MIAA

[fishercats]

After the abbreviated Dave Brandt era, looks like Hope College has gone with an alum and local guy. New to the college ranks.

https://www.hollandsentinel.com/story/sports/2022/02/01/john-conlon-hired-hope-college-mens-soccer-coach/9303511002/

[Dark Knight]

Niko Giantsopoulos, Calvin's keeper from 2013-2015, gets his first start in MLS tomorrow.

https://calvinknights.com/sports/msoc/2021-22/releases/20220521fsu2o0

I wonder how many other D3 soccer players have made it to the MLS?

[Kuiper]

Niko Giantsopoulos, Calvin's keeper from 2013-2015, gets his first start in MLS tomorrow.

https://calvinknights.com/sports/msoc/2021-22/releases/20220521fsu2o0

I wonder how many other D3 soccer players have made it to the MLS?

AJ Marcucci (Connecticut College '20), another GK, is currently on the roster with the New York Red Bulls (although he has only played with NYRBII thus far)

https://www.newyorkredbulls.com/players/anthony-marcucci/

[stlawus]

Greg Sutton (SLU '99) had a long goalkeeping career in the USL and MLS.  Even had 16 caps for Canada. 

[Kuiper]

This thread hasn't been used for awhile, but I figured we might as well keep the Michigan discussion together rather than pushing all of it to the Great Lakes Navigation Channel.

Hope has posted its 2024 Roster

A few observations:

- 34 players on the roster, compared with 30 last season

- 6 freshman

- 1st team All-MIAA midfielder Matt Wimmer and 2nd team All-MIAA defender Jake Lyon both return for a Covid year.  2nd team All-MIAA GK Daniel Hesselbein also returns for his senior year.

- Biggest departure is probably All-MIAA 2nd team midfielder Ethan Jansen, who also led the team in assists

[Kuiper]

Kalamazoo has posted its 2024 Roster

A few observations:

- 23 on the roster, compared with 24 last season

- only 3 freshman, although they have a few sophomores who are new, including one from Finland.

- One player listed as a senior last season is back (Zach Devito), but none of their major contributors such as Emilio Romo, Michele Alia, Aidan Gillig, or Paul Kearis

[ExiledInTexas]

MIAA coaches preseason poll has been released

1. Calvin (6 first place votes)
2. Hope (2)
3. Trine
4. Albion
5. Olivet
6. Kalamazoo
7. Alma
8. Adrian

[Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team].

I think this will be tighter for Calvin than most years. They graduated a number of significant players - 7 all MIAA players from last year.

[calvin_grad]

Calvin's roster has been released and they have an incoming freshman named Xtreme Hauk.  Might be one of my favorite athlete names ever.  Hopefully they are also able to recruit his younger brother Incredible.

[EnmoreCat]

Calvin's roster has been released and they have an incoming freshman named Xtreme Hauk.  Might be one of my favorite athlete names ever.  Hopefully they are also able to recruit his younger brother Incredible.

Dad's name is Tony?

[Newenglander]

Calvin's roster has been released and they have an incoming freshman named Xtreme Hauk.  Might be one of my favorite athlete names ever.  Hopefully they are also able to recruit his younger brother Incredible.

Dad's name is Tony?

Maybe he has a brother Hauk, Tua?

[Kuiper]

I've never paid much attention to Adrian men's soccer, but I did watch Simple Coach's interview with the school's president and I remember looking up the team's 2023 record (1-13-2) after hearing the President say in the interview that the men's soccer team has to start doing better. It's never a good thing when your school's president knows your team's record (although I suspect Simple Coach's interview request prompted him to look it up)!

After noticing today that Adrian beat Cleary University 4-1, I looked up their record and Adrian is 5-0!  I thought maybe they scheduled a new bunch of cream puffs, but they lost to Cleary 3-0 last season and beat them this year 4-1, tied Earlham 0-0 last season and beat them 1-0 this year, lost to Siena 4-1 last season and beat them 3-0 this year, tied Defiance 1-1 last season and beat them 5-1 this season.  Quite the turnaround!

So is the surefire way to turn your program around to have Simple Coach schedule an interview with the school's president?  If so, I think we could all come up with a few programs that Simple Coach needs to put in the spotlight for their school's administration!

[Kuiper]

I get this, but I don't love it.  Calvin opened a beautiful new soccer field and stadium last fall and this summer they broke ground for a football stadium after they began a new football program last fall.  Unfortunately, they will reportedly be playing football this fall in the new soccer stadium.  I guess that means they will be painting football lines on this pristine soccer field for a season.

Here's a photo of the new Calvin soccer stadium and field (without football lines)

[Ron Boerger]

And they have another soccer facility, Zuidema Field - will the soccer teams play there in the interim rather than deal with the hassle of restriping/removing goalposts etc for the season?  That field looks perfectly lovely and appropriate for D3 soccer.



You can get reserved seats for the football season for a mere $40/game ($200 for a five game season) in the mean time.  Add $75 or $100 for a parking permit if you don't want to park with the hoi polloi in the GA lot ($10/game) or park free and walk a distance.  #notwhyd3

[jsr]

Calvin hasn't updated their website well. The old Zuidema Field (pictured at night) was located basically on the grassy area to the left of picture of the new soccer stadium (somewhat confusingly also called Zuidema Field - maybe Zuidema Field at Calvin Soccer Stadium or some such).

The old Zuidema field doesn't really exist anymore.

The new stadium is very nice. The main stand is kind of a mini-Van Andel Soccer Stadium. Though it seems a little steeper so you feel closer to the pitch.

It looks like both Calvin's soccer (vs. DePauw at 2:30) and football (vs. K at 7:00) teams play at home on Sept 27. The football team is also scheduled to play at home on Nov 1 at 1:00, which could be the same day as a home soccer match if Calvin is a 3 or 4 seed in the MIAA tournament.