It's funny how in one week of not much action as far as matches go there can still be so much I want to write about!

We only played one match since I last wrote and it was a relatively convincing 6-0 conference win against Point Park University featuring goals (all new to the stat sheet) by Chris Mast, Scott Forester, Brady Swanson, and Kemar Jackson (well...kinda ;-)) and assists by Scott Spangler and myself. Although it was not our most challenging game on the pitch, it was our first contest with Coaches Lesmes and Stelzer at the helm. Coach Furey is still at home recovering from his heart attack last week, and from what we hear he is doing quite well and trying his best to bug all the authorities into letting him return as quickly as possible! We definitely miss him, but we want him to be as healthy as possible when he returns to us!!!

The night before our game last week, our team got together with the girls' team for team church. This was the first time all year we have gathered together both teams for some musical worship and devotionals. Jake Reber and I played a few songs on the guitar. I won't lie...for a bunch of athletes, we don't sound half bad when we sing. Then, we turned the time over to Wade Foley and Courtney Ball. Wade shared about his summer experience in Guatemala with his church and the work God did in his life on that trip and through the rest of the summer. Courtney took a more directed devotional approach and she did a great job! Something she said really hit me pretty hard: "If you had the ability to implement Christ's return today, would you?" Really got me thinking about the time I have on this earth and what I've tried to do with it. I think there are a lot more things I would like to do with my life prior to Christ's return, and the next questions is obviously why am I not working towards those goals with more of my time? We don't know how much we have - it would be best not to waste it! On the whole, the night was a lot of fun and very challenging for everyone. We hope to make the team churches more regular and make the most of the opportunities we have to learn from each other!

I figured it is about time I start introducing my teammates to you all, and no better place to start than the foundation of our team!

Alex Stout is a senior goalie here at MVNU, and a pretty good one at that! Already, he as accumulated a lot of records and will no doubt set a few more before this season is up. In the classroom, Alex is studying to be a teacher and hopes to one day coach as well as educate the youth of our country! He will no doubt do a great job, if not based purely on the fact that Alex is one of the biggest kids I know! He has this playful attitude that can really only be likened to his favorite Super Smash Brother's character: Donkey Kong. The similarity between those two is quite astonishing. Going along with being a big kid, Alex might be the loudest kid I have ever met. Whether it's belting out his favorite song from the back of the road trip bus or it's yelling at me to hurry up and recover to the backside of the box, it is very hard to miss anything he has to say. Although he is not one of our captains, his leadership is crucial to our success on the field. Being the goalie, we rely on him to direct traffic in the defensive third and provide encouragement in the final third. I'm really grateful for the three years I have had to play with Alex. I know God has big things in store for his life, and I cannot wait to see where he gets to go!

The only other senior in our backline this year is central defender Brady Swanson. I had the privilege of rooming with Brady for most of last year until he left me to study in Costa Rica for his Spanish major. Brady is a Mount Vernon local and the son of our women's volleyball coach. Consequently, every time Brady and I head off to get some Hunan Chinese food, I feel like he knows EVERYONE we run in to. Brady is one of those all-around good guys: he works hard at his studies, provides good laughs in groups, plays every sport very well, and always manages to get his pre-practice nap in no matter what. That being said, Brady is also one of the most competitive athletes I have ever played with. In his own words, "I just hate losing...anything." The good news is that rare is the occasion where he loses the battle in the backfield. He wins most every ball in the air, and strikers are hard-pressed to beat him on the ground. Brady is a great guy and I am so glad I have had the opportunity to live with him and play soccer with him. We thoroughly enjoy listening to Spanish speakers on opposing teams ridicule us or their teammates in Spanish thinking no one understands them, only to chime in with a smart comment of our own! (in Christian love of course) ;-)

I think that's enough introductions for now, I will finish introducing the backline to you next week. Until then, I hope to see all of you out for the Ohio Dominican University game this coming Friday!