There was a soccer game in New Richmond today featuring the home team New Richmond Tigers and the Memorial Old Abes. There were shots and saves and great passes and great defense. There were also some missed shots, some bad passes and some bad defensive plays. There were parents cheering for their kids and enjoying watching them play the game they love. But there were also some heavy hearts. The New Richmond community is coming to terms with the loss of a 16-year old high school girl and soccer player this week. Today, the team and fans paid tribute to Megan Bennig. No words can express the loss of a child. I heard a parent in the Memorial stands comment, “I guess the score doesn’t really matter today”. That really sums it up for me. As parents we love our sports. We cheer hard. We are happy when they win, sad when they lose. We place a lot of pressure on our kids. Maybe we shouldn’t. Today was a good reminder. Give your kid a hug tonight, tell them you love them, tell them how much you enjoy watching them play soccer. And as well, say a little prayer for New Richmond and the family and friends of Megan.
Yes there was a game today. Memorial got back into their groove and played efficiently. The energy, passing and movement were excellent. It was a good reply to their tough loss at home last week. Will Orser drove the ship today and really impacted the game. His passing and distribution were key to the dominant first half. He had a goal and really controlled the play in midfield. Memorial dominated possession and worked the ball around the pitch well. Goals were from excellent build up play, working the ball down the wings and finding opportunities for crosses or space in the middle to break down the defense.
Here are some highlights. Really good build up play and connecting multiple passes leads to a nice chest trap and shot from Orser and then a nice hustle play from Peloquin to pressure the GK. Peloquin put the GK in a bad spot and sometimes that creates a scoring opportunity. Peloquin taken down in the box. Penalty.
Orser steps up and buries the PK. So calm and so smooth on PK’s. 1-0 memorial.
Luke Rosenberger was very dangerous today. He was aggressive and looking for space. He had several quality runs and shots on the day. Here was a great opportunity. A nice pass from Orser and a good shot heading for goal. A late stab by the GK to save this one. Rosenberger knew it was heading into goal based on his reaction.
You just had a feeling Rosenberger was going to get one today. Mitch Brenner was very active in the middle today and plays a great ball into space for Rosenberger who takes a nice touch inside, sets up the GK and fires one into the side net. Nice shot. 2-0 Memorial.
Tell me if you have heard this one before. Owen Jolley makes a surging run down the left side, makes a pinpoint cross into the middle and the Abes score. Assit Jolley. Well, here we go again. Peloquin with the nice touch and quick shot to make it 3-0 Memorial in the first half.
The game was really decided at that point. The emotion of the day for New Richmond was tough. A hard game to play and hats off to them for their brave effort, hustle and heart today. The second half was much the same for Memorial as far as possession and quality of play. They were able to get all their reserves into the game and finish off a quality win as they point toward the playoffs.
Top Takeaways for the Game
Another Clean Sheet. Defense and GK was sharp. The shots were limited and Tyler Hanson was on his toes cleaning up all the balls over the top and handling the few shots that came his way.
Team Played Better Without Longville. Memorial has played two games this year without Longville and failed to score both times. Granted, they had a ton of shots, but could not find the back of the net. Today, they got three and looked confident in the offensive zone. Passing was crisp and the finishing was very efficient. This will be critical come playoff time when defenses put extra attention on Longville as they try to shut down Memorial.
Brackets for Division 1 should be out tomorrow. We will be posting updates as soon as they are available.
Remember, go hug your kid tonight!!