Cedarville University Yellow Jackets

November 6, 2018

(Editor's Note: Senior midfielder Conner Hughes is filling in one final time as this week's Men's Soccer blogger.)

Welcome back for the final edition of the Jacket blog for the 2018 season. If you have been following faithfully all year, thank you! If you are stumbling across this page by accident, then grab a cozy seat and fasten your seatbelt.

Your Jackets had a week of practice in preparation for Ohio Valley last Thursday that looked like every other. They were challenging, gritty, and tough so that we were as sharp and prepared as possible for the great team that was in front of us. Cam "The New Greg" Hastings decided to follow in Greg’s footsteps by coming out to training in the cold and rain in just a t-shirt and shorts. For an unfair comparison TJ "Colder than you think, warmer than you would expect" Milby was out there in every piece of clothing that was in his locker. But most of us were wearing a couple layers because it was pretty cold outside.

We departed for Tiffin University on Wednesday afternoon in time for the banquet that would take place that evening. We arrived at our hotel for the night, and Coach "I swear I didn’t forget" Faro forgot to put Joel "The forgotten one" Fullmer in a hotel room for what could be his final team hotel stay. Coach sent a picture showing Fullmer actually was signed up for a room, but there have been several instances where Fullmer was forgotten so I am going to officially side against Coach on this one. Sorry, but the evidence is against you.

At the banquet your Jackets looked dapper, and would have walked away with the two most prestigious awards in the G-MAC if they existed: 1) best dressed and 2) most fundamental without flashyness. Derek, Levi, Chip, and myself were awarded conference honors, and Derek won the Offensive Player of the Year for his huge goals in clutch moments throughout the season. It was fun to honor the individual accomplishments but talk to anyone on the team and you will hear that we play the game to succeed as a team, which is why we would win the most fundamental award!

The game versus Ohio Valley actually took place during the great monsoon of 2018 at Heidelberg University because the grass field of Tiffin was rumored to be underwater. Since we weren’t competing in water polo, it was moved. Unfortunately, Ohio Valley had our number that day and defeated us 2-1, with Jonny "Actually a redhead, not strawberry blonde" Stephens scoring the goal off a corner. It always sucks to lose to a big rival to end the season but that is how the game goes sometimes. It was a sad moment as we shared the gospel and prayed with Ohio Valley and I looked around and saw my fellow seniors eyes tearing up, as this was the final time.

To my seniors: I came to Cedarville because Coach told me that I would form friendships that would be deeper and more life-changing than I have ever known before. I got that. From walking in as scared freshmen, to winning the G-MAC, to going through all the terrible treadmill runs, to the tough seasons, to moving off campus, to being in a position where we lead, it has been an incredible ride. I know that we have another semester together but so much of our relationship has come through and because of soccer and it won’t be the same anymore. I love you guys and hope that we stay close throughout our lives.

To everyone else: cherish the time you get, especially with your friends. Soccer is incredibly fun and I know that every one of you will work hard to be the best player you possibly can be but the relationships are what you are gonna remember. The times where you made up a stupid game in Brock on a bored Friday night and played it for hours is what you are going to remember. Have those moments! I hope that the seniors this year gave you a good picture of what it is like to lead and serve and I hope that you do far more than we were able to do in your time to come.

Thank you to the coaches who have invested themselves so selflessly into every player in the program. I speak for my class (including Sebastian) that this program is transformational because of what you do as the standard and our ability to lead comes from what you model. We cannot thank you enough for your sacrifice to developing us as players, leaders, individuals, husbands, and men.

With love,

Hughesy


October 30, 2018

It’s G-MAC Tournament, win or go home, separate the men from the boys time for your Jackets this week! We play this Thursday against Ohio Valley in our conference semi-finals and we are locked in on preparing for the biggest game of the season yet! Let me catch you up on what we’ve been up to the last week though.

Since the last blog we played one game against Ohio Dominican on Tuesday, Oct. 23rd. It was a huge game, and a win would have solidified a regular season conference title. However, we came up short on the day despite yet another goal from Johnny "the verified redhead" Stephens who is really making a habit of knocking the ball into the back of the net with his noggin. While we were disappointed to narrowly miss winning the conference and hosting the conference tournament, our body of work still earned us a first round bye which will put us in a good place to make a successful run in our conference tournament and beyond.

The rest of the week had two sessions based around competition in store, and the trash talk, intensity, and enjoyment was at an all-time high. Goals were scored, rules to games were bent, and numerous games of rock-paper-scissors were played to settle tied scores. Derek "I get a million nicknames in the blog because I score all the time" Braak is the team’s well-known rock-paper-scissors pro, but his skills came up short at some crucial times last week. After our two sessions, we had Saturday off and while a lot of us had no clue what to do with the time, other guys went home, and others took the time to visit friends and attend various football and soccer games.

This week we are focused and diligently preparing for our conference tournament! This preparation includes end-of-practice penalty shootouts that are always looked forward to at this time of year. Whoever is up at the penalty spot is berated by inside jokes, weird voices, and any other form of distraction to determine if they can perform at the penalty spot under pressure. Most of the team will agree that heckling our teammates might be just as much fun as being the one taking the penalty.

Our game against Ohio Valley is at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday in Tiffin, Ohio so be sure to tune in and stream it online if you can!

We’re planning on being G-MAC champions by the time the next blog comes out!

Until then,

GO JACKETS!


October 22, 2018

(Editor's Note: Senior midfielder Conner Hughes is filling in once again as this week's Men's Soccer blogger.)

Jacket fans, it has probably been the most eventful week in the history of the men’s soccer team. It began like the rest of the weeks with training sessions on Monday and Tuesday focused on how we can improve for the two road games on the weekend. Then Wednesday happened and the story of the team will never again be the same.

We reported before the sun for a training session at AIA bright and early at 6:15 a.m., but something was wrong from the moment we left the school. I should have known when we were halfway to AIA and Derek "The Eternal Deadleg" Braak exclaimed that he had forgotten to bring his cleats to practice. Luckily there was an extra pair around but we arrived to be missing one of our coaches. In my four years of being a Jacket, there has been only a handful of times where the entire coaching staff has not been in attendance. We were greeted by Coach Knight saying "Oh it is time" and we knew. Coach Faro and his wife, Shelley, welcomed their child Lincoln Michael "The Undefeated" Faro into the world. The session was as vanilla as could be but we were ready for a big road trip.

The Jackets headed down to Kentucky on the bus with none other than Coach "Don’t Worry I Got This" Mac at the helm. There is no one that I am more confident in driving the bus than Coach Mac. Last year I am pretty sure he parked our 42-foot bus in a 35-foot spot, on this trip I am pretty sure that he would put himself in difficult situations just to put his bus skills to the test. Nonetheless, he is one of the most serving men I have ever encountered in my short life and I believe that anyone you ask would agree with me. He constantly is in the back of the bus stacking our bags in the most efficient manner, sprinting to unlock or bring the bus closer so that we do not have to walk a long way, and he even offered to drive six hours back to Cedarville during the night in order to get something small fixed on the bus so that the team was not inconvenienced in any way. Thank you coach Mac for your wonderful service to us this year!

In Nashville we began by playing Trevecca and had a great team win with Derek "Goal-Machine" Braak, Jonny "Go Pids" Stephens, and Alex "Holder by Day Winger by Night" Narog each putting a goal away (Alex’s goal actually left the coaches speechless).

We spent the off-day with a quick recovery session, time for homework (or naps depending on who you ask), and eating. We went to the Olive Garden for dinner and were blessed with bread sticks and wonderful pasta. It’s definitely a fan-favorite. After that we headed to the movie theatre to watch "First Man" about the life of Neil Armstrong, first man to grace the moon. As an engineer and space aficionado, I loved the movie. But it obviously was a quality movie because even Bryce "The Giraffe" Childers enjoyed it, a well-known movie critic.

But the fun didn’t stop there because three vigilantes decided to park our bus in - so we spent half an hour trying to convince the coaching staff to let us pick up a car and move it but unfortunately they did not budge so we just waited. Because of our quality observation skills at the cars parking us in, we determined that the prime suspect was a high school-aged female, either on a date or with friends. Lo and behold, three high school-aged females walked out of the theatre and knew of their devastating mistake, they sheepishly got into their car and drove away. We retired to our hotel for the night before the final game of the weekend.

The next day we played at 1 p.m. - a very odd time. We ate breakfast and then headed over to the field for the game. We were joined by Coach "Who’s Your Daddy?" Faro for the game (he didn’t come for most of the weekend because of a newborn child and all). We won 2-0 with two goals by Derek "Shooter’s gotta shoot" Braak. It was very good for us to put five goals away while not allowing any this weekend.

Come out to our senior night (I mean afternoon) as we play Ohio Dominican to win the regular season G-MAC title Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 4:30 p.m. I hope to be able to writing another blog to y’all in a couple weeks.

Hughesy


October 17, 2018

It’s been another week, and your Yellow Jackets Men’s Soccer Team is still picking up speed like a steam engine barrelling down the tracks. We picked up two more big conference wins this past week and had a blast doing it.

On Thursday we played Davis & Elkins at 3 p.m., which is a really weird time to play. Despite the weird timing of the game and winds gusting around 55 miles per hour (that may or may not be a slight exaggeration), we came away with a 2-1 win. Cole "Rain reminds me of Seattle" Butaud put away a well-worked team goal off an assist from Joel "Who?" Fullmer early in the first half to give us a lead. While we gave up a goal a few minutes later, Gui "Gweel-Her-Mee" Fernandez scored his second goal of the year and we were able to hold on to the lead to come away with the win.

The next night we went to Coach Knight’s house as a team to participate in a glorious feast provided by the Butaud family. The Butaud family provided homemade Gumbo, fruit salad, bread and cake for a meal that rivaled the dishes you might see served on Food Network. As a team, we enjoyed time away from campus and away from soccer together to laugh and joke and enjoy good food. Some of the team sat around the fire with the coaches and shared stories, while others participated in a game that revolved around 2015’s biggest trend: bottle flipping. Many bottles were flipped, shouts raised, and fingernails crushed in a game that had Kurt "10/10" Gruenburg reminding us that Cedarville’s medical insurance does not cover antics like that.

We got back to work on Saturday against an Alderson Broaddus team gunning for revenge after we had the beating of them 4-0 on their home field a couple weeks ago. Our two freshmen from Colorado came in clutch with goals coming from Jonny "GO PIDS" Stephens and Sammy "Hot Tub" Kilimann. Yet another win has the boys excited for what is to come as we start to see what we are capable of when we gel as a team and execute our game plan.

This week, over Fall Break, we are heading to the wonderful land of sweet tea and country music to take on Trevecca Nazarene and Kentucky Wesleyan. It should be a fun weekend with two massive conference games and (theoretically) no homework (because it’s Fall Break). Be sure to check the live streams and scores of the games as the Jackets chase a couple more wins this weekend!

Go Jackets!


October 10, 2018

(Editor's Note: Senior midfielder Conner Hughes is filling in again as this week's Men's Soccer blogger.)

Ladies and Gentlemen, your Jackets survived the road trip and headed back home riding a three-game winning streak! This past week consisted of the usual Thursday/Saturday competition where we got to train for several days before our first game against Lake Erie.

Monday went as usual with training in the afternoon, but the rest of the week was off-kilter for training. On Tuesday there allegedly was lightning in the vicinity, even though the sun was out and the strange rumbling noise were guaranteed to be big cargo planes flying overhead. Kurt "You Can’t Play" Gruenberg was not fooled by our reasons for the loud noises and promptly told us to go inside because of lightning. So we went and trained indoors for the day, and it’s always funny to see when guys are unprepared for the spontaneous indoor session. Cole "Those Eyes" Butaud was rocking some old tennis shoes because Joel "Heat makes me hot" Fullmer forgot to get the shoes out of his car. Regardless, we had a good session and were able to make the most of the situation.

The next morning, yes you read that right, we headed to AIA for a very late 6:15 a.m. practice. Most people were as you would expect college students to be at that hour, zombies. Except for Carter "Chip-bowl" Selvius who was unusually chipper and energetic - suspiciously energetic is a better description actually. We spent the morning training more specific to what Lake Erie would throw at us before heading back to campus for a day of class.

Because of the specific training for Lake Erie, we were very good at neutralizing what they liked to do offensively. Unfortunately they were very prepared for us and the game did not create many scoring opportunities and ended in a 0-0 draw after 110 minutes.

On Friday, Kurt could sniff the electricity in the air, literally. We got outside and ran through our warmups and juggled in smaller groups and then ended practice before we got drenched with rain. It really helps to have a trainer that is so good he can smell practices being cut short by weather.

Saturday was a big day with Homecoming and playing a Top 10 ranked team in the nation. Your Jackets were prepared for what Ohio Valley threw at us and we played one of our best matches yet. Sammy "Late Game Bangers Only" Kilimann flicked a free kick taken by yours truly into the back of the net and we had the lead in the 86th minute. We saw out the remaining four minutes with Chip making several big plays to keep OVU out of the back of our net. It was a big win for the Jackets, both in our G-MAC positioning and to show ourselves what we are capable of producing when we step on the field.

We will be hoping to reproduce that product this week with two home games versus Davis & Elkins on Thursday at 3 p.m. and Alderson Broaddus on Saturday at 5 p.m. Please come out and support us if you are in the area - playing in front of a big crowd this week at Homecoming was so much fun and gives us lots of energy. Otherwise watch our fantastic video stream online (I am told they do a great job of having a high quality and entertaining stream every game and we really appreciate the work they do for us)!

Until next time,

Hughesy


October 3, 2018

What a couple weeks it’s been for the Jackets! We finished up our three-week road swing with three straight conference wins! Here are some highlights:

Last Saturday, Sept. 22 we traveled to Findlay for big conference game intent on stopping our losing skid of a couple games. We did just that behind goals from "Deadleg" Derek Braak and Conner "First Goal in 21 years" Hughes. Hughes opened his college scoring tally on a penalty in the first half and some said his celebration really screamed: "This is my first goal in a long time, I’m not really sure what to do here." Was it a fist pump? Was it a dance? Nobody really knows, but we’re all glad he (finally) broke the seal on the goal after three and a half long years. We held on for a scrappy 2-1 win and headed home happy as clams.

On Wednesday, Sept. 26 we traveled to the wild and wonderful state of West Virginia for a mid-week clash with the Alderson Broaddus Battlers. Let me tell you, the movie selections on that bus ride were nothing short of phenomenal. We watched the Intern, a movie about a senior citizen who takes an internship at a tech company under a charismatic CEO with complicated relationship issues. It pulled on every single heart string in the bus and had rave reviews across the board. We rounded out the trip with a viewing on The Count of Monte Cristo and were all completely sucked into the action and intrigue from the first second of the movie.

While we were in West Virginia we decided to put up four goals on AB and come home with another massive conference victory against a tough opponent. Josiah "new hair who dis" Fragnito, Derek "Left Foot Bangers Only" Braak, Nick "Barber Shop" Marculo, and Evan "And One" Kratz. In even more surprising news Carter "Chip Bowl" Selvius, who we count on in goal, found a way to pick up an assist on a long ball to Kratz for our fourth goal. Four-hour road trips home are a whole lot more fun after a win than after a loss.

This past Saturday we made the short trip to Columbus to take on Ohio Dominican in another big conference game. If you haven't picked up on the trend, every conference game could be described as big (or any other synonym for "big" I find when I search it in an online thesaurus.) This year our conference is wide open with upsets happening every time games are played. The boys showed up ready to go on Saturday and pulled out a somewhat scrappy 1-0 win behind a (possibly accidental) header from Derek "Where is the Library" Braak.

Our team has continued to answer life’s pressing questions through polls these past couple weeks. Yet again the team was split almost half and half, but I honestly don’t understand why. We discussed whether the team puts on their pants or their socks first when getting dressed. Somehow, more than half the team actually puts their pants on before their socks. Don’t ask me why they choose to have to roll their pants up to put their socks on when they could just put their socks on first, maybe someday they’ll see the folly of their ways.

We’re (finally) back home this week! After three long weeks of road trips, we’ll be playing two (big, large, sizable, enormous, tremendous, gigantic) conference games at home on Thursday at 7 p.m. against Lake Erie and Homecoming Saturday at 4:30 p.m. versus Ohio Valley!

Come out and support!!


September 18, 2018

(Editor's Note: Senior midfielder Conner Hughes is filling in as this week's Men's Soccer blogger.)

It was a tough week for your Jackets on the pitch. We will just get it out of the way and say that your favorite boys from Cedarville had good showings this week - playing a good brand of soccer that moved the ball quickly and was fun to play and watch. Unfortunately, we were on the wrong end of a couple half chances and couldn’t seem to capitalize on our own. Just how the game goes sometimes, and we will be looking to improve on our effectiveness in both boxes so that we will score lots of goals and shut out other teams.

The first overnight trip occurred on Friday before our game versus Slippery Rock. We left after training on Friday and drove for a couple hours before stopping at our hotel for the night. Upon arriving we had a half hour to settle in or go and find food. TJ "Kurt’s newest project" Milby, Cole "Mr. Eyes" Butaud, Landon "Social Filmer" Butaud, and a couple others headed to the gas station to find some grub to hold us over for the night. Everybody got typical snacks, chips, chex mix, drinks and such. And then there was Cam. Cam "I’m Here to Party" Hasting bought a half gallon of white milk, an entire bag of Tostitos tortilla chips, and a sharable bag of Kit Kats. Rumor has it that he pounded all the food like a champ, I hope he did.

After a quick team meeting, everyone headed to their bed for the night. For some of the freshmen, this was the night where they share a bed with another guy for the first time. It is a growing experience, and something the is handled quite differently after a couple experiences. Ian "Pink Gloves" Keil actually slept on the floor instead of the bed so I think people will be hoping to get him as their roommate in the future trips. Definitely a freshman move, because no upperclassmen will give up a nights sleep on a good bed. Especially when you are an old man like Isaac "Giggles" Nelson and sleep on the ground for a night, your back will be angry at you for days.

We headed back after the game and watched the first half of "The Greatest Showman" before arriving at campus. Your Jackets were jamming out to the musical and Joel "Who?" Fullmer was grinning from ear to ear during the whole thing - quite a sight to behold. We arrived back at campus safely for a much needed day off before beginning the whole thing all over again. This week we play Tiffin and Findlay, both away matches. We will need to be road warriors this week to get a couple good results and keep our high standing in the G-MAC. Please come to the games or support us via live stream/stats!

I’ll be back in a couple weeks,

Hughes


September 11, 2018

What a week it was for your Cedarville Jackets! We played games in blazing heat, driving wind and rain, and something somewhat in between. We faced a daunting three-game week, all conference games, and all sure to be tough contests, but at the risk of spoiling this whole blog we went unbeaten this week! Three conference games in a span of five days without a loss is a good week if there ever was one!

We started our week by facing Tiffin at home on Tuesday. We battled back from a goal down not once, but twice to force overtime. At some point near the end of regulation or the first overtime (it all sort of blends together) Derek "Monkey Toes" Braak prepared to go into a slide tackle and slipped and proceeded to get walloped by a Tiffin midfielder. To be fair it was a weird tackle but to the surprise of just about everyone, Derek somehow got a red card for the tackle. He proceeded to limp off the field with a dumbfounded look on his face repeatedly saying "I literally slipped, I literally slipped, I literally slipped…." Despite being a man down, the boys continued to pile the pressure on and Cole "A Gameday Mustache is a good idea" Butaud drew a foul in the box. Levi "Brian’s little brother" Haight stepped up to the penalty spot, buried his PK, and proceeded to lead the team towards a group slide pile at the corner flag. Talk about a great way to end a Tuesday night!!

On Thursday we traveled to Walsh and played on a field with grass that went up to my belly button (that might be a little bit of an exaggeration, but the grass was long and the surface was heavy and it definitely slowed the game down). We jumped ahead to a quick two-goal lead behind goals from Pedro "Schwein’s look-alike" Alvares and Cole "French Press" Butaud. Walsh was not afraid to get into some heavy tackles, which left quite a few guys nicked and bruised after the game. Walsh’s ability to break up our rhythm (sometimes with fouls, sometimes with good tackles) and their ability to counter quickly and effectively earned them two goals and we found ourselves playing some extra overtime soccer again. Unfortunately, we were unable to grind out a winner in the overtime periods so we left North Canton, Ohio with a tie, but also with the feeling that we should have come away with more.

Now for the most important part of our week. Our team has recently become obsessed with taking polls to answer the world’s most controversial questions. We’ve settled questions like "what is the best part of a square pizza, the inner crust-less part, or outer crusted portions" and "which is better Twizzlers or Red Vines." The climactic question of this week was "Who wins in a battle to the death in a wooded environment between a grizzly bear and a silverback gorilla." Somehow the team is split exactly in half on who the winner would be, and this has led to a vigorous fact finding mission to prove the beliefs of each camp. If you have any special zoological knowledge pertaining to grizzly bears or large apes or if by chance you’ve ever seen a grizzly bear fight a silverback ape in a wooded environment please send any of that information to tjmilby@cedarville.edu. I don’t mean to be dramatic but our team unity and success this season may or may not rest on conclusively solving this debate. Also feel free to just respond to that email address with whether you are #TeamGrizzly or #TeamSilverBack, we’d love to hear your opinion.

On Saturday we played against Malone in a day perfectly characteristic of southwest Ohio in the early fall. The temperature said 61 degrees, which left most of the team saying things like "oh that’s not too cold", but the driving wind and rain left most of us saying "I should have worn every piece of clothing I own" by the end of the game. Thankfully Sammy "cookie monster jr." Killiman decided to score a beautiful volley over the keeper from about 25 yards out around 80 minutes in so that our fans, coaches, and scorekeepers didn’t have to bear the elements for another 20 minutes of overtime.

The Jackets enter a stretch of all away games for the next three weeks, beginning with two non-conference games this week. Check the website on Wednesday at 7 PM and Saturday at 2:30 PM to follow our games against Ashland and Slippery Rock respectively.

Go Jackets!


September 4, 2018

(Editor's Note: Senior midfielder Conner Hughes is filling in as this week's Men's Soccer blogger.)

It was a busy week for your Jackets with everything getting into full swing. No longer are we just athletes, we are now student-athletes with classes and homework and papers and all that other jazz. It is always interesting to hear the freshmen adjusting to college class schedules and being blown away by having one or two classes on a given day. Or take our super-senior Evan "I’m a two-sport athlete" Kraatz and his one class all semester, which happens to have a lab that interferes with practice time. Needless to say, Coach "Ignorant is an emotion" Faro was not thrilled and mocked Evan accordingly.

We went through our practices during the week and the anticipation was building for our season opener. Bellarmine was the game on Thursday and it ended in a very disappointing 1-0 loss. It is always tough to swallow a loss for the first game but there were many positive take aways from the contest, including our team’s desire to work hard and defend together.

Learning what we can from the result, we practiced Friday and approached the game versus Ohio Christian on Saturday with the intent to fix up the parts of our game that were lacking and continue to build on the things we do well. Your Jackets showed up well and found the back of the net for the first time this season, ten first times to be more precise. Sammy "Colorado wonderkid" Kilimann, Keegan "I speak ye olde English" Wondergem, Gui "The Brazilian wonderkid" Fernandes, and Josiah "Scream bloody murder" Fragnito opened their collegiate scoring accounts on the night. Derek "Baby-Quads" Braak scored two goals on his left foot, making Kurt "You Can’t Play" Gruenberg proud of his rehab work on Derek.

On 

Sunday, many Jackets showed up to a little tradition Joel "Love never sleeps" Fullmer and I started called "Filthy Chest Sunday". At this event we work only on the glamour muscles of the chest and abs because we spend the other six days exhausting our legs. Its also fun to see people’s facial expressions when the barbell is just a bit too heavy and they are struggling to get it up. The freshmen have embraced this tradition whole-heartedly and it’s encouraging but also upsetting when one of them is by far the strongest. Mark "Self-Proclaimed: The Strongest Rowan" Rowan puts everyone to shame at this event and gives all of us weaker folks something to shoot for in a couple years, because he is so far ahead.

Later that evening we all went out to the Labor Day party that Cedarville throws and admire the fireworks. (In case you haven’t been in Cedarville on Labor Day weekend, it is quite the experience. People go crazy for Labor Day and the city puts on a killer fireworks show). I really enjoyed the show, but Ben "Call me Doc" Johnson and Levi "I wasn’t committed to the long hair" Haight enjoyed making fun of me because I squinted at the finale. It’s bright when all of the fireworks go off at once! If you tend to squint when you’re in a dark room and then something bright flashes, let me know because I need the support: I guess everyone here can stare at bright things without a problem.

Three BIG conference games this week. Tuesday versus Tiffin (7 PM), Thursday at Walsh, and Saturday home versus Malone (7:30 PM). Please come support because it makes it such a fun environment to play in!

Hughesy


August 29, 2018

Welcome back Jacket backers! We’re pumped to have you riding shotgun with us via this blog for this season! I’m T.J. Milby, a junior outside back; and I’ll be tag-teaming this blog with Conner "I respect that" Hughes who will introduce himself in the next blog I’m sure, so I won’t steal his thunder. The boys have been back for a full two weeks now, and let me tell you we are absolutely buzzing!

We brought in a huge group of new guys that all deserve a whole blog for an intro but a few sentences will have to do. They come from all over the country and all over the world and have brought plenty of jokes, skill on the ball, and size. They’ve all become incorporated into the team quickly and perfectly just like a well-measured protein shake, and we’re all excited to see how they make an impact on the field and off this fall and in the years to come. But bringing in new freshmen wasn’t the only change for our team this summer. Brian "Captain Indiana" Wolverton, Evan "I just can’t get enough of Cedarville" Kraatz, Greg "I’ve got homework" Williams, and Joel "who?" Fullmer all got engaged this summer. I think I speak for the whole team when I say that we’re incredibly happy for all of your engagements, but four wedding gifts is a lot for a college student in one summer, so don’t expect anything too big.

Preseason started with a grueling and hot fitness test and skills test followed by plenty of high intensity sessions. On a night off we had the opportunity to go play putt putt as a team and take some time away from the field. There were plenty of shouts of "MASHED POTATOES" and "GET IN THE HOLE" heard throughout the night. We teamed up in teams of two and played a "best hole" scoring tournament. The tournament came down to a winner take all, one hole playoff (that nobody but the four people left playing really cared about) between Levi "too many touches" Haight and Bryce "the giraffe" Childers against Mason "nasty mustache" Hecklinger and Evan "I’ll play any sport with a ball" Kraatz. Evan and Mason took the imaginary title, and a lot of the guys grabbed some ice cream and called it a night.

Another highlight of preseason was a cookout at Coach "I still got it" Knight’s house. Coach "future father" Faro, grilled up some chicken, and we had a great time playing corn hole, catching up with old teammates, and getting to know new ones. Of course after dinner some banana bread was brought out and put on a table. Coach Faro watched the pan like a hawk almost certainly taking notes on who dared to eat something like banana bread during preseason. Only the bravest of men went for a piece, but word on the street is that Connor "my right leg is just for standing" Hughes even took two.

The next Sunday afternoon we got together for a surprise team event. When we found out that we were playing disc golf, rumor has it that Joel "you haven’t heard of Paul MacBeth?" Fullmer was just as happy as when he got engaged. At least for my group, the game quickly turned from "try to score as low as possible" to "try not to lose any discs in the weeds." Overall it was a great time of team bonding and we definitely didn’t lose (that many) discs.

We’ve been gearing up for our home opener this Thursday at 7:30 pm (which you should come to) with a couple scrimmages and plenty of film. I don’t know about the rest of the guys but I’m pumped to play Bellarmine at home this Thursday at 7:30 pm (hey, you should come). If you haven’t caught on we’re starting our season off at home for the first time in four years this Thursday at 7:30 pm and we’re planning on starting the season off right, so you don’t want to miss it!

Until next time,

Go Jackets


T.J. Milby is a junior midfielder from Durham, N.C. He is in his third season with the Yellow Jackets and is a Dean's List student majoring in Biblical studies.