10 GRAEME PORT sports@technewsiit.com TechNews I Tuesday, October 4, 2011 Hawks glide through tricky run of fixtures By Ciaran Kohli—Lynch STAFF WRITER After a busy period of fixtures, the Men’s Soccer Team commenced their defense of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletics Con- ference regular season this week with two well-earned victories against tricky opponents. The Hawks started a run of four games in two weeks on September 20 against 22nd-ranked Ashford University of Iowa, with the team con- ceding a late goal to lose the game 2-1. Despite the result, the performance was promising, with the Hawks dominating large periods of the game and senior winger Graeme Port doing particularly well to turn in the box and equalize after Ashford had taken an early lead. Unfortunately, while pressing for a winning goal, IIT were left exposed defensively and in the 83rd minute Javier Ramirez of Ash- ford took full advantage, putting the game out of reach of the Scarlet Hawks. Thankfully, the concentrated na- ture of the college soccer season gave IIT the chance to bounce back almost immediately on Saturday, September 23 against Davenport University. In front of a large and energetic Homecoming crowd the Hawks battled fierce- ly to win 2-1 with seconds left in second over- time. After going down 1-0 to a Stuart Collins strike in the 61st minute, Liam Barrett showed strength and balance to turn in the box before being brought down cynically. Graeme Port stepped up to take the resulting penalty, equalizing the scoring and increasing his team-leading goal tally for the season. The game was tied after 90 minutes and overtime ensued. After both teams missed a number of opportunities to score a golden goal and end the match, Liam Barrett connect- ed with a Graeme Port corner with little over a minute remaining on the clock, sending the home crowd into raptures. This victory in the Hawks’ last out- of-conference match left the team in a confi- dent mood going into the regular conference season. A trip to Cardinal Stritch was first on this schedule and the Hawks stormed into a 3-0 lead after just 20 minutes in the Wiscon- sin fog. Graeme Port slotted home a penalty in the 5th minute and was followed onto the score-sheet by Robert Ritchie-Smith minutes later. Liam Barrett would then go on to add to the tally before Cardinal gave them- selves a lifeline in the 26th minute with a breakaway goal. The Hawks went on to score two more times in the second half, through a Ciaran Kohli-Lynch volley and a great strike from outside the area by Robert Ritchie-Smith, with the game ending 5-3. Next up for the team was on form rivals Olivet Nazarene on Saturday, October 1. An all-round impressive display by the Hawks saw them dominate possession for large peri- ods of the first half and they justly went 1-0 up early on when Robert Ritchie-Smith struck home from 30 yards, sending an unstoppable drive rattling off the woodwork and into the back of the net. Liam Barrett doubled the dif- ference towards the end of the first half after connecting with a well-placed cross by Robert Rixer (the famous Filipino soccer star). Despite the Hawks’ dominance, Olivet fought their way back into the match in the second half, forcing goalkeeper Jared Sval- di into a number of terrific reflex saves. They were unable, however, to capitalize on these opportunities and Liam Barrett completed the scoring late in the match to kill off Olivet’s re- surgence. After some terrific build-up play, Robert Rixer showed all of the agility, poise, pace and precision that has earned him the nickname, ‘The Manila Lotus’ in his adopted homeland of the Philippines, to lay an inch- perfect pass back to Barrett who converted emphatically from 10 yards. Overall it has been a successful run of games for the Hawks, who will now face the University of Saint Francis at home this com- ing Tuesday at 7 pm. With a 2-0-0 record in conference, the Hawks are looking to replicate the form that saw them go 9-1-0 in the CCAC last year and propelled them to the playoff final. As Senior midfielder Guilherme Nunes stated: “The team is playing with confi- dence and style. If we can stay solid at the back, turn up for practice and on top of this strong foundation continue to play sleek, sexy soccer, there is no telling where this season will take 3) HS. Photo by Sebastian Morales Prado Lady Hawks take 4th in Forrester By Melanie Koto STAFF WRITER With Homecoming fever in the air at IIT, the Scarlet Hawks Cross Country teams travelled out to Libertyville, IL to compete in the 13th annual Forester Invitational. The weather had picked up nicely after a cold week, and both the Men’s and Women’s teams brought their game to compete for the Scarlet Hawks’ pride. In the Women’s 5k, freshman Courtney Rouse finished top for the Hawks, taking 11th place overall with a final time of 19:42.0. Sophomore Jordan Kelch also had a strong finish, coming in 22nd with a final time of 20:54.0. Kira Vincent (junior) finished 28th (20:59.0), followed closely by senior Maddy Jensen (30th, 21:07.0). Also finishing in top spots were freshman Ann Crotteau (33rd, 21:15.0), and junior Claudia Garcia (36th 21:19.00). The Ladies team finished 4th overall, with a total of 98 team points. For the Men’s 8k race, junior Zach Gates earned top points for the team finishing 13th with a time of 28:31.0. Not far behind him was sophomore Phil Cano (17th, 28:37.0), junior Kenny Murphy (19th, 28:41.0 and senior Wes Villaobos (20th, 28:49.0). Senior Phil Theisen finished 22nd overall for the team (28.56.0), while sophomores Andrew, and Ethan Montague finished 26th and 29th respectively (29:08.7 and 29:15.0). Also finishing in high ranks were senior Brock Williams (32nd 29: 18.0) and junior Derek Burge-Beckley (35th, 29:22.0). Women's volleyball hit .500 By Kayla Heller STAFF WRITER The Illinois Tech Women’s Volleyball team has had a game-packed two weeks, with the team managing to come out of it with a 7-2 record, bringing them to an overall record of 12-12 and a conference record of 3-3. The Hawks started off their nine- game streak with a loss against St. Xavier University in 3 games (17-25, 10-25, 14-25). Senior Kayla Heller led the Hawks with 6 kills and a .267 hitting percentage, while Freshman Shea Manley added 4 kills. Sophomore Brittany Mead also contributed 13 digs in the loss. The Lady Hawks then took on Cardinal Stritch University two days later. After a fierce back and forth battle, the Hawks walked away with a conference win (23-25, 26-24, 23- 25, 25-18, 15-11). Sophomore Kate Kendall had a double-double for the Hawks, putting down 18 kills and posting up 10 kills. Heller added 15 kills and a .444 hitting percentage, while Junior Rebecca Bograd dished out an impressive 57 assists in the match. The girls had a match the next day and easily defeated Lawrence Tech in 3 games (25- 17, 25-15, 25-15). Kendall led the Hawks with 9 kills, while Heller chipped in 7 kills and 4 blocks. Bograd also had 28 set assists in the win. The following week, the team traveled to Indiana to take on Calumet College of St. Joseph. The girls easily took the match in 3 games (25-12, 25-21, 25-10). Kendall led the Hawks once again with 14 kills and an impressive .591 hitting percentage. Sophomore Rebecca Wilson also had 9 kills and 2 blocks in the match. The Hawks then faced conference leaders Trinity Christian College on Thursday. It was a tough battle, but Trinity Christian managed to give the Hawks their third loss in conference in 4 games (17-25, 25-22, 13-25, 23-25). Kendall had another double-double in the match, leading the Hawks with 22 kills and 17 digs. Heller also chipped in 13 kills, while Bograd handed out 43 assists. The team then traveled to Adrian, Michigan to compete in the Siena Heights Tournament over the weekend. The Hawks came ready to compete and walked away going 4-0 in the tournament. The first win came against Rochester College, who the Hawks went to 4 games with (25-21, 25-15, 20-25, 25-18). Wilson led the team with 13 kills while Heller added 10 kills and 4 blocks. Mead also chipped in 16 digs in the match. The next game was against Defiance College. The Hawks stole the show and finished them in three games (25-14, 25-17, 25-18). Heller led the Hawks with 14 kills and a .571 hitting percentage, while Kendall added 13 of her own. Mead also had an impressive 6 aces in the win. The next day in the tournament, the Hawks started off playing the host team, Siena Heights. The girls took control of the match early and defeated them in 3 games (25-17, 26-24, 25-18). Kendall had 15 kills and 6 digs in the match, while Junior Mariska Vandenbergh had 7 kills. Manley also added 2 aces and 16 digs in the win. The last game of the match saw the Hawks taking on Alma College. The girls, again, defeated the team in a three game match (25- 13, 25-23, 25-16). Kendall had 8 kills and 4 service aces in the win while Sophomore Roma Mirutenko chipped in 6 aces. The Hawks will travel to Olivet Nazarene University Tuesday (October 4) to take on the Tigers. They will then bring it back home on Thursday (October 6) to take on Purdue University Calumet at Keating Sports Center at 7 pm. Be sure to come out and support your Hawks! Photo by Sebastian Morales Prado