Hornets Fall 2-1

Hornet Goalscorer, Freshmen Jackie Short

 

On an outstanding fall afternoon the three time conference champion gave the Hornets a little bit of a lesson on how to start a game.  Calvin College would dictate play early and was rewarded with their effort when Elaine Schnabel put a ball from Carly Prins behind the Kzoo keeper Courtney McCoy in only the 6th minute of the game.  Three minutes later the Knights would strike again as Francesca Smith pounced on a loose ball at the top of the box and drove another goal in far post.  Despite trailing by two mark the Hornets would continue to fight and in the 26th minutes Jackie Short ran onto a through ball from midfielder Maya Smolcic and placed a beautiful shot over the Calvin keeper to make the score 2-1.  The goal was the first that Calvin had conceded in league play this season.  The remainder of the first half would see both teams have opportunities but neither could convert.  After the break Calvin's best chances would come out of spells of possession while K's best looks at goal would be on the counterattack.  At the conclusion of 90 minutes of play, the score would stand Calvin College 2 Kalamazoo College 1.  The Hornets will take advantage of a day off tomorrow and return to the practice field on Monday with plenty of work to be done.  They will look to gain some more points as the race to clinch a spot in the MIAA tournament continues at Hope College on Wednesday, October 14th.

Wet and Rainy

The cleats are stuffed with newsprint and the gear is air drying. For the second day in a row Mother Nature decided to take a very active role in practice. At practice the team has trained team defending and the execution of set pieces. Despite the elements the team maintained positive energy, strong focus, and look forward to another opportunity tomorrow to add to their conference point total. Going into the match tomorrow the Hornets have 7 points, it is as many points as the team had at the conclusion of last year's conference play. While this is a nice accomplishment there is still quite a bit of work to get done. Kick-off is scheduled for 12pm tomorrow at Calvin College and it looks like it will be a fine autumn afternoon for a soccer match. If you can't make it to the match be sure to follow along the live stats on the web or listen to the audio broadcast. Live Stats and Audio Broadcast.

GO HORNETS!!!

GO HORNETS!!! GO Karts?

A Couple Hornets Buzz By

Wednesday afternoon the Hornets took a slight break from training and their studies as they met off campus. Airway Lanes in Portage was their destination and the afternoon included Go Karts, Mini Golf, Laser Tag, Laser Maze, Bumper Cars and Pizza. No question, the Tasmanian Devil Go Kart was the fastest car at the track. After a day of rest and recovery the girls will be back to business tomorrow afternoon.

While pictures from yesterday's match are not posted the blog does have a couple pictures every Mom will appreciate. Thanks to all those supporters who braved the elements and made it out to Kalamazoo to support the Hornets yesterday afternoon.

Well Done Chelsea!

Great Job Maya!

Be sure to try and make our next home match, October 17th at 12pm against Olivet College (Homecoming) to see if these jerseys are still white.

GO HORNETS!!!

Draw

1-1

C.J. McCarthy, Wednesday's Goalscorer

In less than ideal conditions the Hornets faced off against the Britons of Albion College on Tuesday afternoon. With constant rain over the weekend and throughout the afternoon it was a game of ball winning and slip sliding that saw both teams have strong runs of play. After a 0-0 first half Kalamazoo would get an excellent opportunity to score 5 minutes into the second session. On a counterattack Katie Manstrom found some room at the top of the box and took a nice right footed shot. On a ball that looked destined for the back of the net Albion keeper Caitlin Bowman was able to get a hand to it and deflect it off the cross bar. Shortly thereafter Albion would strike first as the put a ball into the box from the left wing, Albion's Rachel Kain was somehow able to win the ball out from underneath the legs of junior defender Eva Schmidt 11 minutes into the second half. Neither team really was able to gain control of the ball or the game. Kalamazoo began pressing a little bit more and more as the minutes ticked down playing with a sense of urgency. In the 85th minute, freshmen C.J. McCarthy took a pass from Maya Smolcic created space between herself and the defender on the left side of the box and put a ball over the Briton keeper and into the back of the net. A frantic five minutes was played by both teams before the game moved into overtime. In the first overtime Kalamazoo's Julia Schroeder hit the left post with a shot out of a scrum off of a corner kick. Carrying play for the majority of the first overtime Kalamazoo had four shots on goal including a near miss by Jackie Short. The second overtime would even out and after 110 minutes the field was a bit of a mess and both teams would leave with a point. Both Kalamazoo keeper Courtney McCoy and Albion keeper Caitlin Bowman recorded 7 saves on the afternoon. Albion now stands at 5-2-4 and 1-1-1 in the MIAA while Kalamazoo is 4-4-3 overall and currently in second place in the MIAA with a record of 2-0-1. The Hornets return to the field on Saturday when they travel to Calvin College. For now it looks like the players will need a recovery day, the field will need some TLC and uniforms may never be white again.

GO HORNETS!

Happy B-Day Hilary

1) Happy 20th B-Day to junior Hilary Marusak

2) Congratulations to Julia Schroeder for being named MIAA Offensive Player of the Week. http://www.miaa.org/wso/

3) A video interview w/Coach Goyings is posted on the web. See what Coach has to say about the team and their goals for the MIAA season. Believe it or not it's not Coach's first YouTube clip.



4) Tomorrow the Hornets are set to battle the Britons of Albion College. Kalamazoo enters the contest with a record of 4-4-2 (2-0) and Albion comes in with a mark of 5-2-3 (1-1), having opened conference play against the 1st and 2nd place teams from one year ago. Scheduled for a 4pm Kick-off, the two evenly matched squads should provide some great entertainment as neither team plans to allow their opponent anything easy. If you can't make it to Kalamazoo be sure to follow the LiveStats on the web.

GO HORNETS!!!

Soccer...Hot Dogs...Ice Cream!!!

"Just Like That, Now Don't Move!"

Earlier this season the Hornet soccer players got together after practice and put on a soccer clinic for the children of faculty and staff here at the college as well as a group of kids from Kalamazoo east side neighborhood. These kids are frequent visitors to the Peace House.

The Peace House is the vision of four alumni. Jen DeWaele, Mike DeWaele, Jerry Mechtenberg-Berrigan, and Molly Mechtenberg-Berrigan. The good friends are all members of the class of 1997 and have been working at creating to create a two-house learning- and-play-centric community that is very grassroots. As well as renovating the two houses that sit side by side the property also includes gardens, a incredible playground, and green space. In the areas where these additions sit was most recently an abandoned lot and too say that it was overgrown was just a little bit of an understatement. A year ago the women's soccer team helped clear brush (the day of the chainsaw) and applied close to 15 gallons of primer to interior walls of one of the houses. If you ever get a chance to stop by the Peace House, it's a trip you won't regret. The address of the Peace House is 313 and 321 Phelps Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49048.

The players were responsible for the soccer activities and the coaching staff and training staff (Thanks Again Trainer Megan!) were responsible for preparing the picnic. The decimation of 80 hot dogs and 2 gallons of ice cream was one impressive feat! Special thanks go out to Rob Passage for helping transport the kids and Laura Furge for helping fill lemonade cups and serving as the clinic photographer. Included below are a couple pictures from the day.

Pre-Game Pep Talk

"Don't All Gang Up On Me"

"You're It"

"Why is the ball almost as big as my leg?"