Before I write about the details of our game with Rhodes College, I would like to personally thank all our parents who were at our game today. They were Mrs.Shivers and daughters, the McLean's, the Hunt's, The Drs. Gonzalez, Dr. Evans. the Levinson's, the Crocker's and the Stein's. I would also like to especially thank two of our very loyal alumni for coming out to support our team today. They are Gary Shanks, 1993 and Daniel Feig, 2000. It is always so special for our guys to see former players supporting them. It further exemplifies the fact, that we truly are a family. So, thank you all for being there for us today.
Now, on to the game. We felt like we controlled the possession throughout the game, but once again, could not find the back of the net in the first half. The score at half was BSC 0, Rhodes 0. Six minutes into the second half, Rhodes had a free kick to the left of the goal. They had been setting illegal picks in the box all game and this was no different. The ball was played in and a pick was made and they headed the ball in for the goal. BSC 0, Rhodes 1. We still had plenty of time to compose ourselves and get the equalizing goal. We had plenty of chances, but just could not get the ball to fall for us. In the 81st minute, we played the ball wide and got a corner kick. Andrew Shelton took the corner and Sean Head headed home the tying goal. BSC 1, Rhodes 1. We continued pressing the game, but it would end 1:1 in regulation. So, we now moved to sudden victory overtime for the 4th time this season. We had some great chances, but, the game would end BSC 1, Rhodes 1 to make our current record look like 4 wins 7 losses and 4 ties. We have 2 other seasons where we had 4 ties and that was in 1988 & 2003. Looking back on all these ties, our record at the moment could just have easily been 8 wins and 7 losses or at worst should have been 7 wins, 7 losses and 1 tie. Regardless, we have fought hard in all 4 of our ties and certainly deserved a better result thajn just a tie. This game was a terrific comeback for us and here is why I say that. I normally never complain about the officiating, but today was different. It was without question the most biased officials I have ever witnessed in 28 years of coaching. It was so obvious and blatant, that I received a yellow card for arguing on behalf of our players. They were diving without contact and getting every call, not to mention we had a player get his nose broken and others get continually kicked in the legs and have their shirts pulled and we received no calls We had a player go towards goal and was taken down by their last defender and not only did we not get the foul, they did not receive the appropriate red card by rule for that infraction. We never could catch a break during this game and it has been that way all season.
I am extremely proud of our team for fighting till the end, while playing against 14 people. It is hard enough to win, when the sides are even, but adding 3 biased officials to the mix, makes it nearly impossible. We just need to catch a break in our last 3 games and we will be successful.
Again, thank you alumni and parents for supporting us. I hope we will see everyone at our last 2 home games this coming Friday night at 8 PM against Oglethorpe University, where we will also honor our Seniors and on Sunday at 2PM against Sewanee.
Coach G from the bus on our way home from Memphis, TN
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
BSC vs Hendrix at Conway, AR, 29 Oct 2010
Well, welcome back to reality! Our mistake free game of a week ago, did not last, as we lost on the road to Hendrix College 2:3. The mistakes this game were different from what had been happening this season, but not unlike what happened in the 2008 season. We decided to revert back to 2008 and the inability to clear a ball properly out of our defensive third. That is how all 3 goals scored by Hendrix manifested itself. Their 1st goal came in the 10th minute on a penalty kick. It began with a very poor clearance out and the ball was sent back in and a foul of pushing was called for the penalty kick inside the box. They converted and the score was 0:1. Their 2nd goal came in the 23rd minute on another poor clearance that did not clear the box and the ball was sent back post and they scored. The score is now 0:2. The 3rd goal came in the 35th minute, again on a poor clearance wide and the ball sent back in for the 3rd and final goal of the first half.
During the first half, Hendrix dropped 8 players back in the defense shutting down our obvious passing lanes and out of that formation, they would play the ball long waiting on us to make mistakes that they could capitalize on. We certainly had the better of the possession during the 1st half, but had nothing to show for it. We should have known what to have done with this type of defensive style in the 1st half, but just did not react properly to what was available to us to draw them out of that packed defense. During halftime, we discussed what we should have done and what we now must do in order to get back into the game. We will now keep the ball wide and run 2 and 3 players diagonally to draw them out and open up the backside for some scoring opportunities.
The 2nd half began and we did just what we described during halftime and things started opening up on the backside. We kept possession throughout this 2nd half and completely dominated them. However, we still could not get the ball in the net. We had one shot off the crossbar and another cleared off the post. Still the score remained 0:3. With time running down, we finally got our 1st goal in the 76th minute off a ball played wide, a run diagonally and a cross to the back post for our goal. Andrew Shelton played the cross and Garner Shivers finished the goal. The score with 14 minutes remaining was BSC 1, Hendrix 3. We continue to press forward with the insertion of more attacking players, but could not get one in the net. Finally, in the 88th minute, another wide ball, with a soild run through and a cross from Tony Crocker to Garner Shivers for our 2nd goal. The score now stood, BSC 2, Hendrix 3 with 2 minutes remaining in the game. We had Hendrix on their heels and continued to press forward, but it was not meant to be. The final whistle was blown and the final score stood BSC 2, Hendrix 3.
We played a very good 2nd half, but it was just too little, too late. We gave everything we had in trying to equalize the score, but it was not meant to be. Hopefully, this will be a nice building point for our game on Sunday at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. If we can play with the sense of urgency we had in the 2nd half of the game against Hendrix on Sunday, we should be able to prevail. That is our hope! There were some bright spots in the 2nd half and hopefully, that will carry over for the remaining 4 games on our schedule. But, I have learned with this team, that we must only look to a minute by minute improvement in making it a 90 minute effort. We must begin by playing each minute as if it is our last and build each one into a 90 minute game. If we do that consistently, we will be successful. We must also learn to be tough and determined against any and all opponents and not be "nice" guys to them. Each play is a "battle" and it is how we approach each and every "battle" of the 90 minute "war" that will determine the winner of that game or "war." You can play the game as "gentlemen", but we must develop an "attitude" inside the "lines" that no one will push us around, nor will they be afforded any "gentleness"
from our play. Now, after the game, we can become true gentlemen of the game and respect the result, either good or bad. This is what we must learn in order to have that "killer instinct", that is currently missing from this team. I must tell you, we are way too nice and not determined enough with that instinct that separates winners from losers. We will get there, but it must be now!
I want to also thank our parents who were at our game and say how much it truly means to have that wonderful support. I hope to see you all on Sunday. I do know a few of our Alumni will be at the Rhodes game and it will be nice to see them again.
So, until Sunday at 2PM, goodbye from the road,
Coach G on the bus heading to Memphis
During the first half, Hendrix dropped 8 players back in the defense shutting down our obvious passing lanes and out of that formation, they would play the ball long waiting on us to make mistakes that they could capitalize on. We certainly had the better of the possession during the 1st half, but had nothing to show for it. We should have known what to have done with this type of defensive style in the 1st half, but just did not react properly to what was available to us to draw them out of that packed defense. During halftime, we discussed what we should have done and what we now must do in order to get back into the game. We will now keep the ball wide and run 2 and 3 players diagonally to draw them out and open up the backside for some scoring opportunities.
The 2nd half began and we did just what we described during halftime and things started opening up on the backside. We kept possession throughout this 2nd half and completely dominated them. However, we still could not get the ball in the net. We had one shot off the crossbar and another cleared off the post. Still the score remained 0:3. With time running down, we finally got our 1st goal in the 76th minute off a ball played wide, a run diagonally and a cross to the back post for our goal. Andrew Shelton played the cross and Garner Shivers finished the goal. The score with 14 minutes remaining was BSC 1, Hendrix 3. We continue to press forward with the insertion of more attacking players, but could not get one in the net. Finally, in the 88th minute, another wide ball, with a soild run through and a cross from Tony Crocker to Garner Shivers for our 2nd goal. The score now stood, BSC 2, Hendrix 3 with 2 minutes remaining in the game. We had Hendrix on their heels and continued to press forward, but it was not meant to be. The final whistle was blown and the final score stood BSC 2, Hendrix 3.
We played a very good 2nd half, but it was just too little, too late. We gave everything we had in trying to equalize the score, but it was not meant to be. Hopefully, this will be a nice building point for our game on Sunday at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. If we can play with the sense of urgency we had in the 2nd half of the game against Hendrix on Sunday, we should be able to prevail. That is our hope! There were some bright spots in the 2nd half and hopefully, that will carry over for the remaining 4 games on our schedule. But, I have learned with this team, that we must only look to a minute by minute improvement in making it a 90 minute effort. We must begin by playing each minute as if it is our last and build each one into a 90 minute game. If we do that consistently, we will be successful. We must also learn to be tough and determined against any and all opponents and not be "nice" guys to them. Each play is a "battle" and it is how we approach each and every "battle" of the 90 minute "war" that will determine the winner of that game or "war." You can play the game as "gentlemen", but we must develop an "attitude" inside the "lines" that no one will push us around, nor will they be afforded any "gentleness"
from our play. Now, after the game, we can become true gentlemen of the game and respect the result, either good or bad. This is what we must learn in order to have that "killer instinct", that is currently missing from this team. I must tell you, we are way too nice and not determined enough with that instinct that separates winners from losers. We will get there, but it must be now!
I want to also thank our parents who were at our game and say how much it truly means to have that wonderful support. I hope to see you all on Sunday. I do know a few of our Alumni will be at the Rhodes game and it will be nice to see them again.
So, until Sunday at 2PM, goodbye from the road,
Coach G on the bus heading to Memphis
Sunday, October 24, 2010
BSC vs. Millsaps College at BSC Alumni week-end 23 Oct 2010
Welcome back...that is, back to what should have been our consistent way of playing. Unfortunately, this has not been the case for the majority of our season thus far. When we do what we are taught in training, we are very good and efficient, as we were last evening against Millsaps College. We won the game 3:0 and it was never in doubt. This is what we all had hoped would be the norm, rather than the exception. It was finally nice to see us playing our game of "possession" soccer for the majority of the game and controlling the entire tempo and flow of the game. We finally found a consistent Rhythm and it certainly made all the difference in our game.
We had worked very hard all week in preparation for this game by going back to our roots of "excellence through fundamentals". We did many shooting and movement off the ball drills and all these drills would show themselves throughout the game. The best part of this, was that we were able to recognize these runs and plays within the flow of the game. We led at halftime by the score of 1:0 on a goal by Nico Reitmeier with an assist from Sean Head. We stressed at halftime that we continue with our high pressure defense and possession game.
The 2nd half began and Millsaps switched to a 4-3-3 formation causing us a few minutes of losing the midfield, but the guys mad an adjustment and corrected what was happening and shut them down immediately, thus allowing us to gain control of the midfield once again. I was very proud of them for not only recognizing this, but making the adjustment to get us back in our rhythm. They are finally begining to get it. That is "Think" within the flow of the game! I believe we are making good progress at the moment and hopefully, it will continue for the remainder of the season. We scored 2 more goals in the 2nd half. Garner Shivers scored our 2nd goal, with an assist from Nico Reitmeier. Our 3rd goal was scored by Sean Head, with an assist from Brynjar Arnason.
Overall, we made a few line-up changes that we believed were necessary in order for us to get more offense in the game. I was particularly proud of them for making these adjustments and doing it with great determination and passion. If we continue to have another good week of training, I believe we will have a successful end to our season. That is our goal!
In closing, I would like to thank our loyal alumni who came to our game. These alumni are what our program is all about. It is about tradition, honor and loyalty and each of them have exemplied those values each and everyday they played here. The alum that traveled the furthest was Igor Ranitovic, who came all the way from San Francisco,CA. I was so happy and proud to have Igor here with us once again, as I was for all our alumni that came out to support "their program". Those in attendance that I saw, were Scott Berte, Doug Eckhardt, Trevor Cobb, Joseph Anthony, Sean Goldfarb, Martin Devaney, Scott Shelton, Matt Shuleva, Ross O'Malley, Luke Eldridge, Stephen Rumble and Hal Halbert. If I am forgetting anyone, I apologize, but those were who I saw. It is always great having our guys come back and only wish we had more in attendance. Maybe next year?
This coming week-end we travel to Conway, Arkansas to play Hendrix College on Friday evening and then travel down to Memphis, TN to play Rhodes College on Sunday afternoon. I hope we will see some of you at these games.
Have a great week, Coach G from BSC
We had worked very hard all week in preparation for this game by going back to our roots of "excellence through fundamentals". We did many shooting and movement off the ball drills and all these drills would show themselves throughout the game. The best part of this, was that we were able to recognize these runs and plays within the flow of the game. We led at halftime by the score of 1:0 on a goal by Nico Reitmeier with an assist from Sean Head. We stressed at halftime that we continue with our high pressure defense and possession game.
The 2nd half began and Millsaps switched to a 4-3-3 formation causing us a few minutes of losing the midfield, but the guys mad an adjustment and corrected what was happening and shut them down immediately, thus allowing us to gain control of the midfield once again. I was very proud of them for not only recognizing this, but making the adjustment to get us back in our rhythm. They are finally begining to get it. That is "Think" within the flow of the game! I believe we are making good progress at the moment and hopefully, it will continue for the remainder of the season. We scored 2 more goals in the 2nd half. Garner Shivers scored our 2nd goal, with an assist from Nico Reitmeier. Our 3rd goal was scored by Sean Head, with an assist from Brynjar Arnason.
Overall, we made a few line-up changes that we believed were necessary in order for us to get more offense in the game. I was particularly proud of them for making these adjustments and doing it with great determination and passion. If we continue to have another good week of training, I believe we will have a successful end to our season. That is our goal!
In closing, I would like to thank our loyal alumni who came to our game. These alumni are what our program is all about. It is about tradition, honor and loyalty and each of them have exemplied those values each and everyday they played here. The alum that traveled the furthest was Igor Ranitovic, who came all the way from San Francisco,CA. I was so happy and proud to have Igor here with us once again, as I was for all our alumni that came out to support "their program". Those in attendance that I saw, were Scott Berte, Doug Eckhardt, Trevor Cobb, Joseph Anthony, Sean Goldfarb, Martin Devaney, Scott Shelton, Matt Shuleva, Ross O'Malley, Luke Eldridge, Stephen Rumble and Hal Halbert. If I am forgetting anyone, I apologize, but those were who I saw. It is always great having our guys come back and only wish we had more in attendance. Maybe next year?
This coming week-end we travel to Conway, Arkansas to play Hendrix College on Friday evening and then travel down to Memphis, TN to play Rhodes College on Sunday afternoon. I hope we will see some of you at these games.
Have a great week, Coach G from BSC
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Southwestern and Trinity Week-end Games 15 & 17 October 2010
I have waited for a few days to write this blog, as I really wanted to collect my thoughts on what has happened to us. I will try to combine both games into this one blog.
We started the week-end by playing at Southwestern University on Friday, October 15th. As our season continues to move forward, our play continues to move backwards. Why? I really have no idea what has happened. All I can say is that there is absolutely no "Passion" for the game, nor for playing the game the way we are certainly capable of playing. When you have zero intensity, zero want and zero effort, you can never be successful. It is such a shame for us to be in this situation, when we have on paper, the talent to win virtually all our games. But, if the want is not present at every training session, it certainly will not be present at the games. Somehow, someway, we must find our want once again, like we had in a few games this season.
Against Southwestern, we gave up 3 really bad goals once again. This seems to be our way this season. make it easy for our opponents to score and difficult for us to score. I am not going to go into detail on how the goals were scored, but suffice it to say, they were not developed by our opponent, but rather by us. No accountabilty is where we must change. When we make these same mistakes over and over again, we must take responsibilty for our poor play, that continues to beat us in every game. Until we do that, we will never become successful. We must become harder on ourselves than I am on each player and say, "I will not continue to make the same mistakes time after time". We lost the game 0:3 and we were never a threat to score in this game. We have now gone 445 minutes without scoring a goal. We left on Saturday for San Antonio to play against the number 5 team in the nation... Trinity University on Sunday afternoon.
Against Trinity, I was hoping for the same kind of "Passion and Intensity" that we had against Washington University (number 10 in the nation) and DePauw University (number 25 in the nation). Unfortunately, we had the same hangover from Friday in our level of play and lost 1:4. Last year, if you remember, we tied them 1:1. We had virtually the same team and Trinity did as well. They replaced their leading scorer to graduation with a terrific Brazilian player. So, again, on paper, this should have been a good even game. That was not the case. They scored 45 seconds into the game, just like Southwestern did to start the 2nd half. So, once again, we have a team full of lazy players that are just satisfied to be on the field. We have way too many players that feel "entitled" to be on the field regardless of their play. Well, that will no longer be the case. In the 2nd half, we saw some nice bright spots out of some players who had not played an awful lot this season. But, I can guarantee you this, they will start playing now. There is a core of players who in my opinion are only marking time and not really caring what the outcome of our game becomes. As per my philosophy, I will never single a player out in writing or in public. They all know who they are. Conversely, the players that truly care, know who they are as well. Our goal was scored from an outstanding free kick by Brynjar Arnason which their keeper saved and the result was a hard effort to win the corner by Jarred Brookins. The ball was played into Nathan Haywood, who headed the ball down to Tim Tincher for our goal. I was indeed very proud of the players who worked hard until the end and to those players, thank you!
Now, how do we change our poor play? Well, we are going to instill a new kind of pressure defense cfor 90 minutes against our opponent and not allow them to get into a flow. As opposed to allowing teams to make the game against us, we are going to make the game against them with our play. But, before we can start to do that, we must first find our first touch again and then be able to complete a pass to our teammates feet and then "Think" on and off the ball. the last ingredient before we can accomplish anything is to change our attitude and develop our passion again for the game we all love or used to love. Then we will start sprinting to every ball and to every space available to us throughout the game. Once we do those things we can become successful again, as I will not allow this to continue to destroy us. I guarantee we will see a changed team for the remainder of our season.
Our record now stands at 3 wins, 6 losses and 3 ties. We play Millsaps College on Saturday at 6:00 Pm at our field. Please come out and support us to a new and improved vision of performance with Passion!
Coach G from BSC
We started the week-end by playing at Southwestern University on Friday, October 15th. As our season continues to move forward, our play continues to move backwards. Why? I really have no idea what has happened. All I can say is that there is absolutely no "Passion" for the game, nor for playing the game the way we are certainly capable of playing. When you have zero intensity, zero want and zero effort, you can never be successful. It is such a shame for us to be in this situation, when we have on paper, the talent to win virtually all our games. But, if the want is not present at every training session, it certainly will not be present at the games. Somehow, someway, we must find our want once again, like we had in a few games this season.
Against Southwestern, we gave up 3 really bad goals once again. This seems to be our way this season. make it easy for our opponents to score and difficult for us to score. I am not going to go into detail on how the goals were scored, but suffice it to say, they were not developed by our opponent, but rather by us. No accountabilty is where we must change. When we make these same mistakes over and over again, we must take responsibilty for our poor play, that continues to beat us in every game. Until we do that, we will never become successful. We must become harder on ourselves than I am on each player and say, "I will not continue to make the same mistakes time after time". We lost the game 0:3 and we were never a threat to score in this game. We have now gone 445 minutes without scoring a goal. We left on Saturday for San Antonio to play against the number 5 team in the nation... Trinity University on Sunday afternoon.
Against Trinity, I was hoping for the same kind of "Passion and Intensity" that we had against Washington University (number 10 in the nation) and DePauw University (number 25 in the nation). Unfortunately, we had the same hangover from Friday in our level of play and lost 1:4. Last year, if you remember, we tied them 1:1. We had virtually the same team and Trinity did as well. They replaced their leading scorer to graduation with a terrific Brazilian player. So, again, on paper, this should have been a good even game. That was not the case. They scored 45 seconds into the game, just like Southwestern did to start the 2nd half. So, once again, we have a team full of lazy players that are just satisfied to be on the field. We have way too many players that feel "entitled" to be on the field regardless of their play. Well, that will no longer be the case. In the 2nd half, we saw some nice bright spots out of some players who had not played an awful lot this season. But, I can guarantee you this, they will start playing now. There is a core of players who in my opinion are only marking time and not really caring what the outcome of our game becomes. As per my philosophy, I will never single a player out in writing or in public. They all know who they are. Conversely, the players that truly care, know who they are as well. Our goal was scored from an outstanding free kick by Brynjar Arnason which their keeper saved and the result was a hard effort to win the corner by Jarred Brookins. The ball was played into Nathan Haywood, who headed the ball down to Tim Tincher for our goal. I was indeed very proud of the players who worked hard until the end and to those players, thank you!
Now, how do we change our poor play? Well, we are going to instill a new kind of pressure defense cfor 90 minutes against our opponent and not allow them to get into a flow. As opposed to allowing teams to make the game against us, we are going to make the game against them with our play. But, before we can start to do that, we must first find our first touch again and then be able to complete a pass to our teammates feet and then "Think" on and off the ball. the last ingredient before we can accomplish anything is to change our attitude and develop our passion again for the game we all love or used to love. Then we will start sprinting to every ball and to every space available to us throughout the game. Once we do those things we can become successful again, as I will not allow this to continue to destroy us. I guarantee we will see a changed team for the remainder of our season.
Our record now stands at 3 wins, 6 losses and 3 ties. We play Millsaps College on Saturday at 6:00 Pm at our field. Please come out and support us to a new and improved vision of performance with Passion!
Coach G from BSC
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Game against Centre College 3 October 2010
Today was another day in a long line of poor performances following a good performance in the previous games on Friday. We lost the game 0:3 and certainly deserved to lose. Our team has no idea what it takes to put 2 good games together and until we do, we are going to have a difficult time with the remainder of our schedule.
As well as we played for 110 minutes on Friday evening, that is how poorly we played today for 90 minutes. The score was 0:0 at the half, but we were not in our rhythm, as we were just hanging on. We had a few shots on goal compared to their one in the 1st half, but we just can not finish at all. This was the 3rd straight game where we have not scored a goal. When you can not get a good touch on the ball in the scoring position, you can never get a good look at the goal for a shot, or we do not do what we should do about finishing, because we react instead of thinking what we should do in the instant before we take a shot. We do not pass with any accuracy, nor do we pass with any thought. We unfortunately, try to turn in to our opponent and lose the ball or we dribble straight at the defender presenting him the ball and lose the ball and then get counter attacked. That is precisely how their first 2 goals happened. We lost the ball in the final third of the field and it was 2 passes and a goal. The 2nd goal came when we lost it in the midfield and were beaten on the end line to the back post again to an unmarked player for their goal. The 3rd goal came by beating our winger and defender for the goal.
Today, we quit before we started. There was absolutely no emotion, no sense of urgency and definitely zero passion for our commitment to doing everything necessary to make a positive outcome a reality. In my 28 years of coaching, this may have been the poorest effort of any of my previous teams. At least in our previous teams, they may have lost the game, but they played with great heart and emotion evertime they stepped on the field and our opponents knew it was going to be a battle for 90 minutes! This team does not understand what it takes to do those things even in defeat.
We played the number 20th ranked team in the nation on Friday night to a 0:0 tie and played a far inferior team today to a 0:3 loss. I sure wish I knew why this continues to happen. My belief is there is no leadership demanding better from the team during the flow of the game. I am extremely disappointed in the lack of effort today by our team. We did not deserve to even be on our own field!
We now have about 11 days off before we play Southwestern University and Trinity University in Texas. In order for us to have any kind of a chance, we must change our approach to the game immediately or it will be a miserable week-end. I hope this time off will be good for us, so we can collect our thoughts on what has been and what should have been.
Until October 15th & 17th...
Coach G from BSC
As well as we played for 110 minutes on Friday evening, that is how poorly we played today for 90 minutes. The score was 0:0 at the half, but we were not in our rhythm, as we were just hanging on. We had a few shots on goal compared to their one in the 1st half, but we just can not finish at all. This was the 3rd straight game where we have not scored a goal. When you can not get a good touch on the ball in the scoring position, you can never get a good look at the goal for a shot, or we do not do what we should do about finishing, because we react instead of thinking what we should do in the instant before we take a shot. We do not pass with any accuracy, nor do we pass with any thought. We unfortunately, try to turn in to our opponent and lose the ball or we dribble straight at the defender presenting him the ball and lose the ball and then get counter attacked. That is precisely how their first 2 goals happened. We lost the ball in the final third of the field and it was 2 passes and a goal. The 2nd goal came when we lost it in the midfield and were beaten on the end line to the back post again to an unmarked player for their goal. The 3rd goal came by beating our winger and defender for the goal.
Today, we quit before we started. There was absolutely no emotion, no sense of urgency and definitely zero passion for our commitment to doing everything necessary to make a positive outcome a reality. In my 28 years of coaching, this may have been the poorest effort of any of my previous teams. At least in our previous teams, they may have lost the game, but they played with great heart and emotion evertime they stepped on the field and our opponents knew it was going to be a battle for 90 minutes! This team does not understand what it takes to do those things even in defeat.
We played the number 20th ranked team in the nation on Friday night to a 0:0 tie and played a far inferior team today to a 0:3 loss. I sure wish I knew why this continues to happen. My belief is there is no leadership demanding better from the team during the flow of the game. I am extremely disappointed in the lack of effort today by our team. We did not deserve to even be on our own field!
We now have about 11 days off before we play Southwestern University and Trinity University in Texas. In order for us to have any kind of a chance, we must change our approach to the game immediately or it will be a miserable week-end. I hope this time off will be good for us, so we can collect our thoughts on what has been and what should have been.
Until October 15th & 17th...
Coach G from BSC
Friday, October 1, 2010
BSC vs. DePauw University 1 October 2010
BSC 0, DePauw 0, in Double Overtime. It was the best performance of the year for our team, especially since we were playing against the 20th Ranked Team in the Nation.
We had not been playing well over the course of the season, especially since the Washington University game over Labor Day week-end. Our previous two games last week-end, saw us tie one and lose the other. In both games we did not deserve to tie, nor lose the one we lost. We had played fairly well and certainly well enough against those two teams to come out with a win and a tie. But, it was not to be. We had a very good week of preparation for this game against DePauw and I felt we had a very good chance of getting a positive result. We told our team, it was our home field and that we had to "make" the game. That is, we had to dictate to our opponent how we were going to play and not let them dictate to us how we we would have to play. We did that and more. From the opening whistle, we controlled the pace and play of the game. We put them under pressure and did not allow them to get into a flow. Finally, we found a great "rhythm" to our game and because of that "rhythm" we got into an early flow and balance and finally played "our" game for 110 minutes. We played terrific possession soccer, with many combinations throughout the game. We just could not find the back of the net. Scoring, something that has never been a problem for any of our teams, suddenly has become a large elephant on our back. We are getting good looks at the goal, but for some reason, we just can't seem to finish it off. We seem to shoot with very little purpose when we should be passing and we are passing when we should be shooting. This is happening in the final fourth of the field. Again, just like last week-end, we do not think nor analyse the situation before it occurs, thus resulting in poor choices in that final fourth. Our midfield play, which had been missing for the bulk of our games thus far, finally appeared and was in great synch with one another. They completely controlled the entire game with their relentless play. Their first touch was quite good and accurate for a change and the results showed quite clearly throughout the game. Our philosophy of play, is when you win the midfield, you control the game. We controlled the entire game and never stopped fighting in our effort.
We played with great "Passion" because our commitment and sense of purpose was present for the entire 120 minutes. I can't say enough about our effort and dedication to getting our game back on track. It was a game to behold and one to be extremely proud of being a part of. Every player made the commitment to be successful throughout the game, thus making the team the true "superstar". I said earlier, that last week-end we did not get a fair result, based on our play, in either game. In this game, we definitely deserved a better result than a tie. But, win, lose or tie, this game was what playing soccer is all about. Our opponent always looked to win balls off our mistakes and counter attack. They did that, but we never allowed them to get into a dangerous scoring opportunity. They played with all 11 players in our attacking half of the field, but we still beat them with our combinations and movement off the ball. It just was not meant to be that a victory could have been secured on the scoreboard, But, measuring victories, this was a complete game, full of many victories over the course of the evening and while the scoreboard showed a 0:0 tie after 110 minutes of play, we clearly were the victors, by our total domination of possession!
Sunday, we play Centre College at 2:00 PM at BSC. Please come out and support us. It does make a difference!
In closing, I am so very proud of how our team responded with a sense of purpose and commitment. I truly believe we are back and will continue with our style of possession soccer, played with great passion!
Coach G from BSC
We had not been playing well over the course of the season, especially since the Washington University game over Labor Day week-end. Our previous two games last week-end, saw us tie one and lose the other. In both games we did not deserve to tie, nor lose the one we lost. We had played fairly well and certainly well enough against those two teams to come out with a win and a tie. But, it was not to be. We had a very good week of preparation for this game against DePauw and I felt we had a very good chance of getting a positive result. We told our team, it was our home field and that we had to "make" the game. That is, we had to dictate to our opponent how we were going to play and not let them dictate to us how we we would have to play. We did that and more. From the opening whistle, we controlled the pace and play of the game. We put them under pressure and did not allow them to get into a flow. Finally, we found a great "rhythm" to our game and because of that "rhythm" we got into an early flow and balance and finally played "our" game for 110 minutes. We played terrific possession soccer, with many combinations throughout the game. We just could not find the back of the net. Scoring, something that has never been a problem for any of our teams, suddenly has become a large elephant on our back. We are getting good looks at the goal, but for some reason, we just can't seem to finish it off. We seem to shoot with very little purpose when we should be passing and we are passing when we should be shooting. This is happening in the final fourth of the field. Again, just like last week-end, we do not think nor analyse the situation before it occurs, thus resulting in poor choices in that final fourth. Our midfield play, which had been missing for the bulk of our games thus far, finally appeared and was in great synch with one another. They completely controlled the entire game with their relentless play. Their first touch was quite good and accurate for a change and the results showed quite clearly throughout the game. Our philosophy of play, is when you win the midfield, you control the game. We controlled the entire game and never stopped fighting in our effort.
We played with great "Passion" because our commitment and sense of purpose was present for the entire 120 minutes. I can't say enough about our effort and dedication to getting our game back on track. It was a game to behold and one to be extremely proud of being a part of. Every player made the commitment to be successful throughout the game, thus making the team the true "superstar". I said earlier, that last week-end we did not get a fair result, based on our play, in either game. In this game, we definitely deserved a better result than a tie. But, win, lose or tie, this game was what playing soccer is all about. Our opponent always looked to win balls off our mistakes and counter attack. They did that, but we never allowed them to get into a dangerous scoring opportunity. They played with all 11 players in our attacking half of the field, but we still beat them with our combinations and movement off the ball. It just was not meant to be that a victory could have been secured on the scoreboard, But, measuring victories, this was a complete game, full of many victories over the course of the evening and while the scoreboard showed a 0:0 tie after 110 minutes of play, we clearly were the victors, by our total domination of possession!
Sunday, we play Centre College at 2:00 PM at BSC. Please come out and support us. It does make a difference!
In closing, I am so very proud of how our team responded with a sense of purpose and commitment. I truly believe we are back and will continue with our style of possession soccer, played with great passion!
Coach G from BSC
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