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Mike Major
Jennifer Boehm
Andy Rishmawi
Cale Wasserman
History of SVSU: 1989-2013
was replaced by 2003 SVSU graduate and former player Jenn Boehm, who led the team to an 8-6 GLIAC record (13-10 overall) in 2012-2013, the program’s first winning conference season in more than a decade. This resulted in a No. 9 ranking in the Midwest Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, the first such regional ranking in memory. The top player of this era was Yunjiao Shangguan, an international student from China, who was named first team All-GLIAC all four years of her career, 2009-2012. By the end of the 2000s, both the men’s and the women’s soccer teams had developed winning programs. The university appointed former soccer standout and 2007 alumnus Cale Wasserman as head coach prior to the 2009 season, and the men’s team rose quickly to national prominence. He replaced Andy Rishmawi, whose men’s team went winless in the GLIAC in 2006 before rebounding for a winning record the following season; they dropped to 2-6 in the conference in 2008. Wasserman’s initial season was rough, with the Cardinals winning only one game in the conference. Then, in 2010 the Cardinals finished the season with an overall winning record, finishing just below .500 in the GLIAC. In 2011 the team went 12-5-3 and won their first GLIAC title. They played in the postseason NCAA Division II super regional tournament where they lost to top-seeded Rockhurst University, 1-0. Junior defender Zach Myers was named GLIAC “Defensive Player of the Year” and coach Wasserman the GLIAC “Coach of the Year.” The 2012 season performance was superior. The Cardinals went 18-3-4 (9-2-2 in the GLIAC) and advanced all the way to the NCAA Division II national championship game on Dec. 1, 2012. Despite a frenetic comeback at the end of its game against Lynn University, the Cardinals lost 3-2. Coach Wasserman took home yet another honor: National Soccer Coaches Association of America Division II National Coach of the Year, and Myers was named the association’s national Player of the Year.19 Keeping up with their fellow soccer players, the women’s team rattled off five winning seasons between 2007 and 2012, reaching the NCAA Division II postseason tournament for the first time in 2009. That season the Cardinals went a remarkable 10-1-2 in the GLIAC and finished second in the conference to Grand Valley State, losing both years to the Lakers in the tournament championship game. The Cardinals lost to Quincy University in the first round of the NCAA tournament and coach Dumbovic was GLIAC Women’s Soccer “Coach of the Year.”20
Intramural Sports and Club Teams
Outside the varsity teams, several SVSU club sports would claim national championships. Men’s club hockey skated to back-to-back American Collegiate Hockey Association Division III National Championships in 2009 and 2010.21 The club dodgeball team hosted the national championships at SVSU in 2012 and emerged from the 16-team field with a national title of its own. In 1997, a women’s club basketball team also won a national championship. Some might say that intramural and club sports teams define the true student-athlete. Participation at SVSU has increased markedly, with more than 1,750 students signing up for intramural competition in 2012-13. As of that year, 19 club teams were active at SVSU, in-
