Men's Soccer Newsletter - 10/11/2007

Hello everyone!

What a week! What a week…

Last Saturday we traveled to Emory, Virginia, to take on Emory & Henry College during its Homecoming weekend. The football game was at halftime when we arrived, and there were a ton of people around. Needless to say, there was a lot of commotion going on that afternoon. Instead of dressing and meeting in the locker room, I had the team head straight out to the field, to get away from the craziness and get a good, solid warm-up. This was a big game for us as a win could put us into fourth place in the ODAC.

Both teams were ready to play and determined to win. We needed the first 10 minutes to get used to their field, which is much smaller than ours with longer grass. We adjusted well and began to figure out how to be successful. We couldn’t dribble and play short passes as much as we would have liked, as the ground was pretty bumpy. So we played a bit more direct, serving longer balls into their half and into the corners, bypassing any possible “mistakes” on the ground. Neither team scored in the first half, but both squads had good chances.

I thought we began to take control in the second half and had more chances on goal. However, time after time, their keeper found himself in the right spot and made some very big saves for his team. Of our approximately 20 shots, 15 were on goal, and most looked like they were going in. By the end of regulation, neither team had scored and overtime looked certain. Within the last three minutes, Scott Meguid was fouled outside the box (twice), made the correct decision to take the kick early and hopefully catch Emory & Henry off guard. Both shots were headed towards the back of the net, but their keeper was standing in the right spot both times.

Overtime came and went, and resembled a shortened version of regulation. I’m not sad or upset by the result, even though three points would have been better than one. We played as well as we could, considering everything involved with the day. We’re really starting to come together more each day. Even though my hair slowly turning gray, it’s worth watching this group mold and come together. We’re coming together at just the right time, as we play three tough regionally-ranked teams, starting with Greensboro College, which is ranked 25th nationally, followed by North Carolina Wesleyan (#5 nationally) and Roanoke (#8 in the region)..

As yesterday’s match with Greensboro approached, we grew excited about the prospect of not only playing our cross-town rival, but also knocking off a nationally ranked team. We had a very good and spirited practice the day before and we were emotionally prepared for Wednesday’s match with the Pride. As the hours, then minutes ticked away until game time, I had an easy and excited feeling about the game.

The first game’s first 10 minutes saw both teams come out ready and hungry for the first goal. As the half wore on, Greensboro pushed up the field and began to show why it’s having such a good season. As the Pride pressed and found chances on goal, we became pretty defensive. Greensboro scored first 11 minutes in off a cross that beat three of our backs and found their forward on the far post. The Pride didn’t stop coming at us after their goal either. It was apparent they wanted another one.

As the first half unfolded, I thought about how our early season games versus tough teams were going to come through for us. We faced this kind of pressure before, and we had been through a lot of adversity already this season. I knew this and saw how the players were handling themselves on the field, so I thought we would be alright as long as we could keep the score where it was. Towards the final 10 minutes of half, we had some good chances to counter attack the other way. We’d string three and four passes together, but just couldn’t get that final pass in behind their backs. Even though we were thwarted in our attempts, we kept putting some chinks in their defensive armor.

Two major things happened in the first half that I believe allowed for our success and boosted our confidence in the second half. One, Tim Berke, one of our center backs, made a gutsy play on one of their forwards. Their #4 got slipped in behind our backs just past midfield. Now, Tim’s not the fastest player we have, and their #4 may be their fastest, but Tim heart and courage helped him to chase the player down from 40 yards, slide tackle the ball (cleanly I might add) inside of 12 yards in front of our goal, erasing a near certain goal for them – a goal that would have killed us.

The second major play happened within the final minute of half. Off a throw in deep in their half, Mike McCaffrey turned his defender, took a touch up the end line toward goal and served a hard, low ball across the goal mouth. Mark Mazzone waited on the other side of the ball and when I saw him wind up to connect with the ball, I thought he was going to either put the ball into the parking lot or through the back of the net. Fortunately, he did the latter and tied the game at 1-1 just before the halftime whistle. What a goal! And what lift for our spirits!

The second half was one of the best halves of soccer I’ve seen in a long time, certainly the best in my short time here at Guilford. After being outshot 18-1 in the first half, (I need to have a talk with our home score keeper, huh?!!??!) we turned around and outshot them, 10-7, in the final 45 minutes. Fifteen minutes into the half, Scott Meguid was played through on the left side of goal and found himself in a foot race with their right back. As their feet got tangled up, Scott stayed on his feet and tried to slip the ball past their keeper. He made the initial save, but the ball came right back to Scott. He took a touch, looked to try another shot but at the last second found Bryce Hunsucker inside “the six” for a easy go-ahead goal. Awesome!

Did we awake a sleeping giant in the process of taking the lead? It looked that way as Greensboro scored twice in just four minutes to go back on top 3-2. If there was anything good about those goals, it was this: our keeper was in position to make both saves, on two not very dangerous shots. However, both were deflected just enough to get into the back of the net.

Now, if history has anything to do with the final 20 minutes, we’d find ourselves trying to tie the game and run out of steam just close enough to the end of the game to make us feel bad about what happened. But that is not what happened yesterday. With 10 minutes left, we were awarded a free kick 23 yards out from goal on the left side of the box. As the referee stepped off the 10 yards and everyone got ready for the restart, Scott and Robbie Fisher were having a discussion over top the ball to figure out the best option(s). One final glance before the whistle and Scott saw that their keeper had given away the entire near post. A great bent ball over the wall and past the out-stretched hand of their keeper saw us tie the game at 3-3 with nine-and-a-half minutes to play. We were excited and it didn’t look like overtime was an option. Five minutes later, Joe Rigert was free down the right side of the field. He took a couple of touches to free himself even more around the corner, served a beautiful ball into the box for an oncoming Scott Meguid, who headed the ball home for the go-ahead (and STAY AHEAD) goal. What an absolutely outstanding final 45 minutes for us! We played with heart, emotion, calmness, dedication, thoughtfulness, and passion for the full half. I really don’t know what else to say.

We have a big game Saturday as we head to Lynchburg to take on a Hornets’ team that is also playing very well right now.

Talk to you soon,

Jeff

-Submitted by head coach Jeff Bateson.