Soccer Game Report
Hesston vs. Allen County, Sept. 20, 2003, Iola

1st half: 1 HC Jared Coblentz (assist Philip Hartzler); 1 AC Jaime Whitley (unassisted); 2 AC Chris Wallace (assist Josh Brown)

2nd half: 3 AC Chris Wallace (unassisted)

Shots: HC 5 (2 SOG); AC 20 (11 SOG)

Saves: HC 8 Jesse Hershberger; AC 1 Derek Talcott

Yellow Cards: HC 1 Jared Coblentz; AC 2 Brandon Fuller, John Ross

Coach's Summary: A nice sunny Saturday afternoon in Iola, Kansas, was the setting for today’s match. With only about 8 to 10 people watching the game and the school virtually deserted, the Larks wouldn’t have a crowd to pump them up like their home games of recent past. “Playing at Allen was much different than what our guys are accustomed to at home. The long drive combined with the quiet surroundings made it difficult for the guys to get charged up. But really we shouldn’t need external things to get us excited to play soccer.”
      The first blow would be struck before the game even started. Brett Brand, one of Hesston’s starting center backs, was unable to play due to a leg injury. “We were waiting to see if Brett could go but he was in just too much pain to realistically play. He wanted to go but our trainer and I thought it would be way too risky to put him out on the field. Not having him was definitely bad news but it was the right decision.” The Larks were also without their starting Goalkeeper, Danny Yoder, who was attending his brother’s wedding in Delaware.
      The game started slow for both sides, but Hesston got on the board first. Philip Hartzler sent a nicely chipped free kick in behind the AC defense for an on rushing Jared Coblentz to head past a diving keeper. “I was really excited that we scored first. I was sure at this point we were going to win.” The Larks excitement wouldn’t last long, however, as AC countered just a couple of minutes later as Jaime Whitler slipped past the Lark defense and slotted the ball past Jesse Hershberger for the tying goal. “Their goal was just a case of poor defending on our part. Jesse could have done better on that goal as well by coming out sooner but the guys know that he should have never been there to take the shot in the first place.”
      The game started to swing in favor of Allen County, but the Larks did manage to move the ball at times. Late in the first half Chris Wallace would give AC the lead on a nice assist by Josh Brown. “We just weren’t playing with any intensity. We were making silly mistakes and not getting back on defense. The guys were really getting frustrated with each other and we just weren’t looking good defensively at all. The one positive from the first half is that we were getting better ball movement, but even that could have been better.”
      The second half began much like the first half ended. AC got several more opportunities on goal but Hershberger came up big with some very nice saves including a 1 v1. “Jesse really stepped up his play in the second half. He was being a lot more aggressive and that helped his confidence grow.”
      But the final nail was hammed home when Wallace was able to get behind the Larks defense again and put AC up 3–1. The Larks struggled to get many shots let alone shots on goal as AC bottled things up in the back. “At times we were moving the ball much better than in past games, but it was as if we forgot how to play defense and the importance of getting back to help defend. The effort just wasn’t there today and I’m not sure what the difference was. Maybe we just need to learn how to play on the road. We’ll have to solve that soon as we have some tough away games coming up. It’s disappointing because although Allen is a good team, I felt this was a game we could have won had we just been more determined. I need to examine what I can do to get our team better prepared to play on the road as well.”
      The Larks face Dodge City next Wednesday in Dodge City at 4 p.m. “Dodge beat us earlier in the season 4–0, but it was our first game of the year. We’re a much improved team as I’m sure they are too. I just hope we can play with more fire than we showed against Allen.”