SOCCER HAWKS WIN SEVERAL AWARDS…

On Tuesday, May 6, the Mart Heinen Booster Club held its annual Student-Athlete Appreciation Dinner in the Hall of Fame Room. About 300 male and female athletes were present for the event. The Soccer Hawks came away with several honors during the course of the evening.

You probably heard before that the Soccer Team was recognized with the Sportsmanship Award among all male teams during the fall sports season. Last night, the trophy for that honor was formally presented in the presence of the whole athletic department.

Tri-Captain Mike DiSalvo was recognized with the Chi Alpha Sigma certificate for high academic achievement. Last week he was recognized for his successful role in the QU S.I.F.E. Team’s Regional Championship. S.I.F.E. (Students in Free Enterprise) won that competition in Dallas and are now preparing for National Competition.

Tri-Captain Branko “Bane” Isailovic was honored with the team’s HAWK AWARD that recognizes athletes who embody such characteristics as “team player”, “high academic achiever”, “role model”, as well as overcoming adversity to achieve success.

Of all the senior male athletes, Mike Colombo was selected for the St. Francis Award in Honor of Greg Haake. This award is presented to the athlete who best exemplifies the Franciscan values of Quincy University.

Seniors Brad Niemann, and Mike Colombo received commemorative plaques from the Mart Heinen Club as farewell gifts for the great careers they had wearing Hawk uniforms.

And finally, once again, for the 5th time in 6 years, the Men’s Soccer Team won the Athletic Director’s Trophy for the male athletic team on campus with the highest cumulative GPA!

It is indeed A GREAT TIME TO BE A HAWK. What makes it great is the terrific bunch of current HAWKS who are carrying on the traditions of the great alumni players who have gone before them. IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A HAWK…IT ALWAYS WAS…AND IT ALWAYS WILL BE.

Look for more news in the upcoming weeks.

SOCCER HAWKS COMPLETE SUCCESSFUL SPRING

On Sunday 5/5 the Soccer Hawks defeated the Metro United U17 Academy team 8-1. When the game was scheduled it was thought that at least some of the Metro Academy’s excellent U18’s would play. However, those players were given the day off. Only the younger Academy squad was used because their coaching staff wanted them to play against some really stiff competition. The Academy team came with some skillful players, however, they all needed to be two years older and pack on an additional 10 to 12 pounds of muscle. Though the score was lopsided, the younger players gave a good account of themselves. And, for the Hawks, even though they were not physically challenged, the game gave them another opportunity to fine-tune their offensive skills of passing, crossing and shooting. On the day, the Hawks moved the ball around very well, created numerous scoring chances, and produced some spectacular goals.

It took the Hawks 20 minutes to finally break down the younger squad. The opening goal came on a nice up-back-through passing combination with Mike DiSalvo and Jayme Groark providing the assist passes and Grant Ellison finishing off the sequence with a great goal.

Four minutes later, Justin Bower launched a driven corner kick that sailed past the far bar where it was met with a great put-back header by Corey Eatherton. Corey’s header sent the ball back across the 6 yard box about chest high and Bane Isailovic blasted it into the net with a full side volley.

Toward the end of the first half Jayme Groark picked up a loose ball and hit a great pass that split the opponent’s defense and found
Grant Ellison streaking in toward goal to finish off QU’s third score of the first half.

At half time the young Metro team got themselves together determined to step up their play in the second half. Right from kick-off they came out hard and caught the Hawks a bit off guard and stuck in their own end under one particular siege. During that siege the Hawks committed a foul near the penalty area. The re-start was a hard shot that rebounded off Hawk keeper Kyle Dillman right onto the foot of an Academy player who knocked in the opening goal of the second half making the score now 3-1 Hawks.

Re-awakened now, the Hawks got serious and surged back quickly. Justin Bower raced down the left sideline and hit a wicked cross that the Academy’s goal keeper dove to try to snatch, but it got away from him, and that rebound was blasted in by Jayme Groark who was racing in trying to get onto the end of Bower’ initial cross pass.

Soon after that, Justin Bower started another play on the left wing and his crossing pass found Jack Wedemeier in front of goal and Jack supplied the lethal finishing touch.

The Hawks sixth goal came when Jayme Groark out hustled a defender to a ball almost going out of bounds on the left sideline, won the ball blowing past the defender. Once free, Jayme played a nice pass into Jack Wedemeier in the middle if the field about 20 yards out from goal. As he received the ball, Jack, who could have tried for a go at goal himself, immediately passed to his right to a totally unmarked Corey Eatherton who came in on an angle and slide the ball into an open net.

The 7th goal came from a cross by Jack Wedemeier onto the foot of a sliding Abe Dirnberger who knocked it into the net.

Almost at the end of time the Hawks racked up their 8th score when Greg Schaeffer played a nice through ball to Jake Pittroff who had broken free of his marker. Jake collected Schaeffer’s pass, beat a defender, and then soloed in and beat the keeper 1 v 1.

The Spring Season is now concluded. The Hawks did a lot to build on the strong team that came together last fall. They finished the Spring competitions with a 4-0-1 record, scoring 17 goals and allowing only two. These games allowed both the defensive and attacking segments of the team to become better coordinated. It is understood that with the exception of the 1-1 tie with SIU-E the other Spring opponents were as not strong as those that will be faced come Fall. It was hoped that the Hawk Spring schedule would include more challenges such as SLU; WIU, Truman. However, those matches could not be worked out. Never-the–less, the Hawks accepted each opponent with respect and went out in each game to use it as an opportunity to build a strong team for Fall 2008.

GO HAWKS…

Merkel's Blast Seals the Deal

Dan Merkel’s blast from outside the penalty area with 15 minutes remaining “sealed the deal” in last Saturday’s match with the Scott-Gallagher U18’s. “Merk”, a hard-working reserve Hawk forward, picked up a loose ball at the top of the 18 and hit a screamer the SG keeper had no chance to save. The goal was “Merk’s” first for the Hawks and a great reward for all the effort he’s put out over the past three season. The play was nicely started by Jack Wedemeier gaining control of a loose ball in the Hawk end of the field and passing it to outside left midfielder Abe Dirnberger who carried the ball the ball forward a good 40 yards to make a centering pass back to Wedemeier racing down the middle (after his pass) to get himself in scoring position. As Dirnberger’s pass reached Wedemeier he and a SG defender collided and the ball ran free for Merkel to pick up and slot home.

The Hawks kicked off the first half with a lot of energy and were rewarded with a Grant Ellison goal after 15 minutes of play. The play started at midfield with Greg Schaeffer making a great long diagonal pass out behind SG’s left fullback into the open space that Hawk right fullback Tom Dawson was running into. Dawson collected the pass and beat a SG defender at the bye line and started dribbling in towards the goal. After a couple touches Dawson played a ground ball into Ellison’s path and he deflected it into the goal for QU’s opening score.

The score remained 1-0 until 8 minutes into the second half when Grant Ellison picked off a poor goal kick from the Gallaher goalie and drilled it into an open net for his second goal of the game and his 6th of the spring season.

Bane Isailovic scored the Hawk’s third goal of the day with a header at the far post coming off a well-flighted ball from Steve Miller who was taking the re-start free kick after a SG foul over near the left sideline.

All in all Saturday was a fine outing for the Hawks. Their next match is slated for Sunday, May 4th, against the Metro United Academy team from Edwardsville IL. Kick-off is 1:30 PM at QU’s North Campus Field.

GO HAWKS…

Soccer Hawks defeat Hannibal-LaGrange College 3-0

On a beautiful Tuesday night the Soccer Hawks defeated Hannibal-LaGrange College by the score of 3-0. Corey Eatherton got the Hawks on the scoreboard in just the second minute of the opening half by receiving a great diagonal pass from Grant Ellison and sliding it past HLG's goal keeper (who made several fine saves during the rest of the half). After this opening goal the Hawks played fairly well for about a ten minute stretch, and then sort of faded a bit (something that can’t for sure become a habit).

After the half-time interval the Hawks went out and picked up the level of their play and were rewarded with a goal 8 minutes from kick-off. Once again Grant Ellison was the provider, using his speed to get free on the right flank and then hitting another great diagonal pass to Justin Bower who had sped up the left sideline. Bower collected the pass outside the 18 and after two touches launched an excellent low line drive into the far right corner of the net.

Grant Ellison closed out the scoring with a goal at the 70th minute mark. Jack Wedemeier collected a loose ball around midfield, near the left sideline, looked up and saw Ellison sprinting between two defenders, and chipped a perfect pass into the space for Ellison to run onto. Grant collected the ball and after a couple of dribbles hit a bomb from the left side of the penalty area into the right hand side of the goal.

The closest Hannibal came to scoring was very late in the contest when a Hawk defender was charged with a penalty kick for flattening an HLG player streaking in on goal. However, the resulting spot kick went way over the top of the crossbar.

All in all, this was another good outing for the Hawks. The next game is Saturday 4/26 at Noon at the Scott-Gallagher Complex on the south part of Creve Coeur Mill Rd. in Maryland Heights.
The next Hawk home match is Sunday, May 4th at 1:30 PM with the Metro United Academy team.

FIRE UP QU, FIRE UP! IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A HAWK!

QU Hawks Tie SIU-E Cougars 1-1

On Saturday, April 19th, the Soccer Hawks and the SIU-E Cougars battled to a 1-1 tie at the Scott-Gallagher Soccer Complex in Maryland Heights, MO. Each team played well, and each had periods where one was pressuring more than the other. However, each squad only found the “back of the net” once, with both scores coming about midway through the first half. The Cougars got out in front at the 21 minute mark. However, their lead didn’t last long as Grant Ellison picked up a loose ball around the SIU-E penalty area and drilled in an equalizer just 2 minutes later. After that, most of the action was a battle of trying to create chances with most of the game being played between the 18 yard lines.

The Hawks next scheduled game is Tuesday, April 22 at 7 PM at QU’s North Campus Field. However, early weather forecasts are calling for quite a bit of rain Tuesday, so it’s possible that the game may be changed to another day so as not to tear up the playing surface on QU’s home field. IF…IF that game has to be changed every effort will be made to send out a blast e-mail as soon as possible to alert anyone who might be traveling to attend. If you are in doubt as to whether or not the game is “on” call my cell phone # 217-617-1166.

Speaking about playing surfaces…the playing surface at the Scott-Gallagher Complex was the best artificial surface we’ve ever played on. It looked beautiful. It played beautiful. And it “plays well” even when very wet. If all getting this blog would donate $5000 I think we’d have enough to put this in at North Campus Field. Then, we’d never have to cancel a practice or game.

Hawks Win Spring Season Opener 2-0

On Tuesday night, April 15th, the Soccer Hawks opened their spring season with a 2-0 win over visiting Columbia College. Both teams played pretty well considering it was their first outdoor game since last November. The Hawks were pretty sharp and supplied most of the pressure throughout the whole game. Their first goal came after 12 minutes of the opening stanza when Jayme Groark played a great through ball out in front of a streaking Grant Ellison who carried for a couple dribbles then unleashed a bullet of a shot into the goal. The Hawks second goal came about 16 minutes into the second half when Mike DiSalvo picked off a pass and fed it to Jake Pittroff who then played a 1-2-1-2 passing sequence with Ellison who then notched his second goal of the match.

The next Hawk game will be Saturday, April 19th, at NOON against SIU-E at the Scott-Gallagher Soccer Club Complex located at 2350 Creve Coure Mill Road in Maryland Heights area of St. Louis.

The Hawks return home to play Hannibal-LaGrange College at 7 PM Tuesday 4/22 at North Campus Field.


GO HAWKS…

Hawks Prepare to Kick off the Spring Season

The QU Soccer Hawks will be starting their spring practice season Monday, March 31st with sessions running four days a week through the end of April. During this time they will also play 5 competitive matches (see schedule). With 18 players returning from a successful fall '07 campaign the Hawk coaching staff hope to use their allotted spring practice sessions and game experiences to mold the squad into a championship contender. Although no publicity releases on our spring games are sent out through newspaper-radio-TV outlets you are welcome to come as a spectator to any of our matches, home or away.

On another topic, you are reminded of the QU Soccer Alumni Golf Shootout taking place on Friday, May 16th at the Clinton Hill Golf Course in Swansea (IL). It is truly a great event. You are encouraged to join in and play golf that day and mix with those who really love and care for QU Hawk soccer. If you can't make it, consider being a hole sponsor as your way of supporting Hawk Soccer. This is the one team fund raiser event of the year. Your participation will be appreciated. If you need any information or registration forms get back to me at mackejb@quincy.edu and I'll be glad to take care of you.

NOW IS THE TIME OF THE HAWKS.

SOCCER SUCCESS IN 2008: TOP PRIORITY.

SOCCER SUCCESS IN 2008: TOTAL COMMITMENT.

Coach Jack Mackenzie



Spring 2008 Hawk Playing Schedule

Saturday, April 05 VS Maryville Univ. @ Sportport Complex in St. Louis @ 3 PM

Saturday, April 12 VS Hannibal-LaGrange @ QU North Campus Field @ 2 PM

Tuesday, April 15 VS Columbia College @ QU North Campus Field @ 7 PM

Saturday, April 19 VS SIU-E @ Scott-Gallagher Complex in St. Louis @ NOON

Saturday, April 26 VS Scott-Gallagher @ the SG Complex in St. Louis @ NOON


Our games in the St. Louis area are actually in the community of Maryland Heights, near Creve Coeur Lake.

The Sportport Complex is located at 12525 Sportport Rd., just off Creve Coeur Mill Rd.

The Scott-Gallagher Complex is also located in the same general area of Creve Coeur Mill Rd.

From the North-West you can take the Earth City Expressway south to Creve Coeur Mill Rd. and take a right to the fields.

From the Center of St. Louis you can take Dorsett Rd. heading west past Hwy 270 to Marine Rd. and go right on Marine up to Creve Coeur Mill Rd. and then go left.

From the South of St. Louis you can take Olive Street Rd. heading west past Hwy 270 and then take a right onto Creve Coeur Mill Rd. to the fields.