Rollercoaster weekend for Athletics

The soccer teams had a busy weekend playing on both Saturday and Sunday against very good conference opponents in Westminster College and Fontbonne University. The men led off the weekend with a hard fought 1-0 victory over Westminster. With the game knotted 0-0 Shane Karimi took a corner kick which he headed down to teammate Wes Miller who was able to score off the far post. While the score looked close, the Golden Eagles controlled the ball most of the game but it was their defense late in the game that secured it. “The defense and our goalkeeper, Arthur, had some big plays late,” said Head Coach Kevin Cromwell, “the one that stands out is when a player from Westminster took a shot at our open goal and Geoff Stenger was able to come clear the ball off the line. It proved to be crucial.”

In the second matchup of the weekend, Spalding took on defending conference champs, the Fontbonne Griffins. The two teams did not disappoint. Spalding once again saw the score tied at 0-0 when late in the second half the Griffins found the goal which proved to be the game winner. “It was a great game to be a part of,” said Coach Cromwell. “Whether you were a player, coach, or someone in the stands you could walk away and say ‘that was a great game. We don’t ever want to be on the bad end of it, but it was a great game.”

The women’s soccer team dropped their first game to Westminster 0-5 and their second game to Fontbonne 1-7. However, Coach Cromwell saw a lot of positive in the second game. “Our lack of depth was obvious in this matchup and without Mandy in the goal (out because of the flu), we struggled to stop some goals. We made a switch at goalie in the second half and tied that half 1-1, just another instance of our team’s will to win. Both teams travel to Eureka this Thursday and then to Jacksonville, IL to take on MacMurray College who the girls recorded a tie with earlier this year.

Both Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams competed in the Greater Louisville Classic that was held right here in the city of Louisville. The field proved to be the largest of the year as the men ran against 32 other teams while the women ran up against 34 other teams.

On the men’s side, JJ Depasco, with a time of 28:01, finished ahead of teammate Alec Zaremba for the first time this year. Alec recorded a time of 28:09 and finished in 98th place while JJ came home in 89th place.  The women’s side saw no change in the order of their runners as once again Kerry Campbell led the way for the Golden Eagles with a 185th place finish and a time of 23:39. Sarah Hodge once again came in right behind her teammate with a time of 24:13 and 195th place finish.  The Cross Country teams will be taking the weekend off but then will travel to Wilmington, OH the following weekend to race in the Wilmington College Invitational.

The Golf team finished 9th this weekend in the Old Bridge Fall Invitational held at Centre College. The team recorded a combined score of 316 which only put them 10 shots out of 5th place. Leading the way for the Golden Eagles was Ben Hagan who shot a season best 76. Right behind him was Sean Hennessey who recorded a 77 and Keith Thompson pitched in with a 79.  The golf team travels next weekend to St. Louis to golf in the Maryville University Invite.

The Volleyball team had a stellar weekend going undefeated in conference play. They traveled to Eureka, IL to take on 3 different opponents. On Friday night, they beat the host school, Eureka College, in three sets. They were back in action the next day when they took on MacMurray College and Fontbonne University. They continued their hot play with wins over both schools which pushed their conference record to 5-0 and their overall record to 14-3.