Otherwise posting will be light as I’m working very hard to get the second issue of SGFsoccer.com - The Magazine out the door. Be safe!

Oh, and I should mention that Coester’s now has SENTANTA to go along with Fox Soccer Channel, Gol TV and MLS Direct Kick. A couple fellows stopped by this week to see ManU play on Monday and Mark discovered he could buy the Sentata subscription and did it the same day.

So if you’re in the mood for some good international soccer this weekend, visit the home of International and MLS soccer in Springfield Clicking on the link will take you to a list of all the games being broadcast this weekend.

With about 10 minutes left in the 90-minute contest, Forest Park tied the game on a late goal.

“I thought we played well,” said Smith. “It was hot today and we just ran out of gas last. We need to be in the game for 90 minutes. Our lack of fitness kind of showed. For the most part, though, I was pleased. We attacked more today.”

The first year program was profiled in the Neosho Daily News last week has a difficult schedule ahead, including three games against nationally ranked programs.

September 2nd at #5 Jefferson College (19 - 4 - 1)
September 20th at #10 Northern Oklahoma College (17 - 2 - 1)
October 10th at #14 St. Louis Community College-Meramec (15 - 3 - 1)

Both Jefferson and Meramec are part of the same NJCAA Region as the Roughriders. The game I’m looking at is my alma mater Florissant Valley visiting October 16th.

Schuler, a first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference pick and second-team NSCAA All-Midwest Region selection last year, started all 20 matches a year ago. He played the second-most minutes of all field players and played all but one minute of CU’s final 19 matches last year. The Bluejay defense logged seven shutouts and led the MVC with a 0.79 goals against average in 2007.

The Aurora, Ill., native is the son of Springfield, MO referee Chris Shuler and the cousin of Tyler Bennett of the Kickapoo Chiefs. Chris has a sister Christen who plays for the Northern Illinois Huskies.

Check out the newest page on the website - College Players

I’m attempting to maintain a spreadsheet so that I can ensure I touch bases on each of the players and programs out there during the upcoming season. So here’s where I could use your help:
1. Check out the list (sorted by High School, far right column) and if you don’t see your favorite player on the list, send me updated information!
2. If you run a team website, consider an occasional report similar to what Coach Schmitt has done on the West Plains Zizzer’s website. Zizzers Playing College Soccer!

You can keep your team and boosters up-to-date and I in turn can point to it and generate some traffic for your website. And please don’t take it personally if you don’t find your favorite player on the list initially. There are 131 names on the list, it’s quite a task just compiling it to this extent. Now help me make it better

Some nice video highlights from last weeks College games at the AB Soccer Complex in Fenton.

Missouri S&T played McKendree, followed by Indiana (white) against Tulsa (blue). That’s Mike Roach (CBC 2007) scoring on the diving header for Indiana, which also featured Tommy Meyer and Will Bruin that evening.

ORU sophomore Vince Tizzone headed a cross from Josh Erickson into the net four minutes into the second half to give the Golden Eagles the 1-0 lead.

Just two minutes later, Drury’s Steve Wilczewski followed a blocked shot to score and tie the game at 1-1 where it finished.

Drury opens the season Saturday by hosting Columbia College in a 5 p.m. match at Harrison Stadium.

If you’re a Coach or would like to be, or want to learn more about the game, the annual Missouri “F” Coaching License clinic is being held at Lake Country Soccer this evening. 600 pm to 9:00 pm with the estimable Denny Vaninger providing the instruction.

Congratulations to the folks in Joplin, with the grand opening of the new Athletic Complex. The first phase brings Joplin 10 new, lighted tennis courts; four soccer fields that are able to accommodate players of all ages; and a baseball field suitable for high-school or college-level play. There also is a pro shop and concession stand with a patio and a maintenance barn.

College Home games this weekend:
Saturday Aug 30 at 5:00 pm - Drury hosts Columbia College
Saturday Aug 30 7:00 pm - Drury hosts Abeline Christian (W)
Sunday Aug 31 at 1:00 pm - MSU Women host Tulsa

The Missouri State Bears men’s team travels to Drake to open the regular season against Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Southern Illinois Edwardsville Cougars, last seen competing against Drury in the GLVC until their decision to go D1. SIU-E University has joined the Ohio Valley Conference which does not support Men’s soccer so we may yet see the Cougars in the Missouri Valley Conference. FYI - the Cougars lost to Bradley 1-4 this weekend.

The Missouri State Bear’s Women’s team travels to SEMO for a game Friday against the Ohio Valley Conference defending champions. They return Sunday for a home game against Tulsa.

The Drury Panthers Men face off against Oral Roberts University this evening while the Women travel to Texas A&M - Commerce for an official game on Thursday. Both return for their first regular season home games on Saturday (see above).

The Southwest Baptist Bearcats open the regular season at Oakland City University in Indiana on Thursday. They don’t play at home until September 20th although there will be road games at Rolla (9/2) and Joplin (MSSU on 9/13).

The Missouri Southern Lions travel to Tahlequah, OK this weekend. They will face Texas A&M on Friday and Truman State on Sunday. The Women are at Harding on Sunday.

The Missouri S&T Miners travel to Ashland and Tiffin (OH) for games Friday and Sunday. The Men and Women will play before they return home for games Wednesday September 3rd.

Keeper Jessie Sanderson, in addition to posting the shutout, picked up the assist on Little’s goal, while senior Melissa Perry had the assist on the tally by Williams.

The ORU defense only allowed four shots in the second half, and doubled Drury in shots by a 24-12 margin. Tara Lomas (Pitt Meadows, BC, Canada) led the Golden Eagles with seven shots, while Lorena Soto (Asuncion, Paraguay) added six.

Photo of GK Jessie Sanderson in defense provided by Mitch Cockrell.

Missouri State Bears - 2 (OT)
Oral Roberts University - 1
Kyle Windmueller scored the Bears only goal during regulation 16 minutes into the first period. The Bears defense held the lead until Oral Roberts’ Josh Erickson scored with 14 minutes remaining in the second period. The Bears responded seven minutes into the first overtime period with a Gerard Barbero goal that secured the victory for Missouri State.

Note: The Drury Panthers Men visit Oral Roberts for an exhibition game on Monday

I anticipate that this issue will be 48-64 pages and it will be available in print this time as well as a free download yet again. The printing service I’m using is a Print On Demand model and you’ll be able to order 1 or more copies and have them mailed directly to your home, along with your friends and extended family. I anticipate the price will be between $15-$20 per copy, depending on the final page count. I hope to reduce that in the future as more advertisers discover the quality of the magazine, but until then we’ll have to pay for this ourselves. Booster Clubs can save some money if they would like to do a bulk order. Contact me.

The cover stories will include an interview with Jose Florez, original Coach of the Kickapoo Chiefs. And did you know it’s the 25th Anniversary of High School soccer in Springfield? We’ll look at the beginnings of the game in the region and as many personal stories and photos as we can put our hands on. If you have any you would like to share, contact me please!

I’ll have interviews with the college Class of 2009, the men and women who are my first class (it’s my 4th year of coverage) and are in many ways the pioneers of the surge in college players we have seen regionally. It includes the five players pictured, from one of the first recruiting stories I did in May 2005. It will offer their unique perspective as they look back on their experiences and share them with your son and daughter who are involved in the recruiting process now.

I figure my competitor is busy preparing his football coverage right now, along with their daily barrage of requests that your AD and Coaches spend their time inputting schedules and rosters into their website so they can sell more advertising. Compare their photo coverage last Spring (I count 3 games and only 3 schools) to mine when you set your priority for reporting.

I’ve tried to make this a true Community site, which means I need your help. I’ve sent an email to the Coaches (whose address I have) requesting that they send me the Schedule as well as the Roster for the upcoming season. They are slowly coming in but deadlines fast approach for all of us. I have also requested a Fall Season preview that I can use for the Magazine, along with school logos. The Boosters can make a big difference by handling the Schedule, Roster and Logo requests. Reach out and see what you can do to ensure your boys and their teammates get the recognition they deserve.

The Men’s Semifinal games are tomorrow. Nigeria vs Belgium at 8:00 am while Argentina vs Brazil at 5:00 am. The Bronze medal game will be played Friday at 6:00 am it looks like while the Gold Medal game will be at 10:00 pm Friday night. Sounds like a good reason to hang out in Coester’s again. Who’s interested in joining me for that one?

Continuing on the International front, the US Men renew their World Cup 2010 qualification effort with a game on Wednesday evening in Guatemala. The game is being broadcast live on ESPN2 at 9:00 pm. I will be at Coester’s, come out and join me.

There are a pair of Missouri State Women’s games this weekend to enjoy. The Bear’s open their regular season with a pair of opponents from Arkansas. Friday evening at 7:00 pm the Arkansas Razorbacks visit Plaster. Watch for #10 Kelly O’Connor, a Bentonville grad who played in the Kickapoo Shootout a couple of times. Sunday afternoon at 1:00 pm the Arkansas-Little Rock Trojanssquad is the opponent.

Just an FYI - the Men have games in Des Moines at the end of August but won’t play at home until Sep 5-6.

UPDATE - another unlisted Drury game has hit my radar. Southwest Baptist is hosting the Lady Panthers on Wednesday this week at 4:00 pm. It should be an excellent match, with the Bearcats reaching the MIAA Final last year . I’m going to have to scramble on this one…

By the way, Drury hasn’t only recruited a player in Hillary Cockrell, they also got a photographer. Her father Mitch is an accomplished soccer photographer as you can see here in his shots of the Men’s game on Saturday. He makes his photos available for free (I’m going to have to chat with him about that one)

I caught the second goal, scored by new signee Kevin Aubuchon, which created strong buzz from his teammates on the sideline. The Lions signed 11 players for the upcoming season, including Stuart Ziegler from West Plains who will provide two-way support from his wide midfield position. Junior Ben Pantzlaff and senior Austin Whiles look to lead the charge from midfield while freshman Lawrence Lartey should see time at forward with Nate Evans (Cassville) and Jesse Clevenger (College Heights) while sophomore Eddie Mulholland (Jeff City) was orchestrating things from the backline.

The Roughriders have a slate of 18 games scheduled, playing against all of the Junior College programs in the state. Their region includes Meramec, Flo Valley (my alma mater and former national champions), East Central, Blue River, Jefferson (2006 Champions) and Maple Woods. With a roster that includes 11 players from Southwest Missouri, 7 from Northwest Arkansas and internationals from Scotland, England and Brazil, I am looking forward to Coach Brad Smith’s ability to blend the talent and cultures that are represented. After seeing Meramec last year in the Regional playoffs, I think they have a chance to surprise some folks this year. There are a few photos from the game available on my Flickr and Smugmug sites as always.

This year’s squad, looking to extend the program’s run of national tournament appearances to six, will work around the defense.

A quintet, featuring senior Robert Acosta of Tucson, Ariz.; junior Matt Haager of Bettendorf; and sophomores Luke Prater of Springfield, Mo., and Kyle McKenna of Davenport each played 20-or-more matches last fall. They’re part of the recent success by Knights’ defenses, allowing 15 goals or less in each of the last two years. McKenna and Prater each gained postseason awards by being placed on the All-Iowa Conference second team.

The photo is from State Cup 2007, one of Luke’s fierce looks!