CollegeLAX Team of the Week (3-27-2009)

This article is originally from CollegeLAX.

By Will Freihofer

Kennesaw State University has been selected as the latest CollegeLAX Team of the Week after taking down the Savannah College of Art and Design to remain unbeaten in their 2009 campaign. The win was the Owl’s first over the visiting SCAD Bees in KSU’s four-year history.

Sunday’s match began with visiting SCAD jumping to an early 4-1 lead in the first quarter. The Owls’ offense answered back, however, and the game entered halftime with KSU enjoying a 10-5 lead.SCAD’s six second-half goals proved to be too little to save the Bees, ranked #14 in the latest Prodigy MCLA Division 2 Poll, from the upset.

Owls Head Coach Ken Byers said he was pleased with the way his team responded to trailing early. “They really had some quick strikes on us, but we made some adjustments quickly,” he said.

Contributing to the Owls’ 13-11 win were six different goal scorers. Leading the squad to their 9-0 record on the day was attackman Scott Schulze, who finished Sunday with four goals and an assist to tie SCAD’s John Healy for top scorer on the afternoon. Midfielder Charles Roland also recorded a hat-trick for KSU, with fellow middie Jim Nassar contributing a pair to the effort.

Byers had good things to say about Schulze’s performance Sunday. ”Scott has a great ability to get open and take a lot of (good) shots.”

Coach Byers credited improvements in the team’s preparation and commitment with their success thus far this season. Those changes have translated to on-the-field success for the squad, he said.“We’ve really turned it around from a couple of years ago,” said Byers.

The team’s play this season has recently begun to attract attention from elsewhere around Division 2, with the Owls breaking into the MCLA rankings thanks to their win-streak. “That was really exciting for us,” said Byers.

The Owls will look to stay undefeated in their two upcoming road games against Eckerd College and the University of North Florida this weekend. Byers said that recent rain made for a short week of practice for his team, but that he expects them to continue their strong play after the big win.

“We’re playing ‘em one game at a time,” he said.

CollegeLAX will recognize one MCLA team each week during the 2009 season. To nominate a deserving program, contact CollegeLAX by email.