Month: March 2013

Kenzie-Robbins-Glendale-soccer

Rogers Gets 700 at Glendale, Kickapoo Falls to Marquette

Kenzie-Robbins-Glendale-soccer
Parkway Showcase wraps up and the two local squads return home with a win and a loss on the weekend.

Glendale Falcons – 1
Ft Zumwalt South – 0
Sarah Kate Sprouse’s goal late in the first half, following a corner kick, was the game winner. It was also Coach Jeff Roger’s 700th career win, here’s the Ozark O Zone story. As noted there, He has 401 career victories as the boys’ coach and Saturday’s win was his 299th leading the ladies. He can pick up No. 300 on Tuesday when the Falcons visit Joplin.

Here’s my story on Jeff’s 600th win, set during the 2010 Girls season. In that period the Boys won District titles in 2010 and 2012, falling to Carthage and Kickapoo in the Sectional playoff. The girls lost to Parkview in the District semifinals that year but went on to finish 3rd in 2011 and 4th in 2012. They’ll look to get back to State this year with Waynesville and Jeff City as likely challengers.

Kickapoo Chiefs – 0
Marquette Mustangs – 1
A 28 yard blast by sophomore Lauren Lottmann in the 10th minute was the game winner. In what was thought might be a rebuilding year for the Mustang’s, Lottman has paired with freshman Madison Meador in the middle to produce a win in their first game of the season. The team went at least six deep today and were able to create a consistent attack down the wings to keep the pressure on the Chiefs.

Kickapoo was resilient on defense, with newcomer Elise Sherman pairing with freshman Alyson Goodale in the middle to blunt a number of attacks with Molly Wassam making several key saves to keep the game close. Marquette hit the upright twice today but the Chief’s had more difficulty threatening. Junior Captain Kenzie Dunaway is a crafty forward but needs more support if they are going to score the goals needed to win once the playoffs arrive. Freshman Manon Klein showed some promise but it will probably need to come from wing play.

[smugmug url=”http://soccerstl.smugmug.com/hack/feed.mg?Type=gallery&Data=28668310_BKRkKS&format=rss200″ title=”Kickapoo%20Chiefs%20vs%20Marquette%20Mustangs%20@%20Showcase” description=”Your%20photo%20purchase%20helps%20maintain%20this%20website.%20Thank%20you%21″ imagecount=”100″ start=”8″ num=”12″ thumbsize=”Th” link=”smugmug” captions=”true” sort=”true” window=”false” smugmug=”true” size=”M”]

Kickapoo Wins in PKs, Glendale Shutout

kickapoo-chiefs-soccer-at-parkway-showcase

The Parkway College Showcase opened Friday and the two local squads each had 6pm matches.

Amanda-Fox-Kickapoo-soccerKickapoo Chiefs – 2 (PKs)
Howell Vikings – 1
The Chiefs got their money’s worth tonight as the game was tied 1-1 after regulation and two overtime periods, leading to PK’s to determine a winner. Both teams scored on all five opportunities in the first round, leading to the naming of five additional kickers for each team. The Vikings scored on their sixth opportunity but the seventh went wide right. Amanda Fox (left), who saw limited playing time due to a swollen ankle, stepped up and fired a high shot down the middle. The keeper, who originally moved right, was able to get a hand on the shot but collapsed as she saw it fall and roll into the net for the game-winner.

Freshman defender Alyson Goodale scored in regulation, while Molly Wassam was in goal for the Chiefs. The photo is post-game 🙂

Glendale Falcons – 0
Collinsville Kahoks – 4
The Falcon’s ran into a buzz saw this evening. The Kahoks, who finished in the Final 8 in Illinois last year and are ranked #1 in the Metro East area and #5 in the St Louis region, scored four times in the first 20 minutes to get the win. The first came 8 minutes in as Kat Roe (Lindenwood) sent a corner kick to the far post where Sophia Sharos rose above the crowd to nod in the game-winner. Two more goals, scored by Kat Roe and Alyssa Reiniger, came from skilled play inside the box by the Kahoks. The final goal came as sophomore Mikayla McCarthy’s cross from the left side was knocked down and into the net by GK Kindra Lierz.

The Kahok’s substituted liberally from that point forward. That, combined with what Coach Jeff Rogers called a wake up call, a hard tackle in front of the bench by a Falcon, reminded the players that like Big 10 basketball, the game can be more physical in St Louis. Scoreless the final 60, the Falcon’s had 2-3 opportunities that came from diagonal balls into the corners of the box. They’ll need to get more numbers into the box in these situations to finish.

PHOTO GALLLERY – Glendale Falcons vs Collinsville (available Sunday probably, doing Easter on Saturday)

I’ll be on hand Saturday for Kickapoo’s match against Marquette who have a freshman recently called into the U15 Girls national team. Glendale will face Ft Zumwalt South, considered a Top 20 team locally, so another difficult match.

Busch Stadium Soccer seating chart

Chelsea vs ManCity May 23rd in Busch Stadium

Busch Stadium Soccer seating chartHere is ticket information for the upcoming

CHELSEA FC VS. MANCHESTER CITY SOCCER

match at Busch Stadium on May 23rd.

Reserved seats starting at $30 ** Premium Reserved seats starting at $100 ** All-inclusive seats starting at $140

* All Field Club, Midfield, Sideline and All-inclusive ticket buyers for the match on Thursday will receive a FREE ticket to the Chelsea FC training session on Wed, May 22 at 5:30 pm.

From an article in the Post-Dispatch earlier today

Seats will be added on the field while some in the upper deck in right field won’t be sold, bringing capacity for the game to about 42,000. Bryant said they’re hoping for a sellout, with fans coming from outside the area to see the game.

Fitting a soccer field into Busch Stadium will be a tight squeeze. The field will run from in front of the visiting dugout on the third-base line, along the first-base line, to the right field stands. It will be just short of 100 meters long, the minimum allowable length for an international match, which would probably preclude playing World Cup qualifying matches here. But because this match is an exhibition game, being a few feet short is permissible.

jordan-burns-brett-wubbena-logan-rogersville-soccer

Brett Wubbena Reaches 100 Wins

jordan-burns-brett-wubbena-logan-rogersville-soccer
Asst Coach Jordan Burns with Head Coach Brett Wubbena following Lebanon Tourney win, 2012

Congratulations to Head Coach Brett Wubbena of the Logan-Rogersville Wildcats. A 2-1 win on Wednesday against the Republic Tigers earned him his 100th career win at the school where he’s been the only Coach for the teams that began play in the Fall of 2008 with the Boys.

The win Wednesday against Republic came 10 months after the Tigers defeated the Wildcats 1-0 in the the District title game, ending Logan-Rogersville run as Champions while earning Republic their first soccer District title. While still Central Ozark Conference foes, the teams are now in different classes.

Wubbena’s girls record coming into the season stood at 51-44-2 (now 52-45-2). The team moved down to Class 1 this season, competing in District 12 with Catholic, Greenwood, McAuley and Monett. They spent their first four seasons in Class 2, including their first in 2009 which is the first year of 3 classes for Girls soccer. The team won the District 12 title in 2011, before falling to Harrisonville 0-3 in the Sectional match. That team was led by Stevie Heidzig, a 2nd Team All-State player in 2011 as a senior, who had moved to L-R from Arizona as a sophomore.

His boys record after last Fall’s fifth season is 48-69-0. Always a Class 2 squad, the team has seen Bolivar win District titles every season except last when Willard won the newly reconstituted District 12, defeating the second seeded Wildcats 3-1.

Last Fall, Senior Joshua Nixon was named to the All-State Academic soccer team, while sophomore Tucker Brown was awarded All-State Honorable Mention. Nixon is the first Rogersville student to receive the all-academic award, with this being the first year the association has recognized a state academic team. The South County Mail has more on the awards.

The team won the Lebanon Tournament last year (Burns & Wubbena pictured above) and are pictured below, courtesy of Thad Brown.

The team has a Facebook Page for those who would like to follow their on-going exploits. Feel free to reach out to Coach Wubbena and congratulate him on his milestone. After they post this story on the Page 🙂

L-R Wildcats, Lebanon Tourney 2012

Jack Jewsbury at Seattle (Seattlepi.com/Josh Trujillo)

Jack Jewsbury Enters 10th Year in MLS

UPDATE – as Jack noted in a tweet, its actually his 11th season of play!

Jackie, as he’s fondly called here in Springfield, was drafted in the fifth round (43rd overall) by Kansas City in the 2003 MLS SuperDraft. He’s beginning his 10th season as a pro in Major League Soccer having played in 259 games, starting 205 of them, 63 of them in a Portland uniform in the two years since he was traded by Sporting KC.

He made his 2013 season debut March 16, starting and playing 70 minutes of a 1-1 draw against Seattle, after sustaining a hamstring injury that kept him out most of preseason. He step on the pitch again Saturday for the Timbers, playing a new role yet again in a career that has been defined by a willingness to do whatever the team needs.

Portland at Colorado
Saturday March 30, 5:00 PM CDT
at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park

Jack recently joined Twitter, you can follow Jack on Twitter. I’m proud to saying he follows SGFsoccer (do you?) as well as Kickapoo Soccer and Buddy Coulter, a former Club teammate and Glendale foe of his.

He’s got 1260 followers, but glancing at the list doesn’t show many Springfield fans. There have to be 100 soccer players here who want to become the second Springfield native to reach the pros, aren’t there? Let’s follow Jackie and remind him of the fans he has here in his hometown. Use the hashtag #JackSGFtoRCTID to let him know you are a hometown fan!

Here’s more on Jack’s new role for Portland. Go Timbers!

Jack Jewsbury’s new duties: “The ideal role for him at this point”

There were plenty of questions surrounding Jack Jewsbury heading into 2013.

The veteran midfielder – the Portland Timbers’ captain the past two seasons and club’s only MLS All-Star selection from their inaugural year – had missed most of the preseason with a hamstring tear. The injury and return to fitness prevented him from playing in Portland’s first two games.

Meanwhile, newly-acquired midfielder Will Johnson was named the team’s on-field captain while Jewsbury was tabbed “club captain,” a distinction new head coach Caleb Porter said is often reserved for esteemed veterans. It was easy to see Jewsbury’s role on the pitch being significantly diminished in his 10th MLS season.

That was, at least, before Saturday’s 1-1 draw with the Seattle Sounders. Jewsbury got his first start of the season and played a crucial role as a defensive midfielder. READ MORE

I first interviewed Jack in January 2006, as I entered my second year of covering the game in Springfield.

In 1998, as a senior, he scored a state-record 59 goals in 27 games, and his career total of 124 goals is third in state history.

Jackie started 79 games for the Billikens, scoring 38 goals including 13 game-winners. One of his biggest goals was the winner in the NCAA second round against New Mexico his senior year, when he was a second team All-America and first team all-Conference USA. Jackie was the Conference USA player of the year his sophomore year of 2000, leading the Billikens in scoring with 31 points. That year, he scored a hat trick against South Florida, and beat Rutgers with a header in overtime. He also had 25 career assists, for a total of 101 points. He was inducted into the SLU Hall of Fame in February 2011.

He appeared in two games (1 start) that year as a rookie. He started in the 2004 MLS Cup, in which the Wizards fell to D.C. United, while also being part of the 2004 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tournament, leading Kansas City to the U.S. Open Cup title with a 1-0 win over Chicago. He also started and played the full 90 in a 2006 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup loss to Chicago.

He joined the Timbers in 2011 following a trade from Sporting Kansas City. Named the club’s captain by head coach John Spencer on March 11, Jack went on to set new career marks in points (22), goals (7) and assists (8). He became the Timbers’ first MLS All-Star when he was selected to represent MLS in the AT&T 2011 MLS All-Star Game against Manchester United on July 27 at Red Bull Arena.

Jack followed that up in 2012 by finishing second on the team in games played (32), minutes played (2,765) and tied for third in scoring with 10 points from three goals and four assists.

Jack’s birthday is April 13th. The Wizards played an exhibition game against Missouri State on his 25th birthday in 2006, maybe we can come up with another Twitter hashtag event for his 32nd birthday, the day before Portland plays San Jose on national TV (NBC Sports). Hopefully we can get close to matching his daughter’s enthusiasm for the game and her father…