Batesville senior Cade Kaiser has signed a letter of intent to play football at Indiana University. Kaiser missed his senior football season with an injury but put up big numbers as a junior. He holds the school single-season record for touchdown receptions with 17. Kaiser also starred in basketball and scored more than 1-thousand career points for the Bulldogs.

Franklin County senior Madysen Sunderhaus will play college soccer at IU-Columbus. Sunderhaus is Franklin County’s all-time leading goal scorer, a three-time all-EIAC selection, and was three-year captain for the Wildcats. She has also starred on the Franklin County girls’ basketball and track teams.

Brandon Loveless has stepped down as East Central Swimming and Diving coach after 14 seasons of leading the Aqua Trojans. Loveless and his family are relocating outside the area.

The Reds held off the Cleveland Guardians 5-4 in downtown Cincinnati in a game heard last evening on WRBI. The start was moved up an hour-and-a-half because of the forecast for rough weather in the area. Will Benson clubbed a three-run homer against his former team in the bottom of the second. It was the second consecutive game in which Benson homered. He went 2 for 4 on the evening. Austin Hays also went deep for the Reds. Brady Singer got the win and improves to 5-2. Emilio Pagan pitched a perfect 9th inning to earn his 10th save of the year. The Reds have won two straight and look to make it three in a row in the second game of the series tonight. Airtime on 103.9 FM is 6:10.

It is Day One of qualifying for the 109th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The green flag on WRBI’s coverage will drop at this morning at 11.

PORT ANGELES — The Sequim boys soccer players and coaches both said they’ve been working hard this season to improve the team’s set pieces.

On Thursday night, that work paid off.

The Wolves scored two goals on headers off corner kicks, and those two scores held up in a 2-0 win at Wally Sigmar Field over Bremerton as Sequim moved on to a winner-to-state match in the District 3 tournament.

Sequim (8-9-0) will next play Fife (14-3-1) at Harry Lang Stadium in Lakewood at 11 a.m. today, with the Port Angeles-Franklin Pierce game immediately following at the same venue. That is also a winner-to-state game. Those games will be broadcast on the NFHS Network.

Coach Dave Breckenridge said his team kept its composure in the face of Bremerton’s physical style of play. One Bremerton player was given a red card out of the game late in the second half.

“We didn’t play their game, and we kept our composure. We didn’t stoop to their level,” Breckenridge said. He said the team has been working hard in
practice on corner kicks and set pieces.

“We’ve been working on that for weeks,” Breckenridge said.

“We’ve struggled all year with it,” said Nico Musso, who had Sequim’s second goal. “All the work we’ve done finally paid off.”

Bremerton (5-14) was the surprise team of the tournament, making it to the third round despite its poor record by beating Clover Park (10-5-2). The Knights also narrowly lost to a good Franklin Pierce team 2-1 and for the most part gave the Wolves all they could handle despite being shorthanded.

Evan Cisneros had a couple of good chances early against the Knights. He had a shot in the 16th minute that actually got through the Bremerton goalkeeper, but the ball stayed out. In the 21st minute, Cisneros had a high shot that forced the keeper to make a leaping save.

That shot helped create a corner kick, however. Sebastian Buhrer took the corner and Cisneros was rewarded when he headed the cross in for the Wolves’ first goal.

Sequim’s second goal in the 49th minute was nearly identical to the first, just at the other end of the field. Josh Alcaraz took the corner kick and this time Musso headed the ball in to give the Wolves an insurance goal. That score held up for the next 30-plus minutes as Bremerton put some pressure on but never got a shot past Sequim keeper Nolan Valenzuela.

It was the second postseason win for the Wolves, who also beat Steilacoom 2-1 in overtime in the district opener on the same field.

“This feels good,” Musso said. “The last two years, we haven’t even come close to making state. We’ve been building our chemistry and we’re getting there. I think we can get it.”

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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or
sports@peninsuladailynews.com.

Yale Athletics

The eight members of the Yale men’s soccer class of 2025 started their collegiate careers with a bang and reached heights that no prior Bulldog class had seen before.

In October 2021, a young Yale squad earned a 1-1 tie against the No. 3 ranked University of New Hampshire Wildcats, putting the college soccer world on notice. That year, TJ Presthus ’25, a first-year Yale defender, already earned an All-Ivy honorable mention. The following season, Yale once again came to play, securing a 2-1 road victory over No. 10 ranked University of West Virginia.

The next fall, in 2023, the team hit double digit wins and won the first-ever Ivy League Tournament Championship. The Bulldogs then defeated Bryant University in the opening game of their first NCAA Tournament. Presthus was named Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year in 2023, and Chris Edwards ’25 earned All-Ivy status both that year and in 2024.

“These seniors were inspirational both on and off the field,” midfielder Andrew Seidman ’26 said. “On the field, they were a key component for one of the most successful periods in Yale men’s soccer history, and off the field they were role models for all of us to follow.”

After the 2024 campaign, the senior class was honored with multiple awards. Jamie Orson ’25 took home the Jack Marshall Award for the member of the team who demonstrated the qualities of team spirit, loyalty and dedication. Quanah Brayboy ’25 and Edwards won the Walter Leeman Trophy for “sportsmanship and team play.” Presthus was recognized as the team’s most valuable player.

Chris Lawrence | Millsaps College Director of Sports Information
JACKSON, Miss.(NWCC Athletics)– A proven, talented coaching mind and leader on the field in Luke Schwarz has been named the Millsaps College head women’s soccer coach, the Millsaps College Department of Athletics announced on Thursday.

Schwarz takes over the program after leading and assisting at NCAA Division II, Club, high school and middle school levels. He also was a team captain and MVP at a DIII college and played several seasons professionally.

He most recently was the assistant women’s soccer coach at Spring Hill College, a DII program in Mobile, Ala., the previous three seasons.

Schwarz helped SHC earn its first-ever conference tournament appearance during the team’s NCAA era. He helped greatly improve the team (0-17) prior to his arrival and saw the Badgers finish 7-8-3 last season.

He helped recruit and retain several domestic and international student-athletes – many of which earned individual awards and honors.

During this time, Schwarz also helmed the local Union 10 FC as head girl’s soccer coach (2008 and 2013/2014 teams). His U-17 team were State Cup Champions in 2024, while his U-16 squad were State Cup Finalists in 2023.

Schwarz also made two stints in the prep ranks to begin his coaching rise. From 2018 through 2022, he was the assistant varsity soccer coach for both the boy’s and girl’s teams at the Out-of-Door Academy in Sarasota, Fla. There he helped lead the boy’s team to the district finals. Before taking his first assistant coach role at Out-of-Door with the girl’s program, Schwarz was also the head coach of the middle school girl’s soccer team at the academy.

He also assisted the boy’s varsity team at Lakewood Ranch High School from Oct. 2020 to Feb. 2021.

In addition to his coaching experience, Schwarz made several stops as a professional and collegiate soccer player. He played four seasons at the University of Dallas (2014-17) where he was team captain for three years and team MVP for two. He was also named All-SCAC three times and made the All-SCAC Tournament Team twice.

He played one season professionally for Bollstanas SK in Sweden (2016), another for FC Cleburne in Texas (USL2 – 2018) and a third for the Orlando SeaWolves indoor team (MASL – 2019). He made others stops along the way, including from Nov. 2019 through July 2021 with Sarasota Metropolis (USL2 and UPSL). He captained Metropolis to a Division Championship and the UPSL Round of 32 in 2021.

Schwarz earned his Bachelor of Arts in business administration from the University of Dallas in 2018. Additionally, he holds a United States Soccer Federation (USSF) D License.

LUKE SCHWARZ COACHING FILE

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Each academic year, the Benedictine Men’s Soccer program names a recipient of the Dr. Richard Wittmann Award. This year’s recipient is senior Benjamin Houlihan.

The award is named after one of the founding fathers of Benedictine Soccer. Dr. Wittmann. Wittmann served as the first men’s soccer club coach from 1959-1962 before the program became an intercollegiate sport in 1963.

Houlihan, a defender and Mechanical Engineering major, will graduate on Saturday and plans to attend the Seminary after graduation. He has earned this year’s Wittmann Award based on criteria established by the men’s soccer program, encompassing the program’s and Benedictine’s core values.

“Ben has showcased tremendous growth with his time on the Men’s Soccer program,” said head coach John Sosa. “Ben joined as a walk-on player in his junior year after focusing on his academics his first two years at Benedictine. 

Through hard work and perseverance, Ben worked his way up the roster. He managed to become an important defender on the field for the program, starting a total of 14 games. 

“Whenever Ben steps on the field, he gives his utmost best effort and always puts the team first,” Coach Sosa said. “Ben has been a great example for his teammates, showing that hard work, dedication, and a positive attitude can lead to huge growth and results.” 

Houlihan has maintained above a 3.0 GPA while balancing engineering, soccer, a strong faith life, and an active social life on campus. Ben always has a smile on his face and is brings others up with his positivity and humor. Each person on the team will tell you that Ben is a wonderful person to be around and has had a positive impact on everyone he meets. Ben exemplifies what it means to be a Benedictine College Men’s Soccer player.

www.ravenathletics.com | #UnleashGreatness | www.benedictine.edu