Tag: NJCAA Soccer

Blazer Beat Double Feature: Trailblazers Blank Blue Storm

Women’s game: Lewis and Clark 1-0 SWIC

In the very first matchup of top 25 NJCAA Division 1 women’s soccer sides of the season at Tim Rooney Stadium, #8 in the country Lewis and Clark hosted the #20 side, the Blue Storm from Southwest Illinois College, more cordially known around here as SWIC. L&C entered play with a 11-2-0 record, while SWIC came to Godfrey boasting a 12-1-2 record of their own. 

The game would prove to be an incredibly tight contest, both because the teams are in the top 20 of junior college soccer in the country, and because of the sweltering heat, which seems to be lasting later and later every year. The lack of energy due to heat and exhaustion gave some added help to the already strong defensive units, and kept the vaunted offenses of both sides at bay in the first half, with neither team able to break the deadlock in the first 45 minutes. 

The sun continued to beat down on the pitch at Tim Rooney Stadium, and as the second half wore on tiredness became a real factor. The extra step or two that a cooler temperature would offer the energy for was the difference in several passes, runs, and offensive chances. Even NJCAA leading scorer Boitumelo Rabale couldn’t make a breakthrough, often left stranded up top without her fellow Trailblazers supporting her attempts to attack.

Despite the desperate pleas of “Run to the ball!!” from the Trailblazer fans in attendance, the team was gassed. SWIC was gassed. Both teams would have probably rather played a game of  futsal in the air conditioned gym. Despite the heat and exhaustion, the game was incredibly tense, maybe due in part to said heat and exhaustion. Every play was a fight to maintain possession. This is in incredible contrast to every other game L&C has played, other than their two losses. 

Most scoring chances came late in the game, off of free kicks and corner kicks, as open play was a bit of wash between the evenly matched and evenly tired sides. The Storm made inroads in the late stages, and if not for the heroics of L&C goalkeeper Mercedes King, would have probably won the game in regulation. With minutes remaining in regular time, King rushed out to meet a breaking Blue Storm attacker and made a tackle to knock the ball to the corner. Without a goal scored, we headed to extra time to decide a winner. 

It wouldn’t take much extra time to find the golden goal. L&C charged down the field and forced a corner kick. The kick created frenzy in the box, and who else but Boitumelo Rabale turned the loose ball into the SWIC goal, winning the game 1-0 for the Trailblazers, in what’s definitely been the most gripping contest at Tim Rooney stadium this season. 

Tim Rooney’s side is back in action at his namesake ground this Saturday, as the Trailblazers welcome Parkland. 

Men’s game: Lewis and Clark 4-0 SWIC

Unfortunately for SWIC, their men’s soccer team is not quite the threat that their women’s team has been this season. Where the women are ranked #20 in all of NJCAA Division 1, the men’s team have had their struggles this season, bringing a losing record to Tim Rooney Stadium. 

On the other side, the Trailblazer men have been almost as impressive as the women’s team. Also nationally ranked, also a threat on offense, and they made their talent known right away. A sixth minute goal from Reshaun Welkes pushed L&C ahead early on. Ten minutes later, L&C sophomore Luke Mellon latched onto a pass across the face of goal to add to the early lead, and the Trailblazers never looked back. Another Reshaun Welkes goal just before halftime, a superb individual effort, seemingly put the game out of reach for the visiting Blue Storm before they played 45 minutes. 

It didn’t magically stop being hot for the men’s game, both sides grew weak and sloppy in the second half, with L&C’s firm grip on the game slipping a little. SWIC started to ask questions of the tiring Trailblazer defense, but to little avail. Kofi Awuah netted a fourth for Lewis and Clark with about twenty minutes left in the match, putting any notion of a Blue Storm comeback to rest. 


The convincing win for the men and nail-biter for the women sees both teams improving their record after this in-conference clash. Men’s coach Ryan Hodge’s side has six days till their next contest, as they travel to St. Charles on October 8. For more information about the soccer teams and all Trailblazer athletics, visit LC.edu/athletics.

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Blazer Beat: Shorthanded Warriors Walloped by Trailblazers

In a short time, I’ve learned that often in these juco soccer contests, the game is decided by the fitness of the student-athletes on the field. Games in the heat, varying playing conditions, varying skill levels, often the only thing teams can control is their fitness levels. However, when a team has no substitutes, fitness only goes so far. 

That was the case for the Trailblazer women’s soccer contest on Monday, September 9, as Wabash Valley brought a team to Godfrey with no substitute players other than a backup goaltender. The Wabash Valley Warriors are in their inaugural season of soccer in the NJCAA, fielding a roster entirely made of freshmen. 

With six players out with injuries and illnesses that kept them from making the trip to Godfrey, everybody was expected to play the whole game, which is somewhat unreasonable to expect at a the collegiate level. College soccer rules allow for a multitude of substitutions, compared to the professional levels of the sport where substitutes are limited. Most teams at this level make use of those subs, as only some players are fit enough to play soccer competitively for 90 minutes. 

I dig into this fact because Wabash Valley, despite their best efforts, simply couldn’t keep up against a more fit, more prepared Lewis & Clark team. After holding off the Trailblazers for the first thirty minutes of gametime, fatigue on a hot September day eventually crept in. Wabash became slow to the ball on defense, giving LC ample time to pick passes and find lanes to the goal. Four Trailblazer goals, two from Payton Corley, one from Candice Parziani, and a goal and two assists from Boitumelo Rabale rounded out the first half scoring.

Towards the end of the first half, two Wabash players missed somewhere between ten and fifteen minutes with injuries. Without them, the Warriors were reduced to only nine players on the field, luckily they returned to action in the second half. Despite the exasperated pleas of the travelling Warrior faithful, the team on the field was dead tired. They attempted to maintain defensive shape, and keep the ball in front of them, to keep the game from getting completely out of hand. Their fans in attendance didn’t quite like that strategy, but it was the right one.

A fifth Lewis and Clark goal scored by Boitumelo Rabale officially put the game out of reach. The Trailblazers looked comfortable for the entire game, but especially the second half, with a depleted Wabash giving them all of the possession of the ball. The last minutes of the game were a training drill more than a competitive contest, as LC played keep-ball and occasionally prodded for a no-longer necessary goal. 

The final from Tim Rooney stadium: Lewis And Clark 6 – 0 Wabash Valley College

Tim Rooney’s Lewis and Clark women’s soccer team have rolled to wins in all five of their regular season matches, outscoring opponents 40-1 in that time. Standout Boitumelo Rabale added more goals, and is one of the nation’s top talents on the offensive side of the ball.

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Blazer Beat: Late Summer Heat

With the heat index soaring into the mid 90s, the men’s Trailblazer soccer side hosted Missouri Baptist University’s Reserves on a muggy early September day at Tim Rooney Stadium. Returning with the heat are many sweat bees, which, like wasps at the Godfrey Ball Park, I find are part of this very glamourous job. 

Simply put, there isn’t a whole lot to discuss about the Trailblazers encounter with Missouri Baptist’s Reserve team because the game was over before it began. LC striker Tony Bodul netted a hat trick in less than twenty minutes, and he wasn’t the lone scorer for the Trailblazers in that span, with Reshaun Welkes and Kaleb Bassett adding goals of their own. 

With the palpable heat and humidity, the referee called for a water break after about twenty minutes of action in the first half. After said break, head coach Ryan Hodge started rotating the Trailblazer lineup, giving players who started the game on the bench some extra minutes. With the result of the game sealed barring catastrophe, it was a good time to get bench players meaningful minutes. Perhaps one of them will capture the eye of Hodge and break into the starting side next time around. 

The second half started the same way the first did, with a Tony Bodul goal before I even really looked up at the field. The game became a glorified practice for Lewis & Clark early, and with so many goals coming so easy, their main focus was on possession of the ball. When a soccer team scores so much, it becomes trivial to keep attacking for more goals, and no one knows that more than the experienced Trailblazer coaching staff. 

A consolation MoBap goal briefly lifted the spirits of the visitors and their fans, but it was answered by a 7th LC goal just minutes later. Ontario native and Trailblazer captain Reshaun Welkes only featured for a few minutes of action, with the game wrapped up so early and having already scored a goal early on. The final from Godfrey: Lewis and Clark 8, Missouri Baptist Reserves 1. 

The win takes the Trailblazer men to a .500 record on the young campaign, winning their last two after losing their first two. The men’s soccer team is back in action Saturday, September 7, as they travel to Southeastern Iowa to face the Blackhawks. 

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