BEARCATS SPORTS B3Thursday | November 6, 2014nwmissourinews.com

2013-14 MEC STANDINGSOverall MEC

Nov. 7:St. Pius X at MARYVILLESmithville at Kearney

MHS BOYS BASKETBALL

Lafayette...........................25-5 7-0Savannah..........................14-10 4-2 Chillicothe..........................14-10 3-2Smithville..........................13-13 4-3Bishop LeBlond...................15-12 2-3Benton...............................4-20 2-5MARYVILLE.........................5-17 2-6Cameron.............................5-21 1-4

MHS FOOTBALL

MARYVILLE...........................11-0 7-0Smithville.............................9-2 6-1Lafayette..............................7-4 5-2Savannah.............................6-4 4-3Bishop LeBlond......................5-6 2-5 Chillicothe.............................5-6 2-5Benton.................................3-7 2-5Cameron..............................0-10 0-9

MEC STANDINGS Overall MEC

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NW FOOTBALL

Pittsburg St.........................8-1 8-1NORTHWEST........................8-1 8-1Central Missouri...................7-2 7-2Central Oklahoma................7-2 7-2Fort Hays St........................5-4 5-4Missouri Western..................5-4 5-4Emporia St..........................4-5 4-5Missouri Southern................4-5 4-5 Washburn...........................3-6 3-6Nebraska Kearney................2-7 2-7Lindenwood........................1-8 1-8Northeastern St...................0-9 0-9

MIAA STANDINGSOverall MIAA

Nov. 8:NORTHWEST at Emporia St.Central Missouri at Pittsburg St.Nebraska Kearney at Missouri WesternCentral Oklahoma at Lindenwood

NW MENS BASKETBALLMIAA PRESEASON POLL

2013-14 Overall MIAA Central Missouri...................30-5 16-3Fort Hays St........................22-8 13-6Washburn..........................17-10 10-9NORTHWEST........................24-9 16-3Missouri Southern.................25-6 15-4Central Oklahoma................20-10 11-8 Nebraska Kearney................15-13 10-9 Emporia St..........................18-13 10-9Lindenwood.........................11-19 6-13Pittsburg St..........................8-18 4-15Missouri Western..................10-18 5-14Northeastern St....................16-13 9-10 Southwest Baptist.................14-15 7-12Lincoln..................................3-24 1-18

Nov. 14:Minnesota State Moorhead at NORTHWESTNov. 15:Upper Iowa at NORTHWESTCentral Missouri at Sioux Falls

Dec. 1:MARYVILLE at Savannah TournamentDec. 9:Clarinda at MARYVILLE

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This was supposed to be a special year for the Bearcats soccer team. They were supposed to be led by their lone senior Taylor Sellars. Freshman goalkeeper Ashley Malloy was supposed to fill the void in front of the net.

Preseason goals might not have been met in the end, but Sellars, Mal-loy and the rest of the Bearcats have put a spotlight on the future of the Northwest soccer program.

In the final weekend of play, and on the outside looking in at the post-season, the Bearcats knew two final victories would get them the best shot at advancing for the first time since 2011. A 1-0 victory Friday at Missouri Western put Northwest in control of its own destiny heading into Sundays match against Lindenwood in St. Charles, Missouri.

With less than 15 minutes re-maining, Northwest remained score-less with Lindenwood and had the possibility of advancing with a vic-tory. However, a Lindenwood goal in the 78th minute sealed the 1-0 loss,ending the regular season for the Bearcats with an overall record of 7-9-1 and 3-7-1 in MIAA play.

We knew we had to win, Head Coach Tracy Hoza said. We didnt want to rely on a tie or losing they were more disappointed that we didnt win and then we got all the oth-er news as well when we were done.

The news Hoza is referring to is the elimination of Northwest from the MIAA Womens Soccer Cham-pionship. Throughout the day, the cards fell into place for Northwest to advance, despite a loss. A goal in double overtime by Northeastern State moved the RiverHawks ahead of the Bearcats and knocking Northwest from the final spot in the MIAA post-season tournament.

Though Hozas squad fell short of its preseason goals, it is not difficult to see that she has something special brewing for the future of the program. Reflecting on her satisfaction with the 2014 season, Hoza said the team was exception with the circumstances it dealt with.

If I was to answer this question

with the squad we had at the begin-ning of preseason, I would have said it wasnt good enough because we know where we could be and where we want to be, Hoza said. Looking back now on what weve been through, we did well, we worked hard. There were some games that should have pulled off wins but we did the best that we could with what we had and what we had to deal with.

Throughout the course of the 2014 campaign, the Bearcats faced injuries that cost three starters to end their seasons early. Five of the six freshmen combined to start 60 games, with Malloy (18) and de-fender Hannah Goetz (17) shining in the starting lineup. Cassidy Holtman, Jessica Spradley and Danielle Wolfe also played valuable minutes for the freshman class. Northwest will also return three members of the All-MI-AA honorable mention team; junior defender Katelynn Lindsey and junior midfielder Elizabeth Lee join Malloy on the awarded team.

We definitely competed in every game despite all of our injuries and did well against every team, even the teams in the top of our conference, Wolfe said. ... Getting a lot of min-utes makes us more comfortable on the field, especially towards the end of the season.

Malloy played a big role in keep-ing Northwest in a number of games, racking up shutouts in six of the seven victories. The Bearcats allowed 21 goals in 2014 compared to 35 in 2013, a stat that is promising to Hoza.

We won more than last year, won more games on the road, so its very, very positive, Hoza said. The biggest thing was having the play-ers go were ready for next year, and theyre only a day off, likewise with the coaching staff.

With offseason preparation near-ly in full swing, Hoza could not keep from grinning when asked of her ex-citement for next season.

Even Sunday, its like alright. You really say that Im human, Im pretty fatigued at the end of any sea-son. Were ready to get everybody back together, get as much of the in-jured back as possible and do our best with that

To be saying that at this time of year is a bit unusual, regardless of your wins or losses, and thats a men-tality were going to carry through to next year.

Sophomore Trevor Obecny rounds a corner during the Bearcat Open Sept. 5. SARAH BANDY | NW MISSOURIAN

PATRICK WOODMissourian Reporter | @nwmsports

With the cool winter air blowing in, the fall sports schedule will soon be coming to a close.

However, with that comes the most exciting meet in the eyes of the Northwest cross country team; the MIAA Conference Championships.

Its exciting to get everyone to-gether, Head Coach Scott Lorek Said. Conference meets are really exciting. Theres so much electricity in the air.

Lorek expects his team to run the best race they can. After having a few runners who were sick or a little banged up, Lorek said his team is all healthy and ready to compete at a high level.

Weve been real consistent at putting our best races together at championship meets, Lorek said.

Senior Kit Anderson shares a similar view with that of Lorek.

Im really anxious, Anderson said. Ive always run one of my best races at the conference meet, and coming off an injury, Im anxious to see where Im at.

Anderson suffered a pre-stress fracture on the top of his foot which sidelined him for a good deal of time. He is now healthy and excited to re-turn just in time to compete in the conference meet.

Anderson has high expectations for the team as a whole. He believes being able to run together as a team gives them a little more push to com-pete at a higher level.

The weeks leading up to this meet have been a steady regimen of work-outs for the team.

We got to run time trials under the lights at Bearcat Stadium, Lorek said. Its not something we do very often, but they accomplished what they needed and they really enjoyed running under the lights.

The cool air and windiness kept the times higher than what the team wanted but it still achieved one key thing: the fire of competing in a shorter race. The time trials raised the intensity of the runners due to the shorter distances they ran. The men ran a two-mile course while the womens side ran a one-mile course.

Lorek uses the time trials as workouts very rarely. He uses them only when the team has an extended time off and needs to keep a competitive edge.

The mens team will be sending 10 runners to the conference meet: Wick Cunningham, Anderson, Ryan Cox, Tim Grundmayer, Johnny Harley, Carson Brown, Joe Anger, Caleb Wyble, Gabe Claus and Brandon Klave.

The womens team will also be sending 10 runners to the conference meet: Katie Bush, Anne Herbert, Jes-sica Johnson, Brooklyn Ellis, Chloe Haffarnan, Mikayla Engemen, Lizzy Jurries, McKenzie Christenson, Sa-mantha Laurenzo and Hana Speaks.

Lorek emphasized there were a few teams that they have not seen yet and are intrigued to see them at the meet. Conference rivals like Cen-tral Missouri and Pittsburg State are teams they have not encountered at a meet yet.

The team will make the trip to Bolivar Saturday to compete in the MIAA Conference Championships.

Cross country team anxious to get postseason started

Late goal eliminates Bearcats, ends season

Soccer misses MIAA tourney with loss