SOCCER HAWKS PICK UP NINE RECRUITS

Hawk soccer coaches, Jack Mackenzie and Mike Carpenter, along with graduate assistant, Phil Brierley, have finished their recruiting efforts to restock their squad for the upcoming 2011 fall season and are quite pleased with their nine ‘catches’ from such soccer ‘hotbeds’ as Quincy, nearby St. Louis, and even across the sea to Great Britain. The Hawks recently graduated six outstanding seniors from the squad that reached the NCAA National Tournament last fall, so “reloading” for the 2011 season was a top priority over the past eight months. With these nine new signees Hawk coaches feel they’ve adequately bolstered their squad to meet the challenges of the rugged GLVC schedule they’ll face this fall.

Recruiting efforts for the Hawks started close to home as they’ve had their eye on QHS star Ethan Venvertloh for the past couple of years. Since Ethan’s older brother, Zack, has been a full-time starter for the Hawks ever since his freshman season, it seemed natural for Hawk coaches to carefully monitor the younger Venvertloh’s development with the Blue Devils. What they saw was Ethan following up a good junior season with an even better one his senior year that saw him garner All-Conference, All-Sectional, All-State, and All-Midwest honors. While brother Zach anchors the QU defensive back line, the Hawks plan to use Ethan as an attacker because of his knack of scoring goals, and his ability to set up goals for others. The Blue Devil striker knocked in 27 goals and laid on 14 assists during his senior season. Ethan’s addition to the QU roster raises the number of locals up to four on the Hawk squad for next fall.

Six new Hawks hail from the St. Louis area which has traditionally provided the majority of players on every QU roster. Three prepped at Vianney High School and one from CBC, both traditional soccer powerhouses, with one each coming from Fort Zumwalt East and Barat Academy.

Steve McAnany and Chris Garavaglia, who finished their Vianney high school careers in November of 2009, are transferring to QU from NCAA DI SIU-Edwardsville. McAnany, an attacking midfielder, and defender Garavaglia were both All-Conference, All-Metro, and All-State selections as high school seniors while helping Vianney make a deep run into the Missouri HS State Tournament before being nudged out by CBC the eventual State Chamipion. Joining Steve and Chris is former teammate Tim Varnum who was a solid all-round starter at both midfield and defense who helped Vianney capture the 2nd Place trophy in the 2010 Missouri (Large School) State HS Tournament.

Joining the Hawks from CBC high school in St. Louis is Jake Bond, a talented forward/midfielder who scored the winning goal for CBC in the 2009 Missouri (Large School) HS State Tournament. Jake also had a very good senior season in 2010 recording 7 goals and 11 assists for the highly rated Cadets earning him All-Conference honors in the rugged Metro Catholic Conference that is arguably one of the top high school soccer conferences in the entire United States.

Tommy Vitale (Fort Zumwalt East), and Carl Faron (Barat Academy), complete the Hawk recruiting class from the St. Louis metro area. Vitale scored 9 goals and recorded 15 assists as a senior and was selected as his team’s MVP. Likewise, Faron, from his center midfield position, was also the top player on his HS eleven.

Ben Oliver from Dromore, Northern Ireland, and Jordan Roberts from the Durham/Newcastle region of England round out the Hawk recruiting class for 2011. Oliver, a sturdy central defender/defensive midfielder, has been a member of the Northern Ireland National Youth team for the past four seasons and served as its Captain one year. Ben currently plays on Glenavon FC, the current Northern Ireland Youth Cup Champions. Roberts, a tall striker, recently scored 14 goals and had 6 assists during a 30 game season with the famous Wallsend Boys Club team and started all five of his County national cup matches scoring 3 goals and making 3 assists.

The Hawks open their official fall season with their Soccer Bowl Tournament over Labor Day Weekend, September 3-4, at North Campus Field. Hawks coaches are confident that several of their new recruits will be ready to step into the starting line-up right away and shore up the losses of the graduating seniors.