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For Immediate ReleaseMen's Soccer -- Sept. 5, 2011
Eureka Men's Soccer Weekly Notebook: Sept. 5, 2011
PDF Version of Eureka Men's Soccer Weekly Notebook
THIS WEEK’S OPPONENTS vs. Knox Prairie Fire Game 2 Wednesday, Sept. 7 4 p.m. Eureka, Ill. Traister Field
at Rockford Regents Game 3 Saturday, Sept. 10 3 p.m. Rockford, Ill. Sam Greeley Field
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION The Eureka College men’s soccer team will play a pair of games this week, starting with a 4 p.m. kickoff ON Wednesday versus non-conference rival Knox at Traister Field. The contest will serve as Eureka’s 2011 home opener.
The Prairie Fire represents Eureka’s most common Division III non-conference opponent, as the two squads have met on the pitch every year since Eureka began fielding a team in 2007. Both squads have won two games in the series, but Eureka has won two straight dating back to a 9-0 rout at Traister Field on Sept. 9, 2009.
Knox is 0-1-0 as of Monday after dropping its opener at Franklin last Friday, 7-0. Head coach Kevwe Akpore is currently in his second season in charge of the Prairie Fire and is 2-16-1 as of Monday. Knox will host St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference member MacMurray Monday afternoon before traveling to Eureka on Wednesday.
Eureka will hit the road this Saturday to visit Rockford for the first time in program history at 3 p.m. at Sam Greeley Field.
The Regents were on the wrong end of arguably Eureka’s most exciting victory in program history last season.
Facing a 2-0 deficit with less than three minutes remaining, David Crady scored twice in a span of 51 seconds to force overtime before Cody Halstead buried Eureka’s first golden goal in school history to stun Rockford in overtime, 3-2, on Oct. 14, 2010. Freshman Brendan Carr earned an assist on the game-winner.
Even more remarkable, the Regents were unable to convert a penalty kick opportunity in the time between Crady’s two goals that would have likely iced a Rockford victory.
This season, Rockford is off to a 1-1-0 start after rallying for a 3-2 victory over MIAC member St. Mary’s (Minn.) last Saturday. The following day, future Eureka opponent Lake Forest (Sept. 17 at Traister Field) handed the Regents an 8-1 defeat.
Rockford will hit the road this Wednesday for non-conference matchup with North Central of the CCIW before returning home to host the Red Devils Saturday.
AGAINST THE MWC Counting its four previous matches against Knox (2-2-0), the Red Devils will carry a 2-7-0 record against current members of the Midwest Conference into this week. Eureka is winless in matches against Grinnell (0-1-0), Illinois College (0-2-0) and Monmouth. Eureka will host Lake Forest for the first time in program history on Sept. 17 before Illinois College visits Eureka on Sept. 28.
AGAINST THE NAC Eureka’s comeback victory over Rockford last October marked the Red Devils’ first victory over a Northern Athletics Conference member school in program history.
The Red Devils had dropped their previous two matchups against the NAC in games against Concordia (Ill.), giving EC a 1-2-0 all-time record against active NAC members.
MOTHER NATURE INTERVENES Eureka’s season-opening match scheduled for last Saturday afternoon against Wisconsin Lutheran at Traister Field was postponed because of lightning and heavy rainfall. No makeup date for the match has been announced.
The two squads played into the 25th minute before referee Jim Mitchell pulled both squads off the pitch because of lightning in the area. After a delay of more than two hours that included heavy rainfall and more dangerous lightning, both head coaches and the officiating crew agreed to call off the contest.
SHUTOUT AT FRANKLIN A day after a violent thunderstorm washed out the scheduled 2011 season opener, the Red Devils hit the pitch to begin their season a day later than expected and dropped a 3-0 non-conference decision at Franklin, Sunday afternoon at Faught Stadium in Franklin, Ind.
Eureka senior Derek Johnson made a run at putting the Red Devils on the board early in the second half, but his shot on target in the 49th minute was stopped by Franklin goalkeeper Brad Phillips.
Senior Richie Gregory joined Tom Moody and goalkeeper Tyler Mumm as the only Red Devils to play the full 90 minutes. Second-year head coach J.L. Zapushek used 19 players, including seven newcomers.
NEARING A RECORD With 90 minutes played Sunday at Franklin, sophomore goalkeeper Tyler Mumm is within reach of a Eureka career record.
With just 18 more minutes played in goal, Mumm will pass Justin Horrer for the most career minutes played by a Eureka goalkeeper. Horrer’s record of 1,575 minutes played was set during the 2008 season. Garin Pisano, the first goalkeeper in program history, ranks third with 1,394 minutes played between the pipes.
EXTENDING THE RECORD Senior defender and all-time Eureka matches played leader Derek Johnson extended his own school record on Sunday, playing in his 59th career match.
Johnson joins classmates Richie Gregory and Evan Kingery as the first group of four-year players in program history. Kingery ranks second all-time in the same category with 58 career appearances, while Gregory ranks tied for third with 57.
OTHER RECORDS IN SIGHT While senior forward Cody Halstead would need one of the most outstanding seasons in NCAA history to catch all-time Eureka goal leader and current assistant coach Brian O’Malley, the Peoria native has an outside shot at becoming the Red Devils’ all-time assist leader.
Halstead will enter the week with seven career assists. David Crady (2008-10) owns the all-time Eureka record with 20. If Halstead were to match Crady’s mark, he would also break the single-season Eureka assist record, held by Crady at 11 in 2009.
In addition to the assist record, Halstead needs 95 shots and 62 shots on goal to match O’Malley’s all-time record. Both marks would be single-season school records.
SLIAC PREDICTION The Red Devils were picked to finish eighth in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 2011, according to a poll conducted by league head coaches in early August. The top four teams in the final league standings, excluding Spalding in its final year as an NCAA Division III provisional member, will qualify for the league’s annual postseason tournament.
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY With J.L. Zapushek officially being named the second head coach in program history last winter, Zapushek brought some familiar faces to his assistant coaching staff and also welcomed a pair of new individuals.
EC soccer alums K.T. Zapushek (2007-09) and Brian O’Malley (2008-09) are a part of the staff in 2011. K.T. Zapushek assisted on an interim basis for the final half of the 2010 season.
The two newcomers to the staff are Bill Conger and Larry Evans.
Conger will oversee all administrative aspects of Eureka’s men’s soccer program and contribute in recruiting and team management. He is a professional artist that has had his work exhibited internationally in New Zealand, Ireland, Poland, Germany and Austria as well as all over the United States.
The owner of more than two decades of youth soccer coaching experience, Evans began his soccer coaching career in 1983 as a volunteer assistant coach at Manual High School in Peoria, assisting with drills, training and the Rams’ goalkeepers through the 1988 season. He went on serve as the first soccer head coach at Dunlap High School beginning in August of 1991, guiding the Eagles’ boys squad to a winning record in its inaugural season. He is certified by the American Sports Education Program.
AROUND THE SLIAC With one week of game competition in the books, Westminster (2-0-0), MacMurray (1-0-0) and Spalding (1-0-0) are the only remaining unbeated teams in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Eureka, Blackburn, Greenville, Principia and Webster are still in search of their first win.
A total of 22 matches involving SLIAC teams are scheduled for the coming week.
League play is expected to begin with three matches on Sept. 24, including Eureka’s visit to Fontbonne in Clayton, Mo.
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For More Information Contact:
Bryan Moore
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