where we play on Monday. We will be at Harry’s Bar and Grill and we will be our gold travel tops!

Week 9: Nicole Sperl

Friday - Detroit

We had to leave for Detroit on Thursday afternoon, and thankfully our trainer Chad had brought “The Proposal” for us to watch. Otherwise, our assistant coach Chris picks out the worst movies ever for us to watch (no offense Chris). We woke up Friday and ate a good breakfast and we were ready for the game. We were especially pumped for the game because Mike didn’t make us go on a walk after breakfast! We got to their field and the weather was deceiving. The sun was out and when the wind died down it was actually very nice considering the weather we’ve already played in. We came out a little slow, but we got a free kick a little outside the 18 on the left side of the field. There was a quick start and Megna took the ball down the line and had a hard serve, and Apple came crashing in with a diving header. Once again Megna served a ball into the box and Apple ever so calmly tucked it away. Jamie Forbes came up big for us with a one handed save on a breakaway.

Sunday - Wright State

After the Detroit game we drove back home, preparing for Sunday. It was our Pink Out game, Senior Day, possibly the last game at Engelmann for the year, and we could clench the conference title. Everyone was pretty excited for this because a lot was riding on it and we got to wear pink and white jerseys. This was probably one of our toughest games we have faced this year. In the first half we both had some chances, but in the second half we were on the prowl. We out shot Wright State 21-2, but only found the back of the net once. Keara hit the cross bar, so typical. Megna and Apple hooked up again in the 77th minute. And then, we were able to hold them off, especially in the last two minutes when they pressured us hard. This is the 10th-straight year we have won conference. We travel to Green Bay on Friday to finish up regular season.

Week 8: Nicole Sperl

Editor's Note: After a week hiatus, the Women's Soccer Player Blog is back with junior Nicole Sperl.

Cleveland State Friday
We were excited to be back at home under the lights of Engelmann field, despite the nasty cold, rainy weather. Our opponent, Cleveland State, came off a big weekend, beating Detroit and tying Loyola, so we were prepared for a game against a scrappy team. Sophomore Laurel “Caribou” Ragalie started off the scoring under 20 minutes into the game and then found the back of the net 10 minutes later, off an assist by Kate “Baby Face Magy” Megna—which broke the career record for assists. We really are very proud of her!!!

We went into half time with a 2-0 lead, knowing that we should have finished more of our chances. We came out strong in the second half, Kate and Sarah “Apple Big Head” Hagen got the ball rolling off a corner kick. Then a short time later, our newly-appointed right back Erin “Come Again” Kreuser, showed her lighting speed and the only way of stopping her was to trip her in the box. Apple calmly stepped up to the penalty marker and slid the ball right past the keeper. Once again “Baby Face” Megna served up yet another sick ball to Apple, giving her back-to-back games of scoring three goals, aka a “hat trick”, while Megna continues to make her record untouchable.

Kenzie “I wear headbands” Gillaspie had probably the goal of the game… from about 25 yards out—fired a shot and hit the bottom of the cross bar and went in. Then, Sammy “Too fast to handle” Vovos jumped over a Cleveland state defender to finish a nicely served ball from Laurel. Our eighth and final goal came from freshman Meghan “Elvi” Elvington, who had an unassisted goal from 15 yards out, the first of her college career.

Youngstown State Sunday – Parent’s Day
After coming off a good game of finishing, we knew the expectations would be just as high on Sunday. We were also honoring our parents and wanted to make them proud. We jumped on YSU early within five minutes Laurel Ragalie started off the scoring from an assist from Megna. We held possession well and found the back of the net again this time Nicole Hirsch giving the assist to Keara Thompson. They had a quick transition goal on us and made the score 2-1, but we responded well and scored within two minutes of their goal. Once again Apple gave us the third goal by following up and getting a rebound and tucking it away. The clock was dwindling down to the last couple minutes of the first half when Sarah Talbert passed the ball to Keara, who then beat a couple of defenders and hit a shot from 20 yards out. Seconds later Megna served a ball just behind the defense; Apple ran on to it and was able to chip the goalie. So we ended the half 5-1.

Youngstown came out a little bit more defensively on us, making it very difficult for us to generate much offense. But, Sammy Vovos was able to give us a little spark after beating a couple of players out wide and serving the ball to Louis Vraney who tucked it away in the corner. We were able to keep them from generating any threatening chances. Coming away with a 6-1 win on parents’ day, now we are looking to prepare for our away game on Friday at Detroit. After that, we come home for Pink Out/Senior Day against Wright State next Sunday.

Hope to see you there!

Week 6: Louise Vraney

The start of the Horizon League is like the start of a new season. While games early in the season certainly do matter, if we lose one it doesn’t have much of a consequence in the next game. In conference play, however, our record decides who hosts the Horizon League Conference Tournament and whoever wins the tournament gets to go on to the NCAA tournament. And starting the first game of the conference was one our biggest foes, Loyola.

We always expect Loyola to come out their hardest when they play us, and it usually takes close to our best play to beat them because they have a desire to win. So we knew it would not be an easy game at all, even though they were missing their star forward (Cynthia M.A.).

Late in the first half, Keara Thompson served a great ball into Sarah Hagen’s head, which she calmly placed in the left corner of the goal. I think that first goal really helped our mentality going into the second half. We knew we had the advantage and we just wanted to get more goals. Which we did! Sarah Talbert had a stellar finish off a cross from Apple as well as a rocket into the lower left corner from 25 or so yards our to tally two goals, and Apple had one more goal as she broke away from the defender that was grabbing her arm to put another one away. I love when Apple gets on those breakaways because short of fouling, there isn’t a whole lot the defense can do to stop her. Lastly was Nicole Sperl’s goal which was a ball she served in, and Kelly McGrath did a great job of getting in the keepers way to let the ball slip through.

The whole game was played in the rain which made the surface slippery and caused a lot of falls, but none of it mattered after the game was done and we had won 5-1. The night continued to be fantastic because the coaches informed us that we had two practices off, which was much needed after a month of combined soccer and school stresses were taking their toll.

On Sunday morning the team did the run for breast cancer, and it was amazing to see so many people out supporting the cause. The weather was absolutely beautiful, and it was a very enjoyable event. Countless people came up to me as I was walking home and told me how much they appreciated the athletic teams doing that--even away from the race site! It was a very humbling, enjoyable experience.

All in all, it was a great way to start off our season and a fantastic weekend!

See you all soon at Butler and Valpo!