Dave Emnett, Drury Panthers (2011)
The Crowder Roughriders are an NJCAA squad based in Neosho that draws international players as well as a core of regional players. It includes sophomores Bryce Collier (Hillcrest) and Trevor Pedigo (Kickapoo) on this years roster.
The first home game of the season isn’t until September 17th when independent Truman State comes to town for an 11am Friday game.
2010 Thunderdome InvitationGentlemen: Crowder College is proud to present Thunderdome XXVIII on Friday February 19, Saturday February 20 and Sunday February 21, 2010 in the Bob Sneller Gymnasium. Thunderdome is the longest running indoor tournament in the country and follows a modified Futsal format. It is an open tournament. Teams are organized into groups of four and guaranteed three matches. The top two teams from each group advance to a single elimination knock-out tournament.
Teams will be accepted on a first come/first served basis. The first 16 teams will be included – teams will be accepted in groups of four after that. The absolute deadline for registration is February 5, 2010. The cost per team is $225 which includes 10 Tournament T’shirts for each team. Payment must be received prior to your team being included in the Draw.
Each player will be required to sign a waiver before their team’s first match and rosters will be frozen at that time. Play is conducted with four field players and a goalkeeper. The roster may include up to 10 people. No one is allowed to play for more than one team.
The Draw, Schedule, Rules and Guidelines will be sent to those that choose to participate by Friday February 12, 2010. Please join us for a wonderful weekend of futsal and jocularity. If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Download the Thunderdome Invitation
Brad Smith
Tournament Director
Crowder College
601 Laclede
Neosho, MO 64850
417-455-5443
From the Neosho Daily News:
After getting a belated start on recruiting last year, Crowder College soccer coach Brad Smith had specific goals when he was recruiting players this year – he wanted to get faster.
“I thought we were slow and we were not able to score much last year,” Smith said. “I wanted to improve in those areas. We return everybody pretty much, so the goal was to find people that will help make us better and deeper.”
Crowder was 6-10-3 in its inaugural season and returns 16 players, including most of the starters.
The new group of Roughriders includes: forwards Bryce Collier of Springfield Hillcrest (pictured above signing with Coach Smith back right) and Harrisonville’s Jeremy Savage; a bunch of midfielders in Ben Ballhorn of Springfield Hillcrest (pictured in orange at right with Collier), Lebanon’s Grant Bollig, George Fuente of University High in Waco, Texas, Josh Jesperson of Neosho, Logan Landis from Carl Junction and Neosho’s Aaron Tracy.
The defenders signed include Javier Albarran of Rogers, Ark., Trevor Pedigo of Springfield Kickapoo, Neosho’s Austin Williams and Irvin Sosa of Fayetteville, Ark.
Smith noted he expects to sign a couple more players as well.
“We have kids we think are good and our speed should be better,” Smith said. “We need to figure out how to play together. We added numbers in different places and I think we should be better.”
For some background, Bryce Collier, Grant Bollig and Trevor Pedigo are teammates on the Springfield SC 90/91 team that are two-time defending state champions in Missouri. Both Collier and Bollig have played in the forward position as well as outside midfielder for SSC while Pedigo has played outside midfield and defense.
Bollig and Collier are also Southwest All-Stars for 2009. The game will be played Monday June 15th this year.
This fall Austin Dowling will be providing weekly updates from Great Bend, KS as he follows the Barton County CC men’s soccer team in their pursuit of a NJCAA soccer title.
Why Barton County? The Cougars feature five players who played for the the Springfield Demize this past summer: GK Donovan Dowling, defender Ous Senghore, midfielders James Neighbour and Oscar Narvaez, and forward Kyle Dubay.
In addition to an inside look at the Cougars (Austin’s brother Donovan is the goalkeeper) I’m also looking forward to learning more about Junior College soccer. Take it away Austin!
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Barton County CC is the reigning Region 6 conference and Tournament champions, coming within one game of the 8 team national championship field. Coming off of a 19-4 record and a Top 15 finish, expectations are high for this team. The Cougars are comprised of a nice mix of players for Australia, England, Brazil, and the states combining many different styles of play. A talented freshman class, combined with 9 returning sophomore starters, coupled with two late Division 1 transfers (Kyle and Ous) makes Barton an instant national contender.
Barton opened up the year as #13 in the preseason rankings, and started their season with arguably the most difficult schedule in the country. Saturday August 23, the Cougars knocked off Western Nebraska 5-0 as five different Cougars scored, including Oscar Narvaez who notched a goal and an assist in the contest.
This past weekend, Barton started their season in the Missouri Junior College Invitational in St. Louis by beating #14 St. Louis CC – Meramec 2-0. Kyle Dubay scored the late insurance goal for Barton, helping to secure the victory. On Saturday, Barton defeated #5 Jefferson College (MO – 2006 National Champions) 2-1 in a very physical exciting match. The Cougars went up 2-0 before conceding a goal in the 70th minute, only to then hold on for the victory. Sunday, Barton defeated #6 Illinois Central out of Peoria, Illinois by a count of 3-0.
My motivation to start this blog comes from my two years at Johnson County Community College, also a part of the Jayhawk Conference, where we reached the National Junior College Championships in 200x and 200y. My brother Donovan is the goalkeeper for the Cougars, so I am rooting for this team to go far. But I also think this team is the real deal. They knock the ball very well and out possess their opponents forcing them to chase. In all four games they had a clear advantage in shots and kept the pressure on the opposing team’s defense. Barton’s defense led by Senghore at center back, Neighbour at holding midfielder, and Dowling in goal give up limited chances and has the ability to attack out of the back.
Over the course of this fall I will be offering background information on the NJCAA as a whole compared to the NCAA and NAIA, and who are the traditional powers in the past as well as who’s creating buzz this year. Up next for Barton is a pair of games in Garden City Kansas against Lincoln College out of Illinois and Blue River CC out of Independence Missouri. Also, look for the Cougars to rise quick in the national rankings, perhaps into the top five after such an impressive weekend.
Austin Dowling
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From the Neosho Daily News some local NJCAA news:
Playing Region XVI foe Jefferson County College, Crowder lost 4-0. The JC Vikings scored two goals in each half to pull out the victory over the Roughriders. Jefferson is now 4-2 overall and won its Region XVI opener. Crowder fell to 0-3-1 and is 0-1-1 in Region XVI play.
The Missouri Southern Lions played host to their new neighbor, the Crowder College Roughriders, on Friday night with an exhibition soccer game played on the artificial surface at the football stadium. The score, 2-0 for the Lions, reflected the difference between the programs with the Junior College team visiting a Division 2 school. It was a competitive game, with goals scored in both periods by the Lions as they were able to limit the number of real opportunities the Roughriders could generate.
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.
From the Neosho Daily News, Cody Thorn has the news
New soccer coach knows how to start new programs
In his course of being a head coach on the soccer pitch for 33 years, Brad Smith has started three different programs from the ground up. He will get a chance to help complete the construction of the Crowder College soccer program next, as he was recently hired as the school’s second head coach.
Smith is currently the head coach at Brescia University in Owensboro, Ky., where he will exit next week and start the new job at Crowder in July.
Crowder will open its season on August 15 with a scrimmage against Missouri Southern. The team will include Hector Valenzuela (Cassville), David Valenciano (Monett), Ryan Toombs (Bolivar), Justin Rogers (Glendale) and Preston Bates (Kickapoo) on it’s first year roster.
PRESS RELEASE
It was a big day for Coach Roel Quiroz, Crowder College and five young men. They are the first to sign letters of intent to play on the Crowder College Roughrider Soccer team. Soccer will begin this fall at Crowder College.
The five players will play important roles in the foundation of the team. “They all bring the attitude and experience I am looking for in our soccer team” states Coach Quiroz.
Crowder College Signees The players signing letters of intent left to right are: Hector Valenzuela, Cassville HS (mid-fielder), David Valenciano, Monett HS (Forward), Fabian Pina, Rogers HS (Defense), Emilio Trujillo, Berryville, HS (Mid-Fielder), and Sony Reyes, University HS-Waco, TX (Defense)
All the players were captains their senior year at their respective high schools. Both Trujillo and Pina received All-State honors in Arkansas.
Beginning with the 2008-2009 school year the Men’s Soccer Team will play a 20 game schedule in the fall and have two scrimmages in the spring. Though Crowder College will not be in a conference, the Roughriders will play a tough NJCAA-Division I schedule, including teams from Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Note: Hector played in the 2007 Southwest All-Star game. Hat tip to the Cassville Democrat.
