| Special soccer team finishes 3rd season
Working toward the goal, a soccer player passes to her teammate. Below, right, a player who just scored a goal gets a helping hand from Coach Nitkewicz. By Steve Bartholomew They came in all shapes and sizes, a range of ages, boys and girls, their smiling faces out-shining their brightly colored soccer gear. Gathered in small groups, practicing their soccer drills, they each had different special needs, but they all shared a common goal. And it was on the soccer field that, for many, that goal was achieved. During the school day, in the classroom, children with special needs work extra hard as they sit alongside their classmates. But here on the Whitman turf field, with the late afternoon sun in their faces and the wind at their backs, these youngsters were running together, kicking the soccer ball and scoring goals.
Area girls strike big
The Freeport High girls soccer team advanced to a sectional for the first time, and now, a pair of youth players have achieved something that's never been done in the area in the sport. Both Anna Victorov, of Dakota, and Haley Grunewald, of Freeport, were named to the Olympic Developmental for the state of Illinois. Victorov will play for the state's 97-over team while Grunewald suits up for the 96-under team. "They did very well," Steve Grunewald, Haley's dad and coach the girls' local team, the Freeport Fire, said. "I think what really helped them standout was their footwork. "Not a lot of girls were able to control and play the ball with their feet as well as those two." The pair had to put in a lot of time just to qualify for the team. "We had to go to winter practices in Schaumburg, then we had to go to NIU (Northern Illinois University) for the team tryouts," Victorov said.
Soccer schedule provides three Big Ten opponents
The soccer team has added three Big Ten opponents to its schedule this season in order to ready itself for tournament play.
Between Aug. 30 and Sept. 6, CMU will play Indiana, Michigan and Michigan State all on the road.
"Since I've been here, it's a major upgrade (in strength of schedule)," said soccer coach Tom Anagnost. "We're playing really good teams to hopefully prepare us for our conference."
The Chippewas have an exhibition game at Pittsburgh, a Big East school, to start the season Aug. 12.
Other non-conference opponents include four teams CMU played last year. The Chippewas beat Detroit 3-1 and IPFW 1-0, but lost to St. Bonaventure and Valparaiso 1-0 each. Illinois State is new to the schedule this year.
"Those other teams that we're playing have been extremely competitive with us over the last few years," Anagnost said.
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