Today - University of the Ozarks

Eagles claim ASC regular-season crownThe 2007 U of O men’s soccer team continued its recentstring of successes by compiling one of the most impressiveathletic seasons in school history.The Eagles won the 2007 American Southwest Conferenceregular-season title with an 11-2 record, earning the No. 1 seedand the right to host the conference postseason tournament.After defeating Mississippi College 2-1 in the semifinals of thetournament, the Eagles saw their storied season come to anabrupt halt when they fell to No. 2 seed University of Texas-Dallas 2-1 on a sudden-death goal in overtime.Despite losing in the tournament title match, it was aseason to remember for the Eagles. They finished with a 17-5record, advanced to their conference-record eighth consecutivepostseason tournament appearance, and captured their thirdregular-season conference championship. It was their firstregular-season title since 2001, and Ozarks’ first since theconference eliminated the two division format.“I am proud of our guys,” said head coach Dave De Hart.“This season was a boost for our program; one of our biggestaccomplishments. I am proud of the way this group cametogether and progressively got better as the season went on.”The Eagles won their final five conference games, includingthree on the road, to secure the regular-season title.The 2007 Eagles were characterized by a staunch defense— anchored by ASC Defensive Player of the Year keeper BrianSarber, senior Nate Abbott and junior Dan De Hart — as wellas balanced scoring paced by junior Brandon Cain, sophomoreBrandon VanCleave and senior Darren Clark, who combinedfor 25 goals.“We put a very strong defense on the field, and anytimeyou put a good defense on the field, you will always remain inThe 2007 Eagles received stellar play by junior keeper BrianSarber, the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. The 6-foot-5 McAllen, Texas, native led the league in shutouts (97), savepercentage (.869) and goals against average (0.67).matches,” said De Hart, whose record at Ozarks improved to121-57-11 in nine seasons. “Our team defense gave us a chanceto win every single match. We worked hard on that all year.”The Eagles have advanced to the postseason conferencetournament in four of the past nine seasons, winning thetournament championship in 2003.The Eagles lose five seniors off the 2007 team: Clark,Abbott, Jason Caskey, Jarod Thompson and Jeffrey Enevoldsen.Lady Eagles Make HistoryA large and vocal crowd came out to Hurie Field to support thehome-team Eagles during the ASC Men’s Postseason SoccerTournament.The senior quartet of (from left) Kate Schoenhals of Salt LakeCity, Utah; Olivia Fisher of Mountain Home, Ark.; JessalynHalsted of Harrison, Ark.; and Amanda Bohen of Ponca City,Okla., helped the 2007 Lady Eagles to the first winning seasonin the program’s history. The Lady Eagles finished the seasonwith a 7-6-4 record, including a school-record six conferencevictories. The foursome helped the Lady Eagles to 14 victoriesover the past two seasons, the best two-year stretch since theprogram began in 1996.10 Today, FALL/WINTER 2007