DeKALB | Just because they’re freshmen doesn’t mean NIU men’s soccer coach Steve Simmons new recruiting class won’t get a chance to be on the field this season.

College Soccer News has ranked NIU’s nine new soccer players as the 38th-best recruiting class in the nation, third-best in the MAC.

The publication noted, “Simmons has again shown that he has a good eye for identifying the type of player that will enable his program to progress and for building the pipelines needed to land that talent.”

That’s why despite returning eight starters, Simmons expects these freshmen to challenge for spots on his roster.

“The greatest contribution is that these new players are good enough to challenge for spots,” Simmons said. “I look forward to day-to-day difficult decisions about who to play on this team.”

CSN also ranked NIU as No. 26 in its preseason top-30 poll. However, that only puts NIU as the third highest MAC team in the list, as Akron was ranked fifth, and MAC newcomer Hartwick came in at No. 23.

Open time

A second place finish at the U.S. Amateur Qualifier at Oak Grove Country Club was good enough to send NIU golfer Alex Wagner to the U.S. Amateur Open.

The open will be played at the Olympic Club in San Francisco and will start on August 20th.

Wagner totaled a score of 137 in the qualifier, as he shot a 70 in his first round and 67 in his second.

“The U.S. Amateur is the premier amateur event in the country, if not the world, and for Alex to qualify is a great accomplishment,” head coach John Cleary said. “Alex has worked very hard this spring and summer after missing most of last fall with complications from an appendicitis. This will be a big confidence booster for him.”

Bring back the gold

For a second consecutive year NIU head women’s basketball coach Carol Owens has claimed gold with Team USA in the FIBA U19 World Championship.

Owens serves as an assistant coach for Team USA under head coach Doug Bruno, who leads the women’s basketball program at DePaul.

Team USA beat Sweden 99-57 in the final game to go undefeated in the tournament.

All Aboard

With summer coming to a close, new NIU head softball coach Lindsay Chouinard has put together her coaching staff with the hiring of Megan Ciolli and Kara Amundson as assistant coaches.

Ciolli comes to NIU after serving as a graduate assistant coach for Loyola University-Chicago. From 2002-2005 she played at the University of Notre Dame, where she was named the Big East Player of the year in 2004. Ciolli also played with the Chicago Bandits from 2005-2006.

Amundson is a recent graduate of DePaul University. She played catcher, outfield and first base with the Blue Demons.

Making the team

It doesn’t matter if you can sing for this tryout, as the NIU volleyball will hold open tryouts on Aug. 18th, from 12-2 p.m. at Victor E. Court in the Convocation Center.

All who are interested in trying out for the team should contact Assistant Coach Michaela Franklin at (815) 753-1496 or by e-mail at [email protected].