More than 30 former Menace Academy players are on the rosters of college soccer teams from coast to coast. Many of these student-athletes are making a positive impact on the playing field this fall. This story is an update on the soccer players with ties to our academy who have taken their game to the next level.

DIVISION I
Chelsea Cline has stepped in as a freshman to help No. 3 UCLA reel off 11 straight wins. Cline, a three-time Parade all-American (2007-09) at Shattuck-St. Mary’s (Minn.) and a member of the United States’ U20 women’s national team, has a goal and two assists through her first 12 games with the Bruins (11-1-1). UCLA has won a national-best 60 home games in a row. The Bruins’ 21-match Pac-10 conference winning streak is on the line this weekend, when they travel to Cal and top-ranked Stanford.

Mark Halma (West Des Moines Valley, 2006) leads Loyola (Ill.) with seven points. The former Iowa Player of the Year and NSCAA all-American has three goals and an assist for the 3-4-3 Ramblers. Halma’s heroics took Loyola to the NCAA Tournament a year ago. He was named the 2008 Horizon League Tournament MVP after scoring the game-winning goals in the tournament’s semifinal and final matches.

Iowa’s 2009 Player of the Year, Husref Jupic (Des Moines Hoover), has played in every match for Western Illinois, notching an assist. The Fighting Leathernecks (3-7) play at No. 16 Northwestern tonight, a week after dropping a 1-0 decision to No. 19 Drake.

Two former teammates who led the Menace’s 2008 class to three Iowa State Cup championships have reached their goal of playing division-I soccer.

Tony Maxey (Dowling Catholic) is Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s leader in minutes played. A member of the 2008 Horizon League All-Newcomer Team, Maxey has started every match for the Panthers (3-7-2), who have a four-game unbeaten streak after getting past Loyola, 2-1, on Saturday.

Kyle Cummings (Norwalk) has made a couple regular-season appearances for Tulsa (7-3-2). He scored in a 3-2 exhibition loss to New Mexico on Aug. 21; the Golden Hurricane’s other goal came from Joe Salem – a starter with the Menace’s Premier Development League team the last two seasons.

A 2007 Des Moines Roosevelt grad, Sam Lepley, is serving his country while playing D-I soccer. The junior has played in nine matches for Navy (7-5), making four starts for the Midshipmen.

 Three freshmen who played for the Menace Academy are on the rosters of D-I soccer teams and have not yet seen their first regular-season action:
-       Joe Lyons (Dowling), Drake
-       Eric May (Norwalk), Valparaiso
-       Ben Poppen (Ankeny), Hartford

DIVISION II
Former Menace Academy Player of the Year Grant Bowden has started every match for third-ranked Drury (Springfield, Mo.), a 13-0 team enjoying its highest national ranking in school history. Bowden, a 2007 Waukee grad, has two assists for the Panthers, who have outscored their opponents 45-5. Drury hosts Great Lakes Valley Conference rival No. 12 Northern Kentucky on Friday.

Kyle Talbot (Ames), a former Menace teammate of Bowden’s, is a goalkeeper for No. 9 Truman State (Kirksville, Missouri). After starting every game for the Bulldogs a year ago, Talbot has been in goal for two games this season, saving four shots and allowing four goals. His team is 9-1-1.

Former Dowling Catholic teammates, Alex Teeling and Brendan Dunbar, are on the roster for yet another Missouri D-II school, Rockhurst. Teeling has played in one game this season for the Kansas City school (8-6).

 
DIVISION III
Marshall Fisher emerged the hero on Friday for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (Calif.).  The 2007 Des Moines Roosevelt grad scored the Stags’ only goal in a 1-1 tie with the fourth-ranked UC-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs. Fisher has played all 12 matches for CMS (6-4-2), earning 10 starts. He also scored in a 3-2 win over California Lutheran last month.

Closer to home, four men’s teams in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference each have a pair of former Menace Academy players.
Sophomores Kevin McQuerrey (Valley) and Leland Schipper (Ankeny) have started every match for a Central team that is 5-7 despite losing five overtime matches. McQuerrey leads the Dutch in assists (four) and minutes; Schipper has a goal.

Lucas Haak (Ankeny, 2007) and Bryan Michelsen (Norwalk, 2008) are fixtures for the 5-4-2 Simpson Storm, which dealt Central a 2-1 double-OT defeat a week ago. Haak shares the team lead for goals (three) and assists (two). Michelsen has played in 10 matches, joining Haak in the starting lineup six times.

Jason Block (Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 2008) made the most of his only action with Luther this season, collecting a goal and an assist in the Norse’s 10-0 thumping of Coe on Oct. 3. Derek Murken, a 2009 Roosevelt grad, is on the roster but has not played in any games for Luther (4-6-1).

Neil Shields (three games) and Geoff Roberts (one game) have seen limited action with the 8-3-1 Wartburg Knights. Shields is a freshman from Adel-DeSoto-Minburn; Roberts is a junior from Des Moines Lincoln.

Former Waukee and Menace teammates Mark Adams and Colten Llewellyn have played every match for their respective Minnesota schools.

Adams’ three goals tie for the team lead for Gustavus Adolphus, and Llewellyn has a couple assists for St. Thomas. They’ll see each other on Saturday, when the Gusties (4-5-3) travel to face the Tommies (7-4-1) in St. Paul.

Jarod Kunze – who graduated from Waukee in 2008, like Adams and Llewellyn – is a goalkeeper for Kenyon (Ohio). He has not seen any goal time with the Lords, who carry a 10-3 mark and a No. 23 national ranking.

 

NAIA
Two former Dowling teammates have made an instant impact with St. Ambrose. Freshmen Matt Carlson and Jackson Teeling are fixtures in the Fighting Bees’ starting lineup. Carlson is the team’s second-leading scorer (11 points, five goals), while Teeling shares the team lead with three assists. St. Ambrose (2-12-1) plays its final home match tonight, hosting Grand View.

Sam Weeks (West Des Moines Valley, 2008) has played every match for Grand View (8-4-1), making seven starts. The sophomore found the back of the net twice in the Vikings’ 7-0 victory over Waldorf on Sept. 30.

Matthew Carlson has played in all but two of the matches for Clarke. The 2007 Johnston grad has started four matches for the Crusaders (6-11-2), who play against St. Ambrose and Grand View in the Midwest Collegiate Conference.

Two other members of the Menace’s 2007 class tend goal for Illinois schools that square off this weekend.

Andrew Boersma (Des Moines Christian) has started seven games for Trinity Christian (6-7), posting a 1.42 Goals Against Average and saving 38 shots. Jared Svaldi (Des Moines Lincoln) has made six starts for Illinois Tech (6-6), and owns a 1.48 GAA and 25 saves. Boersma’s Trolls host Svaldi’s Scarlet Hawks on Saturday in Palos Heights.

 

COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Alex Kemm plays for North Iowa Area Community College. The 2008 Johnston grad is a sophomore with the Trojans, who are 8-3-2.

Updated Oct. 29, 2009: A pair of 2009 Norwalk grads started for their respective community-college teams. Ben Smiley was the starting goalie for Indian Hills (5-9). Matt Miller was a starting defender for Kansas City, Kansas, whose season ended with a 3-2 overtime loss to Garden City last night in the opening round of the Region 6 Tournament.

 

Related Link:
Menace Academy Alumni

 
If you know of any other former Menace Academy players who are missing or if you have any corrections, please email Adam Small at ajs@menacesoccer.com.