April 26, 2021
Welcome back Yellow Jacket fans!
Playoffs are finally here! Last week, we secured the #2-seed for the conference tournament. That meant that we would get to host our quarterfinal match against the #7-seed Kentucky Wesleyan.
We spent the week preparing for our rematch against Kentucky Wesleyan, who we only beat 2-1 earlier in the season. In addition to being busy preparing for the G-MAC Tournament, a lot of the guys also had papers to write and finals to study for this past week. Coach Faro realized that we all had a lot on our plates and encouraged us to try to manage our time well to get everything done that we needed to do.
However, he also encouraged us to leave distractions off of the field and to focus on soccer when we are on the soccer field. While this is a tough thing to do, I think we grew in our ability to do that this week and went into Saturday focused and ready to fight to get a result.
After a nervy start and giving away a goal in the 12th minute, the boys picked it up and went on to score six unanswered goals! Mark Rowan scored our first goal in the 23rd minute, and after that, the goals just kept coming! Gui Fernandes scored the second and had arguably the best celebration of the season that he told me he is going to post on his Instagram once a month for the foreseeable future. Next, Victor Pomelli scored possibly the nicest goal of the game only two minutes after coming onto the field!
In the second half, the boys did not let off the gas! Mark scored his second goal of the game in the 51st minute. Next, Mauricio Ochoa Vazquez scored off of a cross from Jonathan Bukasa. This goal really made me feel bad for Kentucky Wesleyan’s defenders. Not only did Jono make two defenders fall over as he dribbled by them before crossing the ball to Mau, but I believe Scott Huck, our photographer, was standing just several yards away from the action when it happened. After this goal, Victor could not resist scoring another one, and the game finished 6-1.
This week, we are preparing to face the #3-seed Tiffin in the semifinals of the G-MAC Tournament. This game will be played in Columbus at 2:30 PM on Thursday, April 29. If we win, we will play the winner of Ohio Dominican vs Ohio Valley in the championship game. This game will take place on Saturday, May 1 at noon.
Until next time,
GO JACKETS
April 20, 2021
Welcome back Yellow Jacket fans!
Nine!! That’s the number of goals we managed to score this past week! After a season of not scoring more than two goals in a game for the first six games of the season, it was a lot of fun to see the team execute in the final third this week!
Two weeks ago, we played Findlay. Despite a spectacular performance in goal from Jared Zacharias that included a penalty save in the first half, we did not perform to the standard we have set for ourselves and came out of the game with a 2-2 draw.
Thankfully, we bounced back this week! We played Malone on Thursday, which was senior night. Due to COVID and the impact it had on fall sports, the NCAA decided to allow everyone to take a redshirt year this year. Therefore, all of the other seniors on the team decided to stay at Cedarville for another year, making me the only senior recognized on Thursday. The boys called it “Stevo night,” and from being recognized at the beginning of the game to having ice water dumped on my head after the game, I was reminded of how blessed I am to have had the opportunity to be part of such a strong brotherhood for the past four years!
It would take me too long to go through every goal because there were six of them! Mark Rowan scored a hat trick, and his twin brother Ben Rowan assisted his third goal! Really proud of Ben currently…he’s been stepping up his style - bought a chain that he’s been wearing around campus - and is now getting his name on the stat sheet even though he’s a center back. Sammy Kilimann and Andre Salviano also scored. In my opinion, Andre scored the best goal of the game, but Sammy’s celebration was pretty sweet.
On Saturday, we traveled to Lake Erie. Going into this game, we knew it would be a battle and probably our toughest test of the season so far. Coach Faro came up with a great game plan to pressure their center backs with our wingers, and have our striker drop to mark their holding midfielder. As a result, Lake Erie struggled to build out throughout the game. While they managed to score first, Mau Ochoa Vazquez and Pedro Alvares came off the bench to make a huge impact! They both scored and assisted a goal, and we managed to score three times within five minutes in the second half to take the lead, 3-1! Gui Fernandes scored the third goal, and at that point, I think we really crushed Lake Erie’s hope of coming back.
With that win, we secured our #2-seed for the G-MAC Tournament. We will get to host our quarterfinal match on Saturday, April 24 at 1 PM against #7-seed Kentucky Wesleyan.
As always, thanks to the real fans who made it this far in the blog and who support us every week!
Until next time,
GO JACKETS!
April 5, 2021
Welcome back Yellow Jacket fans!
Last week we had our first overnight road trip of the year! We traveled down South to face Trevecca in Nashville, Tennessee on Thursday and then Kentucky Wesleyan in Owensboro, Kentucky on Saturday.
This is a road trip that the boys always look forward to! I think the excitement is due to several things…being allowed to miss classes for a couple of days, the chance to travel South where it is a bit warmer, and the opportunity to spend a lot of quality time with each other. Of course, more importantly, we also had our sights set on extending our winning streak to 5-0.
Unfortunately, we were not able to execute this last part of the plan. We conceded an early goal to Trevecca in the first half. Throughout the rest of the game, despite out-shooting and out-possessing Trevecca, we were unable to score. We lost 1-0, and we walked away from that game disappointed but more determined than before to get a win on Saturday.
We spent Friday recovering from the game so that we would be 100% for Saturday’s game against Kentucky Wesleyan, who had not lost yet this season. Friday morning, we enjoyed IHOP for breakfast and the boys were amazed by how much food you can get at IHOP for $10! It really is amazing. While it might have taken a couple of hours for IHOP to make enough pancakes for our whole team, the wait was worth it in my opinion.
Other activities on Friday included soccer volleyball, a pool recovery session, several games of coach’s favorite card game called golf, enjoying Kentucky barbeque as a team for dinner, and then finally watching a Good Friday service together.
We woke up on Saturday reenergized and ready to get our fourth win of the season. Once again, we out-possessed and out-shot our opponent, but this time we hit the back of the net. Our first goal was scored in the 14th minute. Gui Fernandes played the ball wide to Brett Vaughn who crossed a low, early ball in to the back post. At this point, there is a lot of controversy about what happened. Mark Rowan says he touched the ball with his toe and deflected it into the bottom left corner. Brett and Gui argue that Mark didn’t touch the ball. But, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter because we finally scored early to take the lead and that’s all that matters.
In the 32nd minute, Nick “I only score game-winners” Marculo scored off of an assist from Eli Schmidt to extend our lead to 2-0. Honestly, we should have scored more in the first half, but the half ended 2-0. At halftime, coach emphasized the importance of the next goal. He explained that if we let Kentucky Wesleyan score it, we would be making the game harder on ourselves than was necessary.
Unfortunately, we did just that and let Kentucky Wesleyan back in the game in the 50th minute. Thankfully, after that goal, we did not concede again and came away with the 2-1 victory.
The ride back to campus was eventful. We learned that Pedro has hidden talents and that Tim and coach’s music tastes are very different. We arrived back in Cedarville on Saturday night, tired but thankful for the win and the quality time spent together.
Our next game is Thursday at 5:00 PM at home against Findlay.
Until next time,
GO JACKETS!
March 29, 2021
Welcome back Yellow Jacket fans!
Last week was an exciting one!
As you probably saw on every current player’s Instagram story, the new NCAA DII rankings came out on Tuesday, March 23, placing us at #19 in the country! Coach encouraged us to be excited about this accomplishment! However, he also reminded us that there are currently two other teams in the G-MAC (Ohio Valley and Lake Erie) who are also ranked in the Top 25. Therefore, we need to continue to fight to become the standard for our conference.
On Thursday, we faced Tiffin, who defeated us in the G-MAC Championship last season. With a slightly bitter taste still in our mouths due to that game in 2019, we went out on the field Thursday ready to battle to get a result. It rained for part of the game, and the wet conditions combined with the physical nature of Tiffin’s team made for a scrappy game.
Unfortunately, there was not Live Stream Video for this game. Since all of you real CU soccer fans out there who are still reading this were probably not able to watch the game, I will try to describe the goal in detail for you all.
With the game tied 0-0 and just over 10 minutes remaining, Eli Schmidt and Trey McBride combined down the left-hand side. Trey crossed the ball and forced a corner. Andy Volk played the corner short to Sammy Kilimann, who fired a shot to the back post that was deflected out for another corner. This time, Sammy whipped in a high cross to the top of the six yard box. Mark Rowan beat the defense to the ball and headed it into the bottom left corner!
The boys held on for that last 10 minutes and secured the 1-0 result! This was a big win for us and we hope to continue building momentum by winning both of our road games this week. On Wednesday night, we leave for Tennessee. We will play Trevecca Nazarene on Thursday at 5:30 PM EDT (4:30 CDT) and then Kentucky Wesleyan on Saturday at 1:00 PM EDT (12:00 CDT). There should be live video coverage for both of these games.
Until next time!
GO JACKETS!
March 23, 2021
Welcome back Yellow Jacket fans!
Wow it feels good to be back in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play! A lot has happened in the last two weeks, so I will try to get you all up to speed!
On March 13th , we had our first conference game against Walsh. On the bus ride to the game, I did the math and realized it had been 483 days since our last conference game! The long wait combined with the knowledge that our current coaching staff and players had not beaten Walsh before had everyone more than excited for this one!
While we conceded first in the 58th minute, it only took the Jackets two minutes to find an equalizer off of a volley from Pedro Alvares. Thankfully, the boys did not get complacent after this goal and continued to push for another. After a nice bit of buildup play, Nick “CU soccer driplord” Marculo scored the game-winner in the 86th minute.
This exciting victory was followed by a somewhat disappointing road trip to Ohio Valley. For anyone who has followed Cedarville Soccer for the past several years, you know that Ohio Valley is a tough opponent. Everyone on our team knew that too and was excited to go to their field and try to get a result. However, after driving to West Virginia, thunderstorms prevented the game from being played and we were forced to drive home. I believe this game could still get rescheduled but that is still to be determined.
Thankfully, we did not have to wait long to get back on the field. On Saturday, March 20th, we had our home opener against Ohio Dominican! It was honestly so much fun to play in front of the best fans in the G-MAC again!
Unfortunately, Ohio Dominican made it tough for us to create quality opportunities. This was especially true after ODU had their goalkeeper sent off. For the rest of the game, they parked the bus and made it extremely hard for us to break lines and get in behind them.
At the end of regulation, the game was still tied 0-0. Going into overtime, I told Mau, as I had told him at the beginning of the game, that I felt like today was the day he was going to score his first goal of the season.
With less than a minute left in the first overtime, Andre Salviano crosses a beautiful ball into the box. The cross was deflected, and then Eli Schmidt headed the ball down to Mauricio Ochoa Vazquez who scored a thunderous volley into the bottom right corner to win the game. What a way to finish our first home game of the season!
Today (Monday, March 22nd) we get back on the training pitch to begin to prepare for Tiffin on Thursday. I expect everyone is as excited as I am to continue putting in the work to prepare for another home conference win on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Until next time!
March 8, 2021
(Editor's note: Yellow Jacket sophomore Jayden Frazier contributed to this BLOG)
Welcome back, Jacket Fans!
It feels good to be back at Cedarville with the boys. This semester offers many unique circumstances which we are excited to share with you.
To start, we hit the ground running in 2021, faced with cold weather, COVID protocols, and high spirits for the upcoming spring season.
Our first few weeks ran smoothly, but COVID had other plans. While in quarantine, we had a “fantastic” time in Brock, improving in essential matters like Warzone and FIFA 21. Fortunately, the team tested out of quarantine in time to begin our anticipated season.
Additionally, excitement buzzed throughout the team with the G-MAC coaches’ poll’s announcement, ranking Cedarville as the team to beat. This announcement set the tone for the season and boosted our confidence.
However, the recent 6-2 exhibition loss to Dayton was a humbling experience. The team recognized and addressed both positive and negative aspects of that game. Despite an unwanted result from the Dayton game, we are still eager to improve, grow, and produce positive results in the upcoming season. Great Midwest Athletic Conference play begins March 13th at Walsh.
Until next time!
Go Jackets!
November 9, 2020
(Editor's note: Yellow Jacket sophomore Jackson Ellison assisted with this BLOG)
Welcome back Jacket Fans!!
As the semester comes to a close, I wanted to give you all one more update about your favorite college soccer team before we head into the holidays.
After having another intrasquad scrimmage two weeks ago, the boys enjoyed having some time off to rest their legs and get caught up on school work as we head into finals pretty soon. During our time off, several guys couldn’t resist getting touches on the ball and played futsal and soccer tennis. Other guys used their free time to get in the gym more in order to put on some muscle mass to prepare for the season and because summer beach trips are only six months away.
This past Friday night, several of the guys spent time volunteering with the school’s Global Outreach Program and helped pack Samaritan’s Purse shoe boxes with Christmas presents to send to underprivileged kids around the world. Since we haven’t had a chance to coach Little Dribblers teams this year, it was fun to get involved volunteering as a team in another way.
Timothy Lee
Our “New Guy of the Week” is Timothy Lee. Tim is a sophomore transfer student from Liberty University. Tim grew up overseas as a missionary kid and has lived in South Korea, the Philippines, and Kenya! Tim plays winger and loves to take guys on down the line. He has several special talents, including supposedly being able to leg press 700 pounds and being an expert at trash can trick shots with the soccer ball. While he loves to play video games like Warzone, the guys living in Brock Hall tell me he is not very good and can often be heard screaming every time he gets killed, which is about once every two minutes. Thankfully, Tim is better at soccer than Warzone and we are looking forward to seeing him embarrass G-MAC outside backs in the spring.
(P.S. If you see Tim around campus, ask him why he hasn’t shaved his head yet. Even if you don’t see him, feel free to contact him and tell him he needs to be a man and uphold his end of the bargain he made. His email is timothylee@cedarville.edu.)
Until next time!
GO JACKETS!
October 24, 2020
Welcome back Yellow Jacket fans!
From the conclusion of this year’s 6v6 Champions League tournament to a short quarantine for several members of the team, it’s been an eventful past week!
On Monday, the Champions League final took place between Ajax and Atletico Madrid. According to Atletico Madrid player Ben “I love face masks” Rowan, the conditions made things difficult as the turf at the Athlete’s in Action facility was very slick. However, both teams managed to score two goals in regulation, forcing the game into golden goal overtime. In the last play of the game, Zach Brubaker scored the decisive goal, earning Atletico Madrid the victory and the 2020 Champions League trophy. (My team, Leeds United, choked in the semifinals. I am still a bit upset and don’t want to talk about it. However, I will remind the reader that Leeds ended the season in first place in the league standings.)
Unfortunately, the team got bad new on Tuesday. Pedro “sore throat” Alvares was feeling sick and had to get tested for COVID. While waiting for the results, Pedro and six of his teammates whom he had been in close contact with had to quarantine, miss practice, and do classes online. While it was an inconvenience, we are thankful for the technology that allowed us to still tune into our classes through Zoom and are grateful that Pedro’s test came back negative after just two days!
We are all looking forward to this upcoming Tuesday night when we will have our last intrasquad scrimmage of the semester! We are excited for another chance to display the growth that has taken place in our understanding of the game, chemistry as a team, and ability to create and finish chances. Unfortunately, after Tuesday night, the NCAA requires that we take most of the remaining days of the semester off. However, we are confident that the coaches are already scheming and coming up with a fitness packet to make sure we come back in top shape and ready to compete next semester!
Daniel Kellerman
Last but not least, our “New Guy of the Week” is Daniel Kellerman! Danny is a junior transfer student who is originally from Cape Town, South Africa! He plays holding midfielder and loves to get stuck in. In fact, just this morning, Alex “Mr. Saab” Narog was complaining about all of the bruises he is discovering on his body thanks to playing against Danny in practice yesterday. Danny is arguably the biggest Arsenal fan on the team and has a pretty tough looking “Gunners” tattoo on his chest. His favorite word is “tings” and he uses it at least 10 times a day. We are excited to see all of the “tings” that Danny is going to accomplish at Cedarville and are thankful to have him on the team!
Until next time!
GO JACKETS!
October 12, 2020
Welcome back Jacket Fans!!
The past few months have been crazy to say the least! Here’s my attempt to get you all up to speed…
The week after your favorite men’s soccer team got back from Portugal, our spring season was cut short as we were all sent home thanks to COVID-19. However, we are thankful to be back on campus again this semester! While the fall season has been postponed, that has not stopped us from continuing to train and get ready for a spring season and hopefully a G-MAC championship!
The coaches have done a great job of keeping trainings exciting! Mondays and Fridays are the boys’ favorite days of the week. Every Monday, we compete against each other in our very own 6v6 Champions League tournament. Leeds United is currently in first place with 24 points, Ajax and Liverpool are tied with 17 points each, and Athletico is in fourth place with 15 points. The Champions league semifinals and final are coming up in the next few weeks, so stay tuned to find out who gets to lift the coveted trophy this year!
On Fridays, we play 11v11 and try to apply the things we worked on throughout the week. On October 2nd, we played in our highly anticipated intrasquad scrimmage which was streamed for Yellow Jacket fans everywhere to enjoy! Mauricio “I score when I want” Ochoa Vazquez scored a brace to help Team Yellow secure a 2-0 victory. The boys enjoyed playing on the game field, with the lights on and fans in the stands again! The experience was a highlight of the semester so far, and it made us all hungry for more chances to play in front of the best fans in the G-MAC again in the spring.
Off the field, it has been a privilege to welcome three new freshmen and two new transfer students to the team. Our new freshmen are Adrian “knows every girl on campus already” Ortiz, Michael Payne, and Matt “do you know Zac Muir?” Weller and our new transfer students are Tim Lee and Danny Kellerman.
Stay tuned for our next blog, when we plan to bring back the “New Guy of the Week” segment so that the fans can get to know the new guys a bit better.
Until next time!
GO JACKETS!
Stephen Bailey is a senior defender from Lexington, South Carolina. He is in his fourth year with the Yellow Jackets and is a Dean's Honor List student as an Allied Health major.
