Spring Break
The UMKC Kangaroos showed some swagger against the defending national champion Kansas Jayhawks, but faded late in a 71-56 loss Sunday night at Allen Field House. UMKC led throughout the first half but Kansas caught up with the Roos at the break, and took over the game on the strength of Cole Aldrich's 13 second half points.
UMKC's tension charged 4-3 shootout victory over top seeded Oakland University was a two-fold triumph for the Kangaroos' men's soccer team. First, by virtue of the win, they captured the Summit League Championship tournament crown, their first conference title since 2001.
It wasn't a pretty game, and ultimately it was the basketball team with the most poise that came out on top Saturday night at Swinney Recreation Center (SRC) last Friday night. That team was not the UMKC Kangaroos. The University of North Dakota, playing the first game in their NCAA Division I history, shocked the shaky Roos 61-56, spoiling UMKC's home opener in a rare, regular-season appearance at SRC - their first at the facility since 1996.
When I think of a pep rally, like the one advertised by the UMKC Athletics Department last week, I envision a vocal, raucous student body at fever pitch, egged on, perhaps, by a spirited cheer squad and a marching band. I hear blaring horns, thundering percussion and feedback from a hot microphone.
The match on Friday night began with the UMKC Athletics Department honoring volleyball's four seniors: middle hitter Liz Pollock, outside hitter Jacqui Wood, setter Danni Sperry and libero Mandy Tipton. All four were starters in the match against the South Dakota State University (SDSU) Jackrabbits.
The third-seeded UMKC men's soccer team advanced to the Summit League Championship game with dramatic flair, escaping the conference tournament's first round with a 1-0 overtime victory over the second-seeded Western Illinois Leathernecks Friday afternoon in Rochester, Mich.
On the road for their regular season opener Sunday afternoon, UMKC's women's basketball squad took a beating from the Iowa State Cyclones, 77-45. Junior guard Chazny Morris fronted the Roos' efforts with five rebounds and 13 points, but it was not enough to hold off the Cyclones' three double-digit scorers and nearly twice-as-effective field goal-shooting.
Harris named Summit League Offensive Player of the Year Brian Harris, senior forward for the UMKC men's soccer team, was named Summit League Offensive Player of the Year Nov. 13. The Edwardsville, Ill. native was also included on Summit League's All-League First Team roster.
