On a cold Oct. 3 afternoon, the men and women’s soccer teams both put on great matches. They showed the heart and the fight that makes Ranger Athletics great. Both teams could’ve packed it in late, but they showed killer instinct and dug deep. The men’s team faced Bellarmine University, who are right behind us in the GLVC standings. They were aggressive early and often, getting a few good shots on goal early. Senior Goalkeeper Marcos Perez showed why he won Division 2 National Player of the Week last week, flashing his quick reflexes early for a great save. Though Bellarmine controlled the game early, the men showed great patience and skill on defense. It was pretty physical and emotional throughout, with five yellow cards in the game (three on Parkside including Coach Zitzke and two on Bellarmine). The boys finally struck with nineteen minutes left in the first half, with Junior Elliott Schultz scoring a goal, credit the assist to fellow Junior Antonio Gonzalez. There were a few more chances late, but we couldn’t quite capitalize, ending the half up one to nothing. The second half started like the first, with Bellarmine controlling the tempo early, but Parkside making good progress up the pitch. Perez was saving everything that came his way, but with seventeen minutes left, one slid by, notching the game up at one; it seemed overtime was imminent. Both teams clearly wanted it, as it got really physical late, with two Bellarmine players getting carded late. But, the good guys caught a break in the final few seconds with Senior Jorge Ontiveros scoring the winning goal, pushing Parkside’s record to 6-4.

The women also showed great fight against the same opponent, Bellarmine University (two behind the Rangers in the GLVC standings). The Lady Rangers came into the game with a perfect seven wins, no losses, and one draw on the year, looking to preserve their spot atop the GLVC standings with a victory. The match started with Parkside being extremely aggressive and attacking early, controlling most of the game. Parkside had five shots on goal with twenty minutes left, but finally broke through on a Karley Mecko header off of a Niekie Pellens corner kick. The women went into the half up by one, looking very formidable. The second half opened up with Bellarmine looking more desperate, getting physical, picking up a yellow card with twenty-nine minutes left. The women started to slow down a step, and that’s when Bellarmine went on a late run, scoring with eight minutes left, tying it up at one a piece. The game went into overtime with both teams looking to get that second elusive goal. Parkside controlled both overtime periods, but it wasn’t enough, as the game ended in a one-one tie. Though it preserved the women’s perfect record, I think I speak for them when I say they would have much rather got the outright W. Both teams showed tremendous drive, determination, and winning spirits.

Article by Jalen Perry

On Sept. 27 the current roster of Rangers took on players from years past in the annual UW-Parkside Alumni Baseball game. With this being my first look at the team on the field, they looked extremely sharp through warm-ups, to the final pitch. Though it was an exhibition and mainly all about having fun, it was a dominant performance by the current crop of players, shutting down the alumni 7-0. All of the players available played, as this was mainly a tune up game aimed towards getting the players acclimated to being on the field again. The game started out slowly through the first two innings, with only one hit recorded by the 2014 Rangers. The first run of the game was scored on an infield hit in the third and the team didn’t look back after that. The fifth and sixth innings are when the guys did most of their damage, scoring three runs in the fifth, and adding on an extra three in the sixth. The team finished with eight hits, two stolen bases, and one double. The pitchers only gave up two walks, three hits, and the defense did their job, allowing no extra base hits. If this is any indication of how the 2014 Rangers are going to fair in the regular season, we could be in for a fun ride.

Article by Jalen Perry

On Oct. 7 the volleyball team flexed their muscle against non-conference opponent Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.), winning in convincing fashion; sweeping the Tigers in three straight sets. Freshman Jackie Langer dominated in the first set, collecting seven kills. In our post-game interview, she said that the game plan going in was basically what it always is, work hard, get the job done, and communicate on the court.

The team dominated the entire game with the closest set being 25-18. The first and second sets were pretty much mirror images of one another, with the women jumping out to quick leads and not giving them up. The third set started out pretty sloppy for both sides, with a couple missed serves for both teams. The score went back and forth for a while, but the Rangers do what they always do, which is pull away for the victory. Coach Paciero after the game said that the plan going in was to create offense early and stay on the attack. She was also very happy that her depth helped a great deal in the victory, not needing to rely on the starters to carry too much of the load.

The women’s next home game is against GLVC perennial powerhouse and Eastern conference rival, University of Indianapolis (7-2 in Conference, 8-6 overall). UW-Parkside is currently fourth in the GLVC East standings, with a 5-4 conference record, and a 9-6 overall record.

Article by Jalen Perry

On Oct. 5 the women were in a dogfight early and especially late against a desperate McKendree University team. The two teams were obviously evenly matched; neither team really controlling possession for too long, but the Ranger women got the best shots on goal throughout the game (7-4 in our favor). The women controlled the tempo towards the end of the first half, but McKendree made a late push towards the final few minutes. The first half ended in a 0-0 tie.

The second half still proved how evenly matched the teams were, with nobody really able to get a leg up. A McKendree player was carded right before a Parkside corner kick; the corner kick that changed the game. After a McKendree foul in the box, Senior Emily Konior scored on a penalty kick in the 54’ minute (fifth goal on the season). That proved to be the only score needed, as the Ranger women won 1-0, pushing their impressive undefeated season forward to 8-0-2, and taking over first place in the GLVC. Their next home game is Oct. 17 at 3:30 p.m. against Truman State, the number two ranked team in our conference.

Article by Jalen Perry