Peter Sanger, a senior on the 2010 Milwaukee men's soccer team, will be blogging all season long on the UWM website. Today is his sixth blog entry.
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Riding the momentum of our encouraging tie against San Diego State, we went into training feeling confident, but still with much to prove. Don’t get me wrong, it was great to pull of a tie against a top-quality team, but winning is the motivation behind all the hard work we put in. We know we can play quality, attractive soccer with the best of them, but there comes a point where everyone needs to see results, which is exactly what was on the agenda for us at Valparaiso Friday night.
The start of conference play is similar to starting a new season. There’s a renewed buzz of excitement overtaking the teams as you’ve followed other conference teams results so far, but now there’s finally a chance to get a look first hand. Going into the game on Friday, Valpo was undefeated and had only conceded one goal in six games. Instead of fearing their regional ranking, we knew it was a golden opportunity to get off on the right foot in Horizon League play.
We started the game with a long spell of possession and within the first 10 minutes we were ahead 1-0 courtesy of a teasing delivery from Ross van Osdol from a set piece, finished superbly by Greg Rosenthal via his head. Our confidence was high and we all felt Valpo was probably considering themselves lucky to hear the half-time whistle with the scoreboard at only 1-0. About 13 minutes into the second half however, Valpo struck back. A through ball caught us exposed at the back and Bryce Boyd had no chance but to take their striker out in the area on a breakaway. The Crusaders tied it up 1-1 on the resulting penalty kick and the real battle began.
From then on was a perfect example of a typical conference game. End to end soccer, which was only intensified with some fireworks going off in the near distance. We ended regulation at 1-1, but all believed we’d be grabbing our first conference ‘W’ in the overtime. Robbie Boyd was the man to deliver some fireworks of his own towards the end of the first overtime. A great ball from Ryan Whitehead found him in the corner, with two defenders closing in. He somehow turned the corner and despite my pleas with him from the sideline to go down, he carried a defender on his back for a couple yards before blasting a left footed shot below last year's Conference Goalkeeper of the year. Our sideline exploded, with Coach Shepherd leading the charge, nothing felt better than celebrating our first conference win, on their field, especially following some unfortunate events that unfolded last year at the same location in the conference tournament.
Saturday brought a recovery day and more English Premier League action. Unfortunately, Arsenal chose to turn in an uninspired performance resulting in a home loss to West Brom. Without Cesc Fabregas, they looked a bit lost and lacking leadership and focus on the field against a lesser opponent. Time will tell if it will prove costly, but this is the type of game Champions win, especially considering Chelsea’s shock loss to Man City earlier that morning. Thankfully, Man United also drew, keeping Arsenal near the top of the table with a lot of football left to be played.
Butler came to town on Sunday, boasting an undefeated record and a national ranking of No. 17. We played at nearby Concordia, due to Engelmann’s lack of a finished playing surface. It wasn’t an ideal first home game, but it was nice to travel to a field within half an hour van ride.
We started the game a little bit slow, but ended the first half feeling the dominant of the two sides. Andrew had a brilliant chipped goal called back due to a dubious offside call and Butler’s opportunities were few and far between. They seemed content to settle for long throws and corner kicks, while we were trying to get the ball down and play. Early in the second half we paid the price for not having put away any of our chances in the first 45 minutes and coming out flat after half time. A set piece was the result of their first goal and a penalty kick provided their insurance goal. We spent the remaining 25 minutes of the half chasing the game, but in the end we just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.
It was a frustrating way to end the weekend, but sometimes that’s just the way it goes. We left the game knowing we can play with and beat them, yet there’s plenty reasons why they’ve started the season so well. We still need to be more ruthless in front of the goal and translate our dominating possession and play into more goals and wins. All in all, it was still an acceptable start to conference play and we’ll be headed into our road trip to Detroit and Cleveland State next weekend with two wins on our mind.
For this weeks shout-out, I’d like to give a big thanks to all of you who made it out to our game Sunday and those who made the trek down to Valley Fields for our game against Marquette on September 1st. Although neither have been real home games, all of the fans who have come out to support us have made it feel like it. Although I spend the majority of the game tuned out from the crowd, there’s something special about when it’s late in the game and you’re chasing after a 50/50 ball with your opponent and you can hear your fans cheering your name. I really hope that what we do on the field can continue to warrant such support from you and that you’ll all feel implored to continue to come out and cheer us on. Engelmann Field should be done and ready come October 9th when we take on UW-Green Bay for the Chancellor’s Cup at our real home opener and we’re hoping for another electric atmosphere come kickoff. Until next time,
Joga Bonito
