School is back and fall semester is underway, but many of the fall athletes have been here long before classes were back in session. Soon enough, the hard work of the Capital University men’s and women’s teams will be on display by way of numerous sporting events.
The football team is coming into the 2017 season behind the leadership of seventeen seniors and third-year head coach Chad Rogosheske. They look to improve upon last year’s record of 4-6 and improve their standing in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC).
The team definitely has people to prove wrong. The OAC media poll predicted Capital at seventh out of ten teams, while the OAC coaches poll predicted them eighth. The team opens their season on Saturday, Sept. 2 at home when they take on Mount Saint Joseph University.
Men’s and women’s cross country also opens their seasons within the week at Otterbein University. Overall conference rankings predicted the women in seventh and the men in eighth, but both teams strive to finish higher under the leadership of head coach Hannah Weiss and a wealth of seniors.
Preseason poll season rolls on with the OAC coaches predicting the @Capitalxctf men to finish 8th in the conference! https://t.co/amUNtIlUbm pic.twitter.com/KJle6Jtwko
— Capital Crusaders ⚔️ (@CapCrusaders) August 24, 2017
Also hungry for victory are the men’s and women’s soccer programs. The women, under third-year head coach Matt Ogden, have their sights on a OAC championship. Last season, the women barely missed, having lost in the semifinal game to the University of Mount Union and finishing second in the conference.
The 2017 team is a young one, eighteen underclassmen out of the 25 on the roster. The women’s team will play their first game on Friday, Sept. 1 at Kenyon College.
The men’s soccer program also looks to expound upon last season’s success. They hope to follow five returning seniors and six-year head coach Alan Yost to a conference championship and make improvements upon their performance from the 2016 season.
The OAC coaches poll predicted Capital men’s soccer at third in the conference, but the men could easily achieve first place with as competitive as OAC soccer has been in the past. The men open their season on Friday, Sept. 1 at Salisbury University in Salisbury, Maryland.
Scratch your @CapMenSoccer itch by checking out our 2017 preview. Season is only a few days away! #CapMS #capfamhttps://t.co/6g0zlBdC98 pic.twitter.com/QPgUGRcZf8
— Capital Crusaders ⚔️ (@CapCrusaders) August 29, 2017
New head coach Troy Patterson will seek to lead both the men’s and women’s tennis programs to high finishes for the 2017 season. The men’s team has retained four seniors, while the women have a very young roster with only one returning senior.
The women open their season at home on Saturday, Sept. 9 versus Transylvania University while the men play their first match on Oct. 4 at Cedarville University. Both tennis schedules span the fall and the spring sports seasons.
The men’s and women’s golf teams, led by head coach Andy Garcia, also have schedules covering both the fall and spring sports seasons. The women have already opened their season with a second-place finish at the Trine Invitational fueled by Katelynn Kinley and Madison Harsh. The men will begin their fall season at the Gatorade Intercollegiate Invitational hosted by the College of Wooster. The tournament will be two days, beginning on Saturday, Sept. 2.
The volleyball team is also looking to improve on last year’s marks. Coach Amanda Hubbard and the freshman-heavy team look to defy expectations and overturn the OAC poll that predicted them ninth in the conference. Capital volleyball will begin the regular season with a weekend tournament at Otterbein University beginning on Friday, Sept. 1.
