University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Drovers – MEN – The men’s team is sitting at 8-11 overall, 4-9 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. Just yesterday the Drovers defeated St Gregory’s 81-61 to end a three-game losing streak. They see action again tomorrow night against the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm. WOMEN – The women’s team is an unfortunate 6-14 overall, 2-11 in conference play. Continue reading
Tag Archives: University of Science and Arts Of Oklahoma
SPOT-CHECK: HOW ARE THE USAO DROVERS DOING?
Filed under College Basketball
USAO DROVERS COACH JIMMY HAMPTON IS THE COACH OF THE YEAR AGAIN!
CHICKASHA – Drover Head Coach Jimmy Hampton was named the National Soccer Coaches Association and NAIA Southwest Region Coach of the Year for the second year in a row.
Hampton and the other regional coaches of the year will be honored at a College Continue reading
Filed under college sports
15TH-RANKED USAO DROVERS MEN’S SOCCER WINS 1ST-EVER 2ND ROUND MATCH
Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog are very familiar with the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Drovers men’s soccer team. Players like goalkeeper “Force Field” McEntee, “NC Hammer”, “Niiiiiikolaaaaa” and “Dr Drover” have made the past few seasons very special for USAO soccer. Coach Hampton’s team has made history again, defeating the Great Falls Argonauts for the Drovers’ 1st ever 2nd round victory. Here’s the latest from the Alabama tournament, courtesy of Chad Waller. Continue reading
Filed under college sports
NC HAMMER IS A CHAMPION OF CHARACTER
BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS – One Drover left Brownsville, Texas, with two special honors.
The first, of course, was making history with an NAIA National Tournament Opening Round win. But Niall Crick left with an equally as special honor – he was named an NAIA Champion of Character. Continue reading
Filed under college sports
DROVERS SOCCER READY TO TEAR UP THE NAIA TOURNAMENT
CHICKASHA – Fans will have the opportunity to listen to or watch the USAO soccer National Tournament match with the University of Texas at Brownsville live online for free.
UTB will provide the live video and audio online at http://www.utbstingradio.com. Just click on “Athletics” to find the game.
Also watch for more information on following the stats live.
Kick off will be at 6 p.m. Saturday at Brownsville Sports Park in Brownsville, Texas. This is the first round of the NAIA National Tournament. The winner of Saturday night’s game will go on to play in the second round in Orange Beach, Ala.
Filed under college sports
DROVERS MEN’S SOCCER ADVANCES IN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
CHICKASHA – The Sooner Athletic Conference tournament started strong for the Drovers, who defeated OC in the first round 5-1 on Friday.
The Drovers’ win propels them to the second round of the tournament. They will host Oklahoma City, which beat Continue reading
Filed under college sports
HAMPTON’S HEROES: AN INTERVIEW WITH 3 USAO SOCCER STARS
Jimmy Hampton, Head Men’s Soccer Coach for the University Of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Drovers, currently has his team at 12-2 (6-2 in Sooner Athletic Conference Play) and ranked 15th in the country. With the end of the regular season fast approaching, it seemed a good time to get together with some of the stars of the Drover soccer team and find out more about them.
RYAN MCENTEE
Position: GK
Official Balladeer’s Blog Nickname: Continue reading
Filed under Q&A
DROVERS KICKING BUTTS AS WELL AS SOCCER BALLS
(Courtesy University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Sports Information. The parenthetical comments are mine alone.)
CHICKASHA – Not just one, but two USAO Drovers stood out among conference opponents as playing exceptional soccer last week — and became Sooner Athletic Conference Players of the Week.
Both Calli (“DB“) Cooper and Nikola Cakarevic (One half of Drover soccer’s “NC Hammer” duo along with Niall Crick, as readers of this blog will recall) were honored with Offensive Player of the Week. (Balladeer’s note: When Nikola scores a goal the Drover fans should chant Niiiiiiiiiiiiikolaaaaaaaaaa like in those old Ricola ads)
Calli Cooper, a sophomore from Norman, shined with back-to-back hat tricks (and hat-to-hat back tricks – rimshot) and four assists in the two games the Drovers played last week, first against the Bethel College Threshers and then the Tabor College Bluejays a few days later.
“Calli I feel is just starting to play to her potential this season,” Hampton said.
Cooper is by far the team’s leading scorer this season. She’s made more than 50 percent of her shots on goal so far in 2010, and she is eighth in the division in goals per game (1.5) and in points per game (3.83). Additionally, she’s 10th in total points with 23. She’s also ranked in the top 30 in seven other categories. (And the Top 7 in 30 other categories)
This season, Cooper has scored nine goals and had five assists.
With seven goals in two games, Cakarevic was crucial in the Drovers’ wins this week. In addition to tying his own school record with five goals in a game against Tabor College on Friday, (Five goals being more than some teams have scored so far this season) Cakarevic scored two of USAO’s three goals against Bethel College days before. He scored the team’s game-winning goal against Bethel. (Any odds on how long it will be before he marries a Spice Girl?)
He has scored 11 goals already for USAO and is third in the division in goals per game (1.67) and points per game (3.5). He’s also seventh in total goals (10) and ranked in the top 30 in four other categories. (And the Top 4 in 30 other- oh, sorry, I used that joke already)
“Nikola had a great week,” Hampton said. “He is an exceptional player, and we look forward to him continuing his success in SAC play.” (Don’t go there!)
The Drover men are undefeated (6-0) and ranked No. 10 in the country going into Tuesday’s game against conference rivals the Oklahoma City University Stars . The women are 4-1-1 overall.
Filed under college sports
SPECIAL GUEST COMMENTATOR: BOGIE
My sister Rosemary’s dog Bogie is a passionate Redskins fan. He’s also an expert on various college sports and has been following them for all 10 years of his life so far. Balladeer’s Blog is proud to have him as our very first Special Guest Commentator. ******The following comments are strictly Bogie’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of Balladeer’s Blog.
Bogie: The Indiana University Southeast Grenadiers volleyball team has won their 6th game in a row, extending their effort to turn this season around. The ladies are now 7-7 after defeating the Spalding Golden Eagles in straight sets 25-20, 25-21 and 25-12. My Mom and my Uncle (the guy who writes this blog) and I are big Marx Brothers fans and we can’t believe the Spalding teams aren’t called the Captains! Anyway, the Grenadiers try to go over 500 for the 1st time this season when they host the Fighting Engineers of Rose Hulman today!
Bogie: The Lewis-Clark State Warriors men’s cross-country team has moved up 1 notch to #19 in the latest Top 25 poll. Ironically the women’s team is at #19 in their poll as well, but that represented a drop of 3 spots. The Warriors teams will next see action tomorrow in the Eric Anderson Memorial Invite, to be run at Plante’s Ferry Park in Spokane, WA. I’d like to give a shoutout to Spokane’s Gonzaga teams which are doggies like me but my Uncle says I can’t. I’ll just wish Coach Mike Collins and the teams good luck then.
Bogie: The Albany State Golden Rams football team, fresh off their upset of Tuskegee last Saturday, prepare to face old rivals the Savannah State Tigers in the “Rumble In The Swamp” tomorrow. This will be the 60th meeting between the 2 HBCU’s (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). The Golden Rams lead the series by a record of 41-16-2 and come into this Saturday’s action riding a 13-game winning streak against Savanna State. Kickoff is set for 2pm at Waycross Memorial Stadium. Since Tigers are a kind of cat I’ll be rooting for the Golden Rams to beat them since we dogs hate cats!
Bogie: The University of Science and Arts Of Oklahoma Drovers (Drovers are a cooler version of a cowboy) men’s soccer team remained at #10 in the NAIA Top 25, coming off a rest week. Tuesday night the Drovers defeated the Bethel (KS) Threshers and will next face the Tabor College Bluejays today, on Drover Pitch. The Drover women’s soccer team has gotten some votes but still hasn’t cracked the women’s Top 25 just yet.
Bogie: Tomorrow, when the Cumberlands Patriots face the Bethel (TN) Wildcats on the gridiron, Head Coach John Bland will wear a Coach T Cure Muscular Dystrophy patch, like many coaches nationwide, as part of a promotion to raise money for MD research. For live audio of the game click here: http://www.cumberlandspatriots.com/ In a related Patriots football story, you can read about their legendary player Madison McCalmon by clicking here: https://glitternight.com/2010/07/25/the-truth-behind-the-legend-of-madison-mccalmon/
Now it’s off to collect my fee of a doggie treat for filling in for my Uncle!
Filed under college sports
SOCCER POTPOURRI 2
The University of Science and Arts Of Oklahoma Drovers men’s soccer team is 4-0 and is now ranked #10 in the NAIA, the team’s highest ranking ever. This past weekend the Drovers defeated the Brescia Bearcats 3-1 and the St Thomas Celts 8-2. Nicolas “The Frenchman Freshman” Alberto (as I like to call him) has had 4 goals already on the season followed closely by the “NC Hammer” duo of Nikola Cakarevic and Niall Crick who have 3 goals each. Last year’s leading scorer David “Dr Drover” Otieno has had 2 goals and 4 assists in this young season. Goalkeeper Ryan “Force Field” Mcentee has played every minute of all 4 games so far and has allowed only 3 goals. The Drovers are the only Sooner Athletic Conference team in the NAIA Top 25 and are #1 in the conference standings.
You can’t cut it much closer than “Close Shave” Shelby Cummins did as she scored the winning goal for the Franklin and Marshall Diplomats women’s soccer team 3-2 over the Elizabethtown Blue Jays. Cummins scored the goal off an assist from “Kickin'” Carley Nicholson with just .9 of a second left in the game. The Diplomats are now 3-1 on the season. F&M had a 2-nil halftime lead which held up until the 71st minute of the game when the Blue Jays got on the board. They scored again less than 5 minutes later to knot the game up at 2 all and setting the stage for Cummins’ heroics. Diplomats goalkeeper Katie “Fort Katie” Golding had 4 saves and improved her personal record to 3-1. The ladies next play the Ursinus Bears on Sept 21st.***On the men’s side for the Diplomats Zach “Dr Z” Zamek became the all-time shutouts leader for F&M with 19 following a 3-nil win over the Lycoming Warriors. Dr Z is now tied on the all-time wins list for the Diplomats, too and can try to set the new wins record on the 19th against the Muhlenberg Mules.
For the 2nd straight week, Saint Xavier Cougars’ goalkeeper “Wild” Kyle Held has been “held” over as the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Defensive Player Of The Week. Wild Kyle had 8 saves in SXU‘s only game of the week, a 2-nil victory over the Goshen Maple Leafs. Held has had 26 saves and 2 shutouts for the season. He has a Goals Against Average of just .82 per game and the Cougars are 3-2 overall. SXU opens conference play this Friday on the road against the Saint Francis (IN) Cougars.
The Johns Hopkins Blue Jays women’s soccer team shut out the Stevenson Mustangs 2- nil this afternoon at Caves Athletic Complex. Sarah “The Sentinel” Gieszl scored her 1st career goal and “Power Puff” Pamela Vranis had the other JHU goal plus an assist. The Blue Jays have now posted back-to-back shutouts and at 5-1 are ranked 8th in the D3 women’s soccer poll. With the loss the Stevenson Mustangs drop to 3-3.
The St Ambrose Fighting Bees men’s soccer team won in overtime against the St Francis (IL) Fighting Saints 2-1 at the Davenport Soccer Complex. The Fighting Bees went into halftime leading 1-nil on a KEndrick Tyson goal but gave up the tying goal in the 2nd half. St Ambrose goalie “Mighty” Matt Tucker had 5 furious saves in the 2nd half which kept the FIghting Bees’ hopes alive. Wes Erickson fulfilled those hopes 4 minutes and 6 seconds into OT by slamming home the winning goal for the home team.
Both the men’s and women’s soccer teams for the Lincoln Memorial University Railsplitters registered wins today! The Lady Railsplitters improved their record to 4-0 with a road win over the King College Tornado (singular) by a score of 2-nil. Sarah “The Midfield Maniac” Taylor had both LMU goals, one in the 25th minute off an assist from Becky “Tigress” Thompson and the other barely 11 minutes later off an assist from “Lethal” Leslie Wilson. 3 of the ladies’ team’s 4 wins have been shutouts. ***The men’s Railsplitters team beat out their counterparts from King College 1-nil to move to 3-0 on the season. Just like the ladies’ team all but 1 of their wins have been shutouts. “Gentleman” Jimmy Vandenhurk scored the lone goal of the match 5 minutes in off an assist from Mackenzie “Aces” Wilde. Railsplitters goalkeeper Michael “Brick Wall” Watkins then did his part by crushing every Tornado scoring attempt.
Kelly “Sunstorm” Sunstrom propeled the Alverno Inferno soccer team to a 1-nil victory over the Robert Morris (IL) Eagles today. Sunstrom scored in the 80th minute off an assist from “Kosho” Kelsey Koshanowski (Fans of The Prisoner will get it). It was Sunstorm’s 1st goal of the season and Kosho’s 2nd assist. The Inferno are now 3-0 and will try to burn the feathers off another Eagles team this Saturday at Wisconsin-Lacrosse.
Filed under college sports
Balladeer's Blog 