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Gregory Sager

Quote from: augie77 on August 15, 2011, 10:30:28 AM
There were rumors last year about some of the Swedish-born North Park players possibly transferring out.  For the sake of competitiveness, I hope this isn't the case.  Can you provide an update?

It wasn't really a rumor, per se. It was just Gotberg's acknowledgment of the fact that not every Swede finds schooling in America to be to his or her liking. As far as I know, all of the Swedes from last year's NPU side were planning to return for the 2011 season. I'll give an update on the Vikings roster when I know more.

North Park opens up with the annual varsity vs. alumni contest a week from Saturday, always a spirited affair. And I like the NPU schedule this year; three teams that were highly-ranked in last season's final d3soccer.com poll, #3 UW-Oshkosh, #10 UW-Whitewater, and #13 Dominican, will be visiting Hedstrand Field this fall. The Vikings will also be traveling to North Carolina, where they will take on North Carolina Wesleyan (which spent almost all of last year in the Others Receiving Votes category in the d3soccer.com poll) and Methodist.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

augie77

Likewise Wheaton, as usual, has a make-or-break schedule.  Sadly, last year was a "break".

In addition to the Northwestern scrimmage, they play the following teams from last year's final d3soccer.com poll:

3-UW-Oshkosh
5-Ohio Wesleyan
6-Calvin
13-Dominican

ORV-North Park and Hope

Of these, only Dominican and North Park are at home.

Gotberg

Quote from: Gregory Sager on August 15, 2011, 11:12:30 AM
Quote from: augie77 on August 15, 2011, 10:30:28 AM
There were rumors last year about some of the Swedish-born North Park players possibly transferring out.  For the sake of competitiveness, I hope this isn't the case.  Can you provide an update?

It wasn't really a rumor, per se. It was just Gotberg's acknowledgment of the fact that not every Swede finds schooling in America to be to his or her liking. As far as I know, all of the Swedes from last year's NPU side were planning to return for the 2011 season. I'll give an update on the Vikings roster when I know more.

North Park opens up with the annual varsity vs. alumni contest a week from Saturday, always a spirited affair. And I like the NPU schedule this year; three teams that were highly-ranked in last season's final d3soccer.com poll, #3 UW-Oshkosh, #10 UW-Whitewater, and #13 Dominican, will be visiting Hedstrand Field this fall. The Vikings will also be traveling to North Carolina, where they will take on North Carolina Wesleyan (which spent almost all of last year in the Others Receiving Votes category in the d3soccer.com poll) and Methodist.

Greg,

I look forward to hearing about incoming players and glad to hear key eligible players seem to be returning. 

Sorry augie77 if my question last year about the Swedes returning caused confusion.
I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered. - George Best

IdahoSoccer

Quote from: augie77 on August 15, 2011, 11:34:58 AM
Likewise Wheaton, as usual, has a make-or-break schedule.  Sadly, last year was a "break".

In addition to the Northwestern scrimmage, they play the following teams from last year's final d3soccer.com poll:

3-UW-Oshkosh
5-Ohio Wesleyan
6-Calvin
13-Dominican

ORV-North Park and Hope

Of these, only Dominican and North Park are at home.

Wheaton also plays Loras ranked #15, at wheaton

Gregory Sager

I caught an NPU scrimmage last night. (By the way, it was awfully impressive to see about 150 students in attendance, considering that yesterday was the first day of North Park's New Student Orientation and most of the non-freshmen aren't even required to be on campus until this weekend.) The Vikings roster is at about forty or so players again, and there's a lot of size; this team's less likely to be physically manhandled than was the case with last year's edition. It's also less likely to use English as its language on the field, as there's either fourteen or seventeen Swedes on the roster this year (depending upon whom you ask, as the official roster isn't posted yet). There's also a Norwegian, who looks really good, and a few players from other countries as well (Spain, England, etc.).

It's going to be a very, very good NPU side. I'm really looking forward to this season.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

augie77

How did the Vikings do--and who was the opponent? 

Wheaton scrimmaged at Norhwestern last week-end, losing 4-0.  The encuraging thing is that despite Wheaton missing three starting defenders due to nagging injuries it was scoreless until nearly halftime, and Wheaton had chances to score.  Northwestern poured it on against a busload of Thunder reserves in the second half (Northwestern only dressed 25 or so).  The pre-season roster of 38 has since been cut to 29.  Updated roster is on the web site.

I believe Wheaton is taking North park seriously these days, as well they should.  I expect some tremendous rivalry games between the two teams in the years to come.

Northwestern has a tremendous soccer venue; the three year old stadium is right on Lake Michigan, with the lake immediately behind the field and player benches (fan's perspective).

Gregory Sager

Quote from: augie77 on August 25, 2011, 12:46:00 PM
How did the Vikings do--and who was the opponent?

They beat Oakton, 5-2, which doesn't mean much. Oakton's the Chicagoland area's premier soccer juco, but, nevertheless, it's still just a juco. The Vikings scored five goals in pretty rapid succession in the first half, gave up a surprise goal late in the half that demonstrated that the regular-season mental focus still isn't quite there yet, and then John Born cleared his bench for what was a scoreless second half until Oakton added another goal very late.

The Vikings didn't dress a couple of starters due to injury, one of them being All-CCIW first-team midfielder Filip Lindmark, so last night was a showcase for a lot of new faces. And that was what was so impressive: The skill level of the newcomers who were playing with the first team is extremely high. Once these guys all get used to playing with each other, the Vikings should be a real force.

Saturday night's the annual match with the alumni, and I'm really looking forward to that.

Quote from: augie77 on August 25, 2011, 12:46:00 PMI believe Wheaton is taking North park seriously these days, as well they should.  I expect some tremendous rivalry games between the two teams in the years to come.

It's already been a good rivalry for several years now, although I think it's going to get even better. I know for a fact that the Wheaton players get very keyed up to play NPU.  It's gratifying to finally see Wheaton start reciprocating the zealous antipathy that North Park has always demonstrated towards Wheaton, even if it is only in one sport. Wheaton's perennially blithe indifference towards North Park has only made Parkers even angrier when the subject of Wheaton comes up. Nice to see that there's now some rivalry juice on the opposite side of the fence as well.

Every NPU soccer fan has circled Saturday, October 8 on his or her calendar.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Gotberg

Quote from: Gregory Sager on August 25, 2011, 01:33:30 PM
Quote from: augie77 on August 25, 2011, 12:46:00 PM
How did the Vikings do--and who was the opponent?

They beat Oakton, 5-2, which doesn't mean much. Oakton's the Chicagoland area's premier soccer juco, but, nevertheless, it's still just a juco. The Vikings scored five goals in pretty rapid succession in the first half, gave up a surprise goal late in the half that demonstrated that the regular-season mental focus still isn't quite there yet, and then John Born cleared his bench for what was a scoreless second half until Oakton added another goal very late.

The Vikings didn't dress a couple of starters due to injury, one of them being All-CCIW first-team midfielder Filip Lindmark, so last night was a showcase for a lot of new faces. And that was what was so impressive: The skill level of the newcomers who were playing with the first team is extremely high. Once these guys all get used to playing with each other, the Vikings should be a real force.

Saturday night's the annual match with the alumni, and I'm really looking forward to that.

Quote from: augie77 on August 25, 2011, 12:46:00 PMI believe Wheaton is taking North park seriously these days, as well they should.  I expect some tremendous rivalry games between the two teams in the years to come.

It's already been a good rivalry for several years now, although I think it's going to get even better. I know for a fact that the Wheaton players get very keyed up to play NPU.  It's gratifying to finally see Wheaton start reciprocating the zealous antipathy that North Park has always demonstrated towards Wheaton, even if it is only in one sport. Wheaton's perennially blithe indifference towards North Park has only made Parkers even angrier when the subject of Wheaton comes up. Nice to see that there's now some rivalry juice on the opposite side of the fence as well.

Every NPU soccer fan has circled Saturday, October 8 on his or her calendar.

Thanks for the update.  I hope the NPU website is updated soon with the roster and perhaps a small profile of the players and a season preview.
I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered. - George Best

Gotberg

North Park's 2011 roster has been posted:  http://northpark.edu/Athletics/Mens-Sports/Soccer/Roster

It appears that very few regular players from last year's team have returned.
I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered. - George Best

Gregory Sager

Hannes Granlund, Sehten Hills, and Mike Herbst elected not to return, and James Kriticos, Kyle Connelly, and Greg Domanico all graduated (Domanico's now on the NPU coaching staff as a graduate assistant), which leaves Tim Ahlberg, Ryan McNaughton, Kris Grahn, Oskar Joelsson, and Filip Lindmark as returning starters. That's still almost half of last year's starting lineup that's back this season. Plus, former starter Sebastian Pilat is back after missing a year to injury and taking a medical redshirt, and several heavily-used reserves from last year's side -- Effy Restrepo, Tomislav Medved, Kyle Krutsinger, and Erik Kinhammar, all of whom played in at least eight matches last season -- are back as well. And there are several newcomers who look good enough to step into the starting lineup right away.

I understand your concern over losing Granlund, Hills, and Herbst prematurely, but think you'll be very pleasantly surprised by how much talent the Vikings have this year.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Gotberg

Quote from: Gregory Sager on August 27, 2011, 06:37:15 PM
Hannes Granlund, Sehten Hills, and Mike Herbst elected not to return, and James Kriticos, Kyle Connelly, and Greg Domanico all graduated (Domanico's now on the NPU coaching staff as a graduate assistant), which leaves Tim Ahlberg, Ryan McNaughton, Kris Grahn, Oskar Joelsson, and Filip Lindmark as returning starters. That's still almost half of last year's starting lineup that's back this season. Plus, former starter Sebastian Pilat is back after missing a year to injury and taking a medical redshirt, and several heavily-used reserves from last year's side -- Effy Restrepo, Tomislav Medved, Kyle Krutsinger, and Erik Kinhammar, all of whom played in at least eight matches last season -- are back as well. And there are several newcomers who look good enough to step into the starting lineup right away.

I understand your concern over losing Granlund, Hills, and Herbst prematurely, but think you'll be very pleasantly surprised by how much talent the Vikings have this year.

Some concern, but mostly observation.  Granlund was really an outstanding defender and distributor from the back.  He will be missed no doubt.
I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered. - George Best

Gotberg

I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered. - George Best

Gregory Sager

Quote from: Gotberg on August 30, 2011, 08:40:07 AM
Sehten Hills is back in school and on the team:

http://northpark.edu/Athletics/Mens-Sports/Soccer/Roster

Yeah, he was at the alumni scrimmage wearing an NPU soccer polo, and I discovered that he was sharing an apartment with a couple of current members of the team, so I figured that he was either going to be a part of the coaching staff or would be using his final year of eligibility on the playing field.

Anyway, it's good to have him back.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell

Flying Dutch Fan

NPU also has a couple of good Freshman from Holland, MI  - Beal and Carter.  I wish they had elected to stay in the area and play for Hope (both of their mothers are Hope grads).  I coached Jake Carter in rec league starting when he was 6 or 7.  Here's a great article about the two from the Holland Sentinel:

http://www.hollandsentinel.com/sports/x1852627744/Holland-soccers-Jake-Carter-Hadyn-Beal-to-stay-teammates-in-college
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"Sports are kind of like passion and that's temporary in many cases, but academics - that's like true love and that's enduring." 
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"Blame FDF.  That's the default.  Always blame FDF."
goodknight

Gregory Sager

When I saw on the Vikings roster last week that both Jacob Carter and Hadyn Beal were from Holland, I was curious as to why neither went to Hope. Carter saw some time in the last two scrimmages off the bench; I can't remember if Beal did or not.

Nice article, FDF, but Lee Lamberts of the Holland Sentinel really needs to acquaint himself with the fact that it's North Park University, not North Park College. The school changed its name a full decade and a half ago. NPU has played Hope fairly often in various sports over the last fifteen years -- including the first round of last season's D3 soccer tourney -- so there's no excuse for him to mess this up. Heck, the photo that accompanies his story even shows Hadyn Beal wearing a North Park University t-shirt.
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle." -- George Orwell