Hudson and Memorial took an opportunity to step out of BRC play and face a few tough non-conference opponents this weekend. The top two teams in Big Rivers went south to Madison to face perennial D2 top dog Oregon, last years State Champs at D2 and also face off with Middleton, a Top 10 team in the recent coaches poll.
Regardless of results, it is critical for these two teams to face off with some difficult opponents as they head toward the State Playoffs. The competition in BRC is good, but not the level to prepare a team for a deep run in the playoffs. River Falls and Rice Lake get the opportunity to play Memorial and Hudson twice each year and these teams represent exactly what they need to prep for the D2 and D3 state tournaments. For Memorial and Hudson, heading south to Madison or Milwaukee is the ticket. It was mixed results for the two teams, Husdon with likely their best back to back performances of the season and a real confidence boost for the rest of the season. They ended the weekend with a hard fought 1-0 win over Oregon on Friday night and an impressive 4-1 win over a top 10 team Middleton on Saturday afternoon. They will come out of the weekend buzzing and full of energy.
For Memorial, I think it was a little disappointing weekend. I know they will take a lot of positives away with the quality of their play, but it was not a weekend of results for them. Friday night they face doff against Middleton under threatening skies. An early foul against the Memorial GK led to a 1-0 lead by Middleton on the successful PK. As if to even things out, a late call against the Middleton GK, led to a Nunez converted PK and a 1-1 tie at halftime. Memorial continued to pressure Middleton and look for another goal, but the weather would not cooperate. At the 65th minute the game was called early due to weather in the area. It felt like Memorial was the better team, better possession and better chances for the winning goal. The stats support that as well. for the game, Middleton had just 6 shots on goal while Memorial had 14. That’s a bunch of chances and if I had seen that stat prior to seeing the final score, I would have predicted a 3-0 or 3-1 win. As well, you just feel like if they had played to full 90 minutes, Memorial wears them down and gets another goal or two.
Saturday’s game was much more competitive, but equally frustrating. Oregon took an early lead on a blocked shot, that was put away on the rebound. It stayed that way for awhile and then Memorial had a chance to get even, but was denied. A PK opportunity was saved and kept Oregon clear by a goal. As Memorial was pressing for a late goal to earn a draw they were left a bit exposed and Oregon scored on a late counter attack for the 2-0 final. Shots on goal was another interesting story. Oregon with 8 shots on goal but Memorial with 11 shots on goal. If you had shown me the shots on goal before the game, I would have predicted a 2-1 game or maybe Memorial wins 1-0. For this weekend, it was just not meant to be. There were plenty of shots, plenty of opportunities, but maybe just not clinical enough, and maybe some good GK play for the opponents. Just not a weekend of results. It was the first loss on the season for Memorial. You want to win them all, but there are times a loss can be productive for a coach. If you don’t play your best….. if you don’t finish your chances…..it you take a team lightly…..these are the common phrases. It just gives a chance to refocus a team. Now starts the push for playoffs. Now the resolve gets tested. Now we find out about our team. This is why you head south and play difficult non-conference games. Better to learn the lesson now than at playoff time. Hudson is flying high, but you also don’t want to peak early….Memorial played well enough to win both games, but will now have the chance to use this weekend as motivation the rest of the year. Time will tell.
The theme of the weekend was PK’s. Let take a look at 20 of the most famous PK’s of all time. Most made, some not. Many of these were in Champions League finals, or World Cup games. Enjoy!