The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) announced on Wednesday that Maryville University and the University of Illinois at Springfield have been admitted to the Conference bringing the league’s membership to 15 institutions. The addition of the two members was unanimously approved by the GLVC Council of Presidents at their Oct. 7 meeting.

Maryville and University of Illinois-Springfield will officially become members of the GLVC upon receipt of initiation fees entitling both institutions to voting privileges at the GLVC Winter Meeting on Jan. 16, 2009. Maryville is located in St. Louis, and along with the University of Missouri-St. Louis, will be one of two GLVC institutions in the St. Louis area. UIS resides in Springfield, Ill., the capital of the state of Illinois, and will be centrally located in the GLVC.

According the the Evansville Courier & Press, while the move would add “Divisions” to the GLVC, soccer would not be included in that breakdown:

The league scheduling committee devised the three-division format to cut back on those trips. Teams would play an 18-game league schedule, including two against each in-division team and one each against everyone else, alternating home and away by season.

In the three-division format, there would be a North Division of Quincy, Springfield, Wisconsin-Parkside, Lewis, and St. Joseph’s. The West Division would be Drury, Rockhurst, Missouri Science & Technology, Missouri-St. Louis and Maryville. Illinois-Springfield does not play baseball yet, so USI would stay in the West in that sport. Soccer and softball do not have divisions.

There are also rumors of moves, the same article above noting Northern Kentucky has discussed a move to DI and the latest Drury rumor I’ve heard is that they would move to the MIAA. Hmmm…

In the 87th minute, freshman Robbie Curtis (Ozark, MO) who had recently checked into the game for the first time used a pass from teammate James McLeish (Amprior, Ontario, Canada) and Willian Moura to find the back left corner which gave the Railsplitters a 2-1 lead. As fate would have it, the goal turned out to be the game-winner and the final blow in LMU’s victory over Shepherd University.

The Railsplitters are 7-2-1 overall, 2-0 in the SAC and are ranked 8th nationally.

Maggie Schrier (Glendale 2008) has started 4 of the 8 games this season for the Hendrix College Warriors (D3, SCAC), while playing in all 8 games. She is playing both outside Midfield and Defense. The Warriors record is 4-4, 1-3 in the Conference.

Adam Legg (Kickapoo 2008) has started 7 of the 8 games for the Hendrix College Warriors (D3, SCAC), as the team has opened the season with a 3-5 record, 1-3 in the Conference.

Quincy Conduff (Kickapoo 2008) is also a member of the Warriors (D3, Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference) and has played in 5 of the 8 games this season.

Jason Matthew Taylor (Ozark 2008) helped lead Rockford College (D3, Northern Athletics Conference) to their first victory in four years on September 12th when the Regents defeated Marantha Baptist Bible College 2-1. Jason has started all six games and already has 51 saves as the team is 1-0 at home, 1-5 overall.

Michael Handley (Webb City 2008) is now the starting center back for the Ashford Saints (NAIA, Midwest Collegiate Conference ), starting 8 of 10 games including the past seven games. The team is 6-4 overall, 1-2 in the MCC. He cracks a lineup that lost only one starter last year.

Jacob Plocher (West Plains 2004) has played in 11 of the 13 games this season, starting 3, for the William Penn Statesmen (NAIA, Midwest Collegiate Conference) while scoring a pair of goals.

Matt Saner (West Plains 2006) joined Jacob at William Penn this year, transferring from Neosho CC. He has played in 5 games this season, starting 1. They’ll play at Ashford on October 15th.

Chris Shuler was named the MVC Defensive player of the week for his play in the non-conference games against Cal-Northridge and SLU.

Northridge managed just six shots in the 1-0 Bluejay shutout last Wednesday, while Schuler helped slow a talented Billiken attack Saturday at SLU. SLU striker and Hermann Trophy candidate Kyle Patterson managed only one shot in the match, with Schuler marking the gifted attacker. Schuler was given the second captain’s armband before the SLU match and responded with great leadership and terrific defensive plays.

The Kickapoo Shootout returns this week, with games beginning on Friday and continuing through Saturday. Vianney is the biggest name and I’ll be offering up some background on all of the teams and the games as the week progresses. The Chief’s are working hard to make this a significant event, including advertising on my site and in other areas. It should be an excellent weekend of soccer.

Four weeks remain in the regular season and it’s time to start looking at Conference opportunities as well as District seeding. The one game I see that can have the biggest impact this week is Thursday’s game between the Rolla Bulldogs and Waynesville Tigers. The game features teams that sit at #3 and #4 in the Ozark Conference standings at the moment, and these two teams along with Camdenton are chasing the District 10 title.

On the College front, the Missouri State Bears hosts Central Arkansas Tuesday night at 7:00 pm. For the women’s game, the Southwest Baptist Bearcats have a pair of games this week, with Missouri Western visiting Thursday at 4:00 pm and Saturday will feature a rematch with Truman State. The Bearcat’s tied the #14 nationally-ranked Bulldogs on Saturday, 2-2, and spoiled their homecoming weekend by coming back from an 0-2 deficit. Saturday’s game could be a humdinger!

The US Men’s National Team could qualify for the final qualification round with a win on Saturday against Cuba. The game is being played at RFK Stadium in Washington DC and will be broadcast on ESPN Classic. It begins at 6:00 pm CST. Join us at Coester’s.

And a couple of shout outs - first to Sophomore Matt Magana , who broke the Bolivar Liberator soccer career assist record Saturday when he assisted Bradley Stillwagon on a goal. Matt now has 36 for his career.

The Glendale Falcon’s went 2-1 at the Gateway Classic in Collinsville, losing to St Thomas Aquinas (KS) 2-1 in the championship game of their bracket . They defeated Dunbar High from Lexington Ky in penalty kicks again after a 2-2 tie in regulation. Both goals were by Devon Newport on set pieces. Jordan Pitts comes up big for the second day in a row with a save in the pk shoot out . Ryan Partch nailed the final pk attempt to seal the win. The first win came against Morton (IL) and it went to sudden death penalty kicks after 1-1 tie in regulation. The Post-Dispatch offers some updates.

UMSL Lady Tritons - 2
Missouri S&T Miners - 0
The Triton’s got goals from Maggie Gabris in the 51st and in the 81st minute by Anne Weaver to get past the Miners. UMSL moves to 4-1-1 in the GLVC, 4-5-1 overall while the Miners drop to 5-5-1, 2-4-1 in the GLVC.

Drury Lady Panthers - 1
Rockhurst Hawks - 0
Junior Mandi Little finished off a shot off the post , from Aly Reynolds shot, at the 49:40 mark for the game’s only goal as the Panthers improved to 6-4-2 overall and 5-1-1 in the GLVC.

Drury Panthers - 1
Rockhurst Hawks - 2 (OT)
Rockhurst’s Tom Heinmann accounted for his third goal of the match - and second for the Hawks - when he drilled a long shot with 55 seconds left in overtime to lift No. 18 Rockhurst to a 2-1 victory over No. 7 Drury in a matchup of Great Lakes Valley Conference leaders here on Sunday. The Panthers, who fell to 8-3 with their third straight loss after beating the nation’s then-No. 1 ranked team, Northern Kentucky, on Sept. 26, outshot the Hawks 20-16 in the contest, including 20-12 in regulation.

Missouri State Bears - 1
Evansville Aces - 3
After opening a lead via Caroline Sweeney’s goal (a blast I hear) in the 12th minute, the Ace’s came back with a three goals to seal their third Conference win of the season. I arrived in time for the Ace’s goals, scored by Colleen Marty, Mia Tofano and Rocky Hearst (pictured above). The Bears outshot the Aces in both halves but the quality of the finishing was lacking, with at least four opportunities in the second half when balls driven into the went untouched due to the lack of a body outside of the six yard box at the far post. The Bear’s continue to play hard but ran into a quality team, picked to finish 3rd this year after finishing second in the MVC last year while returning 10 starters.

Missouri State Bears - 0
Alabama A&M Bulldogs - 1
From Peoria Saturday, the Bulldogs pressured the Bears offensively in the first period by outshooting the Bears 14-0. The Bulldogs broke through a tough Bears’ defense three minutes before the half on a corner kick by Mutumba Ssemagulu. Lwazi Maziya received the corner kick and hit Rogers Atugonza with a touch pass to break down the Bears’ defense and break the 0-0 tie.

The Bears will host the University of Central Arkansas on Tuesday October 7th at Plaster Field in at 7 p.m.

Missouri State Bears face Alabama A&M on Saturday night.

The Missouri State women’s soccer team opens Missouri Valley Conference play with a 1 p.m. Sunday match @ Plaster against 3rd place preseason pick Evansville.

Missouri State enters the weekend with a 7-3-1 record and a four game winning streak. The Bears have recorded a solid 19 goals this season and have given up only eight. Bears’ goalkeeper Jackie Jasper boasts 0.74 goals against average and a 0.855 save percentage, leading the conference in both categories.

The Bears will look to extend their winning streak and earn their first MVC win when they face the Evansville Purple Aces. The Purple Aces have had a good start on the season and they enter the match with a 6-2-2 overall record and a 1-0 record in the Missouri Valley.

Newman University senior Jenna Streit scored the only goal in the Jets women’s soccer upset of Drury University, ranked No. 8 in the Midwest Region. It was a signature win for Newman (5-4-2) in the school’s first season as a full-fledged NCAA Division II member. Drury lost despite out-shooting Newman by a 9-4 count as the Panthers fell to 5-4-2 overall.

The Panther’s visit Rockhurst for a pair of games on Sunday afternoon.

University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks - 1
Southwest Baptist Bearcats - 0
The #4-ranked UNO Maverick’s were very opportunistic this afternoon, getting a goal in the 69th minute by defender Jessica Powers, who came up for a corner kick and scored with a header. The ball was perfectly served by Casey Bigsby, with Power’s running onto it at the far post just inside the 6-yard box and in a crowd.

While the statistics for the game show a relatively balanced game, the Bearcats were the more dangerous squad this afternoon. The tandem of Cousins and Mitchell, with 22 goals and 13 assists in six games, were thwarted by goalkeeper Lauren Fox. Credited with 5 saves, each was critical with several of the point blank variety. UNO had a series of 3 corner kicks late in the first half that caused problems for the Bearcats yet it also led to a breakaway opportunity for SBU that led to one of Fox’s key saves.

The Maverick’s had a shot at the start of the 2nd half that went off the crossbar but this was SBU’s game to win. They’ll have an opportunity to begin another winning streak on Saturday when they visit #14-ranked Truman State, who lost to UNO last week.

Missouri S&T Miners - 2
Missouri Southern Lions - 0
The Miners got a goal in each half, one from Sam Shaffer in the first half and from Nick Landon in the second, while goalkeepers Pat McNamee and Tom Lawton combined to post S&T’s fifth shutout of the season.

Missouri S&T Lady Miners - 3
Washington University Bears - 1
The Missouri S&T Lady Miners scored three goals in a span of 17 minutes in the second half including a pair from Brooke Ryan three minutes apart to beat the visiting D3 program.

Missouri Southern Lady Lions - 5
Emporia State Hornets - 1
Nikki Llewellyn scored three goals and also dished out one assist to give her 103 career points as the Missouri Southern Lions won their second straight match. The win marks the 50th career victory for Trevor Wachsman as Missouri Southern head coach (pictured). Brianna McKenzie (Webb City 2008) scored from 15 yards out in the 39th minute, getting her first college goal.

As usual, free low-resolution photos for download and personal use are available on my Flickr site. Purchase of higher resolution photos in any format you might like are available on my SmugMug site. If you have a Facebook profile, you can find many of the photos on my Facebook page. Instructions for downloading the free low-resolution photos are available by following this link - How To

It was Russell who helped open the scoring early in the contest with the Owls’ Show-Me-State 1-2 punch. In making her first Rice career start the a native of Springfield, Mo., found her longtime club teammate Amy Beger breaking free on the right wing in the 13th minute. Beger, a fellow Owl rookie from St. Louis, needed only a moment before taking a long shot from inside the 18-yard line. The ball found the back of the Marshall net on the left side for Beger’s third goal of the season and a 1-0 Rice lead.

Laura McElroy (Glendale 2007) of Grinnell College has been named the Midwest Conference Women’s Soccer Defensive Performer of the Week. McElroy helped guide the Pioneers to a 1-0 shutout victory Friday over defending Iowa Conference champion Simpson College. She recorded four saves in the game and improved her record on the season to 5-1. She has started all nine games the Pioneers have played.

Becca Carter (Central 2008), Laura’s teammate at Grinnell, has started three games this season, including Sunday’s win over Monmouth. She’s played in five games so far this season.

Tyler Kutz (Parkview 2007) is currently ranked #11 GK in NJCAA Soccer, Division 1. He has played in 13 games with only 5 goals allowed, ranking 6th nationally. Team is 11-1-2, 3-1 in conference play. Parkland College was nationally ranked in mens soccer for the first time ever at #8 this week and have outscored their opponents 53-8 in 14 games

Patrick Carver (Parkview 2005) is the team leader in goals (7) and has 4 assists (18 points) in the first 8 games for the Emory University Eagles (D3 - UAA). Emory is ranked 9th in the nation with a 8-0-0 record. You can see many of Patrick’s goals this season here.

Josh Florez (Parkview 2005) is playing center and outside back for the Washington University Bears and has played in four games.
The Bears are currently 7-2, having recently knocked of D2 Truman State and are ranked 6th in the Central Region.

John Duncan (Joplin 2007) has also appeared in four games for the WashU Bears, getting off three shots from his forward position.

Tom Marlow (Parkview 2007) has started the Titans’ first 7 games at midfield as a sophomore. Illinois Wesleyan University Titans (D3 - NSCAA) are currently 2-5.

Karl Fredrickson Played forward in Baptist Bible College Patriots (NCCAA - 2) first 8 games. He has 5 goals and 2 assists for the Patriots and was recently moved to starting stopper in an effort to iron-out the defense.

Ryan Schlichtman (Cassville 2008) scored his first collegiate goal in Colorado Christian University’s 2-1 loss to Regis University.

With the defense gaining confidence, the CCU offense also found its groove when Ryan Schlictman scored his first goal as a Cougar off of a Regis turnover eight minutes into the second half.

He’s now started 5 of the 9 games played and is tied for the team lead in goals for the squad that is 0-9 while competing in the very difficult

Corbin Siklosi (Nixa 2008) has played in seven games for Colorado Christian

Kaitlin Bramel (Rolla 2008) has started eight games for the Fontbonne Griffins and has 3 assists. The Griffins are 5-4-1 and 1-1-1 in the SLIAC.

Sophie Cox (Rolla 2006) has started all 10 games for the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks, while scoring 1 goal and 1 assist and taking 21 shots. The Skyhawks are 6-2-1 and 1-0-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference, including last weekends 1-1 tie at SEMO.

This is Derby week it seems. Derby - a sporting fixture between two (generally local) rivals.

Tuesday - Nixa Eagles host the Ozark Tigers as the District foes also now have COC honors to battle for. At Nixa Jr HS, 5:00 pm JV start.
Wednesday - Glendale Falcons host the Kickapoo Chiefs, one of potentially three meetings this season, this one does not count towards the Ozark Conference standings. At Cooper #1, 5:00 pm JV start

There are several tournaments this weekend, including the Willard Tigers tournament (a regular stop of mine) as well as the Camdenton Lakers event. Glendale will head East to Collinsville to participate in the Gateway City Soccer Classic, recently moved to Collinsville and still the top tournament in the region. The Falcons will compete in the Taigen Rose Finley bracket with their first game against Morton HS (Chicago IL metro area), followed by either Dunbar HS (Louisville) or Glenbrook North (Chicago Metro).

Champions League, as opposed to the UEFA League which will be getting a rebranding effort soon (hat tip to Glendale Soccer), continues this week with a pair of games on ESPN2. Coester’s is averaging a dozen or more folks for these games, come out for your ‘business meeting’ and join us!

Tuesday 1:30 pm - Aalborg Bk vs Manchester United
Wednesday 1:30 pm - Liverpool FC vs PSV Eindhoven

There are a few College games in the area this week. I’ll be attending SLU vs Northwestern tomorrow night as I finish my birthday tour while on

Wednesday the Drury Lady Panthers host Maryville in a non-conference game.

#13 ranked Nebraska-Omaha, the newest member of the MIAA Conference, visits Bolivar on Thursday afternoon at 3:00 pm. The SBU Bearcats are 6-0 this season but this will be their first real test. The UNO Maverick’s will likely rise in the standings tomorrow after their 2-0 win over #4 Truman State this past weekend.

Missouri S&T has a pair of games Thursday, with the men hosting Missouri Southern at 5:00 pm and the women Washington University at 7:30 pm.

Springfield will see it’s first Missouri Valley Conference action on Sunday when the Lady Bears host Evansville. That’s at 1:00 pm at Plaster.

Anne Prenger notched the game winner in Friday’s win over Kentucky Wesleyan in the 98th minute of play on a corner kick by junior AJ Brewer. It was Prenger’s first career goal and the second assist of the season for Brewer.

UMSL Tritons - 0
Bellarmine Knights - 1
The Knights put the lone goal of the game on the board just 16 minutes into the contest on a header from Grant Wheeler on the close right wing. The loss drops the Tritons to 5-4-1 on the season, including 1-4 in the GLVC. Bellarmine, which won its first league game of the year, improves to 3-4-2 and 1-3-1 in the league.

Drury Panthers - 2
Indianapolis Greyhounds - 3
The Greyhounds downed previously unbeaten and GLVC-leading Drury 3-2 Sunday afternoon, to run their record to 4-3-2 on the season and 3-1-2 in conference play. The Panthers fall to 8-1 on the season and 5-1 in the GLVC. Brian Fishback (Parkview 2005) assisted on the third Greyhound goal. For the Panthers, Stephen Conner (Glendale 2007) replaced starter Logan Hoffman in the 20th minute after Hoffman was injured. Danny Collins (Glendale 2007) scored the Panther’s second goal in the loss

Drury Lady Panthers - 0 (OT)
Indianapolis Lady Panthers - 0

Missouri S&T Miners - 1 (OT)
St Joseph Pumas - 1
The Pumas drew first blood in the 52nd minute, scoring after a rebound from just outside the box. The Miners were able to draw even a little over three minutes later on a set piece, as Andy Held got to Brandon Moore’s free kick and headed the ball past Alex Makin at the 54:53 mark.

Missouri S&T Lady Miners - 6
St Joseph Pumas - 1
The Puma’s scored in the first minute but saw the Miner’s score six in coming back for the big win.

Missouri Southern Lions - 1
Missouri Western Griffons - 0
Saturday at St Joseph: Stephanie Heines scored off an assist from Audrey Copenhaver to lead the Missouri Southern Lions to their first MIAA win of the season. Randi Russell (Joplin 2008) stopped five shots for Southern in her first career shutout.

Missouri S&T Miners - 1
Indianapolis Greyhounds - 0
An important win for the Miner’s Friday night at home as senior Corey Bailey (Olathe) pairs with Mario Calderon to ‘make a play’ in the words of Coach Joe Ahearn. In a game that featured a 13-6 shot advantage for the Hounds, the true opportunities were few and far between. That’s when you need some creativity and that’s what Calderon delivered, and Bailey closed the deal.

Much like Thursday’s game between the Chicago Fire and LA Galaxy, when C. Blanco’s back heel flick created a break-away for Rolfe, Calderon created something special for the Miners. As he battled to win a 50/50 ball near the midfield, with his back to the goal he quickly sent a ball up and over the defense. Bailey’s anticipation and run onto the ball was equally critical, allowing him to stay a step ahead of the defense and then calmly slot his shot to the far post for the game-winner. A play you need your seniors to make, and one that will go a long way towards moving the Miner’s back into the GLVC playoffs if they can deliver again on Sunday against St Joseph’s. Go Miner’s!

Missouri S&T Lady Miners - 0
Indianapolis Greyhounds - 2
The Greyhounds got on the board in the opening minute of the second frame when Lauren Soza headed in a cross from Jamie Huebner for the eventual game winner. Rachel Moore (Rolla 2006) had three shots, two on net, from her defensive midfield position. Melissa Young (Helias 2008) led the Miners with six shots, three on goal. She’s pictured getting the first SOG.

Drury Panthers - 3 (OT)
Northern Kentucky Norsemen - 2
Micah Whorton scored on a pass from Taylor Stacy with 4:49 left in overtime, lifting Drury to a 3-2 victory over nationally top-ranked Northern Kentucky in a Great Lakes Valley Conference men’s soccer showdown at Harrison Stadium Friday night. The Panther’s got their first goal from Steve Wilczewski (Glendale 2006) in the 42nd,

Drury Lady Panthers - 1
Northern Kentucky Norse - 3
No. 20 Northern Kentucky struck for two goals in the first 34 minutes and went on to a 3-1 victory over Drury in a Great Lakes Valley Conference women’s soccer match Friday at Harrison Stadium.

Southwest Baptist Bearcats - 4
Emporia State Hornets - 2
Thursday at Bolivar: Nicola Cousins and Rhiane Mitchell each scored two goals as SBU goes 5-0 to open the season for the first time ever

Truman State Bulldogs - 3
Missouri Southern Lions - 1
Thursday at Joplin - After tying the game in the 48th minute on a goal by Nikki Llewellyn, the Bulldogs got goals from Katie Reuck in the 53rd and Jessica Wiegert in the 74th for the MIAA Conference win. Randi Russell (Joplin 2008) made seven saves in her 3rd straight start for the Lions.

Missouri State Lady Bears - 3
Oral Roberts Golden Eagles - 2
The Bears improved to 6-3-1 on the season with their road win in Tulsa. Missouri State quickly took the lead, as Jenna Dobkins posted her first goal of the season at the 1:14 mark. Less than nine minutes later, Allison Osmundson headed in an assist from Jessica Smits as the Bears built a quick 2-0 advantage. Caroline Sweeney tallied her second goal of the season in the 55th minute from teammates Christine Cross and Osmundson as the Bears took a commanding 3-0 lead.