Happy Hornet Homecoming

Kalamazoo 4  Olivet 1

Sophomore Rachel Pitzer (18) and Freshmen  Natalie Reszka (24) both recorded goals on the day 

The Hornets celebrated Homecoming in Kalamazoo with a strong 4-1 defeat of the Olivet College Comets.  In front a numerous alumni, family, and friends Kalamazoo would bring strong energy right from the kick-off.  Sophomore Rachel Pitzer was able to get free down the right wing less than 5 minutes into the contest and served a strong cross in which skipped through the box to an on rushing Paige Howell who hit the ball first time with her left foot just wide of the target.  C.J. McCarthy would get the next best scoring opportunity for Kalamazoo on another ball crossed in that dropped inside the six.  A quick toe poke of the ball was unable to propel it past the Comet keeper.  Olivet would then be whistled for a hand ball in the penalty box in the 30th minute of the match.  Freshmen Natalie Reszka took the penalty kick and calmly placed the ball into the lower right corner of the goal, staking the Hornets to a 1-0 lead.  It was Natalie's first goal of the year as well as the first points of her collegiate career.  The team would not wait long to score again.  In the 32 minute, freshmen attacker Emily Gray found a loose ball just below the center circle in Olivet's defense half.  She played the ball down the right wing to a streaking C.J. McCarthy.  Olivet's goaltender was in a race against McCarthy to get to the ball which would end up just outside of the penalty box.  C.J. was able to cut the ball back, beating the keeper who had left the box and then bent a tremendous shot into the gaping goal to put Kalamazoo up 2-0.  It was McCarthy's seventh goal of the season and Gray's first college point on the assist.  The first two Kalamazoo goals were scored less than two minutes apart.   Kalamazoo would strike again before halftime.  McCarthy played a loose ball that was bouncing on the right side of the box across the goal.  Out of the air, junior Jackie Jessup who had just subbed on touched the ball first time into the right side of the Olivet net.  It's was Jessup's first touch of the game and first goal of the year.  At halftime, Kalamazoo would lead 3-0.  The second half would prove to be a little more choppy and neither team was able to find a true rhythm of play.  Olivet would take advantage of a loose ball in the 61st minute as Comet Ashley Buyce was able to shoot a ball past Kalamazoo goalkeeper Courtney McCoy, off the far post and in.  Despite struggling offensively, the Hornets would still threaten a couple more times.  The first being in the 82nd minute off a Kalamazoo corner kick.  Senior defender Anja Burk, had moved up the field on the set pieced, gained possession of a loose ball off the corner and from the top of the box she took a shot that went pretty high in the air.  As it began dropping it appeared that it was going to fall in behind Leanne Scudder, the Olivet keeper.  However, a last second tip by Scudder kept the ball out but Kalamazoo was awarded another corner.  This time the ball would drop into the 6yd box and after bouncing around several times.  Sophomore Rachel Pitzer was able to direct the ball into the back of net.  This goal would come in the 81st minute of the contest and conclude the scoring for the day.  Scudder would record 2 saves for Olivet while McCoy and Haggnemiller combined for 5 total saves.  With the win Kalamazoo moves to 6-5-3 and 4-1-1 in the MIAA and Olivet falls to 4-9-1 and 0-4-0 in the conference.  Kalamazoo is in sole possession of second place with 13 points behind league leading Calvin who has 15.  The Hornets have a bye this week before returning to the field when they host St. Mary's College next Saturday at 12pm.  Missing several key players due to an illness the Homecoming victory was a true team effort with a number of players stepping up for the Hornets.  Individuals who have not played a tremendous amount of minutes were able to show fans what the coaches see everyday at practice.  To those unable to suit up we wish them a quick recovery and a week without a game should serve them well.  Also, a big thanks to all the fans an alums that were able to make it out to the game and participated in the post game picnic.  It was truly a GREAT day to be a HORNET!

GO HORNETS!!!

Tennis Anyone???

A day after their third MIAA win of the season a limited number of Hornets made it out to good old Mackenzie for practice.  The training schedule for the day included a warm-up focusing on technical skill, followed by a soccer tennis tournament.  A popular practice activity whenever the Hornets get a chance to play, today's matches were of the singles variety.  Traditionally the team plays doubles.  In the championship match, senior Paige Howell (pictured below) edged junior Hilary Marusak.  After tennis the day would end with several games of 3v3+1.  Friday, everyone will be back out at training as the Hornets will turn their focus to Saturday's home match.

Soccer Tennis Champ, For The Day

GO HORNETS!!!

KALAMAZOO 1 HOPE 0 2OT

With less than 90 seconds to play against Hope College on Wednesday afternoon it appeared that the teams would settle for a 0-0 draw.  Well, Hornets Hilary Marusak and Jackie Short had different thoughts.  From a Hope goal kick Hilary won the ball which Jackie was able to control.  With the ball at her feet Jackie was able to create a little bit of room for herself and from about 23yds out hit ball that would end up behind the Hope keeper and the result was that Kalamazoo College 1 Hope College 0.  A feat that the Hornets had not accomplished in 8 years!!!  On a chilly October afternoon in Holland both teams battled it out in a fierce match.  Both teams would create opportunities in the first half but nothing outstanding.  In the second half K would begin to generate a couple great opportunities and would out shoot the Dutch 10-1 in that stanza.  The best chance of the half was generated when freshmen C.J. McCarthy near the endline on the right side of the penalty area played a ball back to the top of the box to an on running Maya Smolcic.  Maya hit the ball first time and had the Hope keeper beat only to have it cleared off the line by a Flying Dutch defender.  Regulation would end 0-0.  In the first overtime Kalamazoo had the best opportunities to score off three consecutive corner kicks.  The last of which sophomore defender Rachel Pitzer just missed.  In the second overtime Kalamazoo would really dictate the pace of the play and Hope struggled to get out of their own half.  K would create several opportunities which were either wide of the goal frame or blocked by the defenders.  With about two minutes to play Jackie Short was working to get past a Hope defender inside the left side of the box and played a shot which the keeper was able to make a save on.  However, the Hornets never quit and a little bit over a minute later the ball was in the net and Kalamazoo was victorious.  With the win Kalamazoo moves to third in the MIAA with a conference record of 3-1-1 and an overall record of 5-5-3.  Hope falls to 2-2-1 in the conference and 5-7-1 overall.  It's also important to recognize the corp of Hornet defenders who really limited Hope's offensive opportunitites.  Senior Anja Burk, Junior Chelsea Smith, Junior Eva Schmidt, Sophomore Rachel Pitzer, Sophomore Maggie Rogers, Freshmen Megan Burns, and Freshmen Courtney McCoy all helped Kalamazoo record their third shutout in conference play.  Kalamazoo returns to the field on Saturday as they play Olivet College in a Homecoming game scheduled for kick-off at 12pm here in Kalamazoo.

GO HORNETS!!!

Autumn in Kzoo

The Quad on a Fine Fall Day 

The quad, the center of campus.  As much fun as it is to keep you updated on all things soccer it's easy to forget about some of the other great things about K-College.  The beautiful campus for example.  We'll definitely keep posting some pictures as the seasons change.  

This afternoon Coach Wells took the reins and led the Hornets through a training session that involved attacking movements and as always he pushed the players to think a little bit.  Since K-College students always are ready to over think and over analyze things he sometimes gets more than he bargains for.  Working with intelligent players a benefit of coaching at K.  Tomorrow the Hornets will turn their focus towards another league match with the goal of trying to gain 3 more points in the standings.  Kick-off is slated for 4pm tomorrow afternoon at Hope College.  Any and all support would be most appreciated.  At this moment we don't know if live stats will be available.  If they are we'll be sure to post a link here.  Time to study up, homework that is!

GO HORNETS!!! 

with a Diving Catch

The focus of practice today was playing balls over distance.  It involved lots of ball striking reps and hopefully it will translate into match play.  The warm-up for today's training involved an activity with three players and one ball.  Players on the outside would throw the ball in to their teammate who would return it first time.  The player on the outside would then play it over distance to their teammate who was approximately 35-40yds away.  Once the girls had a chance to get warmed up it was turned into a contest where the player receiving the long ball had to catch it with their hands in order for the team to earn a point.  Yes, they were allowed to use their hands.  Some outstanding diving efforts to score and a couple silly drops makes the team VERY grateful that Zari and Courtney take care of the goalkeeping and ball handling duties on a regular basis.  After the warm-up another long ball competition was played that pitted freshmen against upperclassmen.  Two round were contested and resulted in each team with a victory.  Next up was a game involving services and clearances.  The freshmen would earn the win here as well as in the final scrimmage,  in which they prevailed 1-0.  They were give a scare late when junior forward Jackie Jessup railed a shot off the post with just under a minute to play.  A productive and competitive day of training would end with a touch of fitness. 

GO HORNETS!!!