News Releases

Men’s Soccer

In an exciting atmosphere fed by North Central University’s home crowd Thursday afternoon (October 6, 2011), both the NCU Rams and Providence Freemen faced off in an evenly matched game. The Freemen attack was stifled by the NCU defences resulting in a scoreless game by halftime. The second half saw more scoring chances for both teams and Freemen goalie, Eder Torres (Freshman), made a number of good saves while Jon Janke (Freshman) cleared one off the line to keep the Rams off the scoreboard. At the other end, Matt Frischbutter (Freshman) came close and Norvin Campos (Sophomore) hit the crossbar. With 15 minutes remaining, Mark Wiebe (Freshman) was fouled at the edge of the NCU penalty box, which resulted in Prov’s free kick expert (Mario Giesbrecht, Sophomore) to step up and smash an unstoppable shot past the ‘diving keeper.’ The finale of the game was tense as the Rams were spurred on by their home cheering squad and pressed hard for the tying goal. Fortunately, the Freemen defended well to preserve a 1-0 victory.

Mark Wiebe (Freshman) in action

On Friday, Providence took on Regional opponent, Faith Baptist Bible College, from Ankeny, IO. The Freemen started with a strong wind at their back and applied pressure resulting in an early goal by Mario Giesbrecht, who came in from the far post to meet a beautiful cross pass from Matt Antonio (Sophomore). Not long after, Wiebe passed to Mario who took one touch and powered the ball past the keeper from 25 yards. The Eagles defense stiffened to keep the Freemen at bay for the rest of the half and their resilience was rewarded with a headed goal at the 40 minute mark.

Against the wind in the second half the Freemen continued to apply offensive pressure with Mario Giesbrecht a constant threat and Campos controlling the midfield. A through-ball from Rocky Dick (Freshman) was taken in stride by Mario who completed his hat-trick with a powerful drive. Mario then set up Norvin in the right channel and his low angled shot found the corner to complete the scoring at 4-1.

“Both teams were without their captains and other key players today but it was an entertaining and well played game by both sides,” commented Head Coach Martin Ward. He attributed his team’s multiple goals to his team playing “a lot more lively than in yesterday’s game against NCU and our difference maker was Mario who worked tirelessly all game long as well as scoring some great goals.”

Weekend Statistics:
Mario Giesbrecht -4 goals, 1 assist; Norvin Campos -1 goal; Mark Wiebe -1 assist; Matt Antonio -1 assist; Rocky Dick -1 assist.

Women’s Soccer

Sanjenko (Freshman) looking up the field

On the women’s side, the Lady Freemen challenged the North Central Rams on Thursday afternoon (October 6, 2011). In what seemed to be a slow start, Providence allowed a goal 1 minute 45 seconds into the game. For the next 50 minutes, the Freemen played excellent soccer and kept the Rams from scoring in an intense defensive battle. In a series of unfortunate events, an NCU forward crossed the ball and the wind took it up and over the head of Providence goalkeeper, Kristi Larson (Sophomore), to go up 2-0. From this point, the Lady Freemen battled out the remainder of the game but were simply unable to recover.

The Lady Freemen followed up Thursday’s loss by coming out Friday afternoon showing they had more to give before the weekend was done. Reflecting on the game against the Faith Baptist Eagles, Coach Calla added, “We completely dominated right from the very beginning of the game and did not let up.” It is evident this seemed to be the case as the Lady Freemen completed a couple of scoring opportunities with Annemarie Kaethler (Sophomore) finding Ruth Shantz (Senior) for a great shot from the corner. Meanwhile Elena Rempel (Sophomore) opened up Danielle Sanjenko (Freshman) for a powerful long shot on the side to seal a 2-0 win over the Eagles.

Weekend Statistics:
Ruth Shantz -1 goal; Danielle Sanjenko -1 goal; Annemarie Kaethler -1 assist; Elena Rempel -1 assist.

Next Home game action for the Providence Freemen takes place Saturday, October 15th on the Providence campus. The teams will take on the Red River Rebels (women @ 1:00pm and men @ 3:00pm).