Tuesday, September 13, 2011 | TechNews GRAEME PORT sports@technewsiit.com E ::i :E E 11

Men's soccer flyin

By Ciaran Kohli-Lynch
STAFF WRITER

The Men’s Soccer Team were back
in action this weekend, travelling to Indiana
to play against Bethel College and Indiana
Wesleyan The Hawks went into this week,
end posting a 0271 record after two spirited
performances last weekend in Iowa against
nationallyeranked programs For many people
associated with the team, this has been a sub,
par start to the season and this weekend was
undoubtedly seen as an opportunity to set
things straight against two well regarded ope
ponents

The first game kicked off on Friday
evening with a 40 Victory over Indiana Wes,
leyan , a side that have been receiving votes nae
tionally Senior winger Graeme Port notched
up four goals in an impressive team perfore
mance against a stubborn Indiana Wesleyan
team, who did their utmost to break down pose
session and physically impose themselves on
the match The Hawks opened the scoring on
four minutes after some nifty wingeplay by See
nior midfielder Robert RitchieeSmith allowed
Port to tap home from a few yards out Despite
the Hawks creating several chances through,
out the opening period after this impressive
start, it was Wesleyan with the next genuine
opportunity on goal Striker Geoff Bowman

found some space at the edge of the
area and sent a strike fizzing towards
the bottom corner of the Hawks’ goal
but luckily Senior goalkeeper Sam
Winstanley was on hand to make an
important saver This was followed just
before halfetime by Port’s second goal
of the evening after RitchieeSmith
connected with Freshman Nathan
McMahon’s cross The ball rebounded
back off the bar falling to Port at the
back post The victory was secured
five minutes from time when Port
maneuvered well to find some space
in the Wesleyan box before unleash,
ing an unstoppable drive which ricoe
cheted off the goalkeeper and into the
net Two minutes later the scoreline
was completed when Robert Ritchie,
Smith threaded a pass through the
Wesleyan defense and Port showed composure
to slot the ball past the onrushing opposition
goalkeeper

Saturday’s match proved to be a
much more tense affair, with the Hawks mane
aging to grind out a 21 Victory over a Bethel
team ranked nineteenth in the nation Gerardo
Carrera of Bethel opened the scoring in the
seventh minute after an unlucky deflection
wrongefooted Winstanley in the Hawks’ goal
Junior forward Liam Barrett responded imme
diately however, connecting exquisitely with
a Graeme Port cross, his header leaving the

 

Image courtesy quIIinuis Tech Athletics

goalkeeper with no chance This was followed
ten minutes later when Robert Rixer showed
the hundreds of Bethel fans in attendance why
exactly he has became so famous in the Phil,
ippines after his summer exploits representing
their national team Rixer picked the ball up in
the penalty area when a corner deflected to his
feet and showed class, composure and trickery
in prodding home from two yards This goal
was followed almost immediately by a red card
for Bethel substitute Romulo Nobrega for vioe
lent conduct after he elbowed Rixer in the facet
Despite their numerical superiority, the Hawks

 

Women's soccer drops two games in Michigan

By Heather Bickerton
STAFF WRITER

Over the weekend, the Women’s Soccer team
travelled to Grand Rapids, Michigan to face
Aquinas College and Davenport Univere
sity On Saturday, conditions were incredibly
tough, with the heat radiating off the turf field

The Hawks entered the game with a
072 record and were keen to pick up their first
win of the season, which was evident through,
out the game

However, despite dominating the
match, the team came out with a 20 loss For
the first twenty minutes of the game, the away
side had most of the possession and linked up
well with some great passing combinations

Unfortunately, the Scarlet Hawks
were unable to create any strong chances in the
final third of the field Aquinas’s first attack of
the game resulted in them scoring their first
goal, which was created from a corner

The Hawks pressed onto the opposie
tion’s half and nearly tied the game up straight
away, when senior Grace Durbin lofted a beau,
tiful pass to her twin sister Kay Durbin, who
unfortunately shot the ball narrowly wider

Only minutes later Kay came even
closer to pulling the Hawks back into the
match, when her shot smacked off the post

In the second half, the pace of the
game denitely slowed down, with both teams
suffering greatly from the temperature

Fifteen minutes into the half, the
ball broke free in the center of the field from
a quick free kick, and was slotted through the
Aquinas defense to freshman Veronica Torres,
who forced a great save from the home keeperr

The luck in the final third just wasn’t
on Illinois Tech’s side and again, despite hold,
ing the ball well, Aquinas scored their second
goal of the game, with a long range shot curling
into the top corner of the Hawks goal

The team fought until the end of the
game but couldn’t create any more chances on
the Aquinas goal

The following day the team travelled
a short way down the road to play Davenport
University

Past meetings with the Panthers
have always been intense and incredibly close
and this game didn’t disappoint the fans Once
again, the Hawks produced another fantastic

team performance but yet again the team just
couldn’t finish the ball and conceded some soft
goals, which resulted in a disappointing 31
loss

The first half produced an array of
opportunities for both teams; however, only
the home side seemed to be able to covert their
chances into goals By halftime the score line
was 270‘

The Lady Hawks put up a valiant dis,
play in the second half, with constant pressure
on the ball and a greater amount of possession

With fifteen minutes to go, the
Hawks finally got the break their good play
deserved, when Noel Deis launched in a free
kick and the ball was bundled into the goal by
a Davenport player With a goal finally under
their belt, even though it was a scrappy own,
goal, the away side were even more motivated
and came close to equalizing on several occae
sions

 

M .11; .

Image courtesy ofIIIinois Tech Athlen'cs

The game was a roller coaster, with
Davenport having a fair amount of chances
However, the Hawks backefour had a strong
game and their goalkeeper, junior Jessica Carl,
son, pulled off some fine saves to keep her side
in the match

Unfortunately for the Hawks, the
home side killed off the game when they found
some space through the back line to score their
third and final goal of the game The ladies
definitely had the home side rattled for a vast
amount of the second half but the Hawks just
couldn’t convert their chances

Even though the team returned from
Michigan with two losses the team haven’t let
their heads dropr In fact, in both games the
Hawks didn’t deserve to lose

The girls would like to thank the fans
that travelled to Michigan to support the team
and hope to see everyone at Stuart Field for the
Hawks’ next home game

g high in Indiana

had to fight hard for the rest of the match as
Bethel’s ten men rallied togetheri Fortunately
the team managed to see out the rest of the
game but despite a few nervous moments, tell,
ingly Bethel never tested the Hawks’ goalkeepe
er

Overall it was a very successful trip
to Indiana for the Men’s Soccer Team, their re,
cord now sitting at 27271 going into a stretch
of three home games in the upcoming weeks
These victories will have to be built upon, how,
ever, if the Hawks are to emulate and surpass
the success of last season In the words of lue
nior midfielder Guilherme Nunes, “We have
now shown that we have the ability in this
squad to compete with the very best teams in
the nation Hopefully this weekend’s results
will be a building block for the season ahead
and from my perspective, the sky is our limit"

For more information about the
Scarlet Hawk’s visit wwwillinoistechathletics
com/sport/0/4iphp and for those interested in
Robert Rixer’s involvement with the Filipino
National Team please visit wwwiroberterixere
doingethingstumblricomr

Upcoming Home Events
Saturday, September 17
Women’s Soccer vs Bethel Col-
lege

1pm, Stuart Field

Men’s Soccer vs Lawrence Tech
3pm, Stuart Field

Men’s Soccer Record:
Overall 2—2—1 (.500)
Conference — 0—0—0 (.000)
Friday 9 Sep

W 4—0 — @ Indiana Wesleyan
(Receiving National Top 25
Votes)

Saturday 10 Sep

W 2—1 — @ Bethel College (#19
National Rank)

Women’s Soccer Record:
Overall 0—4 (.000)
Conference 0—0—0 (.000)
Saturday 3 Sep

L 0—2 — @ Aquinas College
Sunday 4 Sep

L 1—3 — @ Davenport Univer—
sity

Women’s Volleyball:

Overall 5—8 (.385)
Conference 1—0 (1.000)
Tuesday 6 Sep

W 3—1 — @ Trinity Internation—
al University

Friday 9 Sep

W 3—0 — vs Rochester College
L 0—3 — @ Madonna University
Saturday 10 Sep

L 0—3 — vs Daemen College
(Receiving National Top 25
Votes)

L 0—3 — vs Walsh University