STA Boys Soccer 2021

Game 16 (11-4-1) 19 October vs. Wichita Trinity on Senior Night at STA (1-0, OT) Senior Night did bring some drama as Barrett Kitts, our "10," got hurt yesterday in practice, so we would be missing the engine that makes our offense go. We ended up trying 3-4 different things in the first half, with none looking that promising. So second half we moved Garcia to the "10," and Welsh back to the "6," and we played pretty well.  We went with our all senior staring lineup, and they played the first 10 minutes, doing a very nice job. Trinity didn't sniff our side of the field and we generated a corner, a couple of long throws, and some direct kicks.  Trinity played well defensively we thought. They were very strong in the middle of the back and at keeper. So it was tough going trying to generate goal-scoring opportunities. We were getting plenty of deadballs, and it sure felt as if we were about to score on one. Finally, a few minutes into overtime, Cooper We...

Game 15 (10-4-1) 14 October vs. Blue Valley West at Saint Thomas Aquinas (0-1) Well, we wrap of the EKL, finishing 5-2, just  hair away. We lost one in double overtime to BV Southwest, and then we fell tonight, basically shutting BV West out. But Forcellini won a dead-ball call, and then cleverly took a quick shot while we were setting up the wall.  With about 8 left in the match, we ran a pretty clever deadball ourselves that seemed to get the thing tied, but we were ruled offsides—it's close: take a look! But we responded so well after our disappointing match against Rockhurst Tuesday. We were very proud of the boys. West is every bit as good as Rockhurst, but we played much more focused and deliberate. We also lost Joey for the season in the Rockhurst match, really depleting our wingers, and we lost Mark Mason at centerback for a bit as well. We slid Cooper Welsh into the middle and he and Muck were fantastic together. Mohacsi had is hands full on the left, but he kept work...

 Game 14: (10-3-1) 12 October vs. Rockhurst at Rockhurst (0-3) Well, the streak ended. In the last five years, we were 4-0-1 against Rockhurst, but that street abruptly ended tonight with a 3-0 knockout. The game began a little bit like Naperville North, as we got knocked to the ground early, falling behind 2-0. And then like Naperville, we made some lineup changes and appeared to have righted the ship, and were now looking for that first goal. But we just broke down with only seconds left in the half to give up that killer third goal that about ends it. Their frosh had all three as well. We played better in the second half, missed a PK, put ourselves in another couple of good scoring positions, but we did not score. But in those 2-0 matches, you need to get to one before the other side gets to 3.  And we did not. Rockhurst did some nice things strategically, but we just were not sharp when we needed to be—the beginning of the match. I thought Cooper Welsh had one of his bette...

Game 13 (10-2-1) 9 October at the 810 Showcase vs. Lee's Summit at STA (4-3) Tonight we had the opportunity to play undefeated Lee's Summit, the number one ranked team on the Missouri side. They were talented, physical and determined.   At the end of the first half, we had a nice 2-0, and really Lee's Summit had not been very dangerous during those first 40 minutes. And we had cashed two set pieces, something we had talked about as a focal point before the match. Cooper Welsh's and Barrett Kitt's services were magnificent. Obviously they had been challenged to play with more intensity in the second half, and just before the 20 minute mark they got the match back to 2-1. And before you knew it, we were knotted at 2. We stormed back to take a 3-2 lead as Ethan finished off a third dead ball. Lee's Summit, however, a few minutes later earned another corner, finished it to get the game knotted at 3. But to the boys credit we played so well in the next five minutes, ...

 Game 12 (9-2-1) 7 October vs. Blue Valley at home (2-0) Our emphasis since our return from Iowa has been all about defense as we want to improve in 3 areas.  Tonight we take on the team that a lot of soccer buffs called the best team before the season started. And even though they have now dropped a couple, they are still undefeated in the EKL and tied with BV Southwest for first place in the league. Wow, this game was as advertised as Blue Valley is loaded and can start a couple of very special players in the midfield and up top. I thought we were a little bit on our heels early, but the defense played very well, keeping the Tigers at bay. With Seibolt missing tonight for football, we needed another wing, so we have been looking to give junior Jack Ruth a look, and with that spot available, we suited him up. Well, that decision looks pretty solid now as Jack Ruth scored all the goals scored in the match—two, We took down the Tigers 2-0 as Jack framed the post for his fi...

Game 11 (8-2-1) 2 October in Burlington vs. Marquette University High in the finals (3-2 2OT’s) I am trying to remember the last time we made it to the finals of this prestigious tourney. You have to beat two of the better teams in the country to get to play a third game against, usually, a Top 5 team in the country and this is Marquette who sits #6 in the United Soccer Coaches poll after taking down #4, Morton, in their semifinal.  So. We will be even a little more short-handed today we believe as Joey got pretty banged up in our semi. So we will have another change to the starting line-up.  Well, that lineup did not last long as Ethan was getting doubled hard up top. We moved Yoseph up to a target striker and that did seem to open up the game quite a bit. Yoseph also gives us quite a nice left-footed dead ball.  His corner early in the second half tied it 1-1. And with only 18 minutes to go, Ryan earned us a PK that Ethan buried. We quickly surrendered the tying goal le...

Game 10 (8-1-1) 1 October vs. Barrington in Semis of the Great River Classic (2-1) We rallied yesterday into the semi-finals with our 4-3 comeback over Naperville North. So, today if we can defeat a good Barrington team, we will be in the finals of the Great River Classic against either of Top 10 teams of Morton or Marquette. This was quite a different match from yesterday wild event.  This match was pretty tight throughout. We did jump out to a 2-0 lead, and we did play a much tighter match than we did yesterday.  But Barrington was formidable—they showed that throughout. We did probably get the best of the play during the first half. We did take the lead with about 16 minutes left in the half when Ethan thieved a ball before turning it into a nice finish. Then, once again, here, towards the end of the half, Kitts juked a couple of guys, got into the box before he was taken down once again. (There was plenty of complaining from the sideline and even after the match, but if yo...