MUDDY HAPPY RETURNS

It wasn’t quite the way the Fighting Scots had pictured opening day at the new-constructed April Zorn Memorial Stadium – more than seven inches of rain in 24 hours meant a muddy, rain-soaked field for the football team’s home opener.

Despite the less-than-ideal conditions, the Scots rolled up 444 yards of offense on their way to a 47-2 win over Lawrence in the conference opener for both teams. So…coach Steve Bell has to be happy with his offense this week – right?

"I am other than the first quarter," laughed Bell of the opening 15 minutes that yielded just 44 yards. "It took a little time for the offensive skill guys to get adjusted to the conditions. Overall, you’ve got to be pleased when you put 47 points on the board."

Bell and his staff contemplated tweaking the offensive game plan, but when the heavy rains turned into intermittent rain, the Scots opted to stick with the original game plan.

"Once we saw how Alex (Tanney) and the receivers were handling the conditions, we were OK with the game plan," said Bell. "When we saw it wasn’t going to be a downpour the entire time, we decided we would just stay with what we were going to do."

"What we were going to do" led to 244 passing yards to nine different receivers on 24-of-36 passing with three touchdowns for Tanney who earned the Midwest Conference Offensive Player of the Week honor. You can credit the offensive line for a big portion of those stats.

The Scots offensive line kept Tanney protected for much of the game and opened some gaping holes for the running backs. Freshmen backs Noah Roseland and Caleb Pratt got their home debuts started in style – each scoring two TDs as the Scots ran for four scores.

"Noah did a nice job of handling the ball and not turning it over in sloppy conditions," said Bell. "I’d like to see him on a dry field."

While the two freshmen impressed Bell, he warned, nothing is certain in the backfield. The Scots have a plethora of capable backs and the Scots’ coach says they will be evaluated weekly to determine the starters for the upcoming game. Those evaluations may be a bit confusing, given the Scots’ success with multiple backs last week.

One of Bell’s goals was to improve the running game and produce a more balanced attack. The Scots were nearly 50-50 in that department, six backs pounded out 200 yards and nine receivers accounted for another 244 yards. Those kinds of numbers on a sloppy field might make some coaches feel the offense has clicked, but Bell isn’t one of those coaches.

"We can still make some improvements," he said. "We did run the ball better this week, but there are still things we can do better."

Defensively, the Scots may not be able to do much better. They allowed just 82 yards for the Vikings and didn’t give up any points.

"The safety is on me," said Bell of the fumble in the Scots endzone that gave the Vikings their only score. "I told our defense they can yell at me for that one. But, if not for the fumble, the opening was there and we would have had a huge gain."

If the defense decides to take Bell up on his offer, they can remind him of their current string of six consecutive scoreless quarters.

"The defense really sucked it up and didn’t let Lawrence even get close to scoring," praised Bell. "Other than the safety, Lawrence really wasn’t given any opportunity to score. We had a solid team effort from all the guys on the defensive side."

Dan Weiden collected eight tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss and a pass interception. Kyle Harmon picked off a pass and Sean Wells nearly had a pair of picks, but settled for breaking up two passes. T.C. Olsen equaled Weiden’s eight tackles and added 2.5 tackles for loss.

"It was really just a solid team defensive effort," said Bell. "We talk about getting 11 guys on the ball on every play. It doesn’t always happen, but we strive for that."

Kyle Tuor got plenty of practice kicking off. The junior averaged over 50 yards on his nine kickoffs. Freshman punter Shane Reschke put two of his five punts inside the 20 as both kickers received the coach’s praise.

"Kyle did a very nice job on kickoffs for us," claimed Bell. "Shane made some nice punts and did a terrific job of pulling down some high snaps because of the conditions."

Monmouth will face a tough test this weekend at Beloit. The Buccaneers fell 10-0 to Carroll in the conference opener last week for both teams.

Beloit trailed 3-0 for most of the game and held Carroll – picked as one of the top teams in the league – in check until a rash of turnovers midway through the second half gave the Pioneers enough opportunities on a short field to punch in the game’s only touchdown.

"Beloit has a very experienced group," said Bell. "They’ve played a lot of younger guys in previous years and now those guys are veteran juniors and seniors. They’re definitely going to be a formidable opponent. No doubt about it."

The Bucs are combining those upperclassmen with younger players to present a multitude of challenges for Bell’s squad. The Scots will have to prepare for a varied offensive attack from the Buccaneers, who are averaging more than 200 yards per game this season. They’re led by sophomore quarterback Matt Davis. He has connected on 45 percent of his passes. Another underclassman, freshman Terrance Steward, leads the ground game with 39 carries through two games for 145 yards.

Beloit’s 4-3 defense has steadily improved in the first two weeks. Sophomore linebackers Tony Baratti and Valde Raizys, sophomore defensive lineman Eric Ritts and freshman defensive back Vince Salucci anchor that unit and have combined for more than half the team’s tackles. The Bucs have also picked off three passes.

The Scots know each game in the MWC is crucial if they want to advance to the NCAA post-season for the second time. The Midwest Conference isn’t a league liable to gain an at-large berth come November, so a 9-0 or 8-1 league mark would be the best bet to advance.

With the lofty goal of making the post-season, Bell’s offensive and defensive strategies for Saturday’s matchup are simple: "We just have to make sure we’re in position to make our plays."

RAINING GOALS

Last weekend’s heavy rains caused by Hurricane Ike didn’t stop the Fighting Scots from storming to a 2-0-1 week.

The weekend ended Sunday with a 2-1 win over Coe at Peacock Park. Sarah Kisner and Becca Baur, who each scored goals in a 4-0 win over Central the day before, collected both Scots’ goals Sunday. Kisner’s go-ahead goal in the 65th minute was greeted by a Kohawks goal less than a minute later. That set up Baur’s game-winning score 10 minutes later with an assist from Lauren Vana to top off a successful three game stretch.

"It didn’t come easy," said coach Barry McNamara of Sunday’s win. "We played HARD for 90 minutes. Everybody played well. We would have liked to have played more people Sunday, but we looked around and said ‘Who should we take out?’ They were all playing great."

The "complete" win looked for a moment like it might be another case of playing well, but coming up with a loss or a tie.

"We finally had a result that matched the effort," said McNamara. "We’ve played well before, this season, only to come out with an overtime tie or loss."

Saturday’s lopsided win over Central allowed the Scots to use plenty of personnel and rest players on the double-header weekend. McNamara partially credits that factor as a reason for Sunday’s win.

"We were able to rest a lot of kids Saturday," reported McNamara. "No one had to play the full 90 minutes, so we were fresher than you might expect. We’re also getting healthy and that’s helping our depth. Plus we were back on our home turf and the win Saturday got their confidence up. It was a combination of a lot of things."

The team effort win began in the defensive end with Brittany Parker, Whitney Ott, Hillary Broms and Vana stopping most of the Coe attacks. Vana, who may have had her best performance of the year picked up two assists in the week’s three games. Midfielders Baur and Kisner supplied the scoring punch and McNamara reports all 15 players who saw action contributed to the solid team effort.

Prior to the Saturday-Sunday wins, the Scots found themselves on the ropes Thursday against Hannibal-LaGrange. The game had been pushed back a day due to heavy rain in the Hannibal, Mo., area. Less than eight hours before the game was to start Thursday afternoon, additional rain forced the game to be moved to Monmouth, and that was just fine with the Scots – no travel time and less class time missed, not to mention home field advantage.

That home field advantage apparently paid off. HLG took an early lead in the game’s 11th minute and it looked like the Scots would have another loss after a solid effort. With just two minutes left in the game, the Scots’ Kelly Russell ignited the home crowd with a sweet pass to Vana who in turn dished to Broms to set up Niki Sue Williams’ game-tying goal.

"We pulled a defender late in the game so we could put in an extra attacker," explained McNamara. "We were in that alignment for the last 10 or 12 minutes. NIki Sue did a great job. It’s easy to get flustered when it’s just you and the goalie, but she stayed calm and took a couple extra dribbles to get a better shot. She did what she needed to do."

The Scots hope to ride their momentum into this weekend’s game at Dubuque as they prep for their conference opener the 28th against Grinnell.

SHORT AND SWEET

Kerry Frantz’ women’s tennis team made quick work of a short-handed Illinois College squad Monday and posted an 8-1 win to open Midwest Conference play.

"We played well as a team," said Frantz. "Our only disappointment was a loss at No. 1 singles, but those two (MC’s Cassie Frantz and IC’s Candy Norville) have split four matches against each other in their careers."

Brittany Donnelly was dominant, winning the No. 4 singles match without dropping a game. She then teamed with Frantz to cruise to an 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles. Frantz fell in her No. 1 singles match 5-7, 6-2, 10-5.

"Brittany and Cassie played very well in doubles," praised Frantz. "Brittany and Kimi (Wegner) had good, clean ground strokes in their singles wins. They were clearly the better players and sometimes opponents will sit back and let you make the mistakes, but those two played well and made no mistakes to pick up two points for us."

Wegner posted an easy 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 3 singles and teamed with Sarah McLinden to earn a hard-fought 8-6 win at No. 2 doubles. McLinden also earned a straight set win at No. 6 singles.

Kayla Seyller had the longest singles match of the day, winning in three sets at No. 5 singles by scores of 6-1, 5-7, 10-6.

"Amy has been playing soccer AND tennis at a high level this season," explained Frantz. "I felt she needed some time off and since it was a two hour trip down and two hours back, not to mention a three hour match, she and Maddy were able to get a few extra study hours in."

It’s not known if Ethington and Unzicker used the down time to study the books, or scout this weekend’s opponents, but maybe they did both. The Scots host Grinnell and Lake Forest Saturday in a crucial double dual that will define their season.

"This is our season Saturday," reported Frantz. "Grinnell isn’t quite as strong as in past years and I think they may be vulnerable. We’re a bit stronger, so I think we have a legitimate shot to compete."

"The past two years, Lake Forest has beaten us 5-4 to knock us out of tournament contention," lamented Frantz. "We feel they’re the team we need to beat this weekend."

If the Scots can pull off a sweep, they can plan to beat a path to the Midwest Conference Tournament in October.

READYING FOR BATTLE

The volleyball team viewed last weekend’s Beloit Buc’s Blast Tournament as a great way to ready themselves for the conference season which begins tomorrow at Glennie Gym.

What the Scots got was a 2-1 tournament record and matches that encompassed nearly every possible scenario. Monmouth handily defeated Finlandia 25-16, 25-18 and 25-12, then went four sets in a 25-18, 25-19, 13-25, 25-13 win over Wisconsin Lutheran before Cornell handed the Scots their only tournament loss in a 25-18, 21-25, 25-21, 18-25, 6-15 five-setter.

"I would have liked to have beaten Cornell again this time around," said Kari Shimmin of the Scots’ second match with the Rams within the span of four days. "They (Cornell) made a few errors the first time we played them, but didn’t have those mistakes this time."

"The format of the tournament was nice," said Shimmin of the one game Friday, two on Saturday invitational. "Friday’s match was kind of a warmup for the next two."

Seniors Samantha Robinson, Tanesha Hughes and sophomore Alyson Schroeter combined for 32 kills in Saturday’s opening match against Wisconsin Lutheran, despite some weather problems. High humidity levels in the Beloit gym due to the amount of precipitation created a slippery court Saturday.

"Because of the weather conditions, it was impossible to keep the floor dry," reported Shimmin. "We just couldn’t get enough traction to get in position a lot of the time, but everyone has to play on the same floor."

The slippery floor was even more apparent in the Cornell match when the Scots were unable to get enough traction to handle the Rams tips.

"We just couldn’t stop Cornell in the fifth set," reported Shimmin. "They came out aggressive and had great ball control. We just weren’t ready. I’m glad we went to five sets. That will prepare us for the conference competition."

Alisha Shadid turned in perhaps her most consistent performance of the year, setting for 56 of the Scots’ 125 kills. Alexis Keller added 45 assists in the 6-2 alignment.

Not to be lost in the shuffle, senior libero Crystal Myers collected her 2,000th dig with her first dig in the Cornell match (see story CAN YOU DIG IT? at the bottom of this week’s Scoop).

"Crystal has been an outstanding leader," praised Shimmin. "She’s proud of her digs and it’s nice to see someone playing a non-glamorous position get some accolades."

RUNNING (IN) AMUCK

Running on a wet course at the Bradley Open last Friday damped only their uniforms, not their sprits as the women’s and men’s cross country teams finished second and third, respectively in the college division of the Open.

In only their second meet of the year, Mary Kate Beyer placed second, running the undulating 5K course in 19:22, just 15 seconds behind the winner, Lewis University’s Kathryn Hague. Beyer’s time is currently second in the Midwest Conference. Katie Staab posted a 20:18 (sixth in the MWC) to finish 10th and rookie Taran Tang placed 22nd in 21:25. Jayme Ayers and Amy Aghababian each clocked 21:36 to place 27th and 28th. Whitney Dider’s 22:04 was good for 40th and Ashley Szabo was 14 seconds back in 47th. Sarah Ditzler rounded out the Scots’ women in 61st with a time of 22:54.

Monmouth’s men posted the league’s first, third and fourth fastest times. Brad Begyn led the men’s squad with an eighth place finish, running a 26:31. Scott Sheller and Clay Staley placed 16th and 17th in 27:30 and 27:31, respectively. A time of 28:54 put Matt Peharda 49th. Jonathan Welty clocked a 29:01 to place 53rd and Alan Rosiquez was 55th at 29:14. Geoff Bird, Craig Maher and Tim Bentz finished 60th, 64th and 71st, running within 30 seconds of each other.

The Scots are off until Sept. 27 when they compete at the Augustana Brissman-Lundeen Invitational.

BEHIND EVERY CLOUD...

The men’s soccer team can find a silver lining in a pair of losses last week.

"We had some stretches where we played exceptionally well," said coach George Perry of his team’s 5-0 loss at Central Saturday and a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Coe Sunday. "We corrected some defensive mistakes in the first half at Central and in the second half they (Central) really only had one scoring opportunity. Even with their top players in, we were able to defend better and possess the ball better in the second half."

The stats bear Perry out – the Scots allowed four of the five goals in the first half and allowed just eight shots (four on goal) in the second half. Owen Robinson posted 15 saves in the game. One dark cloud for the Scots came in the way of an ankle injury to junior midfielder Pat Blazer who has scored half the team’s goals.

"Pat was playing well until he rolled his ankle in a divot," reported Perry of the injury that sidelined one of his starters for Sunday’s matchup with the Kohawks.

The Scots could have used some scoring punch, although their Own Goal in the 24th minute Sunday gave Coe a 1-0 lead at halftime. Despite the miscue, Perry was still upbeat until the final minutes of the game when Coe scored two late goals just minutes apart.

"I wouldn’t say we played WELL in the first half," said Perry. "We didn’t feel like we were overmatched. The first 30 minutes of the second half we played extremely well. We closed down defensively, connected on our passes and we created some opportunities. They were able to capitalize on a mistake for their second goal and scored their third on a counter attack. I was really pleased with the way we played the majority of the second half."

The Scots mounted a couple of quick attacks in the final 45 minutes, but were unable to convert. Still, the Scots coach had praise for the team’s effort.

"Joe Howell did a really nice job in the first half and part of the second," praised Perry. "Owen did a very nice job coming out of the goal to shut down attacks and give them a very small goal to shoot at. Eddie Martinez played very well in the second half as did Lucas Knox."

The Scots play at Dubuque Saturday. The Duhawks sport a quick team, something that may actually help Perry’s squad who are at their best in an uptempo setting.

"We play better when we play one- to two-touch soccer," said Perry. "Dubuque will be similar to our conference teams, so we hope we can build on the good 35-40 minutes we had against Coe and continue that into this weekend and then into conference play."

The Scots open conference play at home next Wednesday with a 4:30 match against Grinnell. The Pioneers were picked third by the coaches in the pre-season poll.

TIME RUNNING OUT ON GOLF TEAM

There’s an old ad that says "It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature."

After last weekend’s UW-Whitewater women’s golf tournament was rained out, the Scots are thinking it’s not nice when Mother Nature fools with YOU.

"The tournament organizers tried to get Sunday’s round in," reported coach Molly McNamara after Saturday’s first round was washed out. "It was actually worse on Sunday and we only got a few holes in before the course was deemed unplayable."

That means with just two weekends until the Midwest Conference Meet, the Scots lost 36 holes of golf they’ll not be able to make up. McNamara’s team is doing their best to adjust, playing as many 9 hole practice rounds as class schedules will allow throughout the week.

McNamara’s task now is to get the team physically and mentally ready for the conference tournament which is a three-day, 54-hole marathon Oct. 3-5. The Scots face a tough field this weekend at the St. Ambrose Invitational. The Invite is played on two courses over the span of two days and includes NAIA and Division II teams.

"They’re anxious to play," said McNamara of her team. "We talked last weekend before the tournament was cancelled that we were going to be playing in the rain. No one complained. They were relaxed and ready to play no matter what. That showed a lot of maturity."

McNamara is hoping that maturity will translate into a league title, but cautions, she may have to rein the team in a little.

"We need to get them prepared for conference," said McNamara. "Our job now is to make sure they’re ready and not too excited."

After last weekend’s remnants of Hurricane Ike washed out 50-percent of their remaining regular season schedule, just being able to swing a club outdoors may be enough to excite the Scots.

STUFFING THE BALLOT BOX

No, this isn’t about the presidential campaigns and it’s not about voting for Homecoming royalty – it’s about getting Scots football coach Steve Bell more votes than any other Division III coach in the nation.

For the third consecutive year Liberty Mutual, in conjunction with the College Football Hall of Fame, is honoring a coach who demonstrates responsibility and excellence both on and off the field. Other criteria include the team’s win-loss record, contributions to the sports, and charitable and civic involvement as well as fan voting.

Fans may vote on-line at www.coachoftheyear.com. Unlike real elections, there is no penalty for stuffing the ballot box – it’s actually encouraged. Fans may vote once per day for the remainder of the season.

Now, let’s get out there and vote, people.

CAN YOU DIG IT?

This time warp brought to you courtesy of volleyball player Crystal Myers who reached a milestone not seen too often in these parts. The senior libero recorded her 2,000th dig in last Saturday’s match with Cornell at the Beloit tournament.

"I didn’t know anything about it until Ashley Yeast (’08) called to congratulate me," said Myers. "Coach (Kari Shimmin) just confirmed it at practice."

The libero, instituted by the NCAA in 2002, allows a player to be designated as a defensive specialist only and therefore cannot play in the front row. The libero can enter at any time for any position not in the front row, opening up the possibility for a shorter, quicker player to have a major impact on the outcome of the match. Over the course of her career, Myers has had an impact and has, by her own admission, become a smarter player.

"When I was younger, I just kind of reacted," said the career digs leader at Monmouth. "Now, I’m looking at the position of our blockers, their hand position and the attacker and her hand position to anticipate where the ball might come through if we don’t get the block. That’s a lot of stuff to analyze in a second."

Judging by the looks of her stats, she’s doing a pretty good job. While Myers didn’t have a specific number of digs in mind, she does have a goal she’s aiming for and finds inspiration in Shimmin’s record 41 digs in a three set match and career 3.7 digs per set average from her playing days.

"I’d like to break coach’s records," said Myers.

Breaking the coach’s records, huh? Now, where does Shimmin keep her disco collection?

Thurs., Sept. 18

Fri., Sept. 19

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