Michigan Tech Women’s Varsity Soccer team will be having a Showcase on March 17th from 8-10 p.m. in the Multi-purpose gym.   All current Tech female students are invited to participate in the open tryouts.  Please arrive in the gym by 7:40 in order to fill out the proper paperwork.  Individual meetings will be scheduled for the following day between the coaches and each individual to discuss the tryouts and improvement opportunities.

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With the hiring of the Michigan Tech Women’s Soccer coach, Michelle Jacob, we at the Lode wanted to have a chat with her to see what the plans are for next year’s team, and how things are progressing.

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Michigan Tech Women’s Soccer team has its coach, and now has a foundation on which to build.  Michelle Jacob was announced as the head coach on Jan. 27, coming off an 11-7-1 record last year with Marian University. The record looks deceiving, as prior to her reign as head coach at Marian, the soccer team was just a measly 4-12-1.  Jacob spent three seasons in the assistant coaching ranks at UW-Stevens Point after finishing a four-year playing career at the same university.  At UW-Stevens Point, Jacob was an All-America First-Team selection and the WIAC Player of the Year in 2001.  While playing with the Pointers, her teams racked up a 75-15-2 record and won the Conference title all four years.

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After an intense conclusion to the indoor soccer regular season last Thursday, this Tuesday featured several playoff matches with lower seeds playing two games apiece to earn their right into the championship games, which will take place at the SDC multi-purpose room tonight.

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As the semester winds down and Thanksgiving break approaches, the top teams from this semester’s indoor soccer tournament are separating themselves from the competition. With each team playing six games in the regular season, most teams have two games remaining.

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The indoor soccer tournament is off to a solid start. The tournament games are held every Tuesday and Thursday night between 10 p.m. and midnight in the SDC multi-purpose room.

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Last week, Michigan Tech announced the addition of women’s soccer to its varsity athletic program. The addition, which is the first since Nordic skiing was added in 1989-90, will balance the number of men’s and women’s teams at seven apiece. The team will begin intercollegiate competition next fall as a member of the GLIAC. Long-time Michigan Tech donor Pat Nelson is funding all of the start-up costs, including equipment, locker room renovations and first-year coaching salaries.
“This is a great step for the University and the athletic department,” said Tech athletic director Suzanne Sanregret in last week’s Michigan Tech article. “It has been one of my goals since becoming athletic director to add women’s soccer. It’s an up-and-coming sport and a natural fit in the GLIAC.”
This year there are only eight women’s soccer programs in the GLIAC, but with the addition of Michigan Tech and the two upcoming GLIAC expansion schools – Lake Erie and Ohio Dominican – 11 of the 14 GLIAC schools will field a women’s soccer team next year.
Next year’s schedule is yet to be determined, but there will be around 15 GLIAC games with about half of them taking place at home on Sherman Field, which was set up for soccer during last year’s synthetic turf installation. Conflicts with football will be rare given that soccer games are generally played on Friday and Sunday, with practices taking place on both turf and grass, depending on the field surface of the upcoming game(s). There will be a few non-conference games as well. Games will start no earlier than August 26, and the postseason GLIAC tournament, which is played in early November, will be run much like basketball and volleyball, involving quarterfinals, semifinals and a final, with the highest seed hosting at their campus site.
The reaction across campus has been positive as well, particularly among the current women’s soccer club team, which faces an uncertain future in light of the addition as a varsity sport.
“With all of the press the addition of the women’s varsity soccer team received, it would be impossible to say that new interests have not been sparked,” said Kelsy Ryskamp, women’s soccer club president. “The women’s club soccer team often has trouble getting their name out to gain participation – now that the varsity team has been announced publically, I feel as though a lot of women will be anxious to be a part of this brand new program… I hope the club team will stay around because it is a great way for whoever wishes to be involved in soccer at Michigan Tech.”
“I hope they do very well, and I’m very sad I can’t be a part of it since I’m graduating,” said Michelle Murphy, who has been a member of the women’s soccer club for five years. “I’m very interested in who the coach will be and what ideas they have to bring to the table to build up a very strong team that can compete right away in our conference.”
Michigan Tech will officially post the head coaching job in late October or early November, with plans to bring in the coach and start implementing the program starting Jan. 1, 2010.
Stay tuned to the Michigan Tech Lode, both in print and online at mtulode.com for continuing coverage of this new varsity addition.

We continue our new feature in the Lode Sports section where each week we will continue to highlight a different club sport team in effort to expand the awareness of some of the great sports we have here at Michigan Tech on the club level. This week we highlight the Men’s Soccer Club of Michigan Tech.
The Huskies have had a hard transition this year after graduating a large amount of players last year. Yet they have a handful of very talented young freshman who are going to be a big help to the team this year. Talking to Matt Browne, the Vice-President of the Club, he mentioned “We haven’t had the chance to really practice that much, but it seems like we are starting to come together as a team.” Matt also mentioned that the team looks to be strong up top at the center midfield and striker positions
When asked about the season expectations and goals for the Husky soccer team, the response was typical of a club with very young players. “I would expect that our new players will need to take some time to adjust to the speed and physicality of the college level. I think it is a realistic expectation for us to finish .500 though, and I expect us to finish the season especially strong.”
The Club has set the goal of making the playoffs this year, and getting the opportunity to play against perennial powers of Club Soccer, Michigan and Michigan State. On top of that, the Men’s Soccer Club has a mission to serve as an outlet for campus soccer players who are looking to get better and make friends at the same time.
Anyone interested in playing for the Men’s soccer team is welcome to come out and join their practices, regardless of your standing at Michigan Tech. Practice for the club occurs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 6-8 PM. All practices occur on the Upper Soccer Fields. Anyone who is interested in more information about the Michigan Tech Soccer Team is encouraged to email drjenkin@mtu.edu or mcbrowne@mtu.edu.

Welcome to a new feature in the Lode Sports section, where each week we will highlight a different club sport team in effort to expand the awareness of some of the great sports we have here at Michigan Tech on the club level. This week we highlight the Women’s Soccer Club of Michigan Tech.
The Huskies opened their fall campaign this past Saturday at Sherman Field as they hosted the University of Illinois – Chicago. Playing with a handful of players who are new to the program this year it took Tech a while to get used to game play with each other. The play would pick up as the game went on and the Huskies would end up pulling out a 2-2 draw out of their match with the Flames.
Recruiting for a club sport can often be a difficult thing, but Vice-President Ellen Pokorney remarked that this year the numbers are up and there are many new faces, something which is refreshing for them, “Usually it’s hard to recruit many people, but this year a lot of people came looking for us which was nice.”
When asked about what goals the Huskies have set for this year Ellen said “A goal this team should set is to have at least a .500 season. We haven’t had a lot of wins in the past, but I think this year we can do it. Everyone’s putting in a little more time and we’re working a little bit harder, so I think a winning season is definitely within reach. Of course getting to the league play-offs is always a goal as well.”
The season is still young for this year’s team, so anyone interested in playing is welcome to come out and join their practices. Practice for the club occurs Mondays 6-8 p.m., and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5-7 p.m. All practices occur on the Upper Soccer Fields. The Women will take the field again this Saturday at home (Sherman Field) against Northern Michigan at 10 a.m.

Week five of MLS play exposed a lot of teams for what they really are. Seattle may not be as strong as originally thought, and Kansas City may be the team to shock everyone this year.

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