1st | 2nd | Final | |
Cloud County |
5
|
1
|
6
|
Hesston |
0
|
0
|
0
|
Coach's Comments--
For the first time this season
the Hesston College Larks had to play in less than ideal conditions.
The rain began earlier in the day and gave no indication of relenting.
However, it wasnt the rain that dampened the Larks spirits.
It was the excellent play of their opponent. From the first whistle
to start the game it was clear that the Larks were in for a tough battle.
Cloud is an excellent team. They managed to beat Johnson County just
last week pretty handily 3-0. And thats no easy task. Especially
considering that Johnson was undefeated in our region and ranked 10th
in the country up until that point. They have one particular player
in the middle, Andrew Rhea, who is extremely talented. He controls and
distributes through the middle like no one else in our region. And like
many of our regional opponents they are fast and quick at every position.
Cloud scored early in the game
just five minutes in and often as they racked up five first half
goals. With the scoring, the rain began to come down even harder making
the field very sloppy. Hesston didnt mount much of an attack the
first half. Cloud managed to keep the Larks pinned in their half for
most of the first 45 minutes. They passed the ball around very well.
They just moved the ball quicker than we could recover defensively.
But to my players credit they kept battling hard.
With Cloud up 5-0 at the half it
would have been easy for the Larks to give in, but they seemed to come
out with a renewed determination. We decided at half that the important
thing was no longer the score but that we just try to improve our play
in the second half. And for the most part I think we did. Im really
proud of my team. Its a tribute to their strong character that
theyre willing to play hard in such overwhelming circumstances.
Many teams would just give up but we didnt. The second half clearly
took on a different look, as Hesston was better able to move the ball
around and actually mount some attacks. Even though Cloud managed one
more goal and we didnt really come too close to finding the back
of the net it was a nice moral victory to keep pace a little better.
Although Cloud managed six goals, Hesston keeper Danny Yoder
playing in place of the injured Kyle Beun made several fantastic
saves. The truth of the matter is that Cloud is just very good and they
played like it. Yes, we could have played better but theres no
shame in losing to them. Danny really did have a good game in spite
of the score. It could easily have been much worse. Its nice to
have two quality keepers playing for us. Danny has been a real trooper
this season. He didnt get much playing time early on but never
once complained. And now when hes needed he responds really well.
We dont have many wins but I cant say enough good things
about this team. They are fun to be around and they really do play hard.
If wins were earned by character alone this team would be a dominant
force. We are improving and the wins will come. Its just a matter
of practice and time.
The Larks next contest will be Fri
Oct 4 at home against Rhema Bible College at 7:30 p.m. Rhema beat us
once already but we know that we can beat them. The guys are really
looking forward to that game. (As of the writing of this article the
Rhema game was postponed due to extremely poor field conditions
a rain soaked field. The game will be made up the 17th of October with
a time to be announced. The next game will be against Barton County
at home on Tues Oct 8th at 7:30 p.m. Another tough test indeed.)