Sports recap: looking back at a brilliant weekend for our Pioneers

Danielle Oberlander ‘21 takes a swing at the Wartburg College Invitational this past weekend where the team placed ninth. Photo contributed by Ted Schultz

By Ezra Pine [email protected]

Volleyball

This past weekend, the undefeated volleyball team faced their biggest challenge yet, taking on Carleton College, , and Luther College in the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) Tournament. In the first game against Carleton on Friday night, the Pioneers dropped the first set 19–25, but stormed back and won the next three sets 25–15, 25–19, 25–18.

Later that night, though, the team had perhaps their biggest game of the season when they took on Cornell. They had lost to Cornell in every match for the past 18 years, and were hungry to put an end to that drought. They won a close first set 25–22, then took the next two sets 25–20, 25–17 to win the game and end the drought.

On Saturday, the Pioneers beat Luther in three sets (25–19, 26–24, 25–18) to win the tournament. Kaylin Kuhn ’21 won MWC Offensive Performer of the Week for her breakout performance, averaging 5.33 kills per set over the weekend. The team, now 8–0, returns to action on Thursday night, when they play Simpson College at home.

Football

The football team put up a good fight against on Saturday, but ended up losing 28–0 in their first game of the season. Grinnell drove deep into Lawrence territory twice in the first half, but failed to capitalize on either of their opportunities.

“I think that the score didn’t really reflect how well we did. Compared to last year, we really developed a running game, which is something that we were definitely missing out on last year,” said Daniel Carter ’22, the team’s running back. Carter was one of the few bright spots for the Pioneer offense on Saturday, as he rushed for 119 yards on 29 attempts.

On defense, defensive back Marco Kamimura ’21 led the way with 10 tackles, and defensive backs Jelani McCray ’21 and Bryce Tanikawa ’23 contributed eight tackles each. The Pioneers will look to get into the win column when they travel to face Lake Forest College on Saturday.

Women’s Golf

The women’s golf team placed ninth out of 17 teams at the Wartburg College Invitational this past weekend. Nina Kouchi ’22 led the charge for the team, posting a two-day total score of 146 (two-over-par), that put her in sixth place out of the 107-golfer field.

“Last year, as a first year, Nina was a second-team All- American,” Coach Dave Arseneault Jr. said. “This year, she’s off to a tremendous start. What she’s done, and how she’s developed to take her game to the next level, has been really impressive.”

Besides Kouchi, Danielle Oberlander ’21 finished in 12th place after posting an impressive two-day score of 151 (seven-over- par), and Julia Echikson ’20 finished in 17th place with a score of 152 (eight-over-par). The women’s golf team will be returning to action this Saturday where they’ll compete in the Illinois Wesleyan invitational.

Women’s Tennis

The women’s tennis team kicked off conference play this past weekend, making a big statement to the rest of the MWC. They hosted Lawrence and St. Norbert College on Saturday, and Ripon College on Sunday. All three matches ended with the same result — a 9–0 sweep in the Pioneers’ favor.

Abby Nielson ’21 and Sabrina Tang ’23 dominated in particular, as they each won five matches (singles and doubles) throughout the weekend. As a whole, the team has won 31 of its last 32 MWC matches dating back to 2015.

The team next plays on Saturday at home against Beloit College and Lake Forest.

Women’s Soccer

The women’s soccer team played two games this weekend — one against Buena Vista University on Saturday, and another against Carleton on Sunday.

The Pioneers dominated Buena Vista for the majority of the game, outshooting them by a 38–0 margin. Samantha Reid ’23 scored twice to notch her first two collegiate goals, and five other players each scored one goal in a 7–0 shutout victory. “It was so fun against Buena Vista to see us get a lot of people in and figure out different ways we were going to score goals,” said Coach Kirsten Koester.

On Sunday, the Pioneers couldn’t quite match Carleton’s firepower, and were outshot 30–9. They fell behind 2–0 at the half, and Carleton kept their foot on the gas the whole way through. Though they suffered a tough 5–1 loss, one positive from the game was a goal scored by Crys Moosman ’21 in the 87th minute—their first goal as a Pioneer.

Looking ahead, the team goes on the road to play Bethany Lutheran University on Saturday.

Men’s Soccer

Like the women’s soccer team, the men’s team faced Buena Vista on Saturday and Carleton on Sunday.

Against Buena Vista, they gave up two goals in the first twenty minutes. From there, they scored seven straight goals, bolstered by a hat trick from Henry Cladouhos ’22. The Pioneers won 7–3.

On Sunday the Pioneers faced Carleton, a team close to being nationally ranked. The majority of the game was evenly matched, as the defense limited a Carleton attack. However, in the 89th minute, the Pioneers let one slip through, and suffered a 1–0 loss. Men’s soccer takes on new season with win against Coe College

By Ezra Pine [email protected]

This past Friday, the men’s soccer team played their first game of the semester against Coe College. Despite having significantly outshot Coe throughout the game, the Pioneers were down 1–0 in the 85th minute, and desperate for a goal. Enter forward Ray Goedeker ’22. Goedeker received a corner kick from forward Davis Provost ’23, and hammered it into the back of the net to tie the game and force overtime. Three minutes into overtime Goedeker delivered the final blow with a goal off a perfect cross from forward Mikoto Kobayashi ’20.

“We knew we needed to start the season with a win,” Goedeker said. “We were all extremely relieved when the goal was scored, and everyone was so hyped up. It gives us a ton of momentum going forward.” Goedeker’s goals earned him MWC Men’s Soccer Offensive Performer of the Week.

The victory was a much needed boost for the team as they are looking to improve upon last year’s performance. In 2018, they finished 8–7 (5–4 in conference), and missed out on making the MWC Tournament by only three points. This year the team is hoping that experience will help push them to the next level.

“We have a really strong senior class this year. A lot of us are getting really significant minutes all around the field, and helping lead the way,” Captain Thomas Pflipson ’20 said. Last year, the Pioneers significantly lacked veteran leadership, as they only had two seniors. This year, the team has seven seniors all benefiting from having an extra year of experience under their belt. Additionally, the teams has 12 first-years on the roster, many of whom are already making a big impact on the team.

“All of the first-years on our team are stepping up big time. Nate [Girard] played the entire first game at center back, Davis [Provost] made some great plays, Noah [Guyton] too. We have a great class of first-years who, since the start of preseason, have meshed together really well,” Goedeker said.

Perhaps one of the most intriguing storylines to watch for the men’s soccer team comes from forward Jasper Yang ’21. In the 2018 season, Yang put together one of the most impressive stat lines in school history. He ranked third in the in goals scored (12) and points per game (1.73), and led all of Division III in shot accuracy at 70.7 percent. Yang’s individual accomplishments earned him a spot on the All-MWC first-team.

Most importantly, if the team wants any shot at competing for a MWC Championship, they recognize that the defense is going to have to lead the way. “In order for us to win the MWC, it starts with defense. It’s something we have put an emphasis on this year,” assistant coach Rockne Decostre ’15 said. “Last year, we were a good team but not a great team because our defense just let in some goals that really shouldn’t be let in at this level. I think it’s something that our guys are starting to understand and get better at. If we improve on our defense, we have enough good offensive talent that we’re going to be able to score goals.”

The Pioneers defense will be put to the test this weekend when they face Buena Vista University on Saturday, and Carleton College on Sunday. Carleton won their conference last year, and made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament—a position the Pioneers hope they can be in by the end of the season.

The team is currently focusing on building up towards conference play, where their goal of winning a conference championship will be put to the test. “The top teams in our conference, like Lake Forest, St. Norbert, and Knox, are really scrappy, so we’re going to need to rise to that level if we want to win our conference,” Pflipson said.

The men’s soccer team celebrates their first victory of the year against Coe College after narrowly winning the match 2-1.

Soccer wins MWC, to play in NCAA tourney

Grinnell’s Men’s Soccer team made history—in the realm of Grinnell, but history nonetheless—this past weekend. With their Midwest Conference Tournament victory last weekend, the Pioneers were nominated for their first NCAA Division III National Tournament this weekend. In years past, the team has won the Midwest Conference, but a recent policy change gives an automatic bid to the winner of the Midwest Conference to go to the NCAA Division III National Tournament. The heightened stakes resulted in higher quality competition—every game in the tournament went to penalty kicks. “It was a ridiculous weekend—all the semi-finals in the tournament and the final went to a shootout,” said Senior Captain and defender JP Prouty ’10. “We just happened to be a clutch team in both shootouts. In the semi-final, it was the kickers who won it for us. We made all seven of our PKs. In the final, it was our goalie [Ben Schemper ’11] who made some big plays.” In the semi-final match, the second seeded Grinnell Pioneers played third seeded St. Norbert College. At the end of regulation, the teams were tied 0-0, but Grinnell won 7-6 in the shootouts. In the second game, the Pioneers rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the first 10 minutes against Beloit College to tie the game with two goals from Mark Rosenberg ’10. Fourth-seeded Beloit beat top seed and in-season conference champion Carroll University to make the tournament finals. In the shootouts, Grinnell won 3-2. During the regular season, Grinnell beat St. Norbert 3-1 on Oct. 11 and tied Beloit 2-2. Grinnell lost to Carroll in their only conference loss this season. “It’s surreal for me,” Midfielder Reed Caron ’13 said. “I never thought we would get this far. It’s a really great achievement.” With the MWC tournament now behind them, the team will be gearing up to play their first round in the NCAA against Macalester on Saturday in Dubuque, IA at Loras College. In the regular season, they fell to Macalester 3-2 on Sept. 26. If the Pioneers win that game, they will play the winner of the Loras-Webster University game at 6 p.m. Sunday. If the Pioneers win both of these games this weekend, the team will compete in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. “We’re expecting Loras to win that game. They’re number three in the nation, but we’ve scrimmaged them before the season and every year, we’ve hung with them,” said Prouty. “It was not a blowout so it should be a good game.” Through the work of several individuals and groups on campus, the College will be sponsoring a fan bus to the game on Saturday that departs the PEC at 3:00 p.m. They expect to arrive back on campus at 1:00 a.m. The cost of the trip is $5. Reservations can be made for the bus ride until 2:00 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13 by emailing [baumgart]. If students cannot make the trip, they’re encouraged to watch the game on the big screen in JRC 101 at 8:00 p.m.

Men’s Soccer clinches spot in MWC Tournament by Max Calenberg The Men’s Soccer team secured their place in the Midwest Conference (MWC) Tournament, with a victory against Lake Forest College this past Saturday. Following their win, the Pioneers lost 3-4 to non-conference opponent Wartburg College on Wednesday at home. The team was down 1-3 with two minutes left and managed to score two goals to send the game to overtime. But Wartburg sealed their victory with a penalty kick. Despite the loss, midfielder Matti Sahel ’11 was proud of how his team played. “This game should be a good building block for us before we enter the MWC tournament,” Sahel said in an email. “Wartburg is a regionally ranked team, and scoring three goals against them was a big positive for us. That’s what kept us in the game and that’s what is going to help us win the conference tournament.” In order to reach the MWC Tournament for a fourth consecutive year, the Pioneers had to beat the Foresters while dealing with injuries, suspension and an untested goal keeper. After starter Ben Schemper ’11 was forced to sit out due to a red card in a previous game against Ripon, and back-up with Greg Fox ’12 suffering a hip injury, team manager Nate Hoch ’11 suited up to defend the net. Hoch allowed one goal and grabbed seven saves. His performance, when coupled with a duo of goals by Justin Koester ’10 and an additional score by Andrew Stephenson ’10, led to a 3-1 win. Fox was incredibly impressed by Hoch’s game, but not surprised, especially considering the game field’s conditions. “He is very good at getting balls on the ground, that’s one of his strongest points,” said Fox. “Fortunately, that field was really wet so nobody was hitting great shots, a lot of the shots were right on the ground, so that played right into our hands.” Suffering from a slow start this season, the squad has improved significantly as the season progressed, finishing third in the regular season MWC standings. Team Captain and defender J.P. Prouty ’10 has seen this team come further than any from his years with the Pioneers. “This team has definitely grown the most out of any team [I have been on at Grinnell]. We started out the year as a fractioned team—we weren’t working as a whole,” Prouty said. “Throughout the season we’ve definitely figured out how to play with each other.” Greg Fox attributes a lot of the squad’s development to team Captain Andrew Stephenson’s actions in a midseason game against St. Nobert in which the Pioneers won 3-1. “We couldn’t really score goals at the beginning of the season, but against St. Norbert, [Stephenson] had the best on- the-field leadership—just through play, without yelling and screaming at people, strictly leading by example—I’ve ever seen,” Fox said. “I really think he got us going.” The numbers show a change too, as the Pioneers have scored 10 goals in their past four games while they only managed 14 goals in their first 12 matches. With the turnaround, the Pioneers have clinched a MWC Tournament berth and a first round match against St. Norbert next weekend. The Grinnell Men’s Soccer team will end their regular season against at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow at home on Springer Field. With the MWC Tournament clinched though, Head Coach Brian Jaworski wants his team to play like it. “[Jawowrski] is a game-by-game guy, but he’s told us to keep the Conference Tournament in the back of our heads,” Sahel said. “That is what we really want.” After two losses, Men’s Soccer on the offensive

Goalkeeper Ben Schemper '11 anticipates and leaps towards a shot on goal during practice on Wednesday, September 30th. Cait De Mott Grady/The Scarlet and Black

With two harsh home-field losses to Macalester College and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville this past weekend, the Grinnell Men’s Soccer Team (4-5) is learning from their mistakes, trying out a new system and getting ready for another two-game weekend with matches versus Beloit College at 4:00 p.m. Friday in Beloit, Wis. and a home game against at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Despite a 0-3 loss last Saturday, Grinnell played a hard- fought game—the Grinnell Pioneers only had one shot less on goal than the UW-Platteville Pioneers. “I thought we played well both games—there were no individual mistakes that happened,” Matti Sahel ’11 said. “We wanted it, but they capitalized on their goals so you can’t really blame it on anybody—we just didn’t get lucky as a team.” The Pioneers tried out a new system against UW-Platteville, a 3-4-3—comprising of three defenders, four midfielders and three forwards. This system allowed the Pioneers to have an aggressive offense, which they attribute to the offense’s continuous improvement. “In the beginning of the season our defense was really good and our offense was struggling a little bit, but now we’ve got both aspects of the team playing very well,” Captain Andrew Stephenson ’10 said. “This weekend should definitely show us a little about how we’ll do in conference play and we expect nothing less than two wins.” Last year, the Pioneers posted a 1-1 tie with Beloit and a 3-0 victory over Monmouth. With their offense in gear, the Pioneers can look forward to a consistenly strong defense, largely attributed to goalkeeper Ben Schemper ’11, to bring two wins to their 1-0 conference record. “Schemper has been playing phenomenally,” Stephenson said. “He came into shape this year for the season and really has been better than he was in years past—and he was great even back then.” “He lets us play more offensively because it’s not a spot we have to worry about,” added Alex Kohut ’10. Schemper, who had nine saves in the UW-Platteville game, is confident going into the weekend. “I’ve been making saves that need to be made so I think that I’ve helped the team a lot,” Schemper said. “A lot of that comes from the atmosphere that our team has right now—it’s a really empowering atmosphere, everybody is really positive.” This positivity was not evident from the start—Stephenson cited that they came into the season considering themselves a skilled team, but after a few losses, the team united in a new, hardworking mindset. “I think we’ve definitely come together as a team, it took a lot of hard, close-fought losses, it took a lot of running, but we are now working for each other and that’s something that I really wanted to see,” Stephenson said. Ultimately, the men’s soccer team hopes their rekindled hard- working attitude and adjustments from prior losses will lead them to victory not only this weekend, but through the end of the season as well. “Last weekend we were putting sentences together at times, getting close to paragraphs. And if we can do that this weekend it’ll be a step forward,” Schemper said. “Then we can move on to maybe putting everybody on the same page. Once that takes place it’s going to be really hard for people to beat us.”