The Great River Classic

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 punched us in the mouth, knocking us to the ground as we sort of looked around."

But, finally, we got back up, were tougher, and we played on, roaring back from 0-2 down to win the thing 4-3. And I am not sure B needed to pick our men of the match, for Naperville has a tradition of choosing a player from the opposing team and presenting him with a note that explains their award. They chose Barrett Kitts—and that should tell everyone just how well, and especially tough, Barrett played.

It was also initiation by fire of freshman Bobby Bjorseth. He came in at the 10-minute market to play the "8" in a diamond, but minutes later he was playing the "6" in a 4-3-3 for the rest of the match.

Our goals were gutsy as Kitts earned us a PK for the first goal. Then Kitts found Muckerman on a set piece for a header in traffic. Garrett Hall tied the game because he went in so hard on a tackle that the ball shot to the corner of the goal.  And then we STAed them to finish it with a Kitts T-ball through Young for Liam on the backside.

And Andrew Seger made a remarkable punch over the bar on a second-half corner that saved a late goal. 

I don't recall a game that we played until it was too dark, and then we moved to a lighted field to play the final 10 minutes. Yes, we scored the final goal in the light.

The game afforded us lots of lessons in a game we still won. I sure hope we learned how hard we have to play to be successful and how focused we need to be on set pieces not only to score but also to prevent being countered.

Tremendous win as we move to the semi-finals against Barrington, Illinois tomorrow. But first its pizza! 

STATS:

Saints:

Shots:5 (3)  Corners: 2 (Young Seibolt)

3:40 Young (Kitts taken down in the box)

NN: Shots: 8 (7) Corners: 2

29:05 Redele (Konrad T's it)

13:30 McMahon (Burger counters our corner)

Second Half:

Saints: Shots: 8 (5) Corners: 3 (Konnesky, Ryan and Young)

32:20 Muckerman (Kitts lifts the direct kick)

20:40 Hall (Young pushes a 50/50 ball forward for Halls win)

3:51 Ryan (Kitts T's it through Young)

NN: Shots: 7 (3) Corners:3

27:00 Berger (Higgs counters our throw in)

MOM Video