Sunday, September 22, 2002
College Update: World's game comes to Tristate
By Ryan Ernst rernst@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Although the annual German celebration downtown is grabbing all the headlines, Oktoberfest wasn't the only display of international flavor in town this week.
A cast of talented international soccer players turned Wednesday's Crosstown Showdown — the men's soccer version of Xavier vs. Cincinnati — into a Cross-Atlantic showdown.
The Bearcats won the matchup 3-1, with players from New Zealand and the Netherlands tallying three of the contest's four goals. The masterminds behind the game, UC coach Hylton Dayes and XU coach Jack Hermans, are from Jamaica and Holland respectively. And although it might appear as if the world's game of “football” is taking over NCAA soccer, at least in the Tristate, coaches insist the influx of foreign talent is good for the game and the universities.
“The game has really progressed in the U.S.,” said Dayes, who came to America to play at Wright State. “The foreign players will always have a place in the game, but American players have no doubt gotten better.”
The Bearcats' roster features four foreign-born players, including Wednesday night's star Tim Brown, who scored from 80 yards out when he caught the Musketeers' goalkeeper out of the box. Brown, who joins fellow New Zealanders Wiremu Patrick and Sacha Nathu at UC, said the transition to an American university was easier than he expected.
“Everyone goes out of their way to make you feel welcome,” he said. “That's a great starting point. On the field, we get looked after so well at UC. With the facilities and all the things they provide for us, it helps with the transition a lot.”
A pair of Dutchmen, Steven Barten and Tiest Sodaal, leads the Musketeers in scoring this season. Xavier has had 13 international players since 1995, and all have been recognized as All-Atlantic-10 players. Although foreign players consistently rank near the top of XU's scoring list, Hermans made it clear that he is not merely bringing in hired guns.
“We're definitely taking kids that want to get degrees, and so far 100 percent of them have,” he said. “I find that their studies are very important to them. An American degree to a foreigner gets them places. They know how important it is.”
Cincinnati defender Anders Cedergren, whose brother Johan preceded him on the UC roster, knows how important a degree is. The junior from Sweden was inducted into the school's Legion of Excellence for academic accomplishment.
“There's a lot more opportunity here,” Cedergren said. “Sweden is a more socialistic country. But here, whatever you want to do, if you put a lot of effort into it, you're going to have more of an opportunity to succeed — both on and off the field.”
Although the on-field activities come more naturally to the foreign players, they admit some of the nuances surrounding the American game escape them.
“Here, regardless of how you play, everyone always says, "Aw, you played a great game,'” XU's Sondaal said. “It's not like that in Holland. If I play bad, I don't want anyone to tell me I played well.
“I went to a game the other day and all the parents were like, "You guys played awesome,' and I was thinking, "no they didn't.'”
Herman shares Sondaal's view.
“Yeah, that rah-rah stuff, they really don't understand it at all,” Hermans said.
For Brown, adjusting to American culture has stretched even further away from the field.
“Everything's just like the movies — the cheerleaders and the bands playing. I never thought that was real,” he said. “And we get these letter jackets, ya know? It's just like Happy Days. It's a great time, though.”
Others
Wooster volleyball player and Mount Notre Dame grad Becky Rohlfs was one of six players voted by coaches to the All-Kilt Classic Team, a tournament the Scots were host of and third-place finishers in.
Walnut Hills alumna Katie Aerni, a senior on the Carnegie Mellon cross country team, won the 5k Duquesne Duals in 18:22. The effort was good enough to earn her University Athletic Association runner-of-the-week honors.
Also garnering weekly league honors was a pair of Xavier athletes. Goalkeeper Brian Schaeper, a Moeller grad, recorded back-to-back shutouts and was named the Atlantic 10 men's soccer player of the week. Meggie Hoffman was named the A-10 volleyball rookie of the week for the second straight week after earning MVP honors at the Marriott Boca Bash.
Ursuline grad Beth Schmidt, a sophomore on the Case Western soccer team, continued to help her team get off to a hot start, recording her sixth straight shutout when Case defeated Kenyon.
John Oscar, a graduate of Moeller and a middle linebacker for the Coast Guard Academy, was the Freedom Football Conference defensive player of the week after recording 11 tackles and an interception in a 27-0 win over Massachusetts Maritime.
A pair of Cincinnati prep products entered the Ohio record books last week in the Bobcats' 34-6 loss at Florida. Kevin Kerr, the team's senior kicker and a graduate of St. Xavier, made two field goals to move into first place on Ohio's career list with 30. Teammate Bop White, a Princeton grad, tallied an interception in the first quarter to move into second place on the school's all-time list.
Capital volleyball player and Mason alumna Ann Reed was named to the all-tournament team at the Cardinal Classic at Otterbein. Reed had 190 assists and 63 digs in six matches.
The American Football Coaches Association named Thomas More linebacker Nick Rice to its 11-member Good Works team for community service he has performed over the past three years.
The Women's Basketball Coaches Association has recognized the Northern Kentucky women's basketball team as an Academic Top-25 Honor Roll Team. The Norse have a team grade-point average of 3.46, seventh in the nation among NCAA Division II schools.
After moving into first place in the nation following a win over former No.1 team Christian Brothers, the NKU women's soccer team found out senior Hope Bushelman was named Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Week. Bushelman held CBU's All-America forward Missy Gregg to just two shots in the Norse's 1-0 win.
Tammy Schuler, a sophomore volleyball player at Urbana and a Turpin grad, set a school record for digs in a match with 44 against Otterbein.
The University of Cincinnati on Thursday inducted 15 student-athletes into its Legion of Excellence, recognizing the individuals for academic accomplishment. The players were Rachel Lieberman and Anders Cedergren (soccer), Maria de Jong and Ryan McNally (swimming), Chris Hoeffer and Angie Kist (track/cross country), Jamaal Lucas and Sara Piepho (basketball), Alison Morris and Frank Morris (golf), Mark Muscenti (baseball), Magdalena Wala (rowing), Kirt Doolin (football), Julie Dupont (volleyball) and Samantha Liu (tennis).
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College Update: World's game comes to Tristate
