E AG L E AT H L E T I C S W R A P - U P
Elite 8: Women’s Soccer Team Has Historic Season By RACHEL MOORE
The Central Methodist women’s soccer program has battled through one of the most challenging – and successful -- athletic seasons in program history, finishing the year 20-4-1 and etching the names of these young women into the CMU history books. Despite multiple stoppages and restarts in an extended season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Central cruised to its second straight regularseason conference championship last November. The season culminated with a magical postseason run in the spring. Beginning with the Heart of America Athletic Conference tournament in early April, CMU earned the No. 1 overall seed, picking up victories over Grand View and Benedictine and punching their ticket to the title match versus rival Missouri Valley College. In a thrilling championship match, both sides remained scoreless through the first 85 minutes. With less than four minutes remaining, senior defender Sara Cobollo sent a cross into the box, finding fellow senior Anika Kallash for the gamewinning header to the back of the net. CMU won its second straight conference tournament title and its third in the last four seasons with the 1-0 victory over the Vikings. CMU continued its postseason run with two wins in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round, first a 2-0 win over College of Idaho and then a 2-0 shutout victory over Indiana Wesleyan to advance to the Final Site in Foley, Ala. In the game of the year, Central squared off against No. 9 John Brown (Ark.) at the Final Site first round on April 27. The teams remained
even at 1-1 through regulation and two overtime periods. The game was then decided on penalty kicks. CMU went on to win the shoot-out 4-2, advancing to its first national quarterfinals appearance in program history. “If you really look at it, this is the best season we’ve ever had,” said coach Dan Schmidlin. “We’d never made it to a quarterfinal game. And that John Brown game – we went down in 2019 on penalty kicks – so it was fitting to win it that way this time around.” Schmidlin, whose team suffered several injuries at key points during the season, said the Eagles’ Elite Eight run was very special, even with a loss to No. 1 seed William Carey to end the year. “I’m so proud of this group for handling
everything thrown at them this season,” he said. In addition to the quarterfinal appearance marking the deepest postseason run of any CMU women’s soccer team, Schmidlin noted another first – freshman Sandra Jakobsen, from Denmark, earned a spot on the NAIA all-tournament team. “Sandra’s contributions this year have been a pleasant surprise,” he said. “We knew she was going to be big time.” Schmidlin also complemented defensive player of the year Laura Riesenbeck, from Germany, and of course top scorer, senior Anika Kallash. All-American awards had not been announced by the time Talon went to press, but Schmidlin said he was hopeful that four Eagles would receive the accolades.
Men’s Wrestling Notches First Dual Win
Right, Brenden Shelton First CMU wrestler to qualify for the NAIA Men’s Wrestling National Championships
48 The Talon | Spring 2021
Central Methodist men’s wrestling recorded several notable achievements this past winter. The Eagles earned their first ever NAIA win in program history with a 28-11 dual win against Oklahoma Wesleyan on Jan. 25. During the Heart Championships, sophomore Brenden Shelton posted a 4-1 record, en route to a third-place finish in the 285-pound weight class. With the top-3 finish, Shelton became the first wrestler in program history to qualify for the NAIA Men’s Wrestling National Championships. He finished the year with a 16-4 record.
