2005 Press Releases
01-26-06 Three Men’s Soccer Players Selected to All-America Scholar-Athlete Team
Three Graceland University players were selected to the 2005 Daktronics-NAIA Men's Soccer All-America Scholar-Athlete Team.Senior defender Quincy Clark, from Independence, Mo., is studying information technology and business administration at Graceland. He is a four-time dean’s list and one-time honor’s list scholar-athlete.
Guillermo Sanchez, a senior midfielder from Caracas, Venezuela, is enrolled in psychology and modern foreign language. Sanchez is a two-time dean’s and honors list honoree and a one time member of the president’s list.
Junior midfielder from St. Joseph, Mo., Bret Loving, is majoring in business administration. He has been recognized to the dean’s list twice and the honors list once at Graceland.
01-18-06 Jesus Rodriguez Selected For All-America Team
The NAIA-MSCA has selected Graceland’s Jesus Rodriguez for the 2005 NAIA Men's Soccer All-America Honorable Mention Team.Rodriguez, who was a senior forward for the Yellowjackets, scored five goals and had two assists this season. The Brownsville, Texas, native helped Graceland to their first ever national tournament appearance, a conference championship and an overall record of 11-6-2. Graceland ended the season ranked number 19 in the NAIA.
Rodriguez was an All-American honorable mention player in 2004 and 2002. He was also a first team all-region and first team all-conference award winner both of those seasons.
01-13-06 Graceland Soccer Programs Light Up Central Park
This winter the Graceland women’s and men’s soccer programs illuminated Lamoni’s Central Park for the holiday season. With more than 350 strands of Christmas lights in hand, the 46 Yellowjacket athletes lit up 14 of the park’s trees and the picnic shelter in the park located near City Hall.“I’ve always envisioned a need for a display like this in Lamoni, and I thought Central Park would be a perfect place to light up,” said Ivan Joseph, head men’s soccer coach at Graceland.
Joseph coupled Graceland’s Bridge Endowment with some monies from the Rasmussen soccer scholarship to purchase $3000 worth of white Christmas lights and extension cords for the decoration of the park. The city of Lamoni helped by paying for the utilities and the Graceland physical plant donated electrical work to the project.
“This was a great community endeavor that was well worth our time and effort,” concluded Joseph. “We hope this Festival of Lights will become a Lamoni tradition in years to come.”
Photos and more...
11-15-05 Watch Men's Soccer National Championship Games Online
Daytona Beach, Fla. -- The NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship host Embry-Riddle University and Stretch Internet have formed a partnership to stream video for all 19 matches live with play-by-play and color commentary announcers on a pay-per-view basis.Fans may purchase the right to watch matches individually at $9.95 per match or purchase a tournament pass for $24.95 to watch all 19 games. To view matches you will need to download a free Quicktime Player (for PC) or (for MAC)
Match video will be streamed live with play-by-play provided by the voice of Nova Southeastern (Fla.) men's soccer and sports information coordinator Eddie Kenny and color commentary by Nova Southeastern men's soccer head coach Giuseppe DePalo.
Go to http://www.stretchinternet.com/naiasoccer.html for more information.
11-15-05 Graceland Men's Soccer Not Done Yet
The Graceland University men's soccer team has earned the 12th seed in the NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship tournament held in Daytona Beach, Fla.Graceland, who holds a 11-5-2 record, will play the fifth seeded Azusa Pacific University from California (17-4-0) on Friday, November 18 at 11 a.m. If the men continue to win, the game times will be as follows at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University:
Quarterfinals Saturday, Nov. 19 at noon Semifinals Monday, Nov. 21 at 6 p.m. Championship Tuesday Nov 22 at 7 p.m.
Tournament Information
For more information and a complete tournament bracket for the 2005 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship, go to http://fusion.erau.edu/naia/index.cfm .
Stats
Live stats will be available on the NAIA's main women's soccer bracket page at www.naia.org .
See the Results
Watch the Graceland website at www.gojackets.graceland.edu for press releases and photos of the Yellowjacket soccer team.
Watch the Game
Fans may purchase the right to watch matches individually at $9.95 per match or purchase a tournament pass for $24.95 to watch all 19 games. http://www.stretchinternet.com/naiasoccer.html
11-10-05 Graceland Men’s Soccer Ends Season in PK Thriller
After a 90-minute regulation followed by two overtime periods, Graceland and Missouri Baptist University turned to penalty kicks to decide the second round of the Region V NAIA Men’s Soccer Tournament. Graceland lost the shootout 4-5 on PKs and ended their 2005 season Thursday afternoon in St. Louis, Mo.Missouri Baptist’s first PK was saved by Graceland goal keeper Isaac Unruh, and the Spartans’ goal keeper matched the effort, saving the attempt by Guillermo Sanchez. Missouri Baptist missed their second shot and Graceland’s Kevin Souter shot to the left of the goal while the Spartan goalie jumped to the right, scoring the Yellowjackets’ first goal of the shootout.
Unruh got a hand on the Spartans third attempt, but the ball powered through to the back of the net anyway. Bret Loving then stepped up to put Graceland ahead 2-1 with a shot down the middle of the goal. MBU recovered with a goal of their own as GU’s Quincy Clark missed wide left.
The 2-2 tie was quickly broken as the Spartans scored and Jesus Rodriguez answered with a goal of his own. The sixth kickers each had their shots blocked as Unruh got a foot on the Missouri Baptist attempt and Nick Gay’s try found the hands of the Spartan goalie.
In the seventh frame Corby Robertson scored for the Yellowjackets to tie the shootout at 4-4 following a successful Mo. Bap. shot. The eighth kicker for the Missouri Baptist team scored, but Hunter Re`’s attempt sailed over the top of the goal to end the game 4-5 in favor of the Spartans.
Graceland ends the season 11-5-2 overall, highlighted with the 2005 Heart of America Athletic Conference championship title.
11-08-05 Men’s Soccer Routs Baker 4-1 in Region Playoff
Graceland’s men’s soccer team beat Baker University 4-1 Tuesday night in Baldwin City, Kan. in the first round of the Region V playoffs.Yellowjacket seniors led the way for Graceland as Guillermo Sanchez and Jesus Rodriguez scored Graceland’s first two goals. Freshmen Hunter Re and Kevin Souter took charge later in the game as each scored a goal in the win over the fourth seeded Wildcats.
Graceland, who is the fifth seed in the Region V tournament will play the top seed, Missouri Baptist University in St. Louis, Mo. on Thursday, November 10 at 1 p.m. The winner of that game will play in the Region V championship game on Saturday, November 12 at a location to be announced at a later date.
10-29-05 Graceland Men’s Soccer Wins Conference Championship
The Graceland men’s soccer team won the 2005 Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship Saturday afternoon in Atchison, Kan.The Jackets beat Benedictine College 2-0 for the second conference championship in the 18-year history of the men’s soccer program. Graceland’s senior Jesus Rodriguez and freshman Mike Myer scored goals for the Jackets in the final game of the regular season.
Graceland will now await the region polls to find out their rank and date of their next game. Watch the Graceland website at www.gojackets.graceland.edu for more information about the upcoming men’s soccer games.
In 1997 Graceland won its first HAAC championship with a 5-0-2 conference and 13-1-3 overall record in Ivan Joseph’s first season as the head coach. Joseph was named conference coach of the year that season.
10-28-05 Graceland Soccer Plays for Conference Championship This Weekend
This weekend the Graceland women’s and men’s soccer teams will both play for rights to their conference championship titles.The men’s game at noon on Saturday in Atchison, Kan. will also decide the men’s soccer conference championship team. Due to the men’s conference standings, a Graceland win would allow the Jackets the outright conference title, but a loss would result in a fourth place finish in the HAAC. The conference ends the season on Saturday with Graceland (6-2-0) playing at Benedictine (5-1-2), Missouri Valley (5-3-0) playing at Baker (5-2-1), Lindenwood (5-1-2) at William Jewell (4-4) and MidAmerica (5-1-2) at Central Methodist (2-6).
10-08-05 Graceland Soccer Teams Split With MidAmerica
Both Graceland University soccer teams returned home Saturday night to take on the Pioneers of MidAmerica Nazarene University in Lamoni.The Graceland women played game one of the twin bill and beat the Pioneers by a score of 4-0. Thirty seconds into the game freshman Bethany Garcher scored on the Jackets first rush down the field. Junior Lara Guscott was the second Yellowjacket to score while junior Jocelyn Jentsch scored the Jackets final two goals. Jentsch also assisted on the Guscott goal.
The Jackets played their usual solid defense and senior goalkeeper Maria Prieto had an easy night as she was only tested once all game as the Pioneers had their only good scoring chance late in the game. The Yellowjackets upped their record to 11-0 overall and 4-0 in conference play.
The Graceland men fought hard all night but ended up short on the scoreboard in their 2-3 loss. The Jackets had more good scoring opportunities than the visiting Pioneers but at the end senior Jesus Rodriguez’s two goals were not enough to get the much needed win.
The Graceland men will need to win most if not all of their remaining conference games if they wish to compete in the 2005 playoffs. The loss sets the Jackets record at 5-4-1 overall and 2-2 in the conference.
The men will return to the pitch Sunday night at 6 p.m. as they will host Hastings College at the RAZZ in Lamoni. Both teams will head to Fayette, Mo. on Wed. October 12 as they take on HAAC opponent Central Methodist University before returning home on Sat. October 15 to take on Avila University as part of the homecoming extravaganza. The games on the 15th are set for 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. starts. Both Graceland University soccer teams returned home Saturday night to take on the Pioneers of MidAmerica Nazarene University in Lamoni.
The Graceland women played game one of the twin bill and beat the Pioneers by a score of 4-0. Thirty seconds into the game freshman Bethany Garcher scored on the Jackets first rush down the field. Junior Lara Guscott was the second Yellowjacket to score while junior Jocelyn Jentsch scored the Jackets final two goals. Jentsch also assisted on the Guscott goal.
The Jackets played their usual solid defense and senior goalkeeper Maria Prieto had an easy night as she was only tested once all game as the Pioneers had their only good scoring chance late in the game. The Yellowjackets upped their record to 11-0 overall and 4-0 in conference play.
The Graceland men fought hard all night but ended up short on the scoreboard in their 2-3 loss. The Jackets had more good scoring opportunities than the visiting Pioneers but at the end senior Jesus Rodriguez’s two goals were not enough to get the much needed win.
The Graceland men will need to win most if not all of their remaining conference games if they wish to compete in the 2005 playoffs. The loss sets the Jackets record at 5-4-1 overall and 2-2 in the conference.
The men will return to the pitch Sunday night at 6 p.m. as they will host Hastings College at the RAZZ in Lamoni. Both teams will head to Fayette, Mo. on Wed. October 12 as they take on HAAC opponent Central Methodist University before returning home on Sat. October 15 to take on Avila University as part of the homecoming extravaganza. The games on the 15th are set for 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. starts.
10-04-05 Guillermo Sanchez Earns HAAC Player of the Week Award
Graceland soccer player Guillermo Sanchez has earned Heart of America Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors for the week ending October 1.Guillermo Sanchez, a senior midfielder, led the Yellowjackets to a 2-0 week with two goals and three assists for a total of seven points. In a 4-0 win over William Jewell, Sanchez scored two goals and added an assist. The Caracas, Venezuela native averaged 3.50 points, 1.00 goals, and 1.50 assists this week for Graceland.
Watch Graceland soccer in action this weekend as they host MidAmerica Nazarene University on Saturday, October 8. The women kick off at 5 p.m. followed by the men’s game at 7 p.m. at The Razz in Lamoni, Iowa.
10-01-05 Graceland Men’s Soccer Pounces on William Jewell 4-0
The Graceland University men’s soccer team returned home to take on rival William Jewell College in a game that featured two teams with overall records of 4-3-1 and 1-1 in the HAAC. The game was high paced and rough from the start but the Jackets proved to be too much for the Cardinals in a 4-0 game.The overall speed of the Jackets along with their defensive style helped junior goalkeeper Isaac Unruh earn his third shutout of the 2005 campaign. Unruh made a couple of big saves behind a defensive core that worked hard on every play.
Senior Todd Jaramillo opened the scoring for the Jackets and fellow senior Guillermo Sanchez notched a pair of goals, one of which was on a penalty kick. Freshman Hunter Re scored the final goal for the Jackets in a yellow and red card filled second half.
The Jackets frustrated the Cardinals on all levels but Head Coach Ivan Joseph had to be proud of his men as they did not retaliate to any of the chippy play in their fifth win of the season.
The Jackets will take a week off from games before returning to the home pitch on Saturday, Oct. 8 against MidAmerica Nazarene University. Opening kick is set for 7 p.m. at the Razz in Lamoni, Iowa.
09-24-05 Graceland Men’s Soccer Falls 1-2 to #32 Baker
Graceland’s men’s soccer team lost 1-2 to Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan. on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats are ranked #32 in the NAIA national polls.The Yellowjackets next play Missouri Valley College on September 28 at 4 p.m. in Marshall, Mo. Graceland is 3-3-1 overall and 0-1 in the conference and the Vikings are 4-2-1 overall and 1-0 in the HAAC.
09-20-05 Men’s Soccer Takes Park to Double OT
The Graceland men’s soccer team took the 10th best team in the NAIA to double overtime Tuesday night in Lamoni, but allowed the Pirates to score with 2:30 remaining in the game to lose 2-3.Park opened the scoring in the game, but Graceland junior midfielder Bret Loving answered the Pirates’ first point with a rebound goal of his own to tie the game with six minutes remaining in the first period. In the second half, down 1-2, sophomore Herschel Hislop scored to lock the game at two apiece. The 90-minute event ended in a deadlock, pushing the game into overtime. With no goals scored in the first extra period, the clock was reset for the second.
In double overtime Graceland had two great shots on goal, including a corner kick that found the top bar of the goal and a penalty kick by freshman Kevin Souter that was blocked out the top of the goal by the Pirate keeper. With 2:30 remaining in second extra period, Park scored off a corner kick play to end the game.
Graceland, who now holds a 3-2-1 record, opens their Heart of America Athletic Conference schedule when they travel to Baldwin City, Kan. to play Baker University on September 24 at 1 p.m.
09-10-05 Graceland Soccer Makes Comeback Against Dordt
The Graceland men’s soccer team made a three-goal comeback in the second half to beat Dordt College 3-2 following a slow start against the Defenders.The Yellowjackets trailed by two until 18:21 left in the second half when Corby Robertson scored Graceland’s first goal. Herschel Hislop scored nine minutes later to tie the game. Freshman Hunter Re scored with six minutes to go in the game and the Jackets held on to win their third game of the season. Graceland is currently ranked 33rd in the NAIA national polls.
Graceland travels to Sioux City, Iowa, tomorrow to play Morningside College, then the men return to The Razz September 20 to host Park University at 7 p.m.
09-03-05 Men’s Soccer Wins at Westmont Classic
Graceland’s men’s soccer team defeated Fresno Pacific University from Fresno, Calif., 2-0 Saturday afternoon at the Westmont Heritage Club Classic in Santa Barbara, Calif.Mike Myer, a freshman from Olathe, Kan., and sophomore Corby Robertson, from St. Joseph, Mo., each scored a goal for the Yellowjackets. Freshman Kevin Souter, from Glasgow, Scotland, recorded both assists.
The Jackets tied Westmont College 0-0 in their first game of the tournament on Friday afternoon. Graceland now holds a 2-0-1 overall record.
This week the Jackets will prepare for two non-conference road games on the 10th and 11th against Dordt College and Morningside College.
09-02-05 Men’s Soccer Ties Westmont
Graceland’s men’s soccer team tied Westmont College 0-0 at the Westmont Heritage Club Classic in Santa Barbara, Calif. Friday afternoon.The Yellowjackets will play Fresno Pacific University Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Classic, then will return to Iowa in time to hit the road to play Dordt College and Morningside College on the 10th and 11th. On Tuesday, September 20 Graceland will hold its home opener against Park University at 7 p.m. at The Razz.
