Summer break is finally here!

Both the Men and Women's team will be heading home for the summer next week. Both teams are given workout books to keep them on track during the long 3 month break. Both teams will be back in action August 10th to begin preseason. I want to wish both teams best of luck!!

To follow Tiffin Dragon athletics just log on to http://www.tiffin.edu and click the athletics tab and choose which team you would like to read about!

Great weekend for the Dragons

The men and Women's soccer teams both hosted Findlay and the Alumni this weekend. The women played Findlay in the early morning and ended up with a 0-0 tie. The women had a few chances on goal but could not find the back of the net. As always Findlay was a rivalry game and consisted of a physical match between the two teams. The lady dragons went on to play the Alumni and came out with a 4-1 victory. The Alumni came out buzzing but seem to grow tired quickly. Erin Thomas knocked in the first goal to give the Dragons a 1-0 lead going into the half. Hannah Stevens knocked in a goal off of a great cross to put the Dragons up by 2. Felicia Ruiz of the Alumni scored soon after to make it a 2-1 game. The Dragons answered right back with another goal from Hannah Stevens. The Alumni worked hard but could not come back from the deficit. Victoria Evans went on to score a header goal off of a corner kick with only a minute left in the game.

The Men's team posted a win and loss this weekend. They played Findlay first and won 3-0. Michael O'Neil, Rhys Cannella, and Ashton Campbell all put in goals for the Dragons. On the defensive end the Dragons had their best game yet. They locked Findlay's offense down and came out with a shut-out. The second game that the Dragons played was against the Alumni. Coach Brownell, who was on the Alumni side, decided to rest his starters for this game. He obviously knew that the Alumni would not have a chance if the starters played. The Alumni went on to win 5-1. Mike Rutkowski had 2 goals, Rudy Brownell had 2 goals, and Byron put up one goal. Mike Skelly scored the lone goal for the Dragons. This was a very fun and interesting game to watch. It is always fun to watch a soccer match when there is a lot of scoring involved. Alumni weekend is a very relaxed and fun atmosphere and has been a pretty good success the last four years that I have been here. I know from being an Alumni that is always fun to see how the team is and to come back and play again. There was a good audience for all the games, which is nice to see fellow students and parents coming out to support their school.

Alumni Weekend is here!!

The Alumni are back in town! The men and women's team are both playing in an Alumni game this Saturday, April 10th. The Alumni games are very exciting and interesting to watch. It is always a fun atmosphere and interesting to see players that have not been around for a while. The women's alumni will have all of their players back together from the 2006 National Championship team and the NCAA team from 2008. The men will be playing at 1:00 PM and the women will be playing at 3:00 PM. Both games are at Paridiso Fields so come out at support your Dragons and Alumni!!!

Opening Weekend for TU Soccer Teams!

The Men's team had their first of two games against Bluffton University. The came out with the win of 6-1. The play of game was dominated by the TU Dragons squad. The game was controlled from the forward play between Ashton Campbell and Rhys Cannella all the way to the defensive end with Adam Fussell, Rabii Karanouh, Steve Morris, Matt Moceri, and Jeff Frisch in goal. The game was very high tempo and fast paced for the Dragons. With a lot of goals made the game very entertaining and enjoyable to watch. Campbell and Cannella both contributed with two goals, Bluffton defender knocked the ball into his own net while trying to clear the ball, and Mike Skelly helped secure the victory with a header goal late second half.

The Dragons played their second game against the Columbus All-Stars. Fatigue played a factor in the game causing the Dragons to lose 2-3. The play was controlled by the Columbus All-Star squad for most of the game. The game was played for the majority time in the Dragons defensive half. Campbell and Skelly put goals in to keep the Dragons competitive with the All-Stars, but the All-Star squad, which featured some graduated Dragons, went on to score in the last 2 minutes of the game.

Moving on to talk about the Women's game against the Columbus All-Stars, the lack of defensive players, due to graduating seniors, proved to be a factor in this game. The Dragons had a lot of young new players with little experience on the field. The game was mostly controlled by the All-Stars after Hannah Stevens knocked in a goal in the first half. When the All-Star team scored the Lady Dragons could not bounce back to get the victory. I think this is a good result and learning experience for the Lady Dragons seeing that they are a very young team. The Women are playing again this weekend at Wright State.

Sponsorship for Tiffin Soccer!

The main sponsor for Tiffin Men and Women's soccer is Adidas. Both teams have Adidas jerseys, shorts, and socks. The teams also have Adidas warm-up tops, pants, hats, under armor, winter jackets, and equipment such as soccer balls, and pennies. Being sponsored by Adidas allows for both the teams to get discounts on their equipment and is a chance for Adidas to advertise their products. Sponsorship is important for both the team and Adidas. It provides benefits for both the teams and Adidas. Sponsorship is a great way to go when you need to get your name and product out there and most companies or organizations are going to accept because it usually allows them to get benefits such as discounts.

GAME TIME!

The Tiffin Dragons Men's soccer team will host their first home games at Paradiso Fields this Saturday, March 27th. They will be playing in two games this weekend. The first game will kick off at 11:00 AM against Bluffton and the second game will be played at 1:40 PM against the Columbus All-Stars. The coaching staff and players are very excited to finally have a game and to see how all of their hard work is paying off. The Tiffin Dragaons Women's soccer team is also starting their play this weekend at Paradiso Fields. There game is scheduled to start at 3:00 PM taking place after the Men's second game. The women only have one game that day against Oliver Columbus. The women's team is excited and anxious about going into this first game with their new coach and team. They have had a chance to play 11 versus 11 during the week but a lot of players are in new positions and they are still working on coming together as a team. This should be a good first game test to see where they are at and where they need to improve. As a player, I remember how the first spring game is very exciting because you have been working so hard to get in shape and have not been able to actually play a full sized game in quite some time, so it is nice to actually get a chance to play a component and not just each other.

The weather forecast is calling for a nice weekend so come out and support your Tiffin Dragons as they start off their spring season!

If you want to look at the full spring schedule for either team click on the following links below:

Men's Team: http://www.tiffin.edu/athletics/men/soccer/springsked/
Women's Team: http://www.tiffin.edu/athletics/women/soccer/springsked/

One step closer to season

The Tiffin Dragons Men Soccer program just had their first outdoor practice yesterday at the Paridiso Complex. They are still working on their conditioning but are also starting to focus on coming together as a team and filling the places of seniors. The guys are practicing four days a week outdoors now preparing for their first spring game, which is next Saturday at home. It is always a rough transition going from a small indoor facility to a huge open field. I think it is important that they are getting outside and starting to work on their touches and adjusting to the surface change so they are not shocked when they have to play in their game. Another hard thing to adjust to when going outdoors is breathing. It is very different running around outside than it is inside and that plays a huge factor in a players performance. It also does not hurt that the weather has been beautiful so it gives them a great reason to be outside enjoying the nice weather while it lasts!

The women's program has also just started practicing outside this week and the team is very excited about it. This is the first opportunity that the women's team has a chance to play outside together without their seniors that they just lost and their new coach. It gives the coach an opportunity to get a better feel for how the girls play together. It will give her a chance to pinpoint problem areas because they will be able to do more things outside and actually play a full game where in the gym you do not have the room to do that. I have to say that the coaching style is 100% different than when I was on the team. I am not saying it is worse or better, but it is a lot different. When playing for Coach Brownell I know that we were pushed to work our hardest and were always playing in the gym right away when the NCAA rules allowed it. I have not been to any practices with the new coach so I do not know firsthand, but from what I have heard it seems to be a lot more laid back. I think it is always nice to have a change and I think with a more laid back setting it gives many players the opportunity to set the tone of practice and really gives each player an opportunity to prove themselves and push themselves to their fullest. I personally love to compete and push myself and I loved the competitive atmosphere when I was on the team, but I do believe for the players that are left it is a refreshing change based on the type of players they are. I am excited to see the girls play this spring and will be following their season come fall season.

Tiffin Women's Soccer 2010 Recruits

The Dragon Women's Soccer program has just published their 2010 National Letter of Intent signings. They have 13 new players coming in to fill the open spots of graduating seniors and to add to their competitive squad. The women's team graduated two of their main defenders, so Paula has recruited in about 5 defenders to try and fill those spots. She also recruited some forwards to help improve their offense. Coach Paula Fantini thinks that these girls will fit in well with their team and should make a good impact. Recruiting is time consuming and requires a lot of hard work. It is important that the coach looks into what type of player the individual is, how they get along with their teammates, academic performance, and many other things. You want to make sure this individual will mesh well with the team and have a good skill level to compete with others. I think that the women program will take a couple of years to get a strong team together because of having a new coach and such a young team. I think it will be even stronger program than it is right now after the players and coach develop and start to mesh together. The upper classman on the team are really going to have to take the freshman under their wings. They need to make sure that they are going to be ready to play and fill in the shoes of others during games. It is important because they have a lot of young people on the team and they need to make sure that they are prepared mentally and physically so that they can have a good season. Last year when I was on the team we had a lot of freshman come in that we needed to be ready to play right away because of the amount of seniors we lost. We ended up with a winning season, but it was hard at first to get all those young players to adapt to the college competition.

Academic Honors

Six Dragon women soccer players were named to All-Ohio squad, more than any other Division II program. Felicia Ruiz, Sheri Camloh, Ashley Davis, Shelly Rogers, Nichole Sorice, and Danielle Eaken all earned recognition. Tiffin University's soccer program really takes their academics seriously. From being on the team I know that Coach Brownell always made sure his student athletes were attending classes and getting their work done. We would be punished if he found out that any one was skipping class. I remember specifically one occasion where the team had to run 12 extra sprints at the end of practice to make up for the amount of classes skipped. Another tactic that Coach Brownell had was that every freshman had to attend four hours of study tables a week no matter what. If the student had a GPA above a 3.0 after the first semester they did not have to attend anymore. I personally think that it is important to remember that student comes before athlete. It just shows the amount of character that girls team hold being able to perform on the field and in the classroom.

Tiffin Men's Soccer has 12 signings for the 2010 recruiting class

The Tiffin University Men's Soccer program has signed 12 new members to their squad for the 2010 season. Coach Brownell states that "this recruiting class will have a good impact on our returning players, adding competition to every position. These are all very successful and talented athletes, and we feel that they can have an impact on our program. Last season we were one game away from making the NCAA playoffs, and this recruiting class should help us win that extra game that we need." The Dragons men's soccer program posted a 15-4-2 record. They ended up ranked #5 in the Great Lakes Region on their way to the GLIAC Tournament Championship. Recruiting is a huge part of the men's soccer program here at Tiffin University. It takes incredible amount of time and energy to get the right recruits. Coach Brownell often makes trips to watch players play and always had a full inbox of athletes interested in coming to play for him. It is a lot harder work than people think and is very time consuming, but a very important factor in having a successful team. You have to know how to recruit. I have watched the guys play for the past four years that I have been at Tiffin University and think that they have an outstanding quad. It was always awesome to watch them play. They work so well together and really have a great intensity and desire to win. I think once they have their recruiting class here they will have a great chance to make the National Tournament this year. I feel that the main positions they have to fill is defensively because they lost two of their top defenders, so hopefully the young players and new recruits can fill those big shoes. Check out this link to get the 12 new signings for the 2010 recruiting class www.http//www.tiffin.edu/athletics/men/soccer/2010signings/. It gives detailed information about each recruit including where they are from, position, awards, and so on.

Ohio State Men's Basketball

I attended The Ohio State University Men's Basketball game on Sunday, January 31, 2010. Their opponent was the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The atmosphere was very enthusiastic and loud. It was very exciting to be there a lot different then what I am used to here at Tiffin University. They student sections all had chants it seemed like for every play. The entire stadium was filled with scarlet and gray. There was a special half time show that brought back The Ohio State University 1960 National Championship team. Those men were recognized at half time and a flag for Coach Fred Taylor was hung. When I walked into the arena the first thing I saw was a bunch of stands where Ohio State merchandise was sold and concessions such as Bob Evans, one of the sponsors for Ohio State Basketball. I noticed a lot of advertising while I was attending this event. While seated I noticed that the scoreboard had Nationwide labeled all over the place. It was not only on the scoreboard but the back of the hoops as well. It would also flash across the jumbo tron and around the entire arena. Other sponsors that they would flash across the jumbo tron and arena were Kroger, Muscle Milk, Kroger, Huntington, AT&T and Big Lots. They also had pom poms at each seat in the student section that promoted a Buckeye sports camp. They also have what is called the Big Lots shot at half time. A student is given the opportunity to make 3 shots in 60 seconds and he could win free tuition for a year if he makes all three. They also shot out T-shirts with Donatos coupons in them for a free pizza. They also promoted other OSU teams on the jumbo tron and loud speakers to get students to attend those as well. Another advertising activity that they did was choose a random section and row and passed out coupons for free food at Bob Evans. It was a very fun atmosphere and I noticed that there are a lot of promotional activity and advertising going on. The Buckeyes went on to beat Minnesota 85-63. I have never seen so many dunks in a game it was awesome! GO BUCKS!

Talking with the players

I took some time to talk to a player from each team and get some insight about how their spring season is going and what they expecting for their fall season. For the men's team I chatted with Rhys Cannella. Rhys is a senior on the field and has been team captain two years now. He has received honors such as NCAA All-American First Team. The first question I asked Rhys is is what the spring was looking like for him and his team. "We aim to get fitter, faster, stronger and that's what people are working hard at over the spring. We have a few new players, so we want to see how they can fit into the team during spring games." The next topic we discussed was how the spring was going. "So far so good. We have already run outside and played with the ball, without the coach of course, which is good this early on in the spring. Competition is priority in the team to make us all better. As a squad we are looking good." Lastly, I asked if he thought the team will win the GLIAC Championship again and if they will go to the National Tournament this season. " I do, if key players perform we definitely will win the GLIAC Championship. If we win that then we go to the National Tournament as they now give us an automatic bid unlike previous years when we won and still did not go to the tournament."

From the girls side I talked with Lauren Turkington, who will be a junior on the field come fall season. I first asked Lauren how she felt about getting a new coach and how it was going. "I think that it was time for someone else to take over the women's program because things were not going as well as they should have been going because our former coach was having trouble balancing coaching both the men and women teams. The team has been getting to know the new coach and everyone is still working hard." I also asked how spring was going so far. "Besides the recent incident of a couple girls getting in trouble, so far everything has been going good. Our team is coming together and getting to know each other better and there really is not any tension between people. Everyone is pushing themselves and others." Lastly, I asked how she thinks the fall season is going to go. "As far as playing, we have yet to see because we have not gotten any touches on the ball yet as a team. Since we have not got any time to play together yet I am not sure how fall will go. I think we should have a bunch of hard working girls, but since we graduated our whole defensive line, we have a lot of developing to do from now until then."

Spring season is here!

The Tiffin Men's and Women's soccer programs are both starting their winter conditioning Monday January 18th. They are both doing morning workouts that will consist of a lot of endurance work, sprint work, and agility training. Both teams will also be hitting the weight room twice a week to strengthen their bodies. Both teams are going to be working hard to prepare for their next season. Each team will be hosting some spring games at Paradiso Fields. Each team is very excited to be getting back to work and are ready to work hard.

Paula Fantini takes over the reins of women's soccer program

Paula Fantini has been named Head Women's Soccer Coach at Tiffin University. Fantini, a native of Brazil, takes over the women's program from Rudy Brownell, who will remain the Men's Soccer Head Coach. The Lady Dragons finished finished 11-7-2 in 2009, reaching the GLIAC Semifinals. A former women's soccer star at Union College (KY), Paula Fantini joined the Lincoln Memorial coaching staff in 2007. While serving as assistant for both the men's and women's soccer programs at Lincoln Memorial, the teams both had winning records. As a student-athlete, Fantini excelled on and off the field. She was a Dean's List honoree every semester at Union, and was a three-time All-American Scholar Athlete. She was name All-Conference and All-Region three-times, and was named All-American twice. She ranks fourth in career points in Union's history. Fantini has a strong coaching background in both club soccer and in college soccer. Fantini speaks about her new position at Tiffin University. "I am extremely excited with the opportunity of becoming the Head Women's Soccer Coach at Tiffin University. I felt as if I was at home the moment I stepped on campus. I trust that I will share an extraordinary experience with my players and the faculty and staff at large."

After speaking with some of the girls on the team I got the vibe that they are very anxious to get out on the field and see where their spring season goes. They seem to be pleased with their new coach and are ready to work hard.

My Sports Autobiography

I have been involved in athletics since I was 5 years old. When growing up I was involved in gymnastics, soccer, and softball. I dropped out of gymnastics at a young age but went on to play softball throughout high school and I continued playing soccer through my college career. Soccer was my main sport and took up a lot of my time. All through high school I played for my high school team and the CFC premier team. On my premier team I traveled out of state to play in tournaments, which eventually lead to my recruitment at Tiffin University. I do not know a life without athletics. I plan on staying in the athletic field throughout my career, but now I will be part of the background. I am going to pursue a career in Physical Therapy and as a Personal Trainer for athletes. I would not know what to do without watching, playing, or assisting in athletics.