HAWKS WIN SOCCER BOWL XV WITH EPIC VICTORY!

On Sunday night 8/31 the Soccer Hawks smashed Oakland City University 6-1 in a match they had to win, and one they also had to win big. Entering the 7:30 PM contest the Hawks knew if they wanted to win Soccer Bowl they’d have to win by a least 5 goals, a tough chore against any opponent. The reason the Hawks had to score so much was that earlier that day UMSL had beaten Saginaw Valley 6-1 and that result coupled with UMSL’s 3-0 win over Oakland the day before put the Triton’s at a +8 in the goal differential tie breaker category should they and the Hawks both finish the weekend with 2-0-0 records. The Hawks had to win and to earn the trophy they had to secure at least a + 9 goal differential. With their 4-0 win over Saginaw Valley on Saturday and the thrilling 6-1 defeat of Oakland the Hawks DID IT.

To make the Oakland City game even more difficult he Hawks had to go into it without the services of their most consistent scorer, Grant Ellison who pulled a hamstring after notching one of his electrifying goals during the first half of QU’s win over Saginaw. Grant sat out the second half of that Saturday match and was not available at all for Sunday’s game. Knowing that Grant wouldn’t be the spark on this night his teammates picked up the slack and unleashed a torrid attack on City’s goal right from the outset and got three exciting, courageous, head ball scores in the first half. Jack Wedemeier banged in a header off a Mike DiSalvo corner kick in the 27th minute. Then Wedemeier served in a corner kick in the 30th minute that Justin Bower nodded in. Just before half time Steve Miller drove a long free kick into the City box that Bane Isailovic rose high to head in. It is quite unusual to get 3 head ball goals in one game let alone to notch 3 in one half.

The second half opened with the Hawks coming out firing on all cylinders and Andy Kling scoring his first Hawk goal ever kicking on a corner kick served into him by Jack Wedemeier making the score 4-0 at this point, but still short of the needed 5 goal cushion. At the 80th minute Jake Pittroff notched the sought after 5th score on an assist from Andy Kling, and then three minutes later Bane Isailovic scored his second head ball goal of the game on another wicked free kick served up by Steve Miller giving the Hawks a little cushion at this point…a cushion that was need as Oakland finally got on the scoreboard at the 87th minute on a traffic shot that hit the inside if the far posted and settled over the line. A couple minutes later the game ended and the Hawks were CHAMPIONS!

Saturday’s game with Saginaw Valley that put the Hawks into the Championship chase showed that the Hawks were ready to start the “official” 2008 season as they came out firing and scored twice in the first 10 minutes of action. At the 5 minute mark Jayme Groark notched the opener after picking up a loose ball in the Valley penalty area and slotting it home from close range. Grant Ellison scored at the 10 minute mark after he outraced a defender to a loose ball and then beat him with a move on the end line and fired away at goal. Grant’s initial shot was blocked but Grant followed up and beat everyone to the loose ball and smashed it in. Just before half time Abe Dirnberger scored from close range after receiving a free kick neatly crafted by Kyle Koenig and Steve Miller. Saginaw put up a much stiffer resistance in the second half and kept the Hawks off the board until Jayme Groark scored his second on the night punching a loose ball over the goal line in the 89th minute.

Next up for the Hawks is a tournament over at Truman State in Kirksville (MO) on Friday 9/5 playing against Graceland University (IA) at 4 PM followed up by a Sunday 9/7 match with Incarnate Word University (TX) that begins at 11 AM.

GO HAWKS…KEEP IT GOING!

HAWKS GET WINGS CLIPPED…

On Tuesday, August 26th the Soccer Hawks lost to Lindenwood University 2-1 on the Lions home field. The match, the final tune-up before Soccer Bowl XV this weekend, was fiercely contested. Both teams went at it all out. From the outset, Lindenwood enjoyed the better of the attacking play, constantly pushing the ball deep into the Hawk end of the field and getting off numerous shots. Hawk keeper Kyle Dillman made several very necessary saves and right back Tom Dawson cleared two off the line. The entire back line was under almost constant pressure and Koening, Miller, and Isailovic joined Dillman and Dawson in stopping charge after charge. Against the run of play the Hawks actually scored first at about the 38th minute mark on their first shot on goal of the night. The score came from a long free kick flighted to the Lion’s far post that found Abe Dirnberger there to collect it and slot it home.

The second half saw Lindenwood again enjoying the better of the play but the Hawks still able to hold them off. Dillman had a very busy half and came up with several more excellent saves. Kyle Koenig “biked” one out before it sailed across the Hawk goal line. The Hawks began getting off more shots than in the first half and it looked like they would be able to hold off LU and get away with a 1-0 win. However, disaster struck with about 25 minutes remaining when Bane Isailovic received a red card and had to leave the field. With the Hawks now playing a man down Lindenwood increased the pressure deep in the Hawk end and finally came up with 2 goals in the last 10 minutes to win the game.

With Soccer Bowl coming up 8/30 & 8/31 the Hawks have to rebound from this set back and get ready to soar into the official season against Saginaw Valley on Saturday night and against Oakland City on Sunday night. Both matches are at QU’s North Campus Field and begin at 7:30 PM. Opening games each night begin at 5 PM.

GO HAWKS

HAWKS 3…WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY 1

On Wednesday, August 20 the Soccer Hawks defeated Washington University 3-1 at North Campus Field in a pre-season scrimmage. The match was a well-played, high-spirited contest that provided a good test for both teams.

The match was scoreless for the first 30 minutes and then QU’s Jake Pittroff played a great lead pass to Grant Ellison who used all his speed to beat the WU keeper to the ball and flick it past him into the net. The Hawks closed out the first half scoring Steve Miller hit a neatly placed free kick over the Bear 4-man wall and into the upper 90 degree angle.

Wash. U. got on the scoreboard midway into the second half when they picked up a loose ball about 35 yards out from the Hawk goal and maneuvered it in for a fairly close shot. QU responded to that pretty quickly when Abe Dirnberger hit a ball that “slithered” under the Bear goal keeper for the final score of the match.

The Hawks next outing will be Tuesday, August 26th at Lindenwood University (St. Charles, MO) at 7 PM.

GO HAWKS!

HAWKS WIN SECOND MATCH IN GERMANY …

Just nineteen hours after being defeated 5-2 by the excellent Arminia Bielefeld squad, the Soccer Hawks kicked off against SC Herford and came away with a 7-1 victory. Jayme Groark led the Hawks with two goals while Steve Miller, Jake Pittroff, Grant Ellison, Corey Eatherton, and Jack Wedemeier all notched one. Providing assists were Ryan Hirtz, Kyle Koenig, Jake Pittroff, Dan Merkel, Bane Isailovic, and Jack Wedemeier.


With this match coming so close on the heels of the Bielefeld match it was probably good that the opponent was not very strong as our players had been hard pressed the day before. It also gave a good deal of playing time to a few players who needed increased time on the field to further hone their game.


After about 6 hours of sleep the team begins a three and a half hour bus ride to Frankfurt and then the long flight home with their plane touching down in St. Louis at 6:30 PM Tuesday, August 12. The next activity for the Hawks will be when they re-start practice in Quincy on Thursday at 6:15 PM.

Hawks lose…Play well…Great experience…

Great Experience

On Sunday, the Soccer Hawks were defeated by Arminia Bielefeld 5-2. Reports from Chris & Carp say the Hawks played very well even though losing by three. The coaches say we will never play another team as good as this one. Arminia Bielefeld is a team in the German Bundesliga, the top professional league in that country. We played their second team, and several members playing against us have at one time or another featured with the first team in that professional league. We faced a very, very good team.

Bielefeld jumped out to a 4-0 league but the Hawks clawed their way back into contention with goals from Grant Ellison and Mike DiSalvo. Ellison’s goal was orchestrated by Branco “Bane” Isailovic’s chip over the top of the defense for Grant to run onto and solo in.

DiSalvo’s goal came about off a free kick awarded to the Hawks in close to the penalty area. Jack Wedemeier lined up behind the ball, and, with intent, drove a wicked blast into a pack of players near the goal. Jack’s blast ricocheted off DiSalvo and into the net. Later Bielefeld tacked on another score to make the final 5-2.

This was expected to be the toughest match of the three on this trip. Even though no one likes losing, the experience gained from competing against a team this good (and hanging in there with them) has got to be beneficial. In setting up this trip it was hoped that one or two of the matches would be against a team or teams of this caliber. The Hawk coaching staff wanted to expose the players to teams with real quality so that they could really experience a higher level of play than they’ve ever encountered… appreciate it…and aspire to trying to reach that level themselves during this 2008 season.

It is quite possible that WGEM-TV will have a story on this on their Sunday night newscast that will most likely come on at 11 PM tonight after the Olympic coverage ends. You can probably catch that story on http://www.wgem.com/ getting into the Sports segment and clicking on the video.

More news will come when I have it.

HAWKS WIN…HAWKS WIN…HAWKS WIN…

8/7/08

HAWKS WIN…HAWKS WIN…HAWKS WIN… first game in Germany!

After going behind 1-0 ten minutes into the first half the Hawks settled down and began taking the game to their opponent (VFL Holsen) leveling the score at one each with less than ten minutes remaining in the half. The Hawk score was a great combination play featuring Justin Bower clearing out space on the left flank for Steve Miller to overlap into and receive a great through pass from Mike DiSalvo. Miller carried the ball into the 18 and blasted it past the 6’7” German keeper.

The Hawks came out strong at the start of the second stanza and scored right away when Greg Schaeffer carried the ball into the penalty area and hit a shot that was blocked but ran loose until he recollected the ball and scored on his second attempt.

Grant Ellison notched the Hawks third goal when he took a through pass and dribbled inside the 18 and placed a low shot underneath the keeper as he came charging out to confront him.

QU’s fourth score came from a real “pill” hit by Jake Pittroff who, after pushing forward from his midfield position, picked up a ball that had been played behind the German defense and sent it crashing into the net.

Jayme Groark rounded out the Hawk scoring at 5 when he finished off the final pass in another great combination play where Abe Dirnberger played a ball forward to Dan Merkel positioned inside the penalty area with his back to goal and Dan laid the ball into Groark’s path to blast home.

The Hawks second match in Germany will be on Sunday 8/10 against Arminia Bielefeld. While Arminia Bielefeld has a team in Germany’s top professional league the Hawks are scheduled to line up against Bielefeld ’s top amateur side.

Video clips are available at http://www.wgem.com/. Go to Sports and check menu of video clips. Near the top should be “Hawks Off to Fast Start in Germany ” showing two goals being scored. Lower down should be “Hawks arrive in Germany ”. You might want to view these quickly as the menu constantly changes when new clips are added.



GO HAWKS!

QU Hawks in Germany

QU Hawks Soccer team at Herford City Hall with Mayor Wollbrink (Herford Mayor), Christopher Mackenzie and Mike Carpenter assistant coaches on either side. Other members are Jim Lawrence and German contingent.

The QU Soccer Hawks are experiencing life in Quincy 's Sister City , Herford Germany. The Team arrived Tuesday and will be in Germany for a week to play three exhibition matches.

Today the team had the opportunity to meet County and City officials and learn a little about the area's heritage. They shared gifts with officials and had the opportunity to hear from the county administrator and the Mayor of Herford.

The team spent the morning touring the historic city of Herford . In the afternoon they were on the field practicing for tomorrows first match versus Fow-Ell-Holzen. This is the first time since 1998 the team has had the opportunity to travel overseas for exhibition play when the team traveled to New Castle England.