Duke
09-06-2009, 09:34 AM
September 6, 2009
Lobo Faithful:
What a tremendous turnout for our home opener last night! A sea of red, the steady beat of drummers, positive energy and the optimistic attitude of all who braved the ominous threat of late summer rain and lightning. The weather held and proved to be perfect for soccer, unlike the outcome of our match. After a sleepless night drifting in and out of semi-consciousness, I figured it would be cathartic to write this painful e-mail and then move on to our next match. Fueled up with my second cup of coffee at 6:00 am Sunday morning, here I go:
September 5, 2009: Lobos vs. #22 San Francisco 7:00 PM
San Francisco is a team we've had a good deal of success against the past three years. We watched video of their season opening 4-1 victory over UMKC and felt we matched up very well against the Don’s. Their attaching front four players were quality (played a 4-3-3 with a high center midfielder), but they had questions in the back. The game started out very well for us and we controlled the tempo and created numerous scoring chances in the early going. We were unable to put the ball into the net and the first half ended 0-0.
The glaring negative of the first half, was a knee injury to Dom Romero. Dom has battled back from two previous knee surgeries to his right knee and this time it’s his left knee. We will know specifics in the next two days.
We identified some areas we could improve upon at half time and felt good going into the second stanza. The possession and opportunities were all Lobos. We created chance after chance, but couldn't finish. We out shot USF 17-9 and had five corner kicks to the Don’s one. These statistics are misleading, in that they only had one decent scoring chance and we had 6-8 excellent chances in front of their goal. The game was being played in the USF defensive half and it seemed only a matter of time before we put one on the scoreboard.
As the remaining time on the clock began to tick away, we upped our attack and continued to press. With 6 minutes remaining, against the flow of the game, USF linked two passes in transition and slipped behind our back four to score a well executed goal. We continued to fight, but couldn't find the net. A pretty incredible result, but soccer is a cruel game. If you allow your opponent to stay in the game late, anything can happen. I thought we played very well and created tremendous chances.
Our challenge is to quickly move on, learn from our mistakes and prepare for our upcoming match. Things don’t get any easier. We are off to the Midwest and the “Lions Den”. We depart this Thursday for South Bend, Indiana and matches vs. two “Top 10” teams, Indiana and Notre Dame. I’m excited for these tests against the nations best. Thanks again for your incredible support.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Fishbein
Lobo Soccer
Lobo Faithful:
What a tremendous turnout for our home opener last night! A sea of red, the steady beat of drummers, positive energy and the optimistic attitude of all who braved the ominous threat of late summer rain and lightning. The weather held and proved to be perfect for soccer, unlike the outcome of our match. After a sleepless night drifting in and out of semi-consciousness, I figured it would be cathartic to write this painful e-mail and then move on to our next match. Fueled up with my second cup of coffee at 6:00 am Sunday morning, here I go:
September 5, 2009: Lobos vs. #22 San Francisco 7:00 PM
San Francisco is a team we've had a good deal of success against the past three years. We watched video of their season opening 4-1 victory over UMKC and felt we matched up very well against the Don’s. Their attaching front four players were quality (played a 4-3-3 with a high center midfielder), but they had questions in the back. The game started out very well for us and we controlled the tempo and created numerous scoring chances in the early going. We were unable to put the ball into the net and the first half ended 0-0.
The glaring negative of the first half, was a knee injury to Dom Romero. Dom has battled back from two previous knee surgeries to his right knee and this time it’s his left knee. We will know specifics in the next two days.
We identified some areas we could improve upon at half time and felt good going into the second stanza. The possession and opportunities were all Lobos. We created chance after chance, but couldn't finish. We out shot USF 17-9 and had five corner kicks to the Don’s one. These statistics are misleading, in that they only had one decent scoring chance and we had 6-8 excellent chances in front of their goal. The game was being played in the USF defensive half and it seemed only a matter of time before we put one on the scoreboard.
As the remaining time on the clock began to tick away, we upped our attack and continued to press. With 6 minutes remaining, against the flow of the game, USF linked two passes in transition and slipped behind our back four to score a well executed goal. We continued to fight, but couldn't find the net. A pretty incredible result, but soccer is a cruel game. If you allow your opponent to stay in the game late, anything can happen. I thought we played very well and created tremendous chances.
Our challenge is to quickly move on, learn from our mistakes and prepare for our upcoming match. Things don’t get any easier. We are off to the Midwest and the “Lions Den”. We depart this Thursday for South Bend, Indiana and matches vs. two “Top 10” teams, Indiana and Notre Dame. I’m excited for these tests against the nations best. Thanks again for your incredible support.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Fishbein
Lobo Soccer