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09.05.05 Freshman Marc Huie of Greensboro, N.C. College opening means return to action for soccer, cross country The return of students to classes at Erskine College this week also signals the beginning of the fall sports season. The men's and women's soccer teams got back into action even before classes started Monday. The Flying Fleet squads traveled to Greenwood last week to face archrival Lander. The women were victorious, outscoring the Lady Bearcats 3-1, while the men fell in double overtime, 3-2. The Lady Fleet tied Newberry 1-1 to open the season Aug. 25. Erskine dropped a 2-0 decision at Mars Hill Saturday and opens its home slate Wednesday against Catawba. Erskine's men's soccer team opened its home schedule Saturday against Chowan and blistered the visitors 7-2 after falling behind 2-1 early in the match. The team takes the field next on Tuesday at Southern Wesleyan. The men's soccer team has five returning players from a year ago — juniors Ed Joyce and Jesse Kraay, sophomores Matt Allen, Oscar Mazo and Jimmy Turner — and 18 freshmen. "We have a very young team," men's soccer coach Ben Freakley said. "Our players come from all over the region and I am excited about all of them. They come from winning programs and are looking for the same results here at Erskine." Freakley said the team has been busy getting ready for the season. "They have all put in a great deal of work in preparing for this season. I looked to make preseason as competitive and challenging as I could in order to prepare them for this year," the coach said. On a personal level, Freakley says he believes the young men who make up this year's men's soccer team "will make Erskine proud." The Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference coaches preseason poll placed Erskine fifth. The Fleet recorded a 2-13-1 overall slate in 2004, 2-6-1 in CVAC play, but did qualify for the CVAC postseason tournament. "That means nothing to us," Freakley said of the preseason ranking. "The players and I want to do our best one game at a time." Women's soccer coach Serge Lipovetsky's team was picked seventh in the preseason CVAC coaches poll after posting a 4-13 overall record, 2-8 in CVAC play, in 2004. The Lady Fleet have 11 freshmen on the roster. Two seniors (Julie Jefferson, Ashley Cirelli), six juniors (Katy Jackson, Jamie Locke, Anna Winters, Jodie Locke, Ashley Owens, Melanie Cloy) and two sophomores (Molly Brown, Kristen Gracien) fill out the rest of the squad. "I am very excited about this season," Lipovetsky said. "I am expecting our incoming freshmen to make an immediate impact on the program." The coach said defeating the Lander squad showed "huge progress and development in the program since I got here." Freakley and Lipovetsky, along with men's and women's cross country team coach Jeff Schrage, are in their second year at the college. Schrage is optimistic about the upcoming season for his teams, which open their schedule Saturday at the Lander Invitational. "Our first meet will be a good way to get an idea of how the season will go," the coach said. Junior John Sell, who is Erskine's best runner and the team captain, leads the men's team. Other key returnees are juniors Brad Shillinglaw and Hunter Gaffney who "got very motivated in the offseason and have come in in their best shape ever." The women's team is led by senior Catherine Meggs, but will feel the loss of standout Jessica Martin, who graduated along with three other runners from last year. Schrage said freshman Sarah Wittke will offer Meggs competition for the top runner on the team. Other key returnees include Danielle Bauer and Lauren Cross. "We are not ranked high in the CVAC polls due to a lack of incoming freshmen and losing some key runners last year," Schrage said. "I am very optimistic that we will prove those polls wrong and make a decent showing this year." The school's showcase event, the Erskine Invitational, is slated for Oct. 13. |
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