1st | 2nd | Final | |
---|---|---|---|
Hesston | 1 |
1 |
2 |
Dodge City | 1 |
0 |
1 |
1st half: 1 HC Jared Widmer (Eric Bixler) 15:21; 1 DC Orlando Dominquez (Jonathan Stocchero) 25:36
2nd half: 2 HC Jared Widmer (Felipe Tafur and Brett Brand) 46:19
Shots: HC 11 (7 SOG); DC 16 (9 SOG)
Saves: HC 8 (James Ward); DC 5 Shawn Warren
Corner Kicks: HC 4; DC 5
Yellow Cards: Brett Brand, Philip Kaufman, Eric Schmucker
Red Cards: none
Coach's Summary:
The morning sky brought the rain but by the afternoon the weather had
cleared and by game time the conditions where ripe for soccer at Hesston
College. No wind and cool temperatures set the stage for the match up
of the night between the Larks and the Conquistadors from Dodge City
Community College.
"You could not have asked for better
conditions for a soccer game. In a word - ideal."
The Larks began the first game of a tough three game home stretch in
which they would face Dodge City, Johnson County, and Allen County Community
College.
"We made some changes to our line
up. Some players were playing new positions for the first time in a
game. I was really nervous about how things would look tonight. I knew
that the first five minutes would tell the story. Dodge is a strong
team and had already beaten us earlier in the season. They have lots
of speed up front and great midfield play. If we could play strong early
then I knew that we would be okay."
Hesston did play strong early and
put good pressure on their opponent from the start. Both teams were
moving the ball well up the field but without any real dangerous opportunities.
The Larks would get on the board first. Some nice passing by the Larks
and tough individual play by Eric Bixler saw the Larks with possession
deep down the left side of the pitch. Bixler threaded a nice ball to
Jared Widmer who was cutting to the net. Widmer put a nicely placed
ball into the side netting to put Hesston up 1 - 0 fifteen minutes into
the contest.
"Eric did a nice job to get that
ball to Jared. Jared's shot was not a hard shot but it was well placed.
We talk all the time about just getting the ball on net. Jared did that
and we got the goal."
Play continued back and forth until Dodge City took advantage of a counter
attack opportunity. Jonathan Stocchero played a perfectly weighted ball
straight up the middle through to Orlando Dominqez. James Ward came
off his line but Dominquez was able to slip a nice ball past Ward. The
ball rolled slowly enough that Ward was able to make a desperate lunge
at the ball to try to keep it out but to no avail. Score now 1-1.
"James tried to anticipate that
ball coming through harder but give credit to their midfielder. That
pass was dead on perfect. Most players can not make that straight-ahead
pass to a forward because they either put it too far in front of their
teammate and the keeper easily swallows it up or they leave it short
and the forward has to slow down which allows the defender to catch
up. We should have never allowed their attacker to get behind us in
the first place. But you learn from it and move on.
"I was pleased with the first half. Our biggest problem was that
we allowed too much space in the middle. That one break down that allowed
the goal is an easy problem to fix with some good awareness and concentration."
Hesston came out right away in
the second half determined to take it to their opponent. Their efforts
were quickly rewarded just two minutes into the second half. Brett Brand
took a throw in from the left side. Felipe Tafur skipped the ball through
to an onrushing Jared Widmer who slotted the go ahead goal into the
back of the net.
"That was a great play. The greatest
part of it though is that it is not something that we have ever worked
on. It shows that the players are learning to be creative and learning
to improvise. As a soccer coach all you can really do is teach the players
the building blocks of the game and then hope that they can use those
building blocks to solve problems themselves on the field. There is
no way that any coach can tell the players what to do in every situation.
Soccer is way too dynamic for that. They have to be able to read the
game and make adjustments as individuals and as a team. That second
goal was a prime example of just that."
As time wore on Dodge City took
more and more control of the game. Hesston was still able to mount some
attack but as time wound down the Larks became more and more defensive.
With the final minutes ticking off the clock the Conquistadors had trouble
finding any space in the final third. The Larks refused to allow anything
close in.
"Once the time got down below ten
minutes remaining we were really just trying to keep things simple and
not give them any good chances. Our entire team defensively really did
a good job at bottling things up. It would have been nice to get a third
goal and Eric had a great shot that just went wide. But what we did
not want was to push forward too hard and leave ourselves vulnerable
in the back. Dodge is a good team with some very dangerous players.
You can not allow them time and space or they will take it to you."
The game ended and for the first
time ever Hesston College beat Dodge City Community College. "We
have had some very close games with Dodge in the past but most of the
time we were fortunate if we got a tie. This time we had some good possessions,
played smart defensively, got some well earned goals, and clearly deserved
to win. Dodge is a very solid team and we feel good about getting that
win. This was an important game for us. We have two more very difficult
games this week with Johnson and Allen coming to town. This gives us
some confidence going into those games.
"I was especially pleased with
the play of Michael Armstrong. He was playing as a defensive center
mid for us which is a new position for him and he did it very well.
Our back line has started to gel together more. And as a team we are
just playing better soccer all the way around. We can still play better
and that is what is so exciting."
The Larks face perennial powerhouse
Johnson County on Thursday, September 23 at 7:30 pm at home. "Johnson
is always a tough game. This is one of the games that we have highlighted
on our schedule. Generally the rule is that if you can beat Johnson
you can beat anyone in the region. However, we will need to play better
than we did against Dodge if we want to pull off the upset."