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This weekend left the Panthers with mixed emotions and a 1-1-0 record following the first two matches of competitive play. Being beaten 3-2 by Marquette, with a goal literally at the buzzer, saw the whole team leave Valley Fields feeling as bad as the nearby slaughterhouse smelled. The build up for Friday’s showdown rivalry had been exciting to be involved in and, for some, emotional. Lifelong Panther Luke Davey, starting his first Milwaukee Cup game, secured over 100 likes on Facebook for his heartfelt pre-match status – a testament to both the scale of the event and the cheesy word choices by our popular left back!
It was a game in which we showed moments of real quality with two great goals by Cody Banks and Declan Rodriguez. We also showed some naivety as a team though, making some mistakes and not completing the job when we got ourselves in a winning position.
The match’s scoring pattern was reminiscent of the Manchester City vs. QPR game on the final day of premier league last season. From a losing position, City managed to come back to win 3-2 in the final minute that day. As a Mancunian and City fan, the way that game worked out left me elated, whereas Friday’s defeat left us all gutted and in disbelief. But that is the beauty of soccer. It continually produces excitement and stirs emotions and that is the reason it is so keenly watched all around the globe.
It was our turn to provide a comeback on Sunday though, albeit slightly less dramatic but just as valuable, recording our first win of the season in our opening home fixture against Northern Kentucky. It is important for us to make Engelmann Stadium a venue that oppositions will dread coming to this fall. We took steps towards achieving that goal with a very strong second half performance, coming from a goal down to win 2-1 with another goal from Declan and a PK for myself. On top of the two goals we scored, we outshot the opponents and had numerous attempts saved or crashing back off the woodwork. This is encouraging and suggests that when we polish our finishing we can go on to score many more goals in the future.
Following a deserved day off, we will go on begin preparations for the 38th Panther Invitational. With pre-season over, the rhythm of the fall schedule will now take over as we also look to enjoy our final week of summer before the school semester starts up again.
