NIFTY FIFTY

 For some, hitting 50 is a real downer.

 For women’s soccer coach Barry McNamara, hitting the big 5-0 was a welcomed moment. Not that McNamara turned 50 – he’s still a few years away – but with a 2-1 win over Cornell Sunday, the sixth-year coach notched his 50^th career victory.

 “I never really thought about winning 50 games,” said McNamara. “I just knew when we started this year with 43 wins I felt like we BETTER get to 50 this year. I thought we should win more than six games. But, then I totally stopped thinking about it during the season.”

It’s almost fitting that No. 50 came against Cornell, a team that McNamara recorded his only overtime win against in 2004. The Scots have posted a 4-0 record over the Rams during McNamara’s tenure, but like Sunday’s matchup, the wins have all been one-goal sqeakers.

Sunday featured a new twist – high winds. Wind gusts of nearly 40 mph meant any ball getting a little air under it was going to take off like a fighter jet.

“It was ridiculously windy,” reported McNamara. “I’ve never be in a game with wind like that. There were quite a few times where we tried to clear the ball and the wind knocked it down and we were actually in worse position.”

With the wind basically at their backs for the first half, the Scots were hoping to be up by four or five goals in anticipation of a high-scoring affair. The score at halftime?

0-0.

“I told the women ‘We’ve got to be thinking offense,’” reported McNamara. “I felt like we needed to get a cushion with the wind. We had plenty of chances, we just couldn’t put it in. With a strong tailwind, the ball wasn’t doing what we thought it would do.”

Ten minutes into the second half, Cornell punched in their only goal and the Scots had the daunting task of moving against a strong wind down by a goal.

Sarah Kisner, the Scots’ lone senior, made sure the squad didn’t roll over. Kisner  took a Megan Meeke feed and drilled in her eighth goal of the season from long range in the 65^th minute to tie the score.

With time running down and the score tied, the Scots were preparing for a defensive shift to force overtime, but a surprise goal changed all that.

 Kelly Russell knocked in the game-winner with less than four minutes left. The winning shot was set up on a Meeke cross that Amy Unzicker fed to Russell for the freshman’s first collegiate goal.

“Both were really well-placed shots,” praised McNamara. “We had been playing with one forward due to the wind keeping us on our half of the field. When Sarah scored, we began to prepare for overtime. Kelly’s goal was a bonus and we went into a serious defensive mode. I’ve got to give the women credit, they could have given up after the Cornell score, but they kept battling.”

The win came on the heels of Thursday’s 6-0 blanking of Knox in which the Scots didn’t allow the Prairie Fire even a single shot. Meeke posted two goals for the Scots who also got scores from Kisner, Molly Ball, Becca Baur and Ashley Swenson. Swenson and Ball’s goals were their first this season.

The two wins resulted in junior defender Whitney Ott’s selection as the MWC Defensive Performer of the Week.

The win over Knox looked as if the Scots’ playoff plans were falling into place, but Lake Forest’s surprise 3-2 win over Grinnell Saturday effectively gave the Scots two playoff chances – slim and none. Only a huge upset or a tie of the Foresters Saturday by an Illinois College team still looking for their first league win combined with a Monmouth win over Beloit would open the door for a Sunday showdown between the Scots and the Foresters.

“We’ll have to win a tough one at Beloit,” said McNamara of his team’s slim hopes at a tournament berth. “We’ll see what happens on Saturday. Our thought is to make Sunday’s Lake Forest game our championship regardless of the circumstances. I’m not going to feel sorry, yet, until the weekend plays out.”

Interim coach Dave Yez wasted no time in putting his stamp on the swimming and diving program.

“Since the start of the season I’ve implemented some new and different accountability standards for the team,” reported Yez, who sets aside 15 minutes at practice every two weeks for the team to hold a talk session. “They seemed a bit overwhelmed at first, but they’ve adapted to it, and I’ve noticed an improved atmosphere on the team. It’s my belief that people want structure and will respond positively to a structured environment. After all, we’re all in this together.”

The new standards and structure don’t just apply to his expectations in the pool. Team members are expected to be good representatives of the college – in the pool, in the classroom and in public.

“We’re holding the team to higher standards in all areas this season,” said Yez. “We’re focusing on accountability at practices, but it also carries over to how the team presents itself in public and on our trips.”

Yez has handed the development of the workout routine duties to his assistants – two-time conference champion Kurt Niemeier and third-year assistant Laura Miller. The move has already paid dividends. A time trial just two weeks into the training program produced some “very good” results.

“The time trial performances are a real testament to the quality of Kurt’s workouts,” praised Yez. “We expect the times to get better and better. Kurt and Laura have done a good job of mixing it up and making practice interesting and challenging.”

Yez’s challenge on the men’s side will be to try to unseat Grinnell as Midwest Conference champions after finishing second to the Pioneers in each of the last two seasons. The veteran coach will have seven freshmen and 13 returners in his lineup.       

Junior John Kaiser (Hanover Park, Ill./Glenbard North), a member of last year’s championship 200 medley relay team, headlines a talented returning group. Kaiser has also posted honor roll times in the butterfly and individual medley. Classmates Josh Van Swol (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) and Harrison Heilman (Downers Grove, Ill./North) will compete in the backstroke and specialty events, respectively. Van Swol’s time in the 200 backstroke ranks him as the third-fastest man in Fighting Scots’ history. Heilman is third-fastest in the 200 IM. Fellow junior Matt O’Rourke (Evergreen Park, Ill./Evergreen Park) adds more punch in the distance events along with senior Eric Pavlacka (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way East), who has honor roll times in the distance freestyle events. Another senior, Kevin Satler (Marseilles, Ill./Hinsdale South), will be a threat in the breaststroke, where he is the Scots’ second-fastest man in the 200 and third in the 100. Sophomore Brant Furr (Crawfordsville, Ind./Crawfordsville) will join Satler in the breaststroke events.

Among the newcomers, Joshua Dunn (Brookfield, Ill./Lyons Township) has impact potential in the 100 freestyle. Distance freestyler Andrew Wright (Quincy, Ill./Quincy) is “very promising,” along with Joseph Testolin (Darien, Ill./South) and brothers Ken Collins and Steve Collins (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick). Frank Wasielewski (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick) joins his high school teammates, the Collins brothers, and adds depth in the sprints. 

Junior Jack Clifford (Rantoul, Ill./St. Thomas More) will be joined by freshman Jeffrey Skalon (Schaumburg, Ill./Hoffman Estates) on the diving platform.

Yez is hoping it’s quality and not quantity that counts for the women’s team. Three returners welcome nine newcomers to the program as they try to improve on last season’s fifth-place conference finish.

“We’re hoping to grow the women’s team,” said Yez. “We’d like to get the women closer to the men in terms of the number of student-athletes.”

Senior Jessica Holbrook (Elburn, Ill./Geneva), junior Lauren Nelson (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) and sophomore diver Kortney Rupp (Davenport, Iowa/United Township) will aid in the development of the Scots’ freshmen women. Nelson, expected to make major contributions in the distance races, has honor roll times in freestyle events longer than 200 yards. Holbrook could make waves in the sprints. Rupp will get company in the diving well with the addition of freshman Danielle Kita (Oak Lawn, Ill./Oak Lawn).

Nelson could get competition in the distance events from freshman Rachel Buckham (Sturgeon Bay, Wis./Sturgeon Bay). Another freshman, Rachel Holm (Oregon, Ill./Oregon), is highly touted in the sprints. Five other newcomers are vying for a spot in a variety of relays. Kendra Kuehl (Morrison, Ill./Morrison), Jessica Lindley (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West), Jamie Schingoethe (Itasca, Ill./Lane Park), Krysta Sparks (Montrose, Colo./Montrose) and Colleen Zumpf (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) have the potential to turn in low times by season’s end and form highly competitive relay teams.

“We have some talented freshmen men and women,” claimed Yez. “We’re looking forward to our first meet to see how they perform.”

Yez and his staff will get an early report on the squad’s progress as the Scots travel to Millikin for a dual meet Friday.

PUTTING THE PEDAL TO THE METAL

The football team had one goal in mind last Saturday – get off to a fast start.

Two touchdowns in the first 3:30 should qualify for a fast start, Right, Coach Bell?

“I was very happy with the way we started the game,” said Steve Bell of his team’s 56-2 win over Lake Forest. “We talked about coming out fast and establishing ourselves early. We made some good plays when we needed to.”

Some good plays, indeed. Where to begin?

It could be the defense’s first stand – holding the Foresters to zero yards on a three-and-out.

It could be the offense’s first possession. A two-play, 45-yard drive that took all of 13 seconds, capped by Nick Wright hauling in an Alex Tanney pass to score his first of two TDs on the day. The 45-yard play came just minutes after Wright read the Midwest Conference Statement of Behavior that includes the line “intimidating actions will not be tolerated and are grounds for removal from the site of competition.”

Hmmm, seems the Scots offense and defense both could have been asked to leave on the grounds of “intimidating actions.”

It didn’t get any better for Lake Forest on the next possession. Another three-and-out followed by another Scots’ score.

This time it was Clay Bricker hauling in a Tanney toss for a TD. Bricker would later score his second touchdown of the game via a one-yard run with time still left in the first quarter.

28-0, end of the first quarter.

That eased Bell’s fear of a letdown following two straight weeks of defeating teams previously unbeaten in MWC play.

“We were worried a little about a letdown,” said Bell. “They showed a lot of maturity in how they handled the situation. No doubt about it, they came out ready to play. Our defense set the tone early with the first couple of stands. They did a tremendous job of establishing the tempo.”

All told, the Foresters were only able to muster 99 yards of offense. The Scots’ defense only allowed Lake Forest to cross midfield twice and never allowed them in the red zone.

Offensively, Monmouth’s offense recorded eight touchdowns, converting nearly half their possessions into scores. In the first half, the Scots turned nine possessions into five TDs. A four hundred yard game is becoming habit for the Scots who rolled up 436 yards of offense – their fifth game of 400 or more yards, and they’ve cracked the 500 yard plateau twice.

“I think good teams feed off each other,” said Bell in referring to his offensive and defensive units. “The defense gave us good field position on our first series. Alex made a really nice read on our second offensive play of the game and we jumped out early.”

The Scots held a comfortable 35-0 at halftime and tacked on two more scores on their first two second-half possessions. That allowed MC to get a lot of people significant playing time. Players like freshman Caleb Pratt – playing for the first time since Week 2 – carried the ball 21 times for 69 yards and a touchdown and defensive lineman Nick Davis, who recorded a nearly team-high five tackles with a sack and a forced fumble.

“Caleb and Clay did a tremendous job running the football,” praised Bell.

While the offense gets plenty of accolades, the Scots’ defense is getting some notice nationally. The Scots are ranked third in the nation for total defense, and it doesn’t look like that will change much in the future. The JV team just completed a 3-0 season, allowing only two TDs – and those came thanks to turnovers.

Speaking of turnovers, the Scots lead the MWC in that category with a +14 margin.

Next up, a road trip to Illinois College to meet a Blueboys team the Scots haven’t lost to since 1996. In other words, since Bill Clinton’s first term in the White House. That’s the longest current streak against any Midwest Conference school.

Yes, even Knox.

The Scots, ranked No. 20 again this week in the AFCA polls, have no intention of letting the streak end. They’ll have to deal with the Mitch Niekamp-Michael Jenning tandem. IC’s quarterback has connected with his favorite receiver 80 times for more than 1,000 yards and 14 touchdowns.

“They’ve got a nice scheme,” said Bell of IC’s offense. “It’s going to be a terrific challenge for our defense. Our offense will see more man-to-man. I’m looking forward to the challenge and want our players to feel that way too.”

The Scoop figures Bell’s team will be looking forward to the challenge and not looking ahead to next week’s Turkey Bowl. Bell’s troops have done a good job playing the season “one game at a time” and remember, Ripon is still lurking in the rearview mirror. So…let’s not take our foot(ball) off the gas just yet.

ONE UP, ONE DOWN

Men’s soccer coach George Perry felt pretty good about the team’s 1-0 win over Illinois College on Saturday. Sunday’s 4-1 loss to Cornell – not so good.

Freshman Daniel Medina’s goal in the 87^th minute and Owen Robinson’s 13 saves gave the Scots a much-needed win on senior day. But it could have been just the opposite.

“We were playing against a pretty good wind in the first half,” reported Perry. “The guys did a good job of staying composed. Joey Schwinger made a save at the line and Owen made a great save after that in the sequence to keep it scoreless.”

IC had chances in the second half with eight corner kicks in the final 45 minutes, but the Scots defense led by Schwinger, Joe Howell and Garrett White held strong allowing just five shots on goal. On the occasions when Howell was pulled out to cover a man, Danny Davis filled in on the coverage in the middle.

“It was a good collective effort defensively,” praised Perry.

The Scots struck paydirt late on a counterattack. Like the defense, the goal was a team effort.

“Schwinger fed the ball to Adam Buol on a throw in,” reported Perry. “Lucas Knox was making a nice run to clear some space and that opened space for Marc Serio just inside the box. As the pressure came to him (Serio), he passed to his left and Medina calmly finished it in the back of the net.”

With 2:40 left in the game, the Scots didn’t exactly switch into a defensive-minded mode. Davis and Pat Blazer stayed back a bit more, but for the most part, the Scots controlled the tempo and ran out the clock.

“Chris Anderson did a nice job of controlling the ball and eating clock,” said Perry. “We got a couple of corner kicks and never really let IC have a chance. We learned how to use good time management and keep the pressure on our opponent down the stretch to preserve the lead.”

Perry’s assessment of a “pretty good wind” on Saturday was nothing compared to Sunday’s conditions at Cornell. The box score reported conditions with snow flurries and winds upwards of 35 mph.

Yeah, now THAT’S soccer weather…in Antarctica.

“That was the worst wind I’ve ever played in,” claimed Perry. “On every goal kick, the ball would go straight up and barely clear the penalty area.”

The Scots and the Rams entered halftime tied 1-1 thanks to Josh Del Valle. His second goal of the season in the 33^rd minute scored off a steal and deposited it in the upper right corner from 35 yards out.

The Rams scored quickly after intermission, taking the lead for good in the 48^th minute. They added their final tally with two minutes to play.

“I thought we played relatively well,” said Perry. “Three of their four goals were the result of our mental mistakes. We still need to improve our consistency.”

The Scots will get two final chances at improving the consistency, playing at Beloit and Lake Forest this weekend. Both teams are slightly ahead of the Scots in the league standings, giving Monmouth an attainable goal.

“I think if we play well, we can overtake them in the standings,” said Perry. “We have the incentive to win out. It’s possible we could have our highest finish in the conference since I’ve been here.”

 DOES ANYONE HAVE A SLIDE RULE?

Little did Kari Shimmin know when she became the volleyball coach 11 years ago she would need a math degree to figure out who will make the Midwest Conference tournament field.

Only four teams are given tournament berths. The right (or wrong, depending how you look at it) combination means by Saturday night there could be four teams vying for two remaining spots. The Scots and Illinois College have played all their conference matches and are tied for the final playoff berth, however, Monmouth holds the head-to-head tie breaker over IC and would be in – if it was a two-way tie.

Actually, by our figures, the Scots are in pretty good shape to make the field regardless of the number of teams tied for the final spots. Based on head-to-head and in-match winning percentage, they hold the tie-breaker edge in all possible scenarios. The down side is they’ll be the No. 4 seed regardless of who joins St. Norbert and Beloit in the conference tournament.

All this came about thanks to the Scots’ 0-2 swing through Beloit and Lake Forest last weekend. The Scots dropped two close matches to the Bucs and Foresters.

“We had our chances in each game,” said Shimmin. “We’ve been inconsistent all year and that was the case last weekend. Sometimes we’re on fire and other times we just go cold. We were in both matches, but just didn’t finish well.”

Injuries haven’t helped the situation. Anna Damos is back after a long rehab of an injured ankle and in the past two weeks, the Scots have lost attacker Kendra Newlon with a broken hand and setter Alexis Keller with a bad wrist.

This weekend’s tournament at Washington University doesn’t give the Scots a chance to rest, but that’s the way Shimmin wants it.

“We try to play high level competition as much as we can,” said the coaching veteran. “Our record suffers a little by playing those teams, but it will make us better in the long run. Our main focus is to try to be as consistent as possible and keep improving. We want to be competitive and get some wins this weekend.”

The Scots, playing one of their toughest non-conference schedules in recent memory, will at least be battle-hardened for next weekend’s conference tournament – and that’s just the way Shimmin likes it.

NOT EXACTLY TREADING WATER

Scots Scoop doesn’t usually cover club sports, but the Monmouth College water polo team’s success during the fall season is worth note.

The team, coached by Kurt Niemeier, advanced to the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s (CWPA) national tournament for the second straight year. That’s quite an accomplishment for any team, but especially for Monmouth since the club team has only been in existence for two years.

“This year’s trip is especially gratifying,” said Niemeier. “Last year, we advanced on a technicality. This time we qualified outright.”

Last season, Monmouth was awarded a tournament spot when a qualifying team was unable to compete. This season, Monmouth earned an automatic berth by winning their Heartland Division Tournament.

Monmouth opened play with an easy victory last weekend against Carleton, then avenged this season’s only loss, edging fourth-seeded St. John’s 7-5 – at St. John’s. Monmouth took a one goal lead with two minutes left and added an insurance tally with :30 left for a 7-5 win. Monmouth led from start to finish in the championship match against Grinnell – last year’s runnerup at the national meet.

Twelve of the 17 team members will head to Philadelphia for this weekend’s Division III Club National Tournament. They’re set to play two games Saturday, opening with New York University. If all goes well, they’ll be back in the pool Sunday.

A fan poll conducted on the CWPA’s website lists Lindenwood as the team to beat. NYU – Monmouth’s first round opponent – and the Coast Guard Academy were also picked in the top three. Niemeier and Co. won’t be intimidated by the fan poll. After all, they have already notched wins against “favored” teams and they’ve proved their mettle with a 10-1 record.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Niemeier. “Playing in the national tournament is something the players can reflect on later in life. I’m really excited to have this opportunity and I know the players are, too.”

 THE WEEK AHEAD

Fri., Oct. 31
Swimming & Diving – at Millikin, 7:00 pm
Volleyball – at Washington University Tournament, 3:00 pm/5:15 pm

 Sat., Nov. 1
Volleyball – at Washington University Tournament, 10:00 am/12:15 pm
Cross Country – at MWC Championships, Men - 11:00 am, Women - Noon
Football – at Illinois College, 1:00 pm
Women’s Soccer – at Beloit, 1:00 pm
Men’s Soccer – at Beloit, 3:30 pm 

Sun., Nov. 2
Women’s Soccer – at Lake Forest, Noon
Men’s Soccer – at Lake Forest, 2:30 pm

SCOTSIVATIONAL