On Wednesday, September 24, the Raiders had a dominant showing against the Waldorf Warriors, winning 6-0 and 3-0 in women’s and men’s soccer, respectively, and sweeping the sets to take home a volleyball victory as well. The success brings overall season records up to 5-2-1 for women’s soccer, 6-1-1 for men’s, and 13-3 for volleyball.
“The game went well and was very close to what we planned,” Vitor Pereira, head coach of women’s soccer, said. “It is important for us to be able to play to the same standard every game.”
“Even though it was a winnable game, we still had to bring the same intensity we showed against teams like Concordia,” Forward Marissa Talamantes said. Talamantes scored 2 of Northwestern’s 6 goals against Waldorf. “That has been our focus: the intensity cannot change no matter who we are playing.”
Being the first season under Pereira’s leadership, the player response has been positive.
“We are really united as a team this year, and of course a huge part of that credit goes to our coach, Vitor,” Talamantes said. “He has completely turned this team around in just the last few weeks and months, and we are really thankful for him.”
The men’s team enjoyed a successful night as well, collecting their fourth win in a row. They currently sit atop the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) standings with an 81.3% winning percentage.
“Waldorf had a good game plan and executed it very well in the first half,” Dan Swier, head coach of the men’s team, said. “They played a very defensive style and just tried to make it difficult for us to create quality scoring chances. I thought our guys did a good job of staying patient and taking what they gave us. Eventually we were able to break them down.”
Volleyball’s victory was their 11th against Waldorf, keeping their streak alive. Currently the Raiders are ranked top 10 in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and 2nd in the GPAC.
“We had a great overall match at Waldorf,” Head Coach Kyle Van Den Bosch said. “We started out the match strong and kept our foot on the gas most of the evening.”
“Coming out of a longer weekend, we just wanted to continue to play our game and continue to improve,” Aubrey De Groot, opposite hitter, said. De Groot contributed 11 kills and 2 blocks in the matchup. “One of the key takeaways I think we focus on is no matter what the game looks like, what calls are made, to stay focused on our game and what we do.”
The Raiders hope to capitalize on their positive momentum in the upcoming competitions on their road to the postseason.
