Okay, let me remind everyone that I am a Memorial fan. I mean, my son plays on the team, so no surprise I cheer hard for the Abes. It has been a fun year and the posts have been fun to write. Not tonight. Tonight is harder. But hey, I guess that comes with the territory. Let me give this a try.
Let me get this over with. Rice Lake wins 2-0. Congratulations to Rice Lake and GK Seth Kurzynski for a nice win. A big win for Rice Lake. You could feel it was big as the Rice Lake parents counted down the last 10 seconds….they were loud and proud…it was hard to listen to it, but it was well deserved by their team. Outgunned, outmanned, less talent, but no less passion and energy on the field. They played hard. They hustled, they fought, they were very fortunate, maybe a little lucky, and sometimes in sports, things just go your way and upsets happen. It was not a critical game for Memorial, having won conference and likely their #1 seed is not in jeopardy heading into the regionals next week. But man what a strange game , no other way to explain it. Soccer is funny that way sometimes. Weird!
It will be interesting to look at the stats tomorrow. If you review the Box Score first and do not look at the score, you would predict the final score of Memorial 6-0 over Rice Lake. Memorial dominated possession. I would say 70-80% possession. Memorial dominated shots. I am guessing Memorial had 25-30 shots (maybe more) and probably 10-15 of those on goal. Memorial hit the cross-bar. Memorial had 8-10 corners. It was a typical game for Memorial in the box score and on the field, but anything but typical on the scoreboard. Two games against Rice Lake and no goals. How did we lose that game. Weird!
I am guessing Rice Lake had 4-5 shots and probably 3 on goal that I remember. I missed the first goal. Halftime was winding down and the parents were headed to get ready for the Halftime Senior/Parent Night program. At the 44:35 mark as a ball was getting cleared out of the box it ended up with a Rice Lake player, who hit a shot from 25-30 yards out. No chance right…too far out…just a last-minute shot since you have nothing going for you offensively, might as well try a rip from distance, what do you have to lose. Shockingly, the ball finds the net. Talking to players later, they were not sure the Memorial GK even saw the shot. I should mention that Memorials Tyler Hanson did not start tonight, giving way to Senior Aaron Brotzman on Senior Night. Not sure there was anything he could have done. That shot goes in probably 1 in 100 tries from that distance. But on this night, 1-0 Rice Lake. I should also mention that Jack Longville did not start, resting a sore knee, and needing him for more important games down the road. Maybe he finishes a few of the first half shots and Memorial has an easy lead, maybe not, but the shots just would not go in on this night. Weird!
I mentioned earlier that Soccer can be a funny game. If you dominate a team in Football, it usually turns into a win. You eventually get the ball across the goal line. In basketball, if you out shoot the opponent by a large margin , it almost always means you win. But in soccer, there is that darn GK issue. On some nights, the GK is just in the right spot, shots are right at them, shots somehow get deflected by defenders, shots somehow hit the crossbar, shots somehow go just wide or just high and when the GK is beat, it happens to land on top of the net and not drop into the net. Then there is a nice save or two that shut down some of the best shots. Then the top scoring player in the conference breaks free, but hits it right at the GK, when he would normally score that one 9 out of 10 times. Soccer is funny that way. You just felt Memorial’s goal was coming, they pressed and pressed, shot and shot, but it was just not their night tonight. No goals. A few nice saves by GK Kurzynski, but I think even he would admit, things really went this way tonight. That’s usually what it take for an upset. A late corner by Rice Lake and a header that drifted up and over the GK made it a 2-0 final. How did that shot find the net. Weird!
So what now. Well, I think the team just shakes this off and moves on. Pretty sure they are not happy and that is good. Sometimes a late season loss is exactly the medicine to re-focus a team, get their attention, and create the drive in practice needed for a championship run. No one likes a loss, but now let’s make the loss work for us. I mean Memorial totally dominated that game, except somehow lost 2-0. Weird!
So, painful as it sounds I do have some highlights.
I think this sequence sums up the night. How does that ball not find the net.
Now we have a series of almost. Another….how did that not find the net.
Luke Rosenberger. Almost #3
Almost #4. Mitch Brenner.
Almost #5. Cooper Lyons. I asked him later and he thought it was upper 90 when he hit it, but it was wide right by 5-6 inches.
Almost #6. Will Orser.
Almost #7. Jack Longville. Jack came on for 20-25 minutes. Thought that one was going to drop in.
Almost #8. Zach Haig. Nice stop Seth.
Ugh! So I guess that is it. I am using the blog post to try to purge the game from me…not sure it is working. I just can’t figure out how we lost that game. So many shots! So close so many times! Soccer can be a funny game. Frustrating. Weird!
Bold Prediction. This galvanizes the team, creates the urgency needed for post season and leads to a great season ending.
Now though, it just sucks.
Weird Night Continues. Just finished catching updates on the US Mens National Team in their effort to qualify for the World Cup. They were playing the last team in the 6-team group, Trinidad and Tobago. A win or tie would allow them to advance. They are in a good position. The lose 2-1 and one of the goals is an own goal. Shocking! But still a chance to advance. If Mexico beats Honduras and they are favored as the top team in the group, we advance. A late goal by Honduras beats Mexico 3-2. Stunning! But still a chance. If Costa Rica beats Panama and they are favored, then the US will advance. A late goal by Panama beats Costa Rica 2-1. Devastating! I can’t believe I am writing this, the US Mens National Team does NOT qualify for the World Cup. For a soccer fan who just started a soccer blog, this is depressing. However bad I felt after the Memorial game, this is worse. This really, really sucks.
Bold Prediction #2. Bruce Arena is fired as coach of the Mens Team and there is a complete overhaul of the program, system, selection of players and selection of coaches. This is the lowest point in my lifetime of the US Mens program.