2005 Miracle Yearbook

Men's Soccer In a tough year with many setbacks,the Cedarville University men's soccer team continued their tradition of success by finishing their sixth straight season withouta losing record. Theteam went11-11-2overall,despite playing a tough schedule and suffering eight season ending injuries. According to Coach Belle- men,"The season was one of perseverance. Many of our goals were destroyed early due to these injuries. Yet we were able to be recognized again for the Fair Play Award in our conference and make another trip to the NCCAA nationals." In spite of the difficulties, the Yellow Jackets proved their resiliency by win- ning many big gamesthroughoutthe course ofthe season. The team pulled out important wins over Ohio Dominican on October 12th and Mount Vernon Naza- rene on October 26th to stay alive in the league playoff picture. This eventu- ally led to the NCCAA Midwest Region Championship showdown against Spring Arbor on November 11. A 1 -0 victory for Cedarville gave Coach Bellemen his third region title and the school its ninth overall. The team completed the 2004 season by making the trip to the NCCAA National Tournament, where they fin- ished up ranked sixth nationally. Tim Thomson added his own flavor to the mix by becoming the first Cedarville soccer player in three years to be named an NCCAA All-American. He was joined by Phil Ellis, who was an NCCAA All- America Honorable Mention recipient. Justin Benz led the team in goalsscored (6),and both Pete Dryer and Andrew Belleman had four assists on the season. In addition, goalie Dave Howdyshell posted six shutouts. Outgoing senior Pete Dryer said,"It was a very challeng- ing season. Wefaced a variety of obstacles that would have gotten many other teams down; however, we fought through them and played our hearts out. Although we didn't always get the results we were hoping for, we never gave up and continued to work very hard at every practice and in every game." In addition to Dryer, the team said goodbye to seniors Todd Beal, Tim Thomson, Casey Sullivan, Joe Zuerner,and Matt Green. In intense concentration, junior midfielder Tyler Schumacher stands with his teammates during the playing of the National Anthem Schumacher said that during this time he was "thinking about my roles and responsibilities during the game."