Coach Chad Edwards took over a team that had just six days to prepare for its first match in August.

After a full two months of engagement soccer, the season wrapped up over Halloween weekend.

Western finished with a 4-10 record, doubling its win total from a season ago. Though the team missed out on another MIAA tournament appearance, and placed last in the division, the Griffons battled through adversity with so many freshman playing and a new coach. Throughout the first 10 games, the Griffons saw a 3-7 record, where at the half they were either tied or in the lead in every game.

Edwards believes with recruiting well by adding forwards, his team will be in better shape for a post-season run next year. He also said this season will help out the future.

“I’m really proud of the way they competed,” Edwards said. “We got the culture established. I got what I’m trying to accomplish established.”

Among the seniors that played their last game in a Griffon uniform is Audrey Henderson. She leaves the program as the all-time leader in goals made with nine.

“I want to thank the four seniors especially,” Edwards said. “I’m really proud of the way they handled [this season].”

Volleyball entering final push

Coach Cory Frederick said he believes his team is playing the best volleyball they played all season.

Two straight losses could contradict that, but he said that didn’t exactly matter.

Western dropped three sets to undefeated Washburn last Saturday, one day after losing a 3-2 split set game to Emporia State. The two losses didn’t do anything to the Griffons in the conference, as they are still slated at fifth place with a 5-7 MIAA record and 12-13 overall.

“We struggled a bit last week,” Frederick said, “but we’re playing some good volleyball. Win five out of six is our goal.”

Frederick pointed to freshman Amanda Boender, who hit .667 and added 10 kills Friday nights against Emporia, as somebody who might step in and help the team over the next two weeks.

Basketball tip-off

Thursday night, both basketball teams will scrimmage for the first time at the Looney Complex, at least the first time against an opponent.

Livin’ the Dream, a pro-am basketball team out of Kansas City, Mo., will bring their talents to Western to play the Griffons.

The women’s team will tip off at 5:30 p.m. followed shortly by the men, who are scheduled to play around 7 p.m.

Tom Smith, who is one win shy of 600 total for his coaching career, is excited to see his team at home in this exhibition game.

“I’ve never had any group work harder than this group has worked,” Smith said. “I have three freshman for the first time. I can’t wait till they’re juniors. Hopefully I’m here when they’re juniors,” said Smith, who not only joked about that, but also about how he hopes to survive a sixth athletic director.

What about this year’s soccer team? Kyle Inman sure thinks highly of them. And why not? The freshman are playing above expectations, and Missouri Western will see most of this team for the next few years.

On Thursday they played against Northwest Missouri State. They lost 5-1, as Northwest ran up the score like it were in the BCS, trying to leap frog somebody into National Championship contention.

Of course the game was tied at the half; it wouldn’t be a Western soccer game if that had not occurred. Next up was coach Chad Edwards’ alma matter — Missouri Southern State. Western lost this game as well, putting the MIAA tournament in doubt.

K.C. Ramsell hasn’t scored since the fifth game, but she is still finding ways to put the ball in position; the freshman just isn’t hitting the shot on goal as much. If Ramsell, Erin Widrig and a few other key players can score, and Kelly Voigts can continue to stand pat as goalie, the final two weeks of the regular season can see improvement.

Western plays Fort Hays State, Washburn and Emporia State next. The Griffons defeated those last two teams on the road, now they have them at home. It’s simple: Western wins the three games, it makes the tournament. If not, better luck next year.

Volleyball, never sub in until you have to

After losing three straight, the losses continued. The Griffons fell 3-1 to Hays on Friday.

Then another road game occurred when the Griffons went to Joplin to play Southern. The Griffons finally snapped the loss streak,
winning 3-0 against the Lions.

Before further analysis can occur, people must take a second and look at what Frederick has been able to do over the past three years he has been at the helm for the Griffons.

After the 2010 team finished the season with an 12-17 record, the Griffons saw three seniors graduate. Coach Cory Frederick said he would recruit hard and hard enough he did.

Sarah Fauble is making her presence known. She is like Todd Fuller to the Griffon News: very underrated.

This team also has great chemistry. Tahler Johnston is a great player. Alex Behnke is too, but both will graduate after the season. They’ll be alright.

Considering Stephanie Hattey is only going to be a better player in the next couple years, as well as Shelby Corkill and Sarah Fauble, leadership and skill shouldn’t be a problem. If only this team can take advantage of the rest of this year’s schedule, people will realize the talent they have. They also have terrific coaching, including Cory Gove, stat keeper.

Another football column 

I think I’ve written a few too many columns about Western football already this season. The players and coaches probably agree.

But does it really matter? It’s not like we’ve overwhelmed them with columns in the past.

Regarding Western’s three-game win streak, it will continue. Am I guaranteeing it? No. Am I saying it? Yes (Dwayne Bowe). Come on, if the Griffons blow a chance at improving their record to 7-2 before Halloween, it will be a monumental upset. It should make SportsCenter’s Not Top 10 list.

Despite losing to the teams they were supposed to lose to and beating the teams they were supposed to beat, the Griffons won somewhat toss-up games against Southern and Emporia. That has to be encouraging to Jerry Partridge and his staff, considering there was always “that one game” where Western would lose and jeopardize a post-season appearance.

Saturday, Western traveled to Emporia and held on to a hard-fought 22-16 victory. Western had to earn the win, and, in all seriousness, it knew that going into Emporia, because the Hornets do not lay down for any opponent. Homecoming is next.

Befriending the Enemy 

I work for the Griffon News, this is obvious. But, I also take part in the newspaper from across the town: The St. Joseph News-Press.

As an employee there, I can’t work for the Griffon News 24/7. I can only work for them 16/4 and 24/3. The other 8/4 I am a News-Press employee. Confused? Now you know how I feel.

I befriend the enemy. I play both sides. I’m like Ashton Kutcher cheating on his wife. Except, I don’t know who Demi Moore is in this situation.

I’m put in positions many times where I have to work downtown and cannot attend games. Thanks goes to my Editor-In-Chief (Dave Hon) and my boss Ross Martin (Western alum, ‘05), who understand this.

Anyway, it’s rough. Last Thursday, when Western played rival Northwest, I was unable to work for the Griffon News. I had to attend the game on behalf of the News-Press.

I had to cover Northwest for the most part, especially since it won and forward Victoria Von Mende scored a team record 10 goals this season. I still talked to the Griffon News staff who attended, including the Break Away guy, Jason Brown. I couldn’t tweet the game to the GriffonNewsCom followers, but instead, NPSportsNow followers received the game updates.

Last Saturday, this is even better, I had to attend a state quarterfinal softball game, and could not make a trip to Emporia. I then sent a tweet out to GriffonNewsCom followers to follow NPSportsNow for updates.

Oh, it’s worse: This Saturday, when everybody is attending Homecoming events and the football game, I will be at District Cross Country, covering local high school Central trying to pave its way to state. They may, because they have those Bachman twins. But anyway, scheduling conflicts again occur.

A Little Inside Info

I don’t wear glasses. Many people know this, but I needed a pair in order to take my picture.

This isn’t the News-Press, where, when they write a column, they are submitted into the paper with a full body length photo of them looking up, so that their shoes are the size of pebbles. I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about.

But here we have to use a real mug shot (and not a Dave Williams type of mug shot, where you actually have a reason to look eccentric).

So instead of my picture focusing on my face and who I am, I needed an object to distract the reader. Insert Prof. Bob Bergland’s glasses. Instantly, my face became a hit. Not two hours after print people were asking me about the photo.

Since I am unable to grow a beard at this point in my life, and Bergland will not let me barrow his goatee, I need a new disguise. Any help?

One last note: My computer at the Griffon News in use, so I am taking this opportunity to type from Blair Stalder’s. The only reason why I mention this: Stalder needs a reference every now and then. Everyone knows Stalder doesn’t receive enough credit. “Stadler” on the other hand …

Goalkeeper Kelly Voigts kicks the ball after her save. The Soccer team fell to Northwest State University with a score of 5-1.

“I just felt like at the end of the game we lost all of our energy, execution of everything and fell apart,” coach Chad Edwards said.

The loss pushes the Griffon’s losing streak to four. Their record on the season falls to 3-7 and 0-4 in MIAA conference play.

The two teams were even on the scoreboard after a first half where the Bearcats took ten shots and the Griffons attempted five.

Victoria Von Mende scored the first goal of the game and her tenth of the season at the 56th minute mark. In the 60th minute Hannah Silvey made the score 2-0 Bearcats on a goal from five yards out.

The Griffons fought back and put in their only goal when Ashley Grunder scored her first goal of the season in the 78th minute on an assist from Audrey Henderson. That made the score 2-1 with 11 minutes remaining.

“We had the momentum going,” Grunder said. “We kept pushing through it, but after we scored we all thought we had a chance, and it was going to go our way,”

Three minutes later, any hopes the Griffons had of a comeback were crushed when Emilee Davison scored a goal off of a rebound to put Northwest up 3-1.

Northwest’s Tammie Eiberger scored two meaningless goals with less than four minutes to go in the game to push the score to 5-1.

“We gave ourselves chances to score throughout the game. We were in it with them, we just had five breakdowns basically,” Edwards said.

The Bearcats attempted 26 shots to the Griffons 11 on the way to improving their record to 7-3-2 and 4-1 in the MIAA.

Griffon goalkeeper, Kelly Voigts, notched 11 saves on the day. Each team committed eight fouls in the game, and the Bearcats attempted two corner kicks to the Griffons none.

Even with the losing streak, the Griffons have a good shot to make the MIAA tournament in Kansas City, Mo. Western has four games left on the season before the tournament including games with Washburn and Emporia State, two teams that the Griffons have already defeated this season.

“Now it’s just a matter of being positive and maintaining focus on our goal of making it to Kansas City, which is still out in front of us,” Edwards said.

Western will resume play on Oct. 15 in Joplin when they take on MIAA conference opponent Missouri Southern.

But after playing the nine games, looking at what could have been for the Griffons is rough. Chad Edwards took over the team in early August, and it responded well for him. Except Western has held a lead or have been tied at half time in every single match.

The second half woes continued over the past week, as Western lost to Truman State and Southwest Baptist. Both losses were by one goal; both goals were in the 72nd minute.

“Tuesday was a debacle,” said Edwards, referring to his team’s loss in Kirksville. “But we had some chances to score. We just didn’t get it done.”

Western hasn’t had difficulty on the road thus far. It went to Oklahoma and shut out Southwest Oklahoma State 2-0. Then it defeated both Emporia State and Washburn to have a 3-3 record. However, with three straight losses, Western soccer is starting to spiral down in the MIAA.

On Tuesday, Ashley Juravich shot Western’s only ball in the whole game, compared to Truman’s 34. Goalkeeper Kelly Voigts tallied 12 saves for the Griffons in Kirksville.

Edwards said that he wasn’t too upset with the difference in shot attempts, because a lot of the Bulldogs shots never had a chance. They were high or wide each time.

Still, the Griffons couldn’t pull out the win as Jaclyn Schumann knocked in the lone goal.

Four days later Western played tight against Baptist. With no score at halftime, the Bearcats’ Ashely Creason nailed one of her three attempts to put her team up a goal. Western never answered and lost a fifth game decided by one goal.

“We’ve been talking about it since day one: Let’s get forward,” Edwards said. “We’re playing scared. The battle is the fear of getting scored on.”

Erin Widrig, after missing the first month, was cleared to play and started against Baptist. She is expected to contributed more as the Griffons need her in order to make a push towards the conference tournament.

So far this season, Western has tallied 10 goals, eight by freshmen (K.C. Ramsell, Teddy Serna and Katie Kempf). Another freshman, Emily Hoffmann, has attempted three shots and they have all been on goal.

“[They're] starting to realize it takes a lot more than it did in high school to win ball games,” Edwards said.

Five more games are left on the Griffon’s schedule before the MIAA Soccer Championship in Kansas City, Mo., Nov. 3 through 6.

The Griffons fall to 3-4 overall and 0-1 in MIAA conference play while the Jennies improved to 9-1 and 2-0 in conference play.

“We battled and fought with them,” coach Chad Edwards said. “They were undefeated last year and made the NCAA tournament, so for us to battle and be tied at half is great. Now we have to finish the game and play that second half.”

Central wasted little time scoring the first goal. Becky Lackey knocked in her fifth goal of the season on a rebound from one-yard-out in the fourth minute.

The Griffons tied the score at 1-1 when they connected on their only shot attempt of the first half. Teddie Serna scored on an assist from K.C. Ramsell at the 20-yard-line on a shot that landed in the bottom left corner of the net.

“We made the run up the field and K.C. ran into some pressure,” said Serna. “I was open behind her so she just dropped it back, and I had the opportunity to shoot so I took it.”

The game was tied 1-1 at halftime despite the Jennies controlling field position and attempting 22 shots to the Griffons one.

The Jennies made the score 2-1 on a goal from Carly Stanley in minute 57 from 15-yards-out. The assist was from Kristin Bright.

Kayla Shain assisted on a goal from Alyssa Rhodes in the 71st minute to make the score 3-1.

Western only attempted three shots on the day and attempted no corner kicks, while the Jennies shot 39 times and had eight corner kicks. Ashlyn Castillo and Brooke English both missed on their only shot attempts.

Ramsell is the Griffons leading scorer on the season with five goals; however she was unable to get off a shot attempt against the Jennies. Ramsell is only two goals shy from the all-time record of goals made at Western.

Despite allowing three goals, Western goalkeeper Kelly Voigts saved 14 shots, including some athletic diving saves on several occasions when the Jennies had a chance to extend the lead.

“She is a stud, and I am so thrilled she is on our side,” said Edwards. “She is an all-conference player for sure.”

The Griffons have held the lead or been tied at halftime in all four of their losses this season. They defeated Washburn 2-1 on Thursday.

“I’m proud of the girls for figuring out a way to keep in the games for a half, but now we just have to finish our games like we did on Thursday,” Edwards said.

Both teams committed five fouls in a very physical contest.

“That’s what you are going to get playing top teams in the country,” Edwards said. “I don’t think we looked less physical than them, they just possessed the ball a little better. That’s a very good team.”

The Griffons will play their second conference game on Tuesday when they take on the Truman State Bulldogs in Kirksville, Mo.

Ashlyn Castillo bounces the ball off her head to give Western momentum again.

The Griffons Soccer team fell to 2-3 on the season after losing their home opener at Spratt Stadium against the Fort Hays State Tigers. They lost 2-1 after letting a one goal halftime lead slip away.

“It was a matter of effort, and we will get it fixed,” coach Chad Edwards said. “We need to be more consistent for ninety minutes.”

The Griffons took the early lead when K.C. Ramsell scored a goal off an assist from Ashlyn Castillo in the 14th minute of the game. The goal was the fifth of the season for the freshman.  She has scored five of the seven total goals on the season for the Griffons.

“K.C. has been fantastic,” Edwards said. ” As a team we need to be more consistent for the ninety minutes, but she is doing fabulous.”

Things looked good for the Griffons at halftime as they held a 1-0 lead, but Hays wasted little time in the second half to score.  Joanne Glynn netted a goal from twenty yards out on an assist from Cindy Benitez in the 50th minute.

Hays stayed aggressive and scored its second goal to make the score 2-1 in favor of the Tigers in the 62nd minute.  Glynn scored the goal on an assist from Benitez again.

“We let two players on their team beat our whole team,” said goalkeeper Kelly Voigts. “We have to learn how to play a whole ninety minutes, and we have to learn how to play with heart and take pride in the field.”

The Griffons tried to make a comeback and tie the game up near the end. It looked as if Ramsell had a chance to score again, but an off-sides penalty was called.

“We do work well together as a team, but today we didn’t connect our passes like we usually do,” Ramsell said. “That’s why we didn’t have a chance to come back and score.”

Voigts made 10 saves and gave up two goals. Hays attempted 21 shots to the Griffons’ 13.

“Kelly is fantastic. She is a leader, an all-conference player, and we are fortunate to have her on our side,”  Edwards said of his goalkeeper.

This is the first season that Hays has a soccer program and the first ever meeting between the Tigers and the Griffons.  Hays is 3-4-1 on the season.

“Our goal was to score first–we just have to be able to finish the game,” said Edwards. “We just gave up too many opportunities.”

The Griffons next game is against Washburn Sept. 27 at 6 p.m. in Topeka, Kan.  The Ichabods are 0-4-1.

Photos by: Jason Brown

Name: K.C. Ramsell

Sport: Women’s Soccer

Year: Freshman

Position: Forward

Stats this week: Shots on goal — 2; Total shots — 2; Goals — 1

Ramsell scored her fifth goal in five games last Saturday and almost added another in the second half of her first home game played at Western. Though the Griffons lost (2-1) and have a record of 2-3, Ramsell is currently 11th in the nation in goals scored per game.

Name: K.C. Ramsell

Sport: Women’s Soccer

Year: Freshman

Position: Forward

Stats this week: Shots on goal — 6; Total shots — 8; Goals — 4

Ramsell scored four goals in her first two games as a Griffon. Last season, the team totaled nine goals all year. The Griffon’s lost their first game in overtime despite Ramsell’s breakout performance, but won their second game 2-0.

Jeff Hansen was at the helm for the Griffons the past five seasons, but during the summer, he decided to leave the program and coach high school boys soccer. This left the Griffons with a big hole to fill, and that is exactly what Interim Athletic Director Dan Nicoson did.

“We are pleased that Coach [Chad] Edwards has accepted the position of coach of the Griffon women’s soccer team,” Nicoson said in a press release introducing the new coach. “Coach Edwards’ experience as both a collegiate coach and player will serve him well.”

Edwards was the head coach at Avila University prior to accepting his new role. Before Avila, Edwards was an assistant coach at Missouri Southern State.

To know his players’ strengths will be a difficult task before the season starts, but he will have help from seniors Brooke English, Jeanna Ross and Molly Slattery. But perhaps the biggest key to the season will be midfielder Audrey Henderson, who had eight shot on goals last season and three that went in for scores.

The Griffons will have to replace Kelsey Bowman, Jenna Weis, Heather Schmiemeier and Jessica Martin, who earned all region honors while at Western.

Though most of the team is made up of freshman [according to gogriffons.com, there are seven on the Griffons' roster] the team will have to rely on past experiences to lead them this season.

Western finished last season with a 2-10-6 record. But out of the 18 games played, only two of the contests were decided by more than two goals, both to the same opponent: Central Missouri, who won the conference with a 16-0 record and 19-1 overall.

Edwards himself was a standout player for Southern in the late 1990s. Not only did his team win the conference championship his first season, but he was also voted team captain for the Lions. His experience should help this team win.

Western was picked to finish seventh in the MIAA preseason coaches poll. Their season will kick off on Sept. 2 in Oklahoma at the GAC-MIAA Challenge.

Photos by: Jason Brown, Photo Editor

During his five seasons, the Griffons went 17-65-14 overall.

Hansen was able to coach his team to an all time win total in 2009 when his team went 8-10-2 and finished sixth in the conference.

Other accolades during his tenure include Hansen coaching 14 players to All-MIAA honors as well as Jessica Martin earning all-region honors.

The former Western coach now looks to lead a group of high school boys to a championship as he will take over as head soccer coach at Carbondale High School in Carbondale, Illinois. He said his reason for leaving is “solely based on family.”

Hansen resignation was effective on August 1st.

All season long the Griffons have been playing an exciting brand of soccer but on many occasions couldn’t finish goal opportunities and couldn’t get the go ahead goal to get the victory. The start of this game looked to follow the trend the Griffons have set this season. Just three minutes into the action UNO got on the board with a goal from Hilary Hovatic. For the rest of the half the chances were few and far between for Western. Although the Mavericks controlled the action they couldn’t put the Griffons away. With solid saves from Jenna Weis and good marking from Westerns defense the score stayed 1-0 going into the late minutes of the 2nd half. Weis believes that the defense played as good as they ever had.

“I think defensively we were as strong as ever except for a marking problem in the first half that led to their goal.” Weis said.
In the 70 minute, the Griffons finally broke through as Senior Heather Schmeimeier slotted home a rebound past the keeper. Going into the extra periods the Griffons were beat in most statistic categories but momentum was on their side.

In the second extra period with just under 10 minutes to go, Schmeimeier popped up again, getting in the box and putting the Griffons up for good, giving her a double for the night. Head coach Jeff Hansen believes that the team belief in their own abilities is a reason they got into the winning column.

“You just got to believe you can do it,” Hansen said.“The team was in better shape and got stronger through the game.”

Weis explains what it was like on the pitch to get their first win of the season.

A Griffon soccer player tries to get past a defender. Photo | Jason Brown

With the Griffons getting their first win of the season they hope to build on their good fortune with a win against their rivals from 50 miles north the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats. The game will take place Thursday October 14 in Maryville.

The soccer team lost the game to a better, undefeated Central Missouri team, losing the game four to zero. They were outmatched, but Central Missouri was six and zero before they faced this known tyrant, so the defeat was not surprising. This team was too much to handle for the Missouri Western girls soccer team and it showed. Jenna Weis knew how the day could possibly go.

“Confidence is a huge asset when you’re going into a tough place to play on the road”, Weis said.

This team tried hard from the beginning, trying to make the game as close as possible using their athletic abilities. They tried to score with four shot attempts early in the first half, keeping it competitive.

“Central Missouri always gives us a good game and we had them on their heels the first ten minutes, but as soon as they pushed back we seemed to back down a little,” Weis said. This statement seemed to be the accurate part of the game.

The defense broke down after the first ten minutes according to Weis, and that is where the problems were too much to overcome. Central Missouri scored two goals in the first half, and two in the second.

Brooke English knew that this would not be an easy game to play.

“Central Missouri is very talented, and they are ranked top ten nationally for a reason,” English said.

Missouri Western is also winless for the year, inside the conference and out. The year is not going as expected,

“As a team we need to come together and focus on doing the small things right, and giving 110 percent all the time,” English said. The struggle according to her is because of these small objectives and effort.

The next game is against Missouri Southern State University at Spratt Stadium. Western will have a chance to win their first game of the season as well as the first conference win.

“Southern is next and its important that we just do the things we’re good at, because its no excuse for getting beat the way we did against Central Missouri,” English said.

Going into this game, the Griffons had played their previous two games into double overtime, both ending in a tie.

Jenna Weis, senior goal keeper for the Griffons, had five saves against Washburn.

Junior defender Molly Slattery heads the ball away from a Washburn attacker. Photo | Jason Brown

Despite playing a “grind-it-out” game just two days before against Southwest Baptist, Western came out in the first half with a lot of energy and physicality against Washburn.

Most of the first half the Griffons kept the ball on the offensive end, getting a total of six shots on goal. The defense did their job at the same time, refusing Washburn any shots.

The second half was a different story. Washburn came out attacking, getting 11 shots total in the second half. One of those shots went in with about 24 minutes left to go in the match, putting the Lady Blues up by one.

Junior defensive player Molly Slattery had one shot on goal near the end of the match. Slattery recognized the lack of intensity that her team had in the second half.

“We let up a little bit,” Slattery said. “We coasted a little bit, and we can’t have a lag in the half. We need to stay strong and we need to grind.”

Losing this game against Washburn leaves Western without a win so far this season. Head coach Jeff Hansen is ready for his team to start finishing games.

“I never would have thought in my wildest dreams through six games we wouldn’t have a win,” Hansen said. “Not with as many returners we have comin’ back,”

As far as fatigue goes, Hansen realizes his players are tired after playing two 110 minutes games in the past week, but still expects them to be able to fight through it.

“We play Thursday/Saturday the rest of the year, so we better get used to it,” Hansen said.

Even though the start of the season isn’t as the Griffons soccer team has planned it, they are all keeping positive thoughts and are ready to take on Central Missouri.

“As frustrated as we are, we can only do better,” Weis said. “I think we’re gonna use our frustration to put up a really good fight against UCM,”

Western (0-4-2) travels to Warrensburg for a tough match up against the undefeated Central Missouri Jennies (4-0-0) on Sat. Sept. 25.

With a miracle shot from Sarah Brimeyer being waved off in the dwindling seconds of the second extra period, missed calls by refs, and missed opportunities by the Griffons the home opener turned out to be a gem of a match but a disappointing result for the aspiring conference winners.

Junior defender Molly Slattery clears the ball from the attacking players in Saturday’s conference game against Northwest. Photo | Dave Hon

“We get the ball on somebody’s foot we got to put it away, credit to their keeper for making the saves,” Hansen said. “But if a couple of those first touches are better were hammering them into the back of the net.”

Although the Bearcats didn’t have many opportunities they pounced on the one golden one they had. A breakaway with seconds left in the half lead to a corner kick. With the clock running out Anna Calgaard curled the ball into the box onto the right boot of Kelly Obley.

Giving Western’s rival the lead and letting the air out of the sails of the Griffons.

“It was frustrating because we had 60 percent of the possession and they got one so late in the half,” Hansen said. “It was just one of those things of who wanted it more.”

Griffon keeper, Jenna Weis, got an up close view of what went wrong on the corner kick.

“Honestly it happened so fast it was hard to say,” Weis said.“From my point of view of the Northwest girl that scored was marked but it was an accidental deflection by one of our player which happens when there are clusters of people in that tight of a space.”

“Their goal in the closing seconds of the 1st half was disappointing. It’s hard going into halftime being down a goal to a team you’ve out played for 44 minutes,” English said.

”But we had been pounding them all half so we knew we could get in behind them, so we just had to continue to do what we were doing and wait till one went in.”

After a stale start to the 2nd half for both teams, a goal did go in for the Griffons. Senior mid-fielder Jessica Martin caught Northwest keeper Kelsey Adams off her line and chipped it over her head from about 35 yards out. The equalizer wasn’t only a beauty, but also gave a boost to the team’s spirit..

“Jessica’s goal was a huge booster. We had been working all game and finally had a point to show for it,” English said. “It put us back in it and gave us a little boost to keep working even as our legs got tired.”

The Griffons would need those legs as neither team could capitalize at the end of regulation. In extra time, Northwest had some good chances on goal but couldn’t make the Griffons pay.

The best chance for a victory came in the waning seconds of the second extra period. As Western was in the Bearcats final third trying to thump one in, the ball was cleared by a Northwest defender and the Bearcats looked to be out of trouble. With the clock running down the last Griffon back, Brimeyer got a running start and booted the ball from 45 yards out into the upper right netting past the keeper’s arms. Confusion spread through the pitch and in the crowd as many thought that it was the winning goal but in seconds it was announced that the goal had been waved off.

“That chip shot was amazing, anyone that saw that would probably say it’s one of the best shots they’ve ever seen,” Weis said.“I’ve been playing this game since I was five and have never seen a situation like this. I was under the impression that if she got the shot off before one second on the clock it was good but obviously that isn’t the case. It was a bummer.”

Though it was an exciting finish, Hansen feels like the team should not be content with the result.

“Were not satisfied,” Hansen said.“If you have aspirations to win the league you have to win at home and steal points on the road.”

The Griffons try to steal points in their next match against Southwest Baptist University on September 16.

When it comes to goals, the Griffon soccer team has set the bar high.

“The biggest advantage we have this season is that we are returning 18 starters, so we can sort of hit the ground running,” senior goalkeeper, Jenna Weis, said.

Head coach Jeff Hansen said that Western talked about winning the MIAA conference after the 2009 season had finished.

“Our goal is to win the league,” Hansen said. “Some people may look at that as a ‘wow’ statement, but we saw ourselves as being the fourth best team the way we were playing at the end of the year. We were one game out of fourth by ourselves, and we feel like we had some games that we should have gotten.”

Many of the Griffons’ games were close and could have gone either way this past season. In the 2009 preseason MIAA poll, Western was picked last and by the time the season was over, they had moved up to sixth.

“We went from ninth to sixth, but it could’ve easily been fourth,” Hansen said. “So if we take that next step, our goal is to win the league because I think if we don’t set that goal we are probably short changing ourselves. We jumped three spots, you could argue that we almost jumped five, and then to just say ‘well let’s take third next year,’ that’s just not quite good enough.”

Western has nine seniors on this fall’s roster that will help lead the team to those goals.

“Our seniors, they’ve played almost 60 games in the league,” Hansen said. “We’re hoping that they’re experienced enough and they’ve kind of been through situations that if we go down one nothing in a game, it doesn’t freak everybody out.”

While Western will rely on their veterans for leadership and composure, Hansen also mentioned that some of the younger players will contribute their skills as well.

“We’re going to rely heavily on the seniors for the experience side of things, but we’ve got a lot of talent in the younger groups,” Hansen said.

As always, the MIAA conference will include some matchups with very tough teams. However, Hansen believes the team’s biggest challenge this year will be getting people to realize that Western’s program is a force to be reckoned with.

“This program has not been a conference contender, so people may read my comments and kind of go ‘they’re nuts, they’ve never done it before.’ But you have to have that first team to do it. You have to have somebody step up and have a team step up and just finally do it,” Hansen said.

Hansen is “cautiously optimistic” about the 2010 season and hopes that if all his players stay healthy and that things fall into place, the team can have a great year.

The (8-10-2) Missouri Western Soccer head coach Jeff Hansen has added a Junior College transfer from Olathe, Kan. to the roster for the 2010 fall season in hopes of improving his soccer team.

Coach Hansen found goalkeeper Kelly Voigts at Johnson County Community College, where she was goalie of the national tournament in which her team placed second. Voigts also set a national junior college record with 18 shutouts last season alone.

Hansen has faith that his newly signed player will be fighting for a solid spot at goalkeeper on the field and is excited for what Voigt has to offer.

“She’ll compete for the job,” Hansen said. “It’s always an open competition.”

This year wasn’t as heavy a recruiting year as most, due to the amount of returning players from last season. 20 of the players from last season are still representing the Griffons in the fall. Yet the 2011 season will be a different story – nine players will be graduating in the 2011 class, leaving open slots for Hansen to fill.

Hansen is pleased with what will be added to his team, but already has respect for how his players click and play as a team.

“We’re being picky, because our team chemistry is pretty good,” Hansen said. “We’re not just going to bring in anybody that’s going to screw that up.”

Volleyball

The Missouri Western Volleyball program has signed players Stephanie Hattey from Kearney, Mo. and Tahler Johnston from Marshalltown, IA for the 2010 season.

Hattey is expected to come in and contribute right away as a 5’8” freshman setter. Western head coach Cory Frederick added Hattey to the team due to her athleticism and quickness she could add to the Griffon squad.

“She’s going to be a very strong player, we’re happy to have her,” Frederick said.

Also being added to the team is Johnston, who transferred to Western from Indian Hills Community College as an outside hitter.

“She brings a lot to our team; she’s got a little bit more size and a nice solid arm swing,” Frederick said.

Johnston brings to the table a 5’10” to 5’11” frame which adds height to the blocks. There are three solid outside hitters fighting for a starting position on the Western team.

One of the things that the Western volleyball team is looking to improve on is team chemistry, and the addition to these new players could help with that goal.

“More than anything these recruits that we bring in and the players that are returning will bring us more team chemistry, which is one of the things that we are preaching right now and trying to get that better,” Frederick said.

The rainy conditions and damp playing surface didn’t hurt the Griffons in this game. Early on, the team displayed great defensive tactics. The Griffons held the Lions to only one shot in the first half: letting the forwards of Western go to work on the Lions backs.

The Griffons tried their luck nine times in the opening half. Three of the nine shots came from midfielder Mary Ohm who played at a very nice pace. The good play from the starting 11 carried over into the second half. In the 50th minute, Widrig beat her marker and put the ball in the lower netting giving Widrig her 7th goal of the season.

Eleven minutes later, Missouri Southern midfielder Shannon Kuhn summed up the night for the Lions by receiving the first and only yellow card of the game. The Griffons

Photo: Matthew Fowler

remained in top form for the rest of the night allowing just one corner kick in the 2nd half and allowing only two more shots for the rest of the night.

The win was one of the most complete efforts on the season for Western. The offense and defense played with urgency all night. Griffon’s midfielder Jessica Martin believes that the team’s movement helped them succeed against their opponents.

“We passed the ball around a lot and moved off the ball well which allowed us more shots and shots on goal,” Martin said. “Our game plan was to just drop down our offensive center mid to stay with their stopper. Overall, I would rate our performance an eight out of ten.”

Forward Desi Swanson, who has started every game this season, believes that the reason for the win was winning possession of the ball.

“We just came out and pressured the ball,” Swanson said. “We won the 50/50s which allowed us to create more offense getting us so many more shots.”

Most final home games are a send off to all the seniors who play on the sports team. With this year’s team having no seniors on board, the win is more about finishing the season with a winning record at home. Martin knows that the team can take solace in having a winning record at Spratt.

“The winning record at home means we have turned one of the many pages we want to turn,” Martin said.

“It felt amazing to win a close one and come out on the positive side of things. It was a big accomplishment for our team.”

Swanson feels that the win is a step forward for the team.

“It felt awesome winning that last home game,” Swanson said. “It finally gave us a winning home season which is a big step for us.”

The Griffons showed that they can respond to adversity after dropping their first loss to Northwest and coming back with a vengeance.

“After the last game it was easy to bounce back because we really wanted to win a game,” junior offensive lineman Andy Gilmore said. “Obviously that was our first loss and our first time to see what a loss feels like. I think we wanted to get back on the winning track.”

According to head coach Jerry Partridge, the team’s ability to respond had a lot to do with leadership.

“We have a lot of leaders on the offensive line, we have a good quarterback who’s a leader, we have linebackers who are leaders and we have linemen who are leaders,” Partridge said. “I don’t think Truman was a great team, but we played well and took care of business, and that was pretty satisfying.”

Photo | Ryan Richardson

“That was one of the best defensive performances we’ve ever had here,” Partridge said.

The defense took control in the first half and helped the Griffons to go into the locker room up 28-0. Touchdowns from Mike Hill, Thomas Hodges, Adam Clausen and a punt return from Cedric Houston gave the Griffons the advantage.

After another touchdown from Mike Hill to open up the second half put Western up 35-0, Truman outscored the Griffons the rest of the way 14-3. Brad Beckwith finished off the game with a 24 yard field goal to put Western up 38-14 and lead them to victory.

After this win, the Griffons improve to 6-1 overall and 4-1 in the MIAA. This Saturday they will take on 14th ranked Central Missouri in Spratt Stadium at 1:30 p.m. for homecoming. Western is currently ranked 15th and tied with Central for second in the MIAA.

Missouri Western’s main goal is to limit their silly mistakes which should lead to success.
We can’t turn the football over again and we can’t give up big plays on defense,” Partridge said. “That’s kind of our problem.”

Quarterback Drew Newhart, who leads the MIAA in passing efficiency and finished Saturday completing 16 of 25 passes for 209 yards and a touchdown, agreed that if the Griffons can limit their turnovers, they will be successful.

“We just need to work on the little things and take care of the football and I think we’ll be okay for Saturday,” Newhart said.

Sounds like the plot for a made for TV movie on the Disney channel starring Miley Cyrus. But this is actually the real life story of Taylor and Brooklyn Arehart.

The two were born and raised in Elkhorn, Neb. by John and Janelle Arehart. They both were interested in athletics at an early age. Taylor, the older of the two, knew which sport she would focus on from the beginning.

“I got started a long time ago and I think it was because my parents made me, but I ended up loving it and have played soccer ever since,” Taylor said.
“My sister and I were different athletes growing up. She played a couple different sports.”

Brooklyn shared the same view of how it got started as her sister.

“I think my parents got me into soccer, and I just really liked it. I’ve been a striker all my life so it’s all I’ve ever known,” Brooklyn said.

Head coach Jeff Hansen, in his fourth season with the Griffon soccer team, sees a lot of potential in the two sisters. With Brooklyn being a freshman, he hopes that she can be a good role player for the Griffons. And with Taylor being a part of the big junior class, he hopes she can be a leader for this year’s team. Hansen knows that he has to take a different approach for both players.

“The two are nothing alike. One is joking a lot; the other isn’t. It’s like night and day,” Hansen said.

“They are always encouraging and will bend over backwards for their teammates.”

Even though the two are very close and are great teammates, they still have their ups and downs as any sibling duo would have. Taylor knows that the two will butt heads every now and then.

“Playing with a sister can definitely have its ups and downs,” Taylor said. “Sure, we can get into plenty of fights, but I think we also understand each other better than anyone else on the team. It’s nice to know she is here to fall back on and count on in times when maybe the team is down.”

The two also have freshman midfielder Lauren Lennard and back Molly Slattery to lean on. They went to the same high school and want to help the sister’s bring the winning ways of Elkhorn High School to Missouri Western. Lennard knows that the bond between the four can help do that.

“It’s really nice to come in and have people you know and Brooklyn has been my best friend since fourth grade so it’s awesome having her here,” Lennard said. “Taylor really looks out for Brooklyn.”

“They have their moments but really work well together.”

With the soccer team having no seniors this year, they hope that their youth and closeness will help them on the pitch. We don’t know what is in store for the team this year, but we do know that the Areharts will continue to be close and work hard to make the team better.

“My sister means the world to me. She’s been there through everything. I came to Western because of my sister, and it’s awesome playing with her again because she always pumps me up before games.” Brooklyn said.

Taylor feels the same way about her sister.

“My sister means the world to me; she is the only one I have,” Taylor said. “Like I said, we fight, but there are things I tell her I would tell no one else.”

The Disney Channel needs to start writing up a screen play.

Missouri Western ran a 4-3-3 formation and got off to a good start on the pitch, taking six shots on goal in the first half. Junior striker Desi Swanson scored the first goal of the game after receiving a nice ball from midfielder Jessica Martin. Toward the end of the half the Bearcats built up a good counter attack against Western, but the Griffon’s back forced Northwest to take shots from long distance. The strong defense gave Western the lead going in to the half.

Photo | Marty Ayers

“It felt really good beating Northwest for the first time,” Swanson said. “I think it was on our mind every time we play them because we’ve always known we’re just as good as them so it was nice to finally come out of it with a win.”

Junior back Taylor Arehart shares the same feeling about the win over their rival.

“I don’t think it could feel any better to beat Northwest for the first time,” Arehart said.

“I know it’s a team we knew we could beat for a while and finally doing it was amazing. We really came together as a whole team and when we do that we can beat anyone, including Northwest.”

The victory over the Bearcats rectifies a loss the team had early this season on their rival’s home turf. The win also hopes to put a pep in the Griffons step and help them move up the standings in the MIAA.

The season doesn’t end with that win, but in the eyes of Swanson it did throw some fuel on the proverbial fire.

“It definitely added fuel to the rivalry which will make it more fun to play them next season,” Swanson said.

We’ll have to wait until next year to see the rivals clash again. But the Griffons will be playing their next home game Thursday, Oct. 8 against Southwest Baptist University.

The UNO Mavericks came out firing shots at freshman goalie Joyce Endicott. Mavericks scored their first goal on a penalty kick and scored one more goal a few minutes later, leaving the Griffons down 2-0.

Despite being down early, Missouri Western came back and responded with a goal from freshman Abby Widrig. However, UNO scored one more goal before halftime came back out for the second half with a 3-1 lead.

Sophomore Heather Schmiemeir was able to add one more goal for the Griffons before the game was over, but it wasn’t enough. The Griffons lost the game 4-2.

Two days later, the Griffons faced the rival Bearcats in Maryville, Mo. Northwest took an early lead, scoring their first goal a mere six minutes into the game. Missouri Western then evened the score with a goal from junior Jessica Martin and the Griffons went into halftime tied.

However, the team couldn’t pull through and let the Bearcats score two unanswered goals late in the game to give them the win.

According to junior Mary Ohm, one of the main problems during both games was the team’s defense.

Photo by Marty Ayers

“We struggled defensively, which is kind of rare for us,” Ohm said. “I think we just need to work better at defending as a team. Everyone on the team has to defend better in order to get a W.”

While the Griffon defense was a little shaky, the offense seemed solid during both the UNO and Northwest games.
“When we possessed the ball we did really well,” Martin said.

Although two losses never looks good on a team’s record, the team managed to take some positive things from the past two games. Perseverance was one part of the game the team is succeeding in.

“We never gave up, we still managed to score goals in the games,” Ohm said. “Both our games were away, and it’s always tough to play on someone else’s field, especially in the conference. I don’t think we ever quit.”
Since the effort is there, Ohm believes that success will be coming soon for the Griffons.

“We were right there,” Ohm said. “We just have to turn the corner and tighten up our defense a little bit more.”
After last week’s losses, Missouri Western fell to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the MIAA.

The team’s first home game is coming up Thursday Sept. 17 against Emporia State. After a rough past few weeks, the Griffons are very excited.

“We hope that playing in front of a home crowd will make things better,” Martin said.

The Griffons were defeated by Newman University Saturday 3-1 and beat Southwest Oklahoma State Sunday 2-0. Although starting at .500 may seem average, head coach Jeff Hansen was happy with the level of play he saw this past weekend from his team.

“Unfortunately we played well enough to win two games, and we’re 1-1,” Hansen said. “I wasn’t displeased with our effort on Saturday, we just didn’t finish.”

While playing Newman, the Griffons trailed after letting the Jets score the first goal. Later, sophomore Audrey Henderson scored a goal to tie the game, but it wasn’t enough. Missouri Western wasn’t able to stop Newman from scoring the final two goals that led them to a 3-1 victory. The Griffons finished with 13 shots: six corner kicks and nine fouls.

After losing their first game of the season, the Griffons knew they had to make changes for the next day.

“It was more of a mental change,” junior Jenna Weis said. “We knew we had to turn it around so we could get our season off on the right foot.”

And turn it around they did. Martin led the Griffons, scoring both of the two goals that led them to victory. The Griffons scored both their goals off of corner kicks, assists which came from freshmen twins Abby and Erin Widrig. Freshman goalie Joyce Endicott finished the game with four saves.

“Martin came out and had two goals and one assist,” Hansen said. “She’s come out and really asserted herself in our lineup as someone teams need to keep track of.”
Hansen also mentioned that the team’s defense played an important role in the win.

“Our whole defensive unit did pretty well this weekend,” Hansen said. “Except for about 10 minutes in the first half, I didn’t feel like we were in any danger.”
“We finished more shots than we did on Saturday and we made better decisions with the ball,” Martin said.

According to Hansen, one of the key aspects that helped the Griffons succeed this weekend was leadership from the team’s upperclassmen.

“Our leadership and our returners did a good job of making sure we were ready to go,” Hansen said. “That feeling of ‘we’ve been here before’ really helped this weekend. It was a tough challenge for a team to respond from Saturday. When you play well and don’t win it’s easy to just pack it in and not play well the next day, but they responded really well.”

Even after the success of Sunday, the Griffons are still anxious to make improvements to help get them some more wins.
“There’s always things you can fine tune,” Hansen said.

The Griffons will be back in action this weekend in San Angelo, Texas at the Rambelle Classic, playing Angelo State University Sept. 4.

Southwest is one of the best teams in the MIAA and the Griffons handed them their second loss of the season. Sophomore Mary Ohm scored the lone goal in the game. Head coach Jeff Hansen was impressed with the play of his Griffons.

“It was a good win,” Hansen said. “We got a goal early and we were able to hold on for the victory.”

The Griffons won the game despite getting out shot 25 to four. This was the third shutout of the season for the Griffons. Senior and team leader Michelle Polk believed matching intensity with the Bearcats was the key.

“Southwest is a very competitive and physical team and I feel we came out and matched that with them,” Polk said.

The Griffons are currently in the middle of a five game road trip. They are currently 1-1 on the road trip, defeating Southwest and falling to the highly ranked Central Missouri Jennies 5-1. Against the Jennies the Griffons were down 4-0 at the half and battled to a 1-1 tie in the second half.

The Griffons will travel this week to face the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks on Oct. 16, and they will also travel to face the Truman State Bulldogs on Oct. 18. Both teams are ranked in the top 25, with Mavericks being number 20 and the Bulldogs being number nine. Coach Hansen knew that this road trip would be a test for the Griffons.

“This is an incredibly tough part of our schedule,” Hansen said. “By the end of the trip we will have played four ranked opponents.”

The Griffons fell to the Mavericks in the MIAA opener by the score of 1-0. Polk feels the team is ready to compete with the top ranked opponent.

“We are excited to play UNO, with them being one of the best teams in our conference it will be a great test for our team,” Polk said.

The Griffons will be tested against the two ranked opponents; both teams are in the running for an MIAA conference championship. Coach Hansen knows they will be tested in these two contests.

“They are going to be tough road games; those teams are ranked high for a reason,” Hansen said.

The season is winding down for the Griffons, as they only have six games remaining on their schedule. Their last home game will be Nov. 8, at Spratt Stadium.

Women’s head soccer coach Jeff Hansen has been with the program since its second year and he reflects on what makes Polk such an asset to the team.

“What she’s good at is kind of the model character traits that this program needs right now,” Hansen said.

Fellow senior Lindsay Wiese, who has been with the program for two years, has witnessed Michelle mature.

“I think it’s awesome that she stuck through the program through all the ups and downs,” Wiese said. “She has the talent to have transferred to a school with an established team; but she fought through it. She has helped build the team to where it is today, and is a good role model for what the program has the potential to be in the future.”

As last season’s point leader and current co-captain of the young team, Polk has been an example of dedication and commitment to the program.

Polk epitomizes Missouri Western’s athletic department motto “Graduating Champions” by balancing her extracurricular activities with other responsibilities.

Coach Hansen joined the program in its second year, and according to Polk his addition to the team was a breath of fresh air.

“I’ve told the team if they’re feeling down on themselves or want to know the history of the program, she can tell some horror stories,” Hansen said. “She’s been through a lot.”

Polk is now leading the team she helped get off the ground, serving as this season’s co-captain with senior Wiese.

Polk describes the complementary nature of their relationship, noting that it’s their differences which contribute to their success, on and off the field.

“I’m kind of the good cop and she can be the bad cop; I play forward, she plays midfield,” Polk said.

Like a perfectly synchronized unit, her co-captain echoed the sentiment.

“Michelle is the ‘nicer’ captain between the two of us,” Wiese said, “I don’t deal with a lot of petty stuff or excuses and she is more of a pushover in that department. So if there is ever dirty work, she delegates it to me; and if there is clean work, I delegate it to her.”

For Polk the difference between being a player and a captain is primarily that the players on the team have higher expectations of their captains because they look up to them to provide leadership and positive examples. Polk easily identifies her weakness.

“I’m not big on practice, and I’ve always been more of a gamer,” Polk said.

Being a member of the soccer team has shaped Polk’s college experience as much as her participation has helped to shape the program. As an incoming freshman, Polk reflected on the advantage she had by being on the team.

In contrast to other freshmen, she was already armed with team support to fall back on. Having that sense of team community was a major part of what made Western feel like home.

“We’re more like a family, more so this year than in others,” Polk said. “Some of the girls I’m going to be friends with for the rest of my life.”

Polk is not a native midwesterner, originally hailing from Peoria, Arizona. She had always felt confident that a change of scenery was in order for her college years.

Missouri Western had not been her first choice after visiting and considering several other colleges, but Polk reconsidered her decision when former head women’s soccer coach Chip Wiggins asked her to visit the university that she would come to call home.

Coming to Missouri Western was not a decision that Polk took lightly when she committed to attending the university four years ago. Polk recalls how persuasive Wiggins was in recruiting her. However, despite Wiggins’ insistence, Polk still had reservations.

“Somebody told me that, next to getting married, that this was the most important decision I’d ever make, and it kind of is,” Polk said. “It decides who I’ll make friends with, where I’ll live, and probably still who I’ll marry.”

In the end what swayed Polk were the rolling hills of North West Missouri, the friendly campus atmosphere and an immediate bond with the girls on the team

“It was something I wasn’t used to and I was out of my element, but that’s what I’d always wanted,” Polk said, “Western seemed like a good fit.”

The closure of this season is a fitting end to Polk’s lustrous career.

The Griffons will first face the Emporia State Hornets, who they defeated twice last season. The Hornets are currently 2-3 overall. Sophomore Heather Schmiemeir knows it’s important to come out strong in the match.

“We have to get on top of them early,” Schmiemeier said. “We need to score a couple quick goals to take their confidence away from them.”

The Hornets are led by junior Alicia Smith, who has two goals on the season. They are coached by Jim Schneiderhahn, who is in his second season with the Hornets.

The Griffons will also travel to Topeka, Kan. to face the Washburn Lady Blues. The Lady Blues are currently 3-2-1 on the season. Head coach Jeff Hansen knows Washburn will be tough to slow down.

“Washburn is a solid team,” Hansen said. “They will play three up top and they will be fast.”

The Lady blues are coached by Tim Collins,in his seventh year with team. They are led by senior Danielle Ayala and senior Jessica Mainz, who have six and four points a piece.

The MIAA is one of the toughest conferences in division II. They have two teams ranked in the top 25. The University of Nebraska-Omaha is currently ranked six in the nation, while Truman State is number 16. They also have Southwest Baptist who is 3-0, and Northwest, who is 5-1. Coach Hansen believes the MIAA is a tough conference.

“Some people could say the conference is too good, but would you rather have a conference with a bunch of cupcakes,” Hansen said. “The strong conference helps prepare teams for the national tournament, when you have to get up for every game.”

The Griffons have dropped their first two conference games of the season. They lost most recently to rival  Northwest, by the score of 3-1. They lost a hard fought battle to Nebraska-Omaha, 1-0.

“The UNO game is the best overall game we have played all season,” Hansen said. “If we play like that every game, we will have a very successful season.”

The Griffons have had both underclassmen and upperclassmen step up so far this season. Senior Michelle Polk is leading the team with four points. Freshman Audrey Henderson is second on the team with three points. There are numerous other ladies tied with two points.

The Griffons will wrap up their road trip with a game against Northwest Missouri State in Maryville, before they will return home for a three game home stand, which will begin Sept. 27. During the home stand they will face conference opponents Missouri Southern, Truman State and Central Missouri.

Joyce Endicott is a 5’6” goalkeeper who attended Lutheran South High School. Joyce was named Honorable Mention All-Conference in 2006. Her club team was consistently ranked in the top ten in the state of Missouri. Joyce played two years at Notre Dame High School in St. Louis and posted a 1.065 GAA in her two years there. She played club ball for Brian Reinhardt and JB Marine.

Brooke English is a 5’3” midfielder hailing from Kapaun Mount Carmel High School in Wichita. There she was a member of the Kansas ODP team from 2002-2006. Brooke also attended Regional ODP camp in 2006. Her team was High School City League and Regional Champions 2005, 2006 and 2007. Brooke led her team to a third place finish at the state tournament in 2005 and 2007. She was awarded All-City Honors in 2007. Brooke played club ball with the Wichita Strikers.

Audrey Henderson is a 5’6” midfielder who got the soccer experience at Liberty High School. Audrey led her team to the state sectionals in 2006 and 2007. She led the team to a state quarterfinal appear ance in 2007. Audrey was named Honorable Mention All-Conference and Honorable Mention All-District in 2005, 2006 and 2007. She played club ball for the Kansas Rush.

Jeanna Ross is a 5’4” midfielder from Rock Bridge High School. There she was named Honorable Mention All-Conference in 2006. Jeanna was Second Team All-District in 2007. She also played with the Avalon Soccer Club.

Molly Slattery is a 5’6” freshman who comes to us from Elkhorn High School in Nebraska. She led her team to the state tournament in 2005, 2006 and 2007. She won the Nebraska State Championship in 2007. Molly was named Honorable Mention All-Conference in 2007. Molly also won club soccer Nebraska State Championship in 2006 and was runner-up in 2007.

The new additions bring optimism to the team and the 2008 season. Sophomore Megan McIlhon is excited about the recruits and the season.

“They’re going to be real good for our team. I feel like we have a better opportunity now than we ever had before. This is going to be the season for us; we’re going to make a big difference.”

So be on the lookout for this year’s Missouri Western soccer team. They have a plethora of new talent with something to prove. This season will be one to watch, as new records will surely be broken.

After coming off of a poor 1-15 record in their second season, the Griffons exceeded expectation and the preseason coach’s poll by finishing outside the bottom of the table for the first time in school history. Outstanding and miraculous may not be the key words here, but it’s a start.

Several key games stand out in the season that serves as reminders of this team’s potential. The Griffs proved that they could put up a fight in a very tough conference.

The Griffons put up two strong wins against conference rival Emporia State, including a two goal victory on the road. Even top ranked teams were in danger. No. 13 in the nation, Central Missouri State, luckily pulled out an overtime win at Spratt Stadium early in the season. The top ranked MIAA team, Truman State University, had to fight off the Griffons this past week with a one goal win that the Griffons’ forced them to earn.

The Griffons will say goodbye to two integral parts of their game plan; All-MIAA player and leading scorer Meigan Soo and goalkeeper Shaylynn Milbourn. Power midfielder and assist leader Michaella Guadiana and defender Emily Howat also depart from this year’s team. 
Even though the team may be losing some key players, there are some bright spots that are evident.

The first is that the core of the team is young and has had more experience on the field than any other team in the MIAA. The Griffon’s managed to put all but five players on the roster in double digit appearances in a 17 game season. This young roster will most likely be returning players with more game experience than all but one other team in the conference. The second is that the Griffons have a strong track record of recruiting transfer students. Milbourn and Soo were both transfer pickups that turned out to be key in building the young program.

The biggest problem that the Griffons will have to overcome is their lack of offensive production. The team managed only 15 goals on 151 shots while their opponents pulled off an impressive 332 shots, scoring on 47 of them. Typically, the Griffons run a 4-4-2 setup that helps control the tempo of the game, but may not result in a great deal of shots being put on goal. With more experienced players returning, including five midfielders, the Griffons look to be able to put together a team that can keep ball control up while sending the ball to their forwards.

This is a young team with potential that has not put all the pieces together. This season while entertaining at times is not the best that will result from this squad in the future. With some key offseason moves, the Lady Griffons might be able to piece together a run into the conference tournament.

I know you are thinking that I am crazy. Let me preface this with the following information about myself. I catch more English Premier League soccer games in a week than I do NFL games. If there is an Arsenal game on, you’ll probably find me screaming at the television with words that aren’t fit to print here.

I’ve loved this game since I first picked up a ball. So if I had the chance to write about soccer, you know I was going to take it, and promote the team I was covering to no end.

Now I know that I am not going to be the first article that people are going to turn to each week. I am also pretty sure that most people are not even aware that a team exists on this campus. The Lady Griffons, lead by Coach Jeff Hansen, are still in their infancy in the MIAA, and they have had their share of growing pains. Even after showing signs of life last year, they were still picked to finish last in the coach’s preseason poll. After seeing these girls play and conducting interviews, I knew that this isn’t where they are going to stay. This is a team with a future on campus and with the conference. So why aren’t you there? What’s the excuse?

Soccer isn’t really a sport that people rush to watch. Unless you have a cursory knowledge of the game, it may not be as exciting as going to a football game on a Saturday. I understand that most of us did not grow up with games on the television and unless you grew up in an area with a good youth league, you probably never have played it.  Don’t let that stop you. Go see these girls play and you will start to see things going on that will make you love this sport.

In two years, this team will be at the top of the table and people are going to be at the games in droves. The team will become well known and people will be checking each issue to see the coverage of this team. You can thank me then for being on the ground floor, and getting the soccer bandwagon started for this university.

The Griffons (2-12, 1-8 MIAA) hosted a team that was competing for the final spot in the conference tournament and were severely outplayed for the first half. The Lions put up all three of their goals within a span of 25 minutes, two of which came off of the foot of the extremely agile All-American Nikki Llewellyn. The last two goals came off turnovers from goalkeeper Shaylynn Milbourn.

“It was bad first decisions and I was punished for it,” Milbourn said. “Any team, including our own, would have taken advantage of it. We knew what was coming mentally, but didn’t adjust for it physically.”

Even though the Griffons were in a three goal fissure, they still managed to come out and attack the Lions for the second half. The Griffons managed to focus their attacks and played within the top third of the Lion’s defense for the second half.
The Griffons put up seven shots in the second period and at times showed enough drive to possibly bring the game back on level terms, outshooting the Lions 7-5. The only goal that managed to sneak past Lions keeper, Lisa Senkle, came off of the head of junior Michelle Polk, her first of the season.

The Griffons defense still felt pressured during the second half due to the blazing speed of the Lions forward’s counter attack. After controlling the ball in their half, the Griffons still gave up a couple of breakaway shots that were deftly saved by Milbourn. Jeff Hansen, in his second year as Griffons head coach, commended his team’s efforts in the game.

“I hate moral victories, but when you have a team that is fighting for a national tournament spot, you’re going to expect getting everything you can handle,” Hansen said. “This team will hammer you. I didn’t have to tell Shay (Milbourn) that the goal was her’s, she knew it. The balls from her feet were turned back at her in a matter of seconds. Our mistakes led to our own defeat.”

The program is still in its infancy, and is facing the problems that come with it.

“I hate hearing that it’s a learning curve,” said Hansen. “We’re starting five freshman, and we are bringing them up, but it’s going to be a battle against teams in this conference.”

The Griffons will continue their season, ending with a home stand Friday. The Griffons will host the MIAA leading Washburn Ichabods who defeated the Griffons 7-1 in a September matchup.

After two overtime losses, the Missouri Western women’s soccer team desperately needed a win to push their season in the right direction. The Emporia State Hornets presented that opportunity and the Lady Griffons took the opening at home, winning 3-0 for their first MIAA win in almost two years.

MWSU (2-5, 1-1 MIAA) dominated an Emporia State (0-6, 0-2 MIAA) team that could not deal with any of the Griffons’ newfound attack schemes. Emporia only managed to stifle the Griffons’ midfield who moved the ball at will during the first half. Several times they dropped nine players down to deal with the Griffons’ attack. Even though the Griffons were out-shot 8-6 in the first period, Western had better opportunities to score due to constant pressure from their strikers. Emporia State did not put a shot on goal from inside the 18 yard box until midway through the second half.

Western goalkeeper, Shaylynn Milbourn, recorded her first clean sheet of the year. She praised the abilities of the young Griffon’s defense in preventing more shots.
“These freshmen (defenders) play like seniors,” Milbourn Said. “We were communicating, putting pressure on. We work well together.”

It was not until midway through the second half that Missouri Western broke Emporia’s defense. Megan Sinclair came off the bench for the Griffons to launch a deep cross from Desi Swanson into the upper right of the goal for her first score of the season.

After that, it was like the flood gates had opened and Western would not stop scoring. Jessica Martin and Heather Schmiemeier both put in their own goals to solidify the victory. Martin believed that the passing and playing off of each other were the keys to victory.
“I think this will help our confidence a ton,” the first-year Martin said. “This kind of win will help change the way we have been playing.”

?Western begins a long road trip this weekend with stops at Southern Baptist and Missouri Southern which will prove pivotal for the table standings. The Lady Griffons return home on Oct. 7 when they play St. Mary’s at Spratt Stadium. 

The Griffons faced stiff competition in the tournament from teams like Indianapolis and South Dakota. Head coach Tiffany Mastin viewed the tournament as a success for the team.

“Anytime we can come out five hundred or above with this young team I think we can view that as a success,” Mastin said.

The Griffons had two players named to the all-tournament team. Those players were senior Alyssa Berg and freshman Meghan Voelz. Berg was surprised by the accomplishment.

“I was surprised,” Berg said. “I didn’t think I played that well. I was honored to be named to the all-tournament team.”

The Griffons also met up with their old coach Kyp Harasymowycz who is now an assistant coach for Indianapolis. Coach Mastin felt that it might have been awkward for some of the girls to play against their former coach.

“It is always hard to see a head coach come back and play against him,” Mastin said.

The Griffons still have much they can improve. Berg believes a big thing  the team needs to work on is teamwork.

“We need to play together as a team at all times,” Berg said. “We all just need to click together all at once.”

The Griffons will try to play more collectively as a team. They feel if they do this that it will translate into more victories for the team.

The Lady Griffons (1-4, 0-1 MIAA) led by a goal early in the game with a Meigan Soo goal in the 28th minute that trickled past Jennie’s goalie Shannon Ponche. It was her third of the season.

After their defense had survived some serious attacks in the first half, a reinvigorated Griffons team controlled the game from midfield until Jennie’s midfielder Carrie Twellman broke loose and scored on her own put back with a minute left in the first half.

Head Coach of the Lady Griffons, Jeff Hansen, attributed this to the Jennie’s putting as many people forward as possible.

“Their strength is that they play with three fast forwards up top,” Hansen said. “They had more shot chances and they played us hard up top.”

The Jennies managed to take 26 shots while putting 12 on goal in the game while the Griffons only managed six with four on goal.

The Griffons kept the game tight with several defensive saves including a perfectly timed sliding tackle from defender Sarah Brimeyer in the 42nd minute that stopped an almost certain goal from Jennies forward Hazel Cox. The defense eventually broke down in the eighth minute of extra time when forward Melanie Hall broke free with a perfectly placed pass from Cox and buried a shot in the back of the net to end the game.

Hansen, the former UCM coach in his second year at MWSU, believes that this is an indication of things to come for his team. 

“People have been asking me what I think. They’ve been asking all week long if we can do something special,” said Hansen. “We played with the thirteenth ranked team in the nation tonight with five freshmen (on the Griffons). These are girls who have been in school for barely two weeks and they are doing it. You’re going to have breakdowns, but all they had on us is two years.”

The Griffons continue their campaign at home against Emporia State this Friday.

“You’re going to find an angry team, (but) in a good way,” said Hansen. “I told them that they played with one of the best teams in the conference and in the country, but I don’t want them to settle for that.”

The wet field was not the only new obstacle the Griffons would face in their first real competition of the season. The grass on the field was long as well. This further reduced the speed of an already slow playing surface. The Spratt Stadium turf doesn’t pose any of these difficulties.

The game itself was physical and slow moving, the exact opposite of the way the Griffons try to play. This slowed speed led to 3-0 loss for the Griffons who had troubles passing through the wet soil and long grass Upper Iowa’s field was composed of.

All summer long, during double day practices, as the team was getting to know the way each other played, the weather was hot and dry, making the speed of the  Griffons’ practices high. The field turf in Spratt Stadium is built for speed so that further increased the swiftness of practices.

“We’ve had dry weather all through double day practices,” said Michelle Polk, junior forward for the Griffons. “I think the wet ground and the long grass changed the way we usually play.”

The Griffons soccer program is heading into their third season of existence in the MIAA and the team hopes to improve on their 1-15-3 record of last season. Second year head coach Jeff Hansen has his job cut out for him as most of last year’s team graduated.

He hit the recruiting trail hard to bring in 11 freshman, three junior college transfers and a player that decided to transfer from Missouri Baptist University.

The Griffons only win last season came against Concordia St. Paul 3-2 early in the season at Spratt Stadium. The soccer team was the first to win a game on the new field turf.

Though the Griffons kicked off the 2007 season with a loss against Upper Iowa, they have a young team with talent. It will take a while for all of the new players to understand their roles, but once they do, they will be a team that
won’t be taken lightly in the MIAA.

The Griffons are picked to finish last in the MIAA this season because the program is so young, but it all comes down to earning respect on the field by beating opponents.
We’ll see how often that happens this season for the third year program.

Karon Milbourn started to worry when she hadn’t heard from her daughter hours after Shay’s appointment.

Karon picked up the phone and called, only to find her daughter crying and unwilling to talk. After waiting 20 minutes Karon couldn’t stand it and had to call back. Shay was still crying and said she was on the other line with her boyfriend and would have to call her back.

“Well it didn’t take much for me to put two and two together,” Karon said. “I called back and told her to meet me at Wendy’s.”

As Shay sat in her car in the parking lot of Wendy’s, she tried to hold back the tears and act like everything was okay.

“I drove up to Wendy’s and she was sitting in her car crying and I went over and I tapped on the window and I said, ‘Am I going to be a grandma again?’”

Shay jumped out of the car, grabbed her mother and the two shared a meaningful hug.

Shay, a St. Joseph native, found out she was pregnant in January after her first season with Western’s soccer team. She was already four months along.

“I remember sitting in the room and the doctor opened the door with a smile on his face and said ‘You’re going to be a momma’ and I laughed because I thought he was joking but he wasn’t,” Shay said.

Shay, a member of Alpha Sigma Alpha, was raised in a very religious household and was taught that sex before marriage was wrong, and telling her mother was one of the hardest things she had to do.

“I honestly thought she was going to disown me but I was completely wrong,” Shay said. “I remember thinking that life was going to end for me and how people wouldn’t respect me anymore.”

She soon learned that she had more people rooting for her than she had imagined but the one person that mattered the most chose to go a different route.

The man Shay was in a relationship with chose not to be a part of Shay’s life and the life of his unborn baby.

Shay said that having an abortion was never an option and neither was becoming a quitter.

“I can’t say that this is easy, because it was hard when you’re brought up in certain standards…but I love my daughter and I’m going to be there for her,” Karon said.

After telling her mother, it was now time to tell her new soccer coach the news.

Jeff Hansen was hired the end of December to be the new head soccer coach and hadn’t really had a chance to get to know the players yet. Shay said she knew she had to tell him right away.

“I wanted to play, and I didn’t want him to think I couldn’t do it,” said Shay, who transferred from the University of Nebraska in 2005. “With a new coach you’re thinking is he going to take my scholarship away. I need my scholarship it helps me so much with school.”

Shay, who played soccer at Lafayette High School, said thoughts of quitting soccer did cross her mind but her drive, dreams and passion wouldn’t let that happen just because she was pregnant. She knew it was going to be a challenge, but didn’t want or expect any special treatment from her coach.

Hansen said this was just a situation that’s to be dealt with, and isn’t anything to punish a player about, like taking away scholarship money.

With the support from her new coach, Shay hoped she would receive the same support from her teammates. Shay said the first year the girls were not close and struggled as a family.

“I can’t say I was close with the girls and then I got pregnant and it seemed like everything changed,” Shay said. “They’re all there for me…it was amazing to have everybody be like ‘I’m here for you.’”

Shay gave birth to a baby girl on June 30 at 2:31 p.m. after 19 hours of labor. Chloe weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounce and 21 ½ inches long.

“I remember the World Cup Soccer was on the TV in my room during my labor; how cool is that?” Shay said. “When Chloe finally came into the world and she was in my arms the entire world froze. I don’t remember anything other than her and feeling like she was my biggest and best accomplishment.”

During her pregnancy Shay still did off-season drills up until her fifth month when she was reverted to riding the bike and doing the stair machines to keep physically active.

After Chloe’s birth it didn’t take long for Shay to want to get back in the swing of things.

“I remember Shay told me like three weeks after she had Chloe she was walking around the mall and she got around three times and couldn’t do it anymore she was so tired,” Hansen said. But Shay’s determination never vanished it only got stronger. Preseason soccer started around August and Shay was strong-minded to push herself to the limit.

“She’s kind of like one of those bloodhounds,” Hansen said. “They’ll just sniff and go as long as they can and you’ve got to
stop them. So we had to shut her down for a couple days during preseason because even though she was struggling, she wanted to keep going, keep going and keep going.”

Even though Shay pressed herself during practice, Hansen saw her frustrations telling her she’s got to expect mistakes because she might be ready mentally but not physically.

The soccer season kicked off Aug. 24, just two months after Shay gave birth. Then the hard part for Shay came, the first away game. On Sept. 3 the team traveled to Minnesota. The bus hadn’t even let the parking lot yet and Shay remembered calling her
mother numerous times to check on Chloe.

“She was crying and called me and I thought ‘Oh dear lord she’s going to call like every 10 to 15 minutes,’” Karon said. “They got on the highway and in like 40 minutes she called me again.”

Shay said that leaving Chloe was one of the hardest things and for the first time she realized she was actually a mom. The first road game of the season, the first time being away from her baby, also brought Shay her first shut-out game. When Shay got back home she woke Chloe up and held her for hours.

“I couldn’t put her down,” Shay said. “I hated being away from her, but towards the end it got a little bit easier.”

Soccer season ended Oct. 29 and Shay said she’s looking forward to spending more time with Chloe and preparing for spring soccer.

“Chloe has my full attention…she is my life and I thank God every day for her,” Shay said. “Yes I am an unwed mother and yes I have fears, doubts and struggles, but I wouldn’t trade any of it for what I have.”

Both Karon and Shay said that no matter what mood they might in or any frustrations they might have, all they have to do is look at Chloe and all the worries go out the window when they see her little smile.

Shay stays in school and continues to study Elementary Education and play soccer. She doesn’t want to get older and think that she quit just because she had a child.

“Chloe gives me strength every day, the drive to succeed and the ability to juggle all my daily tasks without hesitation,” Shay said. “I think I’m doing a pretty good job of being mom and dad, and I’m trying and I think that she can feel that. I give her everything I have.”

Head Coach, Jeff Hansen says he is pleased with his team’s overall season. The team had less wins this year than last season but Hansen said his team has improved.

“People are going to look at wins and losses and think, ‘No. It wasn’t a better year,’ but you look at some of the statistics and the defense of things…it was definitely a more successful season than last year,” Hansen said.

The team is losing eight senior players. One player said the end of this season is a little bittersweet.

“Our season was just really rough this year, but I’m going to miss being a part of the team. That’s what I am going to miss the most about it, is just the teammates, just being together and everything,” Senior Goalie, Ashley Harrel said.

Hansen said he is going to recruit players for next year and will be looking in the Midwest area, but isn’t against looking elsewhere either.

“We always look for goal-orientated kids. You always look for the student-athlete in high schools; that they’ve got a successful GPA…from a position standpoint when we lose eight of them we’re kind of looking for all the above.”

Hansen hopes to have a roster of 24 or 25 players for next season.

Jeff Hansen came to Missouri Western with plenty of knowledge about the MIAA. He played for Missouri Southern for a couple years and spent time there as an assistant coach. From there he went to UCM, formerly CMSU, and coached there for two years.

Hansen knew he wanted to be here at Missouri Western, but he didn’t know if he would get the job. Hansen said that he turned in his application hoping for a chance to fill the position. He started getting phone calls and visiting the campus, and then he knew that this was for real.

“I was shocked to get as far as I did,” Hansen said.

Hanson got the job and brought his experience to Western’s program.

“I have a lot of advantages because I know most of the teams in the conference and what they do and I know most the coaches,” Hansen said.

Hansen came into a program that is just in its second year. They may be new but many of the players are seniors.

“One thing that is a positive is that we have an old team,” Hansen said. “These seniors have played there butts off.”

He is waiting for this program to take off and says it starts with this leadership.

“You will have bad days but you have to keep fighting and clawing no matter what,” Hansen said. “This team will not quit.”

Agreeing with Hansen is senior defender Lana Litzner.

“We’ve had tough years be we do not give up; we keep going,” Litzner said.

The team has had a tough year so far, but Hansen feels that there were improvements.

“I don’t care what the record is; we have had huge improvements,” Hansen said. “We’ve faced so much adversity with lack of players and injuries. They have had every reason to stop playing, but they haven’t.”

This fight is due to togetherness, and Litzner feels this is an important aspect.

“We started to come together as a whole,” Litzner said.

Some coaches may force their players to play a certain way. Litnzer said Hansen takes a different approach that the players like.

“He tries new things,” Litzner said. “He doesn’t force it. He finds a way that works the best for us.”

Hansen has a mixture of coaching skills that he throws together to best fit the dynamics of the team and individual players.

“I like a mixture of defense and offense,” Hansen said. “If we don’t let them score then we’re guaranteed a tie. It all just depends on what we have. I put our players in the best situations and let them play to their strengths.”

With the season coming to an end, it is time for recruiting. One of the problems the Griffons faced this year was lack of depth. That will not be the case next year.

“This program is financially good and competitive with other teams in the conference,” Hansen said. “Next year we’ll be bringing in about 15 players and this program will take off. Our roster will be 24 to 25 players next year.”

Hansen has been going to different high school games in order to build relationships with many perspective players. He will have his work cut out for him to bring in such a big class. Litzner believes Hansen’s personality should help him obtain the numbers.

“He always looks at the positives,” Litzner said.

Looking for the positive and looking for more wins is the ultimate goal for Hansen and the Griffons. Building a program has to go through its bumps, and Hansen and these seniors have paved the way for future players.

The ladies remain winless in the MIAA with a record of 0-8 and 1-10-2 overall for the season.

The lack of bench players has killed them this season. The team has no subs so the starters have to play the entire game. Every other team Missouri Western plays against has enough

replacement players to make at least two teams.

“It’s hard to play against fresh players when you’ve played the entire game,” Kelly Olmstead said.

Running around for 90 minutes a game is almost impossible to do. People do get tired and not having anyone to give the starters a break has made this season a tough one for the soccer

team, but it is only the second year the program has been in existence and it’s the first year for first-time head coach Jeff Hansen.

The first of the two games played at Northwest this week was a home game for the Griffons. The goalie, Ashley Harrell, had a great game. She saved 12 shots on goal against the

Bearcats which was the season high for the Griffons this year, but Northwest still found a way to score.

“She comes up with some huge saves for us,” Olmstead said of Harrell.

The goal came at the 33:42 mark of the first half by Nothwest’s Jamie Campbell. This one goal was the difference in the game. Western had opportunities to put the ball in the goal as well

but couldn’t make it happen. That marked the fourth straight game Western had been shutout.

The second game of the week against Northwest was an away game for the women’s soccer team. This game was squeezed out by Northwest again 3-2. The Griffons and Bearcats fought

out a well played match in which Ashley Harrell saved another 13 shots which broke her season high from the previous game against Northwest.

Meigan Soo and Kelly Olmstead scored the two goals for Western. This is only the second time this season that the Griffons have been able to put more than one ball in the back of the

opponents net, and it still was not enough to beat the Bearcats.

“We battled and played hard through out but just came up a bit short,” Olmstead said.

As for the goals of the team, Olmstead has an aggressiveattitude that needs to be converted into aggressive plays on the field.

“We need to keep fighting and not give up until the season is finished,” Olmstead said.

These girls are going to play their hearts out until the end and try to get a win in the MIAA.

The Griffons were only down 1-0 at halftime, but fresh legs proved to be the problem in the second half as the UCM, a team that was nationally ranked earlier in the season, had plenty of players to substitute in when needed.

“They are a good team,” Jeff Hansen, head coach, said.

“Our girls fought hard, we just don’t have a lot of subs. They had a lot of depth,” Hansen said.

This is another road loss for the Griffons, who have yet to get a road victory.

“It’s hard to get road wins in this conference,” Hansen said.

At home they are 1-2-1. Their two home losses were only by one goal each. The good news is that the Griffons last five out of eight games will be home games. Although the Griffons have been on a losing slide, they have been improving throughout the season. Hansen said his team has improved tremendously since their first three-preseason scrimmages.

“We are in the tough part of our schedule,” Hansen said. “We’re playing regionally ranked teams. These road games are the toughest part.”

The team looks to bounce back and pick up some needed wins in the next few games.

“We have winnable games coming up,” Hansen said. “Last week we kind of went through the motions but now we are having good effort.”

This effort will be needed as the Griffons face Northwest Missouri State at 7:00
p.m. Wednesday at Spratt Stadium.

Soccer Falls in MIAA
The Western women had a grueling weekend facing off against Emporia State on Sept. 23, and No. 9 ranked Wasburn University on Sept. 24.

The Griffs went on the road to Emporia, Kansas where the Hornets defeated the women lost 3-1. The very next day the women showed up in Topeka, Kan. to face off against the The Lady Blues. Wasbburn came out on top with a 4-0 shut out. The Lady Blues are now 10-0-1 and 5-0- 0 in the MIAA.

The Griffons now stand at a 1-6-2 season record, and 0-4-0 in MIAA play. Western will have its next chance to find victory on the road in Warrensburg, Mo., on Sept. 29.

Volleyball’s ups & downs
The Griffons visited familar territory when they went on the road to Emporia State last Saturday.

Western was able to walk away with a winning score of 3-2 against the The Lady Blues, something the team has not been able to pull off in three seasons.

Last Friday, however, was a different story for the Griffs when they faced No. 4 ranked Truman State University. Truman stated dominance over the Griffons on their own court in a three game sweep. Western is now 9-7 overall, and 1-3 in the MIAA.

No matter the ups and downs for the women, they are preparing for another battle. This time the team’s target is Fort Hayes State. The game is scheduled to be held at the MWSU Fieldhouse on Sept. 29.

Men’s golf enters MIAA
The Griffon golf team wrapped up the Silo Ridge Golf Tournament on Sept. 18-19, with the No. 5 slot.

The Silo Ridge event marked the first MIAA conference tournament for the Griffon men.

Junior Aaron Lisenbee ended the tournament with the No. 4 individual seat. Lisenbee shot 148 total for the two day tournament and the led the Griffs to the No. 5 spot. Senior Daniel Cordray was not far behind his teammate with a total score of 152, while junior Craig Lytle and freshman Shane Feist both shot a 157.

The Griffs now have a No. 4 and No.5 finishing record.

The Western women set their record at 1-4-2. The first game of the weekend looked promising as the Griffons took a 1-0 lead on Southwest Baptist early in the game on a goal scored by Michelle Polk.

“We came out strong because Baptist is one of our biggest rivals,” Polk said.

The women’s soccer team lost the lead by halftime and then SBU took over the game by scoring their second goal in the second half. The Griffs did their best to overcome the deficit but lost by the score of 2-1.

The second game of the weekend for the Lady Griffons was played against Missouri Southern. The game went into overtime, tied at zero, but in the overtime period Missouri Southern scored the deciding goal with eight seconds left.

The shot that scored the goal was from 40 yards away.

The game was almost over before this point because a Missouri Southern player snuck behind the Griffon’s defense and scored a goal, but she was called for off sides.

The Griffon defense has been excellent this season. Senior Melody Grayem feels this is true especially with it comes to keeping teams scoreless in two games and only giving up one goal in two others.

“The defense communicates well; we pick up runners and close down shooting lanes,” Grayem said.

Fellow teammate senior Ashley Harrel agrees with Grayem about Western’s defense.

“The defense is experienced with each other and know where to be in all situations,” Harrel said.

The Griffons look forward to improving their record and coming together as a team when they go on the road to play Emporia State and Washburn next week.

The team has played well to start the season, in their first three games the team has lost, won and tied games. This is a significant improvement from last years inexperienced squad that had their first win come late in the season and that lost seven games by one goal.

The first win at Spratt was due to goals by senior Nikki Heiser, junior Meigan Soo, and senior Michealla Guadiana. The offense which hadn’t scored in the two previous games of the season came through for the Griffs as they jumped to a 3-0 lead. When asked about her first goal emotions she replied.

“It always feels good when your hard work pays off and you can help your team win,” Guadiana said.

The team had just enough to hold on at the end. Concordia was not going to go down easily as the Bears put together two goals late in the game and fought resiliently to make it a nailbighter, but the Griffons refused to lose the first home game of the season.

“The biggest thing for us to win is to communicate with each other,” Guadiana said. “When we do that the game becomes easier for all of us.”

The first game of the season was a close one. The lady Griffons lost in the last minutes of the game. The score was tied 0-0 late in the game, just seconds were left. Then Winona State scored the goal they needed to win the game.

In their second game of the season the Missouri Western women pitched a shutout, but, once again, the team could not put a goal on the board. The team tied Viterbo University. The defense once again played a solid game, but the offense did not show up.

The team has seemed to gel with another for another year of playing with each other. No one graduated or transferred from the team last year which had to deal with all the problems of a first year program. Some of the biggest problems are experience with each other and in big games. Nikki Heiser responded to this
idea.

“The major difference from last season and this season is Jeff Hansen our new coach,” Hieser said. “He has brought a new dimension and style that fits our team better than the coach of last years team.”

The coach has also put forth goals not only on the field, but off of it as well. He would like every member of the team to have at least a 3.0 grade point average for the year.

As for on the field activity, the team wants to attain seven wins. This can always change if the team reaches their goal. The team is starting small and attainable. Then, once they reach their goals, the team will make new ones.

The experiences they faced last year should help the Griffs this year as they try to improve every game this season, and take the momentum of a good start for a second-year program into the future.

The Griffon ladies defended their own turf yet again last Sunday, Sept. 10, when they went head to head with the Peacocks of Upper Iowa State.

Although getting off to a late start due to rain the Griffs were able to hold off the Peacocks in overtime and secure the score at 0-0, setting a 1-2-2 record.

Western’s Woman’s Soccer team got off to a rocky first season with an ending record of 3-15-1 overall and 2-11-1 within the MIAA. Now the Griffon ladies are under new guidance and are ready for the challenge of the 2006 season. Not only does the team have a new leader they also have a new home field to play on located on campus at the Spratt Memorial Stadium.

One challenge begins with the fact that the team was ranked at the No. 8 slot in the Preseason Coaches Poll within the conference.

Jeff Hansen will assume the position of head soccer coach and lead the women into the fall season starting in Winona, Minn., where they will take on Winona State on Aug. 24.

This will be Hansen’s first year with the team and he has high expectations for the girls and the new season.

“You very rarely see teams that win three and then national title so you have to be realistic,” Hansen said. “We’re looking for anywhere from 8 to 12 wins in our first year.”

A key ingredient to Hansen’s successful year is that there are a total of 13 returning players from last season. The Griffons are returning three of the top scorers which includes senior Nikki Heiser, senior Melody Grayhem and sophomore Michelle Polk.

Polk will start as a forward for the Griffons and is excited about the upcoming season. Polk takes side with her new coach when it comes to the team discussing and understanding the goals they have for this season.

“We have high hopes and expectations and plan on drastically improving our win/lose record from last year,” Polk said. “It would be nice to obtain more wins than loses overall, and to develop a strong fan base.”

Polk feels that if the team can build a strong fan base it would give the team the motivation and confidence to play at a level beyond last year. By far playing well and winning are at the top of Polk’s list of priorities, but fans will always shine first.

“It really helps give us motivation and confidence on the filed knowing that our school and fellow classmates support us,” Polk said.

Polk and Hansen both feel that the team has set realistic goals that are perfectly attainable.

Hansen and the team are ready to step out onto their new home field and show the campus as well as other teams what they are made out of. He believes that this is not going to be an easy season by any means, but they as a whole are ready or it.

“They’re ready to work hard,” Hansen said.

If the Western soccer ladies are ready to work hard for us, then we as a student body should be ready to come out and stand behind them the entire way.

View the 2006 Griffon Soccer Schedule