June 14, 2007
Hello all,
Our academic year has come to a recent end. Most of campus is a shadow of its bustling self! We wish our graduating seniors of James Dagonas, Keith Crum and Joe Frontczak the best of luck as they utilize more than their feet for future success. They have contributed daily for four years to the success of our program!
We had a tremendous spring season this April. Many players developed new roles and expanded roles in the absence of our seniors and others continued their great play. Each of our days at Washington Park had the spector of our matches vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Northwestern hanging over our heads. Each day our boys played hard and improved. We were all excited for what gameday may bring.
We loaded into several cars on Sunday April 29th and headed north to Hoyne Field, the destination for our spring matches of 2007. Hoyne Field is the home complex for Loyola University which played host to our matches.It was a gorgeous day, warm (felt like 90's) with a brisk breeze blowing across the field. The sun was bright and it was a fantastic setting for a DIII vs. DI showdown.
Game 1: Northwestern battled hard and defeated UW-Milwaukee by a score of 1-0. Game 2: Our boys started very positively in possession vs. a strong and athletic Milwaukee team. Positive possession and confidence were the features in the early going as our team passed and moved with comfort. The game had an excellent ebb and flow with periods of connected passes and short bursts of counter-attacking. Milwaukee's direct style caused several nervous moments in the early going, but through the remainder of the first half our backline of freshman Drew Marshall, sophomores Gabe Iatarola and Whitney Panneton, and Junior Jon Cartwright settled the game down.
We entered halftime with each team having several quality scoring chances.
The second half started much the same. Positive possession in midfield was controlled by Joe Farias-Eisner, Alex Takakuwa, Hiro Sato, and Jan-Michael Guerra (all freshmen). Andrew Hamilton (junior) and Edgar Friloux (freshman) held the ball up well in the attacking end and later produced our best chance of the game. After several short quick passes, Eric Floyd (sophomore) sent a ball through to Farias-Eisner who collided with the GK. Several inches either way and we might have had one. Several minutes later Floyd sent another ball through. This time, Friloux timed his diagonal run well and was denied on his first-time shot by an excellent save from the Milwaukee GK.
The match ended 0-0 and was very well played on all accounts.
Game 3: After a 5 minute break, our boys rolled out against a Northwestern squad which went to last year's Elite 8 in the NCAA Division I College Cup. These Wildcats are a veteran team which has turned the Northwestern program from a traditional last place finisher, into a competitor on the national scale and potential Big ten champs. Through our 60 minute match, Northwestern carried played and passed it really well. Our boys remained very organized and disciplined for 20 or so minutes before giving up the first goal. The second half was more of the same with lots of possession for the opponent, but a great defensive attitude from our guys.
The match finished 4-0. Our lack of fitness and game experience paid its toll on our guys as we played an opponent who had played 9 matches in the previous 6 weeks. Our team never gave up and sprinkled in tremendous passing play, defensive discipline, and physical grit. Most importantly, our guys fought hard against both teams which were considerably bigger than us at most positions.
The guys and I are really excited about the progress we made through the spring season, our performances against two tough D I opponents, and the steps we can make moving forward to continue our successes. We are very excited to welcome our incoming freshmen student-athletes in August and are anxious to get back on the field and follow-up our successful 2006.
Thanks to all the alums, parents, families and friends who have supported us from a distance. Your support is felt on a daily basis! |
