| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| Hesston |
2
|
0
|
2
|
| Rhema Bible |
4
|
0
|
4
|
Hesston goals by Craig Mast (assist Nathan Wood) and Andy Krabill
Coach's Comments--
After a long drive the Hesston
College Larks were looking to get back on the winning road. But once
again they fell short. This game had many positives. None more important
than finding the net twice after five shut out games. However, Rhema
started the scoring just five minutes into the first half. A quick counterattack
found Joseph Valcarcel of RBC getting behind the Hesston defense and
creating some chaos. Valcarcel put a nice shot into the right side netting
after receiving a nice pass from Diego Bedoya. The play was up and down
the field very quickly as both sides were looking to be very aggressive
offensively.
Diego Bedoya added to Rhema’s
scoring just seven minutes after their first goal by finishing off a
nice cross from Inagari Kazumasa. Rhema was playing a lot of long balls.
Their keeper had a really long punt, which they were quite good at using
to there advantage. They would just play off of their front-runner to
another player running through. We didn’t do a very good job of
adjusting right away. They were able to put a lot of pressure on our
defense. An unintentional handball in the box gave RBC their opportunity
for a third goal. The penalty shot riqochet violently off the left post
straight back out to another Rhema player who was quick to put the ball
right back on goal and in the net. A penalty shot so often seems automatic
that it can catch a team off guard when one doesn’t go in. This
one definitely caught us sleeping. We just didn’t react quick enough
or we could have kept it to 2-0 at this point.
Down 3-0 mid way through the first
half might have seemed like to large a deficit to overcome, but the
Larks didn’t give up and were quickly rewarded for their effort.
Just minutes after RBC’s goal Andy Krabill gave Hesston a much-needed
lift by netting the Larks first goal in more than two weeks. We actually
started working the ball much better and Andy was able to get behind
their defense. He did a great job of being composed and beating the
keeper. That goal really lifted our team. It put the wind back in our
sails, so to speak. Just moments later Hesston found the back of the
net again. A free kick just in front of the mid field line by Nathan
Wood found a hard working Craig Mast who calmly slipped the ball past
a diving Rhema keeper. After that goal I thought things had really turned
we were out playing Rhema. It seemed from the sideline that it was just
a matter of time before we would start rackin’ up the goals.
However, with just a few minutes
left in the first half RBC was able to penetrate deep into Hesston territory.
Kyle Beun made a great initial stop when he came out to stop a breakaway.
However, Hesston was unable to clear the ball and Jeremiah Duran for
gave RBC its two goal lead back. It was a little disheartening to give
up that goal after we had worked so hard to get within one goal. I was
glad to get to halftime so that we could make some adjustments.
For the second half we fixed our
defense problem so that they couldn’t get behind us so easily.
We also decided to push another player forward to get more of an attack.
Both strategies worked as Hesston seemed to have the better of the play
in the second half. Rhema had no dangerous attacks on goal the second
half. All their shots we from long range and off goal. Hesston on the
other hand had several golden opportunities to score but just could
not manage any more points. One of Hesston’s opportunities of the
second half came when Jared Coblentz put a nice ball through to a charging
Andy Krabill. Krabill was able to draw the keeper out but his shot went
just inches wide. Another golden opportunity was foiled when Jared Coblentz
was brought down from behind in the box on a partial breakaway but no
foul was called. It was a terrible no call. Jared had the ball going
to goal in the box and their player basically fell over the top of Jared.
How that is not a penalty kick is beyond me. If Jared doesn’t get
taken down there he probably scores. So it was a double whammy for us.
But that’s the way the game goes. Sometimes you get that call and
sometimes you don’t. You just have to deal with it and move on.
After a six goal first half, no
goals were scored in the second half. I was really proud of how hard
our guys played even after we were down by three goals. Ironically it
seems after they scored that third goal we started playing better. We
have to do a better job of adjusting on the fly defensively. We changed
our lineup around for the second half and it really seemed to help improve
our game. I was very impressed with Jared Coblentz. I put him at center
mid instead of forward and he did a great job of helping us win balls
back in the middle and then quickly started the attack. Jared’s
done an outstanding job for us this year. I’ve played him at several
different positions and he does a fantastic job wherever I put him.
Troy Stutzman also did a great job for us in the center mid today. That’s
not his normal position. He usually plays in back but he really did
a great job helping us transition from the back to the front. I felt
that we really did dominate the second half. It’s just a shame
that we got in such a whole. It was just too much to climb out of. Hesston
doesn’t have much time to relax as they face Dodge City Community
College on Thursday Sept. 27 at 7:30 p.m. to kick off Hesston’s
Homecoming Weekend.