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Mountaineers shutout Bulldogs after slow start;
turn focus to SoCon action
Andy Morris
- Sports Beat
The Appalachian State University men’s soccer team
struggled early Wednesday night but found their groove midway through
the first half on its way to hammering the University of North Carolina
at Asheville 5-0 at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
The win improves the Mountaineers’ record to 2-1 as the Bulldogs
drop to 2-3.
The Mountaineers began the game uninspired and appeared very shaky at
times, perhaps due to the wet surface from the evening’s rain.
The deadlock was broken in the 24th minute when ASU sophomore defender
Brian Fowler played a ball from the back down the left sideline to senior
forward Jordy Broder. Broder took the ball to the corner and crossed
it to sophomore Fredrik Henriksen, who tapped the ball past UNCA goalkeeper
Andrew Heath.
The goal was Henriksen’s first collegiate goal.
Broder scored almost two minutes later from about 10 yards out on a
through ball by David Edison for a 2-0 halftime lead.
Mountaineer head coach Dave Golan was disappointed with the team’s
inconsistent start.
“We were slow mentally getting into the game, lacked intensity
for the first portion, and it took a couple goals to wake us up,”
he said. “I thought we had a really great week in practice, so
I was really expecting to go from the beginning, but we just weren’t
mentally focused to begin the game.”
The Broder and Henriksen goals helped the Mountaineers change the complexion
of the game, said Golan.
“Those goals kind of took the wind out of [UNCA’s] sails because
they were playing very well, very organized, and I was concerned they
were going to put the first one in,” he said.
Appalachian began to dominate the game, allowing the Bulldogs few legitimate
chances on goal.
The Mountaineers outshot UNCA 13-4 in the game.
“After halftime, we played at a whole new level and played like
we could play,” said Broder. “I look forward to the next game,
and I hope we play like we did in the second half.”
Broder scored his second goal at the 52-minute mark after he hit the
far corner on a free kick from about 35 yards away.Henriksen netted
another goal in the 63rd minute on a cross from Andrew Rhodes. Broder
scored again with 20 minutes remaining for the hat trick.
“I just kept plugging away, and guys were helping me big time,
showing off the ball, playing good balls and setting me up,” he
said.
“I had the easy part to just put it away; they did all the dirty
work.”
The game was Appalachian’s last non-conference match before starting
Southern Conference play on the road against Georgia Southern University
Sunday at 1 p.m.
Golan said the UNCA game served as a learning tool for the Mountaineers.
“It shows us what we need to work on and what we need to improve
on,” he said.
The conference season poses a challenge for the Mountaineers with a
number of quality teams in the conference, including nationally ranked
Furman University.
“I’m expecting absolute war every time we step on the field,”
said Golan. “The conference is very deep, and I expect a battle
every time we play someone in the Southern Conference.”
Despite loss to Clemson, club team remains optimistic
Jared Kavlock
- Sports Beat
Despite a disappointing loss to Clemson University in
the season opener Sept. 9, the Appalachian State University men’s
club soccer team is optimistic about the season’s prospects.
Most importantly, however, the team likes to have fun.
“When we get enough people out [at practice and games], we have
a great time,” said sophomore Andy Morris. “It’s all
really relaxed.”
Joel Frye, a junior transfer-student from Orlando, Fla., said, “It’s
a good way to unwind.
We get out and do something we enjoy without the [other things] involved
with the varsity team.”
Although the team has a very relaxed attitude, winning is still important
to them, said senior Barkley Newland.
“I like to have as much fun as possible on the field,” Newland
said. “But I don’t like to lose.”
A tie score in regulation resulted in a shootout where a crucial shot
hit the post and cost Appalachian the game.
Coming off the loss to Clemson, the team will travel to Gainesville,
Fla., this weekend for a University of Florida soccer tournament.
Team president Terry Rafferty said that the team is guaranteed at least
three games, with the first two against Virginia Tech and the University
of Florida.
If it advances to Sunday’s final, the team could play a total of
five games in one weekend.
“I think it’s going to be kind of tough,” said Newland.
“It should wear us out.”
Those who make the Florida trip will have to recover quickly, as the
team travels to Greenville Saturday for games against East Carolina
University and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW).
The team will go to Greenville again the first weekend of November to
compete with the best club teams in North Carolina at the state tournament.
The club will travel to Tar Heel territory just one weekend prior to
the state championship to compete against the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill and Duke University.
“Chapel Hill usually gives us the hardest challenge,” said
Newland.
The trip to UNC will be very important to the team, especially after
last year’s experience.
“Last year we didn’t even have enough players to go down [to
Chapel Hill],” said Newland.
“We had to borrow a couple of their players to play on our team.”
The team hopes to avoid those types of problems this year, as turn-
out is much better this year than last, said Newland.
In fact, there are so many players this year that the team will soon
divide into two squads.
This is very positive for a club working its way off of a university-imposed
probation.
“When I was a freshman our president missed four [Club Sports Council]
meetings in a row,” said Newland.
The team’s failure to attend multiple mandatory meetings caused
it to temporarily lose its status as an official club.
The team members continued to play together despite the lack of university
sponsorship until being reinstated last year.
As the club’s vice president, Newland now attends the Club Sports
Council meetings and makes sure the team gets at least two representatives
to every meeting.
“I think we are now in fairly decent standing with the school,”
said Newland.
“We are a lot more organized than we were before,” said Rafferty,
a senior who has been on the team for four years. “We have team
balls and even uniforms now.”
In addition to the team’s away games, Appalachian will host two
home games against the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Oct.
13 and against UNCW Nov. 17.
Furman University also may come to Boone Nov. 17. When the two teams
met last year, the game was played in snow at Kidd Brewer Stadium, which
the team gets to use during the spring season.
“That was the most fun I’ve had playing,” said Newland,
stressing the team’s desire to enjoy the sport as much as possible.
Vol.
76 No. 11September
25, 2001
Offense Struggles as Mountaineers slip past The Citadel
8-6
ASU Sports Information
A 37-yard field goal by Eric Rockhold with 2:36 left to
play gave fifth-ranked Appalachian State University an 8-6 victory over
The Citadel Bulldogs in a surprisingly tough contest in Charleston, S.C.,
Saturday afternoon.
Rockhold’s game-winning kick served as redemption for the junior
place-kicker who missed a 26-yard kick with five minutes to play. The
game-winning drive was set up by an interception by Mountaineer linebacker
Wes Hunter.
Appalachian State (2-1, 1-0 SoCon) started the scoring in the first quarter
as strong safety Remi Awolowo blocked a Travis Zobel punt out of the back
of the end zone for a safety at the 9:54 mark.
Appalachian did not strike again until the 7:25 mark in the second quarter
when Rockhold hit his first field goal of the day from 27 yards, giving
the Mountaineers a 5-0 halftime lead.
The Citadel (0-2, 0-1 SoCon) retaliated late in the third quarter as senior
tailback Maurice Murphy capped off an eight-play, 34-yard drive with a
1-yard plunge through the left side of the Appalachian defensive line
for the touchdown.
The Bulldogs subsequently went for a two-point conversion and were stopped
by the Mountaineers as Awolowo deflected freshman quarterback Mazzie Drummond’s
pass in the end zone.
The Mountaineers’ defense stood strong and intercepted a Drummond
pass on The Citadel’s 27-yard line with 52 seconds left in the game
to seal the victory.
Appalachian’s defense allowed only 144 total yards, compiled two
quarterback sacks and recovered three Bulldog fumbles.
Leading the way defensively for the Mountaineers was senior linebacker
Justin Seaverns, who posted 13 unofficial tackles and three tackles for
loss. Seaverns, defensive tackles John Mannino and Des Miller each recovered
Citadel fumbles.
The Bulldogs’ defense played a solid game in holding the Mountaineers
to only eight points. Senior linebacker Travis Stephens spearheaded the
defensive attack for The Citadel as he totaled 15 tackles and three tackles
for loss.
The Bulldogs totaled four interceptions as senior linebacker Kevin Howard
grabbed two, while senior cornerback Kevin Gause and sophomore linebacker
T.J. Rose each had one.
Offensively, both teams struggled as the Mountaineers gained 293 total
yards of which 90 came on the ground. Junior quarterback Joe Burchette
completed 21-of-37 passes for 203 yards and rushed for 42 yards on 10
carries to lead the team on offense.
Burchette, however, threw a career-high four interceptions in the game
–the most by ASU since the 1999 playoff loss to Florida A&M University
and the most by an individual since D.J. Campbell was intercepted six
times in a 1990 loss to Marshall University.
Murphy, who rushed for 68 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown, led The
Citadel offensively. Drummond completed 6-of-15 passes for 55 yards.
“There are no more victories but I’m proud of the effort our
team put forth today,” said The Citadel coach Ellis Johnson. “The
best thing that did come out of this game today was that our players now
believe that we can compete against anyone in the conference.”
“We beat a good football team,” said ASU coach Jerry Moore.
“They will win a bunch of games this year. We fought hard but they
didn’t make many mistakes.”
The eight points by Appalachian State was the lowest point total against
the Bulldogs since 1992 when The Citadel shutout the Mountaineers, 25-0,
in Boone.
The Mountaineers return home to play East Tennessee State University Saturday
at 2 p.m. at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
Mountaineers remain unbeaten after scoreless tie with
Eagles
James Nix - Sports
Beat
The Appalachian State University women’s soccer team
is still undefeated after only winning three out of the six games it has
played this year.
The Mountaineers tied Georgia Southern University this past weekend, giving
the team its third tie of the year.
ASU is now 3-0-3 (1-0-1 SoCon), while Georgia Southern moved to 3-3-1
(1-0-1 SoCon)
The scoreless game was played primarily in the midfield with the Eagles
out-shooting ASU 16-6.
Freshman goalkeeper Breland Meany had seven saves.
“The first 20 minutes we found ourselves defending,” said ASU
head coach Ben Popoola. “A tie today is a good tie for us.”
The Eagles came close to winning the game in the first overtime when a
goal was scored but was called back due to a penalty.
“I’m glad we didn’t lose to them,” said senior midfielder
Kristen Goldsmith. “They’re one team I don’t want to lose
to.”
Georgia Southern won 4-1 last year when the two teams met in Statesboro,
Ga.
“Georgia Southern is always number 3 or 4 in the conference. They’re
tough, experienced players,” said Popoola. “We’ll take
this one.”
ASU tied its first two games against Charleston Southern University and
Coastal Carolina University. Popoola, however, was not satisfied with
his team’s performance during the early games.
We should have won,” said Popoola. “We outplayed them, we outshot
them, everything.”
The Mountaineers came out strong after canceling two games due to the
Sept. 11 tragedies in New York and Washington, D.C., defeating the University
of North Carolina at Asheville, 2-0, and the College of Charleston, 1-0.
Popoola said his players are starting to put the tragedies behind them
and move on.
“Life goes on. Let’s get our head back into the game,”
said Popoola.
Appalachian will spend some time on the road starting with Davidson College
Friday. The team will not return home until Oct.
9, when it will battle East Tennessee State University.
Goldsmith has confidence that her team will keep the winning record on
the road.
“I think [being undefeated] is helping us not lose more games,”
said Goldsmith. “Going out and knowing we haven’t lost yet is
a pump up.”
Problems created by Title IX tough to resolve
Chris Boyce - Sports Beat
Editor’s note: This is the second in a three-part series on Title
IX and its impact on Appalachian State University. The final installment
will appear in Thursday’s issue.
In the nearly three decades since the adoption of Title IX into the world
of collegiate athletics, there has been a fair share of obstacles to overcome
at universities around the country, including Appalachian State University.
Several issues addressed in the tenure of Title IX were questions on what
is equivalent treatment in women’s athletics and how exactly women’s
participation rates would be increased.
Meeting Title IX requirements has meant cutting programs for some universities,
a measure Appalachian State has never wanted to resort to.
“That has always been our last resort,” said associate athletics
director Debbie Richardson. “We’ve never wanted to drop programs,
so our athletics council came up with a cap on participation numbers for
our men’s teams.”
The imposed cap is not an NCAA requirement, but an Appalachian State athletic
requirement, designed to keep male athletic participation in check and
bolster female athletic participation.
But that has been easier said than done.
“Men have always been more willing to walk on teams and women seem
to be less willing to do so and sit on the bench,” said Richardson.
“I think it’s just innate. Men just want to be involved, whether
they play or not.
“Women have a harder time if they’re not playing and sitting
on the bench. We were hoping with Title IX and with better coaching in
elementary, junior and high school that it would get better and more women
would want to come out and participate in college.
“It hasn’t happened to this point,” she said.
“The problem is that we have so many more male athletes that want
to compete on the college level than female athletes,” said Appalachian
State athletic director Roachel Laney. “At the beginning of the school
year I’ll look at our various budgets, and I’ll see that on
the women’s side they have scholarships that they haven’t awarded.
“On the men’s side they’ve given every dollar that they’ve
had budgeted plus they’ve got many non-scholarship athletes. That’s
an element that we deal with all the time,” he said.
The problem has been especially notable with the women’s cross country
team and track and field team, who could probably field a team of 60 on
the men’s side but has a hard time keeping a team of 30 or 40 members
on the women’s side, said Richardson.
The women’s golf team also has trouble attracting any non-scholarship
female golfers.
“We only have seven or eight women’s golfers and that’s
the max we can keep because if they’re not on a scholarship, it’s
very difficult to get a female golfer to walk on,” said Richardson.
Laney also said it was tougher to retain female athletes but suggested
that success in the specific programs might reduce the turnover rate that
women’s athletic programs experience.
Title IX calls for equivalent treatment, benefits and opportunities for
men and women’s athletic programs but not identical treatment, benefits
and opportunities.
What exactly constitutes equivalent treatment?
Richardson uses the differences in men and women’s athletic uniforms
as an example in equivalent treatment.
For Mountaineer football, it is required for each player to be equipped
with appropriate pads and a helmet. Outfitting an Appalachian State football
player is relatively expensive, whereas a field hockey player needs only
a stick, shin guards and a uniform.
“As long as you’re providing for them what is required of that
sport, that is considered equivalent,” said Richardson.
Another obstacle Laney has seen in his tenure is the difficulty in finding
quality female athletes in some sports.
“Its very difficult to recruit highly skilled individuals in that
sport because the numbers aren’t that great at that high school level,”
said Laney.
“Regardless of scholarship money, there simply aren’t enough
quality women athletes coming out of the high school ranks,” said
Richardson.
“Possibly at the grassroots level, the level of ability hasn’t
maintained or increased like we would like to see it,” she said.
Although Laney is not satisfied with Appalachian State’s current
female participation rate in athletics, he is pleased with the progress
the department has made since Title IX.
“I am pleased that since I first started, we have gone from a 15-
to 18- percent funding for women’s athletics to a 36-percent allocation
to women’s athletics. Also our participation rates have gone from
26 percent since I started to 36 percent for female sports.
“My goal is to get to 40 percent. Through roster management and adding
sports we’ve gotten to 36 percent but how we get that next four percent
is going to be a challenge but I think you should always have a higher
goal,” said Laney.
The other aspect is the challenge of providing a quality experience for
all student athletes.
“To me, more important than the percentage numbers is the quality
of the experience were providing,” said Laney. “We have sports
that do not have full-time assistant coaches and were not fully funded
as far as scholarships are concerned.
“Before we add more sports we need to improve the quality of existing
sports,” he said.
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