STA Boys Soccer 2021

Game 9: (7-1-1) 30 September vs. Naperville North in Burlington Iowa (4-3) We return to Burlington Iowa after two years (Covid) to mix it up with some of the best teams in the country.  We start out with a school we have played a few times over the years, Naperville North. They are just outside of Chicago, and they are always good.  They were preseason #3 in the country this year with a couple of Big 10 forward commits leading the way. They have lost 3 matches this year, but they play just a great schedule within and outside of Illinois. Two of those losses have come in shootouts. We want to get better this week, and we have always thought playing against the best teams around give us the opportunity to get better and to watch some of our own players emerge. We are hoping to find a few things this weekend that will up our odds of claiming a state title. Well, that's was about as wild, as good and bad, as a game can be. Hamms had a great take saying that "they came out and punc...

 Game 8: (6-1-1) 28 September vs. Southwest at Saint Thomas Aquinas (1-2 in 2 OT's) Obviously the result is disappointing for several reasons: 1) we were a man up throughout the overtimes. 2) we had a bunch of clean looks at the goal and did not finish 3) we got to play this match on our field.  But it was a great match between two very talented teams. And we will meet again when it will mean a lot more. So We thought it would be quite a battle in the middle of the field, and it really was. Both teams can put 3 big-time center midfielders on the field. We were looking for someone to step up at outside midfield/wing forward, and Joey Pollock really did. He played hard, won balls and put us in position to score a couple. We did cash a corner kick on our put-back secondary ball—but overall we are not dangerous enough on our set pieces. We are going to have to put in some work on those for the second half of the season. Although, I will say that our final corner resulted...

Game 7: (6-0-1) 21 September Vs. Bishop Miege at home (1-0) Well we played our 4th EKL game of the season, and we stayed perfect at 4-0.  Miege played us about as well as a team can play us and not win.  We cashed an early set piece when Welsh went to Muckerville, but that was all we could put on the scoreboard. It seems like we should have/could have put another 1-2 up, but we did not. We definitely lost the 50/50 battle to the Stags as they won so many of those balls that could have been anyone's. Overall, we played pretty well in the first half, but we made an attempt to jump start the second half by beginning in the diamond, but honestly we played much worse and had to get out of it 7 or 8 minutes into the second half. We did noticeably miss Consuegra as we were not exactly electric attacking the goal as we have been in the last few matches.  Actually Yoseph Ephrem played pretty well at left wing. He may get some more opportunities out there. And J...

Game 6: (5-0-1) 16 September vs. Huskies at home (2-0) We continue our second quarter tonight against another very good side from BV Northwest. We did see the Huskies in Summer League, and it was a close match. We will debut Gabe Garcia in our starting line-up for the first time as the "6," and we will welcome Yoseph Ephrem back from illness. It was one heck of a match. The score stood 0-0 at the half with virtually no offense for either team. Northwest played such a withdrawn striker that they basically played with a 4th center midfield. Second half we came out in a diamond, and the formation seemed to jump start us into some attack. We created several scoring opportunities, and we were able to cash a couple of those. One of the tragedies of our second goal may be that we have lost Anthony Consuegra as his foot was not in good shape as he left the field tonight. Garcia did have a nice match at the "6"—so it sure seems like that spot will work out well for him and u...

Game 5: (4-0-1) 14 September vs. Blue Valley North at BVN (5-2) Well, the tournament is over and we start the second quarter of our season back in the EKL, that houses teams who we will play our next 4 games against. Although North is a known quanity as we played them in summer league, we have never played at the high school. The DAC was double booked, so we were relegated to the practice field—it is a nice turf field. Coach Turner does a nice job of coaching the Mustangs, and it definitely showed tonight. They took it to us in the first half, countering us twice with two nice goals.  Their formation gave us some problems in the midfield as well; so we were pretty much on our heels all first half. We moved Garcia to the "6" for the second half, having Weinrich take over at right back for him. Now granted we made a few other adjustments and corrected a couple of things, but Garcia's impact at the "6" had a lot to do with our success in the second half as we blank...

Game 4: (3-0-1) 11 September vs. St. Pius X It is always tough to suit up on September 11, without a few thoughts on the day’s significance. Last night’s football game was a red-white-and-blue night, honoring America. Literal fireworks before and metaphoric fireworks during the match made it quite a night.  We have never played Pius in our 34 year history of boys soccer. So, this was a first. And we know that they are down a bit from previous years.  Luke was coming late to the match from the ACT’s, so we waited to get going until he entered the match.  We did sort of start going on our first group substitution.  We got a good look at Taborda, Murray, Fleming and Rutter today as well. All gave us some good minutes.  We did continue to score on our set pieces as well (4 deadballs). We know we will need those down the road.  So for the most part we got some key things accomplished today. We loved Muckerman’s diagonal ball to the back post that Seibolt headed ...

 

Game 3 9 September vs. Guadalupe Center in Blue Springs South Tourney 9-1) We had played Guadalupe Center for the first time last year as a Pandemic Make-up Match, and it became a deadball fest. Here, the match was coming off a disappointing tie . And we came out as if we wanted to make a statement. Yes, we did cash a couple of deadballs, but we just passionately attacked the front third.  We scored a lot of nice goals, and we almost scored a few more. Guadalupe Center is loaded with skill. They have a big-time “9” and “10” with a very good keeper.  The boys played a complete game in which they got behind the ball constantly to defend and to restart the offense. It was fun to watch.  BWhite interviewed Ryan, Kitts, and Consuegra as his Men of the Match. Good choices but they had a bunch of support.  We will finish off the tourney Saturday against St. Pius X.  STATS: First Half: Saints:  Shots.  14 (8) Corners: 2 (Young 2) 39:10. Ryan (Kitts slides it...

Game 2 7 September at BSS vs. BSS in round one (1-1 tie, no overtime) After a week off, we hit the pitch on the road against the host school of the tourney. And we would say we did not play anywhere near the level at which we should play.  It was hot. That’s not an excuse, but it is a reason to hydrate all during the day. We did appear gassed a lot.  We did dominate play in the first half. The second half was a bit more even. But, BSS only put two shots on frame all game, and one of those should have been a goal, and it wasn’t. And the other one should not have been a goal, and it was.  I will say that the shot that did go in followed us winning 3 straight first-time head balls, but never winning the second ball. That second ball is about fatigue, effort, and want-to.  The BWhite Man of the Match was Jacob Muckerman as he had the best overall game for our side, even finishing the match at center midfield. Kitts was pretty darn good as well with a nice ...

 Article on 5A Soccer from KSHSAA Covered: Challenge remains steep for slowing EKL's dominance Maize's Zack Pappan can recall how quickly he noticed the magnitude of the challenge presented by St. Thomas Aquinas in last year's Class 5A boys soccer championship match. Like a tidal wave, the Saints outside flank players moved the ball down the line and toward the center of the pitch with clinical precision. As a defender, Pappan and his teammates seemed under constant attack. "Of all the 5A teams we played, they were the best at being able to move the ball," Pappan said. "The level of play was just way different." Maize had high hopes for its first state championship appearance. But like so many teams outside the Kansas City area, the Eagles struggled against an Eastern Kansas League power. Aquinas scored twice in the first three minutes, added four more goals before intermission and won 8-1. It was the Saints' 17 th  state soccer title, and the EKL...