Midfielder/Forward Lauren Cathey looks to pass Sunday afternoon on the ESU Pitch. The Hornets fell to the Mavericks 1-4. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin.

The Emporia State University Hornets soccer team fell short to the University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks by 4-1 on Sunday afternoon. The Hornets had seven shots on goal for the day, while holding the Mavericks to only 12.

Freshman midfielder/defender Ashley Hill scored the lone goal for the Hornets from a pass from senior forward Tina Commons during the 44^th minute of the match. The goal was Hill’s fourth of the season, while Commons added her first assist.

The Hornets had a total of nine shots on the day, seven on goal. Commons led the way for the Hornets on the day with three shots, followed closely by senior forward/midfielder Amanda Miano with two. Hill, senior goal keeper Katrina Goscha, senior midfielder/forward Raquel White, and sophomore midfielder/forward Sarah Anderson all had one shot.

Freshman goal keeper Nikki Schmitz had a total of eight saves on the day, allowing four goals.

Although the team fell short on the afternoon, they looked much more physical than in previous outings.

“Our defense especially has been working on being more physical, but as a team in general we’re trying to be more physical,” Commons said. “Sometimes we do get pushed around, and we can’t take that. We’re in college soccer and we can’t get bullied around.”

Injuries also seem to plague the Hornets this year, with three starters already out, and a fourth going down right before the game. Head Coach Jim Schneiderhahn doesn’t seem to be worried about playing his reserve players.

“Hard work is not an option,” Schneiderhahn said. “Regardless, if we had two subs on the sideline or 20, you ask any coach, hard work is not an option – it’s a requirement.”

Forward Amanda Penney works to shoot past a defender Sunday afternoon on the ESU Pitch. The Hornets fell to the Mavericks 1-4. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin.

The Hornets were playing the ball and playing defensively stronger than they had in past games.

“It’s our own field, so we have our own little mentality of how the ball is going to be played, and where it’s going to be played,” Commons said. “Especially with your own team, you can see and feel where it’s going to be played at.”

The Hornets still are optimistic about the upcoming games.

“We have to keep working hard, keep our heads up,” Hill said.

“They say losing is character building, we’ve got a lot of character over the past two years,” Schneiderhahn said. “I think losing is certainly a harsher critic, where your mistakes are exposed. I think in the euphoria of wins, you have a tendency to overlook your mistakes or discount them a little bit. We continue to look at film, make adjustments and get better. We still need some other players to give us a hand. The biggest thing I take from it; I like the way that we’re battling. As I told the girls after the game, I have no qualms with the effort in the past matches. I have no disappointment and I’m not ticked off with the lack of effort. It’s nice to see, because sometime we haven’t had that.”

The Hornets will be back in action at 2 p.m. Oct. 22 at the ESU pitch against the Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats.

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Eckenrode

Freshman quarterback and business major Tyler Eckenrode will get the nod from Emporia State football head coach Garrin Higgins to start this Saturday’s home game at 1 p.m. against MIAA foe Northwest Missouri

“We just felt like there needed to be a change made, we had turned the ball over ten times the last few games and won one game,” Higgins said. “Eckenrode is a young quarterback, and we wanted to give him an opportunity – he deserved the right to have that opportunity.”

Eckenrode realizes that being a young quarterback is a learning experience but embraces the challenge.

“I make plenty of mistakes and still have room to grow, but I feel like I’m getting better every week,” Eckenrode said.  “I think I’ve learned a lot, especially from these past two games and learning what it’s like at the college level.”

When asked if the young quarterback had passed the “Higgin’s Test,” coach Higgins said with a smile, “He’s done a good job.  He’s secured the football and done everything we’ve asked of him.  He’s gotten rid of the ball on time and played well.  He hasn’t played great but he’s played well.”

Whether or not Higgins has a young Tom Brady on his hands is yet to be determined.  Higgins knows that the quarterback still has some steps to make.

“I still think there’s a ways to go with him,” Higgins said.  “He’ll look at last week’s game against Pitt State and see some things that he did, he’ll see some mistakes that he made with just begin a young quarterback.  The more repetitions he gets, the better off he will be.”

The defense also knows that they will have a task on their hands come Saturday – that task will be to control the powerful Northwest Missouri offense.

“It’s a big week for us,” said senior defensive back and sociology major Travis Lee.  “We tend to play better at home, and guys are going to come ready to practice.  We had a bad game at Pitt, but now we’ve got Northwest at home and we’ve got to come prepared to play.  Everyone knows how good they are, there’s probably a lot of talk about how good Northwest is, but we have got to come prepared to play on our side of the ball.  We need to show up and be ready to play, especially at home against an opponent like that.”

The offense hopes to do their part in putting points up on the board to weaken the strong Northwest defense.

“It’s a very even playing field,” Eckenrode said.  “Every team from top to bottom in the MIAA is good – anybody can beat anybody on any given day.  You just have to play smart football, we have to win the turnover margin and have a couple more big plays than they do and come out with a win.”

The team knows the problems they are having and know what they have to do to turn the season around and win the remaining games.

“It’s like what coach has told us these past few games – it’s a saying he says, ‘You’ve got to make your own breaks,’” Lee said.  “We’ve had mental busts and people making errors and things like that, and we’ve been getting the bad end of the stick with some of the calls in games.  The main thing is that we can’t wait for something good to happen – we have to go out and make it happen.  Once something bad happens we’ve got to respond and bounce back – we can’t snowball and get out of control with it.  We’ve got to take it into our hands and stop waiting on things to happen and just make it happen for us.”

Zac Burt/The Bulletin

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Midfield/ Forward Sarah Anderson takes a free kick Saturday afternoon on the ESU pitch during the Hornets soccer match against University of Central Missouri. Anderson was the only Hornet to score against the Jennie defense. Jonathan Elliott/The Bulletin

After a 4-1 heartbreaking loss to Central Missouri, the Emporia State soccer team will travel to Joplin, Mo., to square off against the Lions of Missouri Southern.

The Hornets are 1-6-1 on the season and look to improve their record with a road win against a tough MIAA opponent.

“It’s going to be interesting from the standpoint that Missouri Southern is having somewhat of a down year as well,” said head soccer coach Jim Schneiderhahn. “They had an outstanding player that played up top for them and finished a lot of goals and things like that, and she graduated. They’re in the process of trying to manufacture goals, as well. That’s one of the things that we’re struggling with is manufacturing goals.

I think we can expect another really tough affair. I know we’re beat up, and that seems to be the word around the conference, that everyone is beat up. I’m hoping that they’ll be a little bit beat up as we will.”

The Hornets have pin-pointed what they need to improve upon during the game and aim to finally do so in their upcoming match.

“We’re going to have to come together more as a team to lift each other up, and be positive,” said Lauren Cathey, junior midfielder. “ (We need to) make sure that we’re helping each other out and telling each other what we’re supposed to be doing and encouraging each other.”

Freshman goalkeeper Nikki Schmitz said that the team often gets down on themselves early.

“We can’t get down and become frustrated,” Schmitz said. “After one goal gets down we get frustrated, put down and it just goes on from there.”

Part of the Hornets’ struggles this year has come from the recent position changes – but with risk comes reward.

When questioned about an immediate positive impact on the team from position changes, Schneiderhahn said, “Sometimes, to be quite honest, sometimes I see a positive impact, and sometimes I see a negative impact. I think part of what we try to do is anything we can t be successful. The goal sometimes is to put people in places where they can succeed, and that’s certainly my goal.”

The players themselves have also noticed the change and how it could impact the Hornets during the season.

“We’ve been switching people’s positions to try and get a better connection between people, and we’ve had some injuries, so we’re trying to switch positions to see where people fit,” Cathey said. “I think that’s been a little bit of the problem. I think with us switching and actually being able to practice where we’re going will really help. We’ve been switching off and on – whenever we get new freshman and personnel we have to switch around and see where everybody fits in different positions. We usually have to move a couple of people, but since we’ve had injuries, and the system wasn’t working with some things, we decided to switch it up and see if it would work other ways.”

Zac Burt/The Bulletin

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Focus and intensity were something the #3 Emporia State Hornets must have left on the bus before facing the #9 Central Missouri Jennies, only to lose on the night 25-11, 25-18, and 25-23 last Wednesday. The lady Hornets hit only .076 on the night and had a total of 27 hitting errors in the loss. This was the first time the Hornets had been held below a .100 hitting percentage since last season’s Regional Championship against Truman.

During the first set, the Hornets looked all but ready as the Jennies jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead. After a Hornet timeout, the Jennies continued to roll as they improved their lead to 15-6. The Hornets inevitably dropped the set 25-11, looking nothing like a #3 ranked team should.

As the second set went underway, the Hornets again fell behind fast as the Jennies jumped out to a quick lead, this time 7-1. After a Hornet timeout, things seemed to click for them, if only for a while, narrowing the Jennies lead to only three with a score of 11-8. No sooner did the Jennies rebuild their lead to 18-9. After another Emporia State timeout, the Hornets looked as though they could pull things together and win the set. Down 23-13, the Hornets brought themselves back into the game, narrowing the score to 23-18, only to lose the set 25-18.

At the beginning of the third set, and after a brief locker room break, the Hornets sought to get themselves back into the game, jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead. That would be about as close as the Hornets would get as they battled back and forth with the Jennies, until an Emporia State timeout would give the Hornets a break while trailing 19-15.

After the timeout the Hornets were forced to take their final timeout of the night, trailing this time 22-17. Something must have clicked for the Hornets, as they went on a four point run, causing the Jennies to use a timeout of their own with the score 22-21 in favor of Central Missouri. The final minutes were about as close as it got all night, with the lead changing hands twice before a spike by Arica Shepard, senior business major and outside hitter, landed out of bounds to end the night for the Hornets, dropping their third and final match of the night, 25-23.

Shepard led the Hornets in kills on the night with 11, followed closely by junior chemistry major and middle hitter Brianne Boner with nine. Junior nursing major and right side hitter Brittney Miller and freshman undecided major and right side hitter Katelyn Schmidtberger each had five kills on the night, four of those being service aces, and three of those aces coming in the final match. Freshman biology major and middle hitter Caitlyn Murray, junior business major and setter Ting Liu and sophomore biochemistry major and outside hitter Megan Lueger contributed to the cause, tallying three, two, and one kill on the night, respectively.

Liu led the Hornets in set assists on the night with 24. Murray and senior health promotion major and libero Amy Byfield each had two, while Schmidtberger, Miller and Shepard each had one.

Byfield led the Hornets in digs in the match, gathering up 16. Shepard was not far behind with 10, making this her 7^th straight double-double. Liu also contributed to the cause, tallying up six digs, while senior nursing major and defensive specialist Jenna Snook had five. Schmidtberger had fours digs on the night, while Miller dug the ball twice. Murray, Boner and freshman business major and defensive specialist Jocelyn DeMotte all had a single dig.

Every member of the Hornets volleyball team, from the players to coaches, knew that the lack of intensity played a role in the loss.

“The intensity was not high at all,” said head coach Bing Xu. “It’s about time for us to realize that we need to work harder. It’s still early in the season, and we’ll have other chances at home.”

After the match, Shepard also noted the team’s most poignant downfall of the night.

“I don’t think we had the intensity that we should have had when we went out there,” Shepard said. “The sideline said it seemed like everybody wasn’t there. They were probably right – I don’t know exactly what was going on. We just didn’t bring what we should have tonight, and next time we play hopefully we’ll play a little bit better.”

The team plans to take this loss in stride, not to dwell on it, but instead, learn from it.

“After losing the first one, we knew that we had to go from there,” said Schmidtberger. “We were just trying to fight back and win those next two. We were close but couldn’t finish it – all we can do is learn from it…we’ve played Western and Northwestern, and played really well, then just had that ‘slump’ game. We just need to learn to pick it up from when we get down like that.”

Shepard added, “It was probably good to get that loss under our belt, that way we wouldn’t get too cocky or something. It shows us that we aren’t unstoppable and that we can lose. We need to bring all that we’ve got.”

The Hornets will be back in action at 4 p.m. Sept. 26 at W. L. White Auditorium, this time facing off against the #18 ranked Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks.

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Sophomore Megan Lueger spikes the ball in game 4 against Northwest Missouri defenders Saturday at White Auditorium. The Hornets won the match 3-1 and move on to the Lady Blues Regional Crossover in Topeka Oct. 2-3. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin.

The Emporia State volleyball team improved their season record to 13-0, 3-0 in the MIAA this past weekend while defending their home court at W. L. White Auditorium. The Hornets defeated the Missouri Western Griffons and the Northwest Missouri Bearcats 3-1 in each bout. The team will be back in action defending their #3 ranking at 7 p.m. on Sept. 23 in Warrensburg, Mo., this time taking on the #9 ranked Central Missouri Jennies.

“We had a long talk,” said Brianne Boner, junior chemistry major and middle hitter. “We have to prove to everybody that we deserve this spot.”

In the game against Missouri Western, senior business major and outside hitter Arica Shepard and junior nursing major and right side hitter Brittney Miller led the Hornets with 18 kills a piece, followed closely by sophomore nursing major and outside hitter Megan Lueger with 10 kills. Boner had eight kills on the afternoon, while freshman biology major and middle hitter Caitlyn Murray and junior business major and setter Ting Liu contributed with five and four kills, respectively.

Senior physical education major and libero Amy Byfield led the Hornets in digs with 16 on the afternoon. Senior nursing major and outside hitter/defensive specialist Jenna Snook had 14 digs, while Shepard completed her double-double with 13 digs. Lueger contributed with eight kills, while Miller and Liu each had five digs. Freshman business libero Jocelyn DeMotte had three kills on the afternoon, while Boner, Murray, and freshman undecided major and right side hitter Katelyn Schmidtberger all had one dig.

Liu led the Hornets in sets with 52. Shepard and Miller each had two sets, while Lueger and Snook each did their part with one apiece.

The Hornets defeated Missouri Western 25-16, 25-14, 13-25 and 25-14.

Against Northwest Missouri, Shepard again led the Hornets in kills, this time with 21. Miller and Boner weren’t far behind, tallying up 17 and 14 kills, respectively. Schmidtberger had a total of six kills on the afternoon, while Liu contributed with five. Lueger did her part with two kills, while Murray and Byfield each had a kill a piece.

Byfield again led the Hornets in digs, this time with 14. She was followed closely by Shepard and Snook, who had 13 and 12 digs, respectively. Liu finished the afternoon with seven digs, while Lueger and Schmidtberger had five and four digs, respectively. Miller finished with two digs, while DeMotte had one.

Liu again led the Hornets in sets, this time with a season-high of 54. Snook ended her day with four sets, while Byfield and Shepard each had two sets, and Lueger finished with one.

The Hornets seemed to be in control from the start. Despite the lack of communication during the second match, the Hornets barely let the Bearcats think they had a chance, dropping the set 24-26.

“If we had a problem, that would be it (communication),” Miller said after the game. “We let the momentum drop. We have to find it within ourselves, talk about it, drop the last play and move on, just improve.”

The Hornets defeated the Bearcats 25-18, 24-26, 25-15 and 25-18 to improve their record to 13-0 on the season, 3-0 in the MIAA.

“Hopefully we won’t drop another set – that’s what we’re trying to accomplish right now,” Shepard said. “We’re at the point where we shouldn’t be doing that. We are #3 in the nation, and most #3’s in the nation don’t drop sets like that. That is our goal, not to have that ‘down’ game.”

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Zac Burt

I went to the Hornets’ season opening football game on Aug. 27, and I must say, I was pretty impressed with the amount of people at the game, especially with the amount of students. That had to be the most students I’d seen at a home-opener since my time as and ESU student-athlete. The numbers were mighty, but it’s as if the sound was turned way down low.

When you watch a college football game on ESPN or any other station, for that matter, the home team seems to have a slight advantage –the crowd. The crowd is always loud, filled with excitement and tends to make it that much harder for the opposing team.

Take, for example, the University of Texas Longhorns. Granted, they are one of the dominant football teams to date, but look at the fans while the game is on. They’re out of control, with students painted from head to toe, people cheering like crazy when the opponent is trying to piece together a drive and getting in the head of the visiting quarterback. College and professional athletes are trained to “zone it out,” but you can’t honestly sit there and tell me that when an entire stadium is on their feet and cheering like mad men to the point where you can’t even hear yourself think, they can “zone it out.”

Another prime example of a “wild bunch” of supporters would be the fans of the Louisiana State University Tigers. There was a game the Tigers had against rival Auburn, and in the final seconds of the game the crowd was so loud that they actually recorded seismic activity in the LSU Geology department. That’s impressive, for sure, but why doesn’t this atmosphere happen at ESU?

Don’t get me wrong – the Hornet fans were loud that night, but I know for a fact that everyone could be louder. The cheerleaders, Corky and even the players themselves did what they could to get us fired up, and we responded, but it could have been better.  I think we could get more students to the game.  I also think that with more students going, there would be more noise made throughout the game.

I also realize that we don’t have the size of stadium that the other schools I mentioned do, but that does not in any way, shape, form or fashion mean that we can’t produce some serious sound.  I know for a fact that at Emporia State, we have some extremely loud and animated individuals and it needs to be seen.  With a little more effort on our part, soon visiting teams will think they are playing in Arrowhead Stadium, but instead of a “Sea of Red,” there would be a “Sea of Black and Gold!”

This is my challenge to you, ESU. First, get everybody you know to show up to the next home game.  Second, show your support by cheering on our Hornets with everything you’ve got.  Finally, let it be known that if any opposing school wishes to play against us on our home turf, they better be ready for a team that is ready to wage war – and a fan base that takes no prisoners.

Zac Burt/The Bulletin

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Wide receiver Matt Coursen sprints up field Saturday afternoon at Welch Stadium as the Hornets faced the Central Missouri Mules. The Hornets lost 21-24. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin.

Despite shaky special teams play and being plagued with penalties all game, the Hornet football team proved they are a team to be reckoned with in the MIAA during their 24-21 loss to Central Missouri.

A blocked field goal late in the first half, a controversial call during an interception in the third quarter and a missed field goal with 2.2 seconds left in the game, along with numerous offensive penalties, crippled the Hornets throughout the game.

Although the team ended the night with a loss in the record column, the Hornets know that they have improved their game play.

Shaunquez Powell, senior sociology major and defensive back, said he hopes to lead the Hornets’ charge for redemption.

“I’m hungry,” Powel said. “We’re going to take it for what it is. We’re not going to take this loss in vein – we’re going to build from it…that’s all we can do at this point. It’s how you handle adversity, we’re going to go headstrong right into it and keep trying to battle.”

The Hornets had 15 penalties for 103 yards in the game, coming at the most inopportune times. Andre Sloan-El, senior communication major and quarterback, realized the lack of concentration the Hornets showed throughout the game.

“We need to stay disciplined; we kind of lost focus a little bit,” Sloan-El said. “We had some mental busts and some penalties down in the red zone, and that will kill you every time as a team. You just have to stay focused, you have to come together as a team and get everybody calmed down inside of the huddle – just relax out there.”

Matt Coursen, sophomore chemistry major and wide receiver, also noticed a lack of focus from the team.

“We need to be a little bit more mentally in it when we get the ball into the red zone,” Coursen said. “By the time we get down there I think we’re a little tired – we’re going to work on that…there’s a lot of little things that we kind of just messed up on, so hopefully we’ll come back and do better next week.”

After a slow first quarter, the Hornet offense seemed to find their groove in moving the ball down the field. Tallying up 166 yards rushing and 312 yards passing, it seemed as though Central Missouri relied on the Hornets stopping themselves.

Sloan-El led the Hornet rushing attack, gaining 53 yards on 10 carries, while sophomore running back Adrian Abner and junior running back La’Darrian Page each had nine carries for 41 and 35 yards, respectively. Junior running back Kevin Smart carried the ball eight times gaining a total of 32 yards with the lone rushing touchdown for the Hornets on the day. Freshman wide receiver Shjaun Richardson carried the ball once for a four yard gain.

Sloan-El also led the Hornets through the air, completing 19 of his 29 passing attempts for 267 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore quarterback Zach Rampy completed three of his seven attempts for 45 yards before being sidelined in the second quarter due to injury.

Coursen led the Hornets in receiving, catching four passes for 99 yards, one of them for a 71 yard touchdown that seemed to spark the crowd, as well as the team. Senior wide receiver Danny McEvoy and junior wide receiver Andre Jones each hauled in four receptions for 57, 38 and 36 yards respectively. McEvoy also brought in a touchdown catch from 14 yards out. Page and freshman tight end Adam Schiltz each had two receptions for 45 yards and 25 yards, respectively.

The Hornet defense held stout while containing the Central Missouri offense, only giving up one distinct drive late in the first half.

Senior linebackers Blake Ringwall and Katrel Larkins had six tackles apiece, while Ringwall added a sack. Senior defensive back Travis Lee and Powell each recorded five tackles – Powell also made the lone interception for the Hornet defense.

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Did you ever wish that you could still partake in sports after high school but didn’t end up playing in college? The Student Recreation Center just might have the answer you have been looking for: intramural sports. These activities can offer a way to participate with fellow classmates in a fun, yet competitive atmosphere.

The SRC offers several kinds of sports and activities, like flag football, volleyball, basketball, softball, kickball tournaments, badminton, dodgeball tournaments, table tennis tournaments, soccer and video game tournaments.

Many students said they are already excited for the upcoming intramural seasons. Nadia Williamson, freshman undecided major, said she is particularly anxious to participate.

“I’m extremely stoked about intramural sports,” Williamson said. “It’s the best thing ever.”

George Jeng, senior information systems major, said he believes that participating in intramural sports is a great way to socialize.

“It’s a good way to meet new people, with some friendly competition,” Jeng said.

According to the SRC Intramural Team Entry Form, it’s possible to put teams together in a variety of ways, such as groups consisting of a fraternity, sorority, residence hall, or even an international team.

Intramural Supervisor Amy Stonebreaker said she is happy with the role intramural sports serve in the student community.

“It’s a good social atmosphere to have fun with your friends,” Stonebreaker said.

Word of mouth has helped to spread the word about intramural sports to a myriad of students this year at ESU.

“I know a lot of people, so I hear a lot of stuff,” Jeng said. “I’ve also been going to school here for four years.”

As of now, the main sports accepting teams are flag football and kickball, with more to come at a later date.

To get a team for flag football together, students must find a group of people (a maximum of 20), submit a $30 fee and head down to the SRC center to sign up before September 11. Games will be held Sept. 21 through Oct. 22, Monday through Thursday. All teams will play two days a week, so be sure to write down on the sign-up sheet when your team can’t play. The games will be held at the intramural fields north of Interstate 35, under the bridge north of Welch Stadium. The league winners will receive a free shirt for each teammate.

To sign up for kickball, teams must have between nine and 16 people, and sign up is required before Sept. 16. The tournament will be held on Sept. 17, from 4 p.m. until dark. The tournament will also be held at the intramural fields north of Interstate 35. The kickball tournament is free.

For a complete listing off all sports and activities, visit the student recreation Web site at http://www.emporia.edu/recsport, or call the Recreation Programs Department at 620-341-6778. Information can also be retrieved at the Student Recreation Center’s reception desk.

Zac Burt/The Bulletin

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When you think about the soccer program at ESU, the word ‘improvement’ comes to mind.  After a winless 2007 season, the Hornets came back in the 2008 season, tallying four wins.

“First and foremost, the improvement has been the mentality of the girls here and the girls that have stuck with the program,” said Head Coach Jim Schneiderhahn.  “When I first got here, it was probably difficult to be a soccer player at Emporia.  My impression was that they kept going through coaches, that they were just out there.

I don’t want to say that nobody cared about them, but that’s kind of what seemed to be.  They, I think, believed in themselves, but I think that they didn’t feel liked.  We’ve gotten much better, and we feel a part of the athletic program.”

Schneiderhahn, or “Coach Snoop,” as he’s known by his soccer players, identified several key items that needed the most improvement.

“The biggest improvement from my standpoint is the ability to play on campus.  I think that was one of the huge things that went towards bringing in our girls and making them feel like this is a college program,” Schneiderhahn said.  “It’s something I wish I could have been able to do for the girls when I first got here.  There’s a little bit more pride for our girls when they can play in front of their classmates, and their classmates don’t have to travel across town to see a game…for us, the biggest step as a soccer program was getting on campus.”

The players have also noticed the team’s improvements.

Katrina Goscha, junior English secondary education major and goalkeeper for the Hornets, noticed the changes first hand.

“We’ve gotten a lot more competitive, the level of play increased drastically,” Goscha said.  “People are more skilled and the whole attitude is better. We really want to win.”

Amanda Miano, senior middle school education and math major and midfielder, has also been privy to the strides the team has recently made.

“Definitely offensively, and we’ve been better at defense.  We’ve been able to score a lot more than in the past,” Miano said.

Schneiderhahn is optimistic about the start of the upcoming season, but he also knows that nothing comes easy in the MIAA.

“I wish I could look into a crystal ball and say exactly what’s going to happen, but I’ve been doing this long enough to know that there’s always going to be a surprise,” Scheiderhahn said. “You hope that it’s a positive surprise; you hope that it’s somebody you really weren’t counting on steps up and makes things happen, as opposed to something that is not good, whether its an injury or somebody that doesn’t show up to play.”

Schneiderhahn went on to talk about the difficulty of playing in the MIAA.

“The best way that I could put it is that the season is going to be tough,” he said. “It always is. The MIAA is an incredibly good conference.  It’s one of the best in the nation for soccer. We played five teams last year that made it into the NCAA National Tournament.  When you have that kind of schedule, you’re going to take your bumps…it’s going to be a learning season; I’m particularly interested to see how our sophomores do.  So far, they’ve done an excellent job.”

Team chemistry also seems to be a tremendous asset this year.

“The girls have commented to me that there is a really strong chemistry within the team.  It’s been my experience that people talk about team chemistry and use it as a noun, I like to use it as a verb, it’s continually going, it’s active.

Team chemistry isn’t just something that happens; you have to work at it.  The very first day the girls were on campus we went over to one of our girl’s parent house here in town and they had us over for dinner.  The girls played some backyard games.  It’s really grown to where the girls have dinner on their own to get an idea of each other.  We do those kinds of things throughout the year. I think that type of closeness is important in any type of endeavor where you’re working with a lot of people.  It’s important for one person to see what motivates another person.

Something else we do is a ‘show-and-tell’.  It’s the same type of thing that you did when you were in grade school.  We asked the kids to bring three things that are important to them; they get up in front of the team and tell them why.  For me particularly, it gives it a strong insight into the person’s personality,” he said.

The Hornets have set expectations for themselves this year, not only as a team, but personal as well.

“I want to be a starter, clock a lot of minutes in the goal, and ultimately to win and to help the team win,” Goscha said.  “Also, to be a team leader and help our team become a family.”

Miano shares similar goals.

“I want to win and help the team out as much as possible, and to help the freshman get into the college level as much as possible,” Miano said.

Hopes are high as the Hornets continue to improve year to year.

“I think we’ll do a lot better than in the past,” Miano said.  “Each year we’ve gotten better.  Hopefully this year will be even better.”

Even the soccer team’s motto this year is rejuvenated.

“Respect,” Goscha said.  “Basically that just encompasses everything that the word ‘respect’ does:  respecting the game that we play, respecting ourselves, not being idiots off the field, respecting each other,  respect the coaches and the decisions they make, respecting the officials, and respect our opponents.”

The Hornets will kick off the season against Rockhurst.  The game will be at 7 p.m. Aug. 28 at Wilfred C. Bourke Pitch in Kansas City, Mo.

Zac Burt/The Bulletin

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