Roher Twins Have SBU Soccer Off to Great Start

By David Boyce

Southwest Baptist first-year women's soccer coach Rob Podeyn said senior Shannon Roher is the type of person who always has a smile on her face.

In her media guide bio, Shannon Roher said her twin sister Vanessa Roher is the funniest person on the team.

"I think we understand each other's humor," said Shannon, who grew up in Lee's Summit and graduated from Blue Ridge Christian School.

One example: Vanessa said in her media guide bio that Shannon was the best dressed player.

"I was making a joke," Vanessa said. "She looks good in my clothes."

All joking aside, the way the twins have played so far in their final season at Southwest Baptist, they should be taken seriously.

The Bearcats are off to a 4-0-1 start. They improved to 2-0 in the MIAA after a 4-3 sudden death overtime victory over Missouri Southern on Saturday.

Shannon scored 10 minutes into the game to give Southwest Baptist a 1-0 lead and Vanessa scored the game-winning goal in overtime.

"Finally, this year, we play on the same side," Vanessa said. "I play left defender and she plays left forward. I enjoy it more because I think we play well together.

"She passes the ball back to me and I scored. I think we play well together. We have good chemistry."

Shannon figures if their skills were combined into one player you would have an awesome soccer player.

"She has the aggressiveness and I like the speed and the finesse," Shannon said. "We feed off each other. I feed of her aggressiveness and her intensity and she feeds off my great skills."

Shannon had to laugh at her last few words.

Podeyn sees the difference in playing style and personality. He calls Vanessa, who is a team captain, a quiet leader

"She works really hard and gives us a lot of silent leadership out of the back. She does a tremendous job in the defensive third for us," Podeyn said.

"Shannon is relentless, unbelievably high work rate and just really creates chances. This kid runs for 90 minutes. She is basically doing 120-yard sprints for 90 minutes. She has tremendous endurance."

It figures the twins have great chemistry on the soccer field. They have been playing soccer together since they were 4 years old.

Vanessa first decided to go to Southwest Baptist because she wanted to play Division II soccer. Her sister followed.

There were never any thoughts of playing at different schools.

"Our dad couldn't handle that," Shannon said. "Our dad has only missed two games in our entire college career. He goes to every road game. He loves it. He's our No. 1 fan.

"It would be weird playing against her."

But like most siblings, the Rohers have their disagreements on the field, but are so close that they feel comfortable voicing them.

"Sometimes we can get on each other," Vanessa said. "You can't yell at your teammates, but you can yell at your sister. Sometimes we probably yell at each other a little bit too much. If I'm playing bad, she will say, ‘Vanessa, come on.' If she is playing bad I will tell her to pick it up."

But five games into the season everything is going smoothly for the Rohers and the entire Southwest Baptist team. They have quickly adjusted to their new coach.

"He's doing a really good job," Vanessa said. "His style of play is a lot different from what we had. It is working for us. He's positive. We all feed off that. It is more relaxed, more laid back. We are all enjoying it a lot."

Shannon added that Podeyn still brings the intensity it takes to win.

"Last year we would always play scared to make a mistake," Shannon said. "This year we are playing more to have fun. We want to win, but it is a different kind of will to win."

Podeyn is pleased the way the players have adjusted to him, but there is still plenty of work to be done. The Bearcats have yet to face some of the top teams in the MIAA.

"There is still a lot of growing and improving," Podeyn said. "With so many talented teams in our league, it is hard to say how things will shake out in the end. I'm proud of where we are now and what we have accomplished so far.

"The chemistry for this group is awesome. They get along really well. They have really bonded well and they bonded well early. Whenever we come across those opportunities to learn as a team, they have remained positive and have been focused."

And the players trust that Podeyn will be coaching them until the very end of the season.

A year ago, Southwest Baptist got off to a good start. At one point the Bearcats were 6-0. But in early October their head coach left to be on the reality show Survivor.

Southwest Baptist finished 9-6-3.

"Well, when our coach went on Survivor in the middle of the season we kind of went down. We kind of had a negative atmosphere," Vanessa said.

Podeyn has been asked several times about if there are any reality television plans in his future and he handles it with humor.

"It's probably not the last time I hear that question," he said. "I have no plans anytime soon to be on any realty television show."

They way the Bearcats are performing for him, why would he?

On Friday: Missouri Western quarterback Drew Newhart has thrown seven touchdowns to wide receiver Cedric Houston. The scoring tandem's next test is against Washburn.

David Boyce wrote for The Kansas City Star for 21 years, covering high schools, area colleges, the Royals, the Wizards and boxing. Boyce was also a contributing writer for the Royals Gameday magazine this summer.