Kalamazoo 1 Hope 0

Fr. Jackie Short and Sr. Katie Manstrom celebrate Short's Goal 

Halloween, no better day to wear Orange and Black.  Kalamazoo and Hope College would face-off for the second time this season.  The opening round of the MIAA tournament would see the #4 seed Hornets host the #5 seed Dutch with the winner advancing to play #1 seed Calvin in the MIAA semifinals.  In the previous meeting this season Kalamazoo would beat the Dutch on a goal in the last minute of overtime from Freshmen Jackie Short.  Short would again record the only goal of the game but wasted little time in registering the tally.  In the 5th minute of play senior midfielder Katie Manstrom intercepted a Hope pass in midfield and played a ball behind the Hope backline which Jackie Short was able to control and calmly put behind the Hope goalkeeper.  The majority of play would be at midfield with neither team seeing any great goalscoring chances in the remainder of the first half.  In the second half both teams would not be able to convert a couple of quality opportunities and the Hornets would prevail 1-0.  The loss ends Hope's season  with a record of 8-9-1 (4-4-1) and Kalamazoo moves to 8-6-3 (6-2-1).  Kalamazoo will play again on Tuesday, November 3rd in the MIAA tournament semifinals at Calvin College.  Kick-off is set for 3pm.

GO HORNETS!!!

Soccer or Football?

Tomorrow's first round MIAA tournament game between Kalamazoo and Hope is scheduled to kick-off at 12pm.  With Kalamazoo receiving close to 2 inches of rain the game has been moved to Kalamazoo's football field.  The football field drains much better than the soccer field and should be in fine condition by kick-off tomorrow.

Training on Friday had nothing to do with staying dry.  In involved moving the goals from the soccer field to the new location.  Once the goals were in place there was lots of finishing and adapting to the slick and soggy conditions.  If you can't make it out to the match tomorrow be sure to follow along with the Live Stats or Listen to the online radio broadcast.

GO HORNETS!!!

Carved Up

Carving Pumpkins at Practice?  After suffering the tough loss the day before the Hornets looked to rebound at training on Thursday.  A beautiful day in Kalamazoo, sunny and 60s the Hornets had a warm-up and short 25 minute 11v11 team scrimmage.  After about 45 minutes of soccer the team headed back down to the fieldhouse.  Down at Calder the Hornets had pumpkins waiting for them and the next hour was spent drinking cider, eating donuts, and carving pumpkins.

GO HORNETS!!!

Kalamazoo 1 Alma 2 2OT

Hornet Goalscorer, Freshmen Stephanie Verbeek

In the regular season finale the Kalamazoo would face the Alma College Scots at Mackenzie Field in Kalamazoo.  With a win Kalamazoo would clinch it's best MIAA finish in eight years (2nd place or better) and with a win Alma would tie Kalamazoo for third and be awarded the third seed in the conference tournament as they would hold the head to head tiebreaker.  Early on the Scots would control the play and had several quality opportunities off corner kicks including a ball off the post.  Kalamazoo would slowly work itself into the game and freshmen Jackie Short was able to find space between the Alma defense twice have breakaways stopped by Katie Weicksel, the Alma keeper.  With just 1:20 left in the first half Hornet freshmen Stephanie Verbeek was able to run onto a pass from defender Megan Burns.  Verbeek would out race the last defender touch it to the side of the keeper and calmly place the ball into the back of the net.  On the strength of Verbeek's tally (her first college goal) Kalamazoo would enter halftime leading 1-0.  The Hornets would have several strong spells of possession in the 2nd half.  Jackie Short would again find space behind the Alma defense early in the half only to be denied once again by the Scot keeper.  Alma would begin a strong final push in the final twenty minutes of the second half and was able to find the equalizer in the the 78th minute.  Alma attacker Alli Meurer was able to strip Kalamazoo defender Anja Burk of the ball and in a foot race to goal took a shot which Kalamazoo keeper Courtney McCoy was able to get a piece of but not enough.  The game would remain tied through regulation and the first overtime with neither team creating a quality scoring opportunity.  In the 106th minute Alma would end the game.  Off of a throw in, Meurer was able to control the ball and crossed it into the path of an on running Elaine Cunningham who was able to head the ball home and award the 2-1 win to Alma.  With the win Alma and Kalamazoo tie for third place in the MIAA with the regular season complete.  Alma stands at 9-7-2 (5-2-1) and Kalamazoo sends the regular season at 7-6-3 (5-2-1).  Alma will be the three seed in the tournament and Kalamazoo is the fourth seed, both teams will host opening round games on Saturday, October 31st.

Tons of Touches

Practice on Tuesday included a session with lots of touches.  The warm-up consisted of groups of four passing, dribbling, and then juggling.  Once the team was loosened up they moved on to a back heel passing  leading into a shot.  "The Two Person Whirl" as it is known.  Over time the team has gotten progressively better at this exercise but for starters, figuring out how to correctly place your feet often results in a couple players losing balance and everyone having a giggle, including the player that is no longer on their feet.  After some quality repetitions the team worked on set pieces for 10 minutes before going to goal.  The activities to goal included 1v1s, 2v2s, and 3v3s.  Training would conclude with 10v10 in which both teams displayed a very quick speed of play.  A strong session heading in tomorrow MIAA regular season finale. 

Tomorrow the 3 Hornet Seniors will be honored in a short ceremony prior to kick-off.  Paige Howell, Katie Manstrom, and Anja Burk have dedicated a tremendous amount of time and effort to the program.  Hopefully you'll be able to honor them with your attendance at tomorrow's match.  If not be sure to keep up on the game by following the Live Stats or listening to the Radio Broadcast.  Kick-off is set for 4pm.

GO HORNETS!!!

Seedings At Stake

After the dust has settled from a weekend of MIAA play it is clear that the Hornets have clinched at least of share of third place and a home playoff match in the MIAA tournament. On Wednesday, they will face a tough Alma College team  in a match that carries strong implications with regard to seedings in the conference tournament for both teams.  The Hornets also have a shot at the programs best regular season finish in over 8 years.  

Congratulations to Freshmen Attacker Emily Gray, a freshman from Clarkston (Pontiac Notre Dame Prep HS), was selected as the MIAA Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week. Gray came off the bench to provide a spark for the Hornets in their 3-2 come-from-behind win over Saint Mary’s. Along with her strong ball winning in the midfield, Gray scored the tying goal and set up the eventual game-winning tally with a through ball to an attacking teammate behind the Saint Mary’s backline. She is being honored as Player of the Week for the first time in her career.

Emily battles two Olivet defenders, earlier this year.

Training for the afternoon included 5v2, followed by three team keep away, 6v6 to goal and a touch of fitness.  Focus within the activities included playing balls into feet and improving communication, especially from players distributing the ball.  The team has made some huge improvements from Day 1 and the key to continuing to improve will be refining those little things over the next couple of days.

GO HORNETS!!!

Kalamazoo Takes Notice

On Sunday the local newspaper in Kalamazoo (The Kalamazoo Gazette) ran a story on the Hornet Soccer team.  The article included a summary of the season up to this point, the importance of upcoming matches, and quotes from some of the players.  Kalamazoo is a strong soccer community and hopefully the latest press will let other people know that the Hornets play some pretty darn good soccer.  Check out the link below to read the online version of the article. WELL DONE K!!!

Kzoo Gazette Article

Also, Happy Birthday to Hornet Forward, Junior Jackie Jessup.

Jackie is on the left, celebrating her goal against Olivet that she scored on her first touch of the game!

GO HORNETS!!!