Setting The Building Blocks
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
WINONA LAKE - Grace College is starting its women's soccer program from scratch - everything from coaching techniques to players.
The Lancers' first-year endeavor includes six freshmen and eight players who before this year had never played on a competitive soccer team. Some were plucked from the classrooms to join the team.
"Most of these girls were on-campus students, and they had the desire to learn and play, and they are," Lancer coach Mark Sproul said. "It goes back to teaching the fundamentals. And I don't have a choice. I have seven or eight girls who have never played soccer before, and five of them are starting for me. I have to go back to 'here is the ball and here is the foot, and that's how you kick it.' We are building for the future. Some of these girls may not even be on the team next year as we bring in more recruits. But they are very important to the team right now."
Sproul was brought into the fold in May and already had some of his recruiting done for him before he arrived at Grace. But he knows what it takes to build a soccer program from the ground up, having done the same thing at a school in Oregon. And that time was even tougher than the job that lies ahead of him at Grace, because then he had only one player with soccer experience.
"That is my desire, establishing and creating a strong team," Sproul said. "The winning and losing will come. We are building a solid foundation for our program that I hope will be well established and strong.
"That is a good foundation for a program, establishing the fundamentals and teaching them the game," he said. "That is what we are teaching right now. If the season ends, and we have the fundamentals down and we understand the game, then I have as a coach accomplished what I needed to do for this year."
Improvement has already been noticeable in this young season for the Lancers. In their first game, Spring Arbor handled them 13-0. The next game was a win, and although Wednesday's game with NorthWood University ended up being a 4-3 double overtime loss, it meant the Lancers were still making great strides. Especially considering NorthWood, a Division II college north of Grand Rapids, Mich., had beaten Spring Arbor 7-0 earlier in the year.
"Today, they were the better team, but I think we played right with them," Sproul said. "I think that will help us play with some of the other teams that are even more well established. I couldn't have been upset today. They played with their hearts."
Grace led 2-0 early on goals by Eve Arthur and Jeanelle Cary before NorthWood cut the lead to 2-1 at the half.
After a 20-minute rain delay, NorthWood scored two unanswered goals in the second half to take a 3-2 lead as time ran down in regulation. But with only 4:10 left on the clock, Grace's Rebecca Bentley banged a goal home to force the tie.
The two teams played through a scoreless 15-minute extra session before NorthWood scored early in the second extra session.
"Our girls didn't give up and really fought with them," Sproul said. "They had an experienced front line, and you could see that. Our defense had to fight to keep with them. We have been working on marking up and just the fundamentals, and it showed today."
The schedule doesn't get much easier for the Lancers, but one thing they have to look forward to is their conference slate. And that is because the Mid Central Conference is also very young when it comes to women's soccer. Four of the six programs in the MCC have first-year varsity programs, and the other two are only a couple of years old.
"The conference is young, and we can grow with it," Sproul said.
It will get better for the Lancers in one respect next season as they will get their own soccer field, to be beat right beside the current men's field.
Grace hosts Bethel Tuesday.
NORTHWOOD 4, GRACE 3 (2OT)
1H 2H 1OT 2OT Final
NorthWood 1 2 0 1 - 4
Grace 2 1 0 0 - 3
Grace goals - First half, Eve Arthur 44:23; Jeanelle Cary 22:40. Second half, Rebecca Bentley (assist Kirsten Anspach) 4:10
NorthWood goals - First half, Erin Vogel 13:01. Second half, Mary Leto 18:20; Tara Zarosley (assist Maria Fratarcangeli); Second overtime, Fratarcangeli 12:22.
Saves - Stephanie Parker (NW) 9, Carol Fern (G) 16 [[In-content Ad]]
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WINONA LAKE - Grace College is starting its women's soccer program from scratch - everything from coaching techniques to players.
The Lancers' first-year endeavor includes six freshmen and eight players who before this year had never played on a competitive soccer team. Some were plucked from the classrooms to join the team.
"Most of these girls were on-campus students, and they had the desire to learn and play, and they are," Lancer coach Mark Sproul said. "It goes back to teaching the fundamentals. And I don't have a choice. I have seven or eight girls who have never played soccer before, and five of them are starting for me. I have to go back to 'here is the ball and here is the foot, and that's how you kick it.' We are building for the future. Some of these girls may not even be on the team next year as we bring in more recruits. But they are very important to the team right now."
Sproul was brought into the fold in May and already had some of his recruiting done for him before he arrived at Grace. But he knows what it takes to build a soccer program from the ground up, having done the same thing at a school in Oregon. And that time was even tougher than the job that lies ahead of him at Grace, because then he had only one player with soccer experience.
"That is my desire, establishing and creating a strong team," Sproul said. "The winning and losing will come. We are building a solid foundation for our program that I hope will be well established and strong.
"That is a good foundation for a program, establishing the fundamentals and teaching them the game," he said. "That is what we are teaching right now. If the season ends, and we have the fundamentals down and we understand the game, then I have as a coach accomplished what I needed to do for this year."
Improvement has already been noticeable in this young season for the Lancers. In their first game, Spring Arbor handled them 13-0. The next game was a win, and although Wednesday's game with NorthWood University ended up being a 4-3 double overtime loss, it meant the Lancers were still making great strides. Especially considering NorthWood, a Division II college north of Grand Rapids, Mich., had beaten Spring Arbor 7-0 earlier in the year.
"Today, they were the better team, but I think we played right with them," Sproul said. "I think that will help us play with some of the other teams that are even more well established. I couldn't have been upset today. They played with their hearts."
Grace led 2-0 early on goals by Eve Arthur and Jeanelle Cary before NorthWood cut the lead to 2-1 at the half.
After a 20-minute rain delay, NorthWood scored two unanswered goals in the second half to take a 3-2 lead as time ran down in regulation. But with only 4:10 left on the clock, Grace's Rebecca Bentley banged a goal home to force the tie.
The two teams played through a scoreless 15-minute extra session before NorthWood scored early in the second extra session.
"Our girls didn't give up and really fought with them," Sproul said. "They had an experienced front line, and you could see that. Our defense had to fight to keep with them. We have been working on marking up and just the fundamentals, and it showed today."
The schedule doesn't get much easier for the Lancers, but one thing they have to look forward to is their conference slate. And that is because the Mid Central Conference is also very young when it comes to women's soccer. Four of the six programs in the MCC have first-year varsity programs, and the other two are only a couple of years old.
"The conference is young, and we can grow with it," Sproul said.
It will get better for the Lancers in one respect next season as they will get their own soccer field, to be beat right beside the current men's field.
Grace hosts Bethel Tuesday.
NORTHWOOD 4, GRACE 3 (2OT)
1H 2H 1OT 2OT Final
NorthWood 1 2 0 1 - 4
Grace 2 1 0 0 - 3
Grace goals - First half, Eve Arthur 44:23; Jeanelle Cary 22:40. Second half, Rebecca Bentley (assist Kirsten Anspach) 4:10
NorthWood goals - First half, Erin Vogel 13:01. Second half, Mary Leto 18:20; Tara Zarosley (assist Maria Fratarcangeli); Second overtime, Fratarcangeli 12:22.
Saves - Stephanie Parker (NW) 9, Carol Fern (G) 16 [[In-content Ad]]