Soccer notes - 9/1

SOCCER: Women at College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Minn. – 3:30 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 4/Men – at Hamline, 4 p.m., Friday, Sept. 3 – Pat Paterson Field, St. Paul, Minn.; at St. John’s, 12 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 4 – Durenberger Field, Collegeville, Minn.

For the fans – Live statistics for Hamline game – www.go-knights.net

Weekend notes – The opening weekend of the 2010 season begins the Wartburg head coaching careers of Kirk Artist and Sara Johnson. Artist, who was the men’s head coach at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa prior to taking over the Knights’ duties, graduated from Wartburg in 2006. He served former head coach Jim Conlon as an assistant from 2006-08. Johnson, a Wheaton College of Illinois alum, was an assistant on the Knights’ women’s coaching staff from 2007-09. She took the program’s reins this summer. … The St. Benedict women’s and St. John’s men’s matches both went the way of the Knights last year in Waverly. Wartburg’s women blanked the Blazers 1-0, while the men defeated the Johnnies 3-2. … Wartburg’s men received ranking votes on the preseason Division III National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll. … The two programs were recognized on the Iowa Conference’s preseason coaches poll Tuesday, Aug. 31. Wartburg’s women’s squad was picked as the preseason favorite, receiving six first-place votes and 67 points. The men were picked second with one first-place vote and 63 points. … For the women’s program, starting on offense, Wartburg, which posted 48 goals a year ago, has six of its top seven scorers back. The returning all-Iowa Conference junior duo of forward Chelsea Frye of Waverly and midfielder Katy Wendt of Bettendorf proved to be one of the best around, combining for 12 goals (five of them game winners), nine assists and 33 points. The trio of senior forward Annie Fangman of Winthrop, senior midfielder Taylor Vermie of Cedar Rapids and sophomore forward Kaylee Benning of Waverly add to that cadre after scoring 18 goals and totaling 44 points between them last fall. On defense, Wartburg saw two familiar names graduate after last year when four-year players Logan Webb and Kari Krolikowski ended their careers. Johnson looks to work a possibly rock-solid group that includes the likes of junior defenders Jess Macauley and Mackenzie Moore of Cedar Rapids, a pair of two-year starters and all-Iowa Conference honorees, senior Kelsey Kovacevich of Urbandale, also a two-year starter, and sophomore Lindsey Boyke of Verona, Wis., who started a large share of matches as a freshman. Those returners were part of a backfield that surrendered only 10 goals last fall. … For the men, a run towards a possible eighth straight NCAA Division III national tournament appearance will be built around a strong offense and a young, but talented defense. The scoring weapons at Artist’s disposal are sophomore forward Brandon Cook of Bondurant, who posted 12 goals and six assists last fall; senior midfielder Luke Prater of Springfield, Mo., a returning all-Iowa Conference honoree, after continuing to make believers of his mid-career switch from defense to offense after scoring seven goals and dishing out five assists a year ago; senior midfielder Eric Peters of Bartlett, Ill., who totaled three goals as a junior; and senior midfielder Josh Palmer of Dubuque who scored two goals in 20 appearances last season among others. Leading the defensive group, which has been the Knights’ bailiwick in recent years, is senior Kyle McKenna of Davenport. He earned first team all-Iowa Conference honors during his junior campaign. Joining him will be a mix of returners, including the possibilities of seniors Corey Troast of Spring Hill, Kansas and Todd Meyer of Apple Valley, Minn. Artist also indicated there are a large number of first-year players in this area that are waiting to show what they can offer.

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