Memorial extended their strong season with a hard-fought, but well deserved 2-0 win over Park High School (Cottage Grove, MN) to extend their season record to 15-1-2.  After locking up their conference, The Abes are now working to get ready for the playoff season.  A road trip to Cottage Grove against a solid non-conference opponent is just the ticket to round out their preparations.

Memorial controlled play in both halves and owned most of the possession.  One of those games where the Park GK made a few saves but nothing too dangerous or difficult. In talking with Cooper Lyons after the game he stated, “We controlled the play and possession but did not show enough urgency in the final third in the first half, we knew our goals would come”.  Sometimes these games can be decided by Set Plays and Memorial has shown they can be dangerous on corner kicks and direct kicks.  As well, their defensive fullbacks have really stepped up their crossing game this year, offering up great service in the box for the Abes.

Halftime 0-0, but things would turn Memorials way in the second half.

15 minutes into the second half, Memorial found the net.  Joe Free got things started on a nice cross into the box.  Longville directed a header on goal but unfortunately, it hit the cross bar.  Fortunately, Jacob Peloquin was in the right spot at the right time and knocked one in the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.

At the 22 minute mark of the second half, the set play arrived.  Owen Jolley, doing what Owen Jolley does, put a dangerous ball into the near post area off a corner kick.  Cooper Lyons, making an aggressive near post run, was able to extend a leg and redirect the ball into the back of the net.  No chance for the GK on the bang bang play as the ball had some pace on it off the nice corner.

No video of the actual plays, but hey, that has not stopped us before.  So in honor of the first goal, check out this video.  I mean, it sounds like that is exactly how it happened.  Free to Longville to Peolquin.  1-0 Abes.

So for the second goal, we have this beauty.  A corner kick and volley.  Not quite a near post run, but a fantastic redirect off the volley.  I like it.  Jolley to Lyons.  2-0 Abes.  Game over.  Nice win.

As well, The Park vs. Memorial game comes with a prize for the winning team.  There are some fun traditions is sports over the years for rivalry games.  Most of you know about a few of these.

Wisconsin v. Minnesota football winner gets the Paul Bunyon Axe.

Indiana v Purdue winner gets the Old Oaken Bucket

Michigan v. Minnesota winner gets the Little Brown Jug

Well, when Memorial started their non-conference game with Park, they also started a little tradition as well.  The winner of this game, billed the “Battle for the Paddle” for the last 5-6 years, (I think…might need to confirm) also gets to take the “Paddle” as victors of this border battle.  Memorial has had a nice run and gets the “Paddle” for another year.  Here are a few fun photos to commemorate the festivities.

One more conference game on Tuesday against Rice Lake…one more non-conference game next weekend against New Richmond.  Let’s finish off the regular season strong and then…well…this team has bigger things on its mind!

Memorial had no let down tonight after winning the Conference Championship on Tuesday.  They completely dominated Menomonie from start to finish with a business like 8-0 performance, scoring their first goal at the 1:10 mark and finishing it off with goal 8 at the 89th minute mark.  It was expected, when the top team in the conference plays the team at the bottom.  Menomonie brings great effort and attitude but just does not have the talent or depth to hang with Memorial this year.

For Memorial you just wanted to check a few boxes tonight.

Play hard, play efficient with no let down.  The early score set the tone for the night. There would be no upset tonight.

Keep your confidence and momentum as the conference season winds down, this team has bigger plans this year.  Mission accomplished.  Leading scorer Jack Longville hit for 4 scores tonight and 5 different Abes scored a goal.  A decisive win with a dominating first half of possession for Memorial.

No injuries.  You also need a little luck and good fortune to advance deep.  All good for Memorial as they were able to rest starters and let their deep bench get some extra time.  That is important as well.  They will need all hands on deck to make a deep run into the playoffs.

Shout out to Dawn….thanks for the updates, could not have written this without you.  You know I will be asking for more help tomorrow at Park…so get ready!  Also, big thanks to Miles for the video.  If these look better, then it’s because a tech savvy youngster took the video and not me…so let’s see how he did…on to the highlights.

The first goal happened quick…too quick for my video assistant (unpaid assistant so how much can I expect really) to capture, but I am told it was a misplayed ball by the GK on a slow roller from Longville, maybe a slip on the wet field, so let’s not show that one.  Don’t have any video, so that works out. Here is goal number 2, a nice assist for Jolley over the top of the defense giving Jack time to maneuver and slot home a nice shot. 2-0 Abes.

Around the 35 minute mark, Will Orser and Jack Longville combine for a nice play along the touch line.  Will with a nice pass and Jack with the quick touch finds the near post.  Bang bang play for a 3-0 lead and a first half hat trick for Longville.

This next goal is kind of interesting.  Mitch Brenner gets the hustle award of the night for his persistence.  The ball just kept ending up near his feet, he kept getting bumped but just keep with it.  A bit unfortunate that the referee did not just let it play out and a whistle blew for a foul.  Kind of a bummer they took the score away from Brenner after all his hard work.  A penalty is called and Orser calmly puts it away.  Spoiler Alert: Don’t feel too bad…I am predicting Brenner might make some noise later.

The GK for Menomonie guesses right, makes a good attempt to dive to his left, but too much power and placement for Orser.  Well done. 4-0 at the 30 minute mark.

So this one gets the award for the goal of the night. 7 total touches.  Let’s see, we had two crosses, 3 headers, a few other touches and a crazy flick header from Longville (goal #4 tonight) from near the 18 that goes upper 90.  In hockey we would give 2 assists for the nice lay off from Lyons and the nice cross from Free.  You might want to watch this one a few times.  Enjoy, you wont see one like this very often. A flick header from the 18, wow!

The half ends at 5-0.  I was about to lose my video assistant but he was able to capture one more nice play.  Memorial almost got it to 6 on a nice rip from Cooper Lyons from just outside the 18.  Well, maybe about 25 yards.  A nice layoff to him and a really nice first touch one time shot with some pace on it.  The GK pushes it wide.  A little bit left and that’s a goal.  Keep shooting kid!

The second half was more of the same with the Abes hitting for three more goals.

Bryce Burlingame opened his season scoring account for the season on a PK at the 46 minute mark.  I think that makes every starter except Joe Free with a goal this year.  Pretty impressive.  Something tells me Joe will have a big goal before the season ends.  He did add an assist tonight to his tally.

Zach Haig hit for another goal this year off a set play direct kick from Cooper Lyons.  That’s 2 in the last 3 games for Haig.

And in the name of poetic justice, Mitch Brenner scores in the 88th minute, unassisted.  He deserved that first one, so really cool he was able to score.  Well deserved.  Let’s honor Mitch with this little doozy of a goal by Edan Hazard from Chelsea..  I mean…it might have happened just like this.  Enjoy!

So that’s how it finished, a nice 8-0 win over Menomonie.  One game left in conference, a little revenge game against Rice Lake for ruining their perfect league record :).  Memorial steps out of league this weekend for a game against Park High School.  Normally a tough opponent , Park has struggled a bit this year with a 3-9-1 record but most of the losses are only by 1-2 goals, so competitive.  The only common opponent has been Stillwater.  An early season scrimmage with Memorial ended in a 0-0 score while Stillwater handed Park a 4-0 loss.  Park has a nice program so get ready for a good game against a skilled opponent looking for a signature win.

Are you ready Dawn….you know I will be texting for updates!!

So, note to self, don’t forget your umbrella next time.  If you do, just accept you’ll get wet and stay at the game.  My apologies to Matt Martinez, for not recognizing that the third goal last night was scored by him.  I was heading back to the field when the score happened and thought I saw Jack Longville celebrating the goal.  No surprise, he scores a lot of goals.  So, lets get this right.

Martinez scores the goal off an assist from Orser.  That’s 3 goals in the past 3 games for Martinez.  So in tribute to Matt, let’s imagine what that goal might have looked like.

I mean it might have happened that way.  I hear it was a pinpoint strike.  As a Chelsea fan it was hard to put this in the post, but in honor of Matt…had to do it!

Conference Champs!  Conference Champs! Conference Champs!  Okay…now that I have that out of the way, let’s talk about the game.  I mean, I am a fan and it is really nice to be able to say Conference Champs with 2 games left in the BRC.   Hudson had a two season run as champs and it was time to take back the crown and make the claim that Memorial is the dominant team in the BRC.  A well-earned, hard-fought, physical battle ended in a 3-1 win for the Old Abes.

Some observations.

Hudson was a different team tonight compared to the first game at Hudson.  They came out of the gate with energy and desire.  They were flying all over the field, playing with a sense of desperation…which is appropriate…since this was a must win game if they wanted to win conference.  The game felt dripping with tension.  There was an edginess in the atmosphere.  Players felt it, fans felt it, I think the coaches felt it…as well in my opinion the Center Ref felt it.  There was no real flow or symmetry to the game.  Possession on both sides was limited, tackles and physical plays were numerous, and the Ref let them play. It was a very even game for the first 25 minutes.  Shots were few as both defenses were closing down, stepping hard and pressing any movement in the box.

I remember at the 25 minute mark thinking to myself…this feels like a game that will be decided on a set play (corner kick or direct kick).  A game that would not be won with standard offense and breaking down a defense with crisp passes and well place shots.  It just felt like something else would be needed.  That something else arrived at the 26 minute mark when Memorial earned a corner kick.  I hate zonal marking.  I just do.  Feels wrong to me.  Standing in space and covering an area on the field.  It just feels a bit helpless to me as a coach.  Some coaches love it and swear by it…I am not one of those.

Give me good old-fashioned man marking, touch marking, grab a shirt and hang on for dear life.  Hudson believes in zonal marking.  Simon Larson is 6’2″ , maybe 6’3″ and was unmarked in the middle of the box.  A nice service from Owen Jolley and bam….Larson rises up and pounds home a header for the 1-0 lead.

The remaining part of the half was marked with a lot of physical play.  Memorial started to improve possession and were able to get some shots off but nothing too dangerous.  No real action for Hudson as the half continued.  It was  just a battle.  It felt choppy as well.  A bunch on injuries, some strange penalties (more on that later) and multiple clock stoppages prevented the game from flowing the way a normal Memorial game plays out.  But hey, you have to win ugly sometimes too.

Physical Play

A few examples of plays that were happening all night.  One of the more physical games all year (I missed Green Bay Preble but sounded similar).  Joe Free colliding with a Hudson player.  No free possession, no free balls, everything contested.  A penalty on Joe and a free kick to Hudson.

Owen Jolly on one of his patented long runs down the left side.  Now I know I am a fan, but what do you think.  Hudson player never touched the ball.  Hudson player jams an arm into the back of Jolley and takes him to the ground, wins the ball and plays out.  No penalty, just a good clean play….yeah right.

The Second Half

Memorial looked a different team the first 25 minutes of the second half.  They came out and dictated play right from the whistle.  They owned possession during this period, passing was crisp, penetration into the box was much improved and shots were starting to pick up.  When they lost possession, they pressed quickly and won the ball back.  Hudson was on their heels.  I have found you generally get rewarded for this type of effort and many times the reward is a bit fortunate.  Rosenberger makes it 2-0 on a hustle play and a friendly deflection….up and over the GK….off of a set play.  Like I said earlier…it just had the feel of a set play game.

During this same run of play we were treated to what would have been one of the best goals of then season (I missed the Longville Prebel goal..currently the first choice for goal of the year).

Longville makes it 3-0.  As the rain was picking up, I had to flee and go get my umbrella.  As fate would have it, on my way to the car, Longville knifed into the box and pounded home another goal.  No video. But hey, he has scored 31 times this year, so I am including this one as representation of what I think the goal probably looked like.  Hang with me here. It could have looked like this…there is a chance.  To play click on the YouTube link and then click back to finish the post.

Correction.  I got it wrong.  I had left the field for a moment to get my umbrella during the rain.  Got some bad advice….you know who you are.  It was Martinez off an assist from Orser.  Way to go Matt.  3 goals in the past 3 games.

Man, I wish I got that excited after a goal as the announcer.  So the game sits at 3-0 and it just felt like the tension was finally lifted.  About this same time, it started to rain.  Radar was perfectly clear at game time and the rain was well past Eau Claire.  So where did this come from.  I think it was just perfect timing, the rain was like washing away all the stress of the game.  Things felt calmer during and after the rain, stress was gone, tension lifted, maybe Hudson knew the game was secured and maybe Memorial did as well.

So what was left…the only real drama was whether Memorial and GK Hanson would keep a clean sheet and extend the long scoreless streak in conference.  The last goal in conference was Aug 31 at River Falls early in that game. Since then 7 straight games with no goal.  I had moved to the other end of the pitch to get some defensive footage for the first time this year.  Trying to be fair to the awesome defense of Jolley-Larson-Burlingame-Free.  I have missed a bunch of great saves by Hanson and thought maybe I would get one tonight.  As fate would have it and with all apologies to GK Hanson who just has a great article written on him in the Leader Telegram today….I videotaped this.

Another set play!  A chip into the box and a good header on goal in a dangerous spot.  Hanson makes a cat quick leap and pushes the ball over…well not quite over the bar…it hits the cross-bar, bounces straight down off the ground and sits up perfectly for the tap in header.  I have to say, probably a deserved goal for as hard as Hudson worked all night.  It takes this kind of goal with a ball off the bar and the perfect funny bounce to beat Tyler.  The streak unfortunately is over.  Time to start a new one!

Top 3 Takeaways from the Game

Ref had a tough night. I think he let too much go early and it cost him a bit.  He called a yellow early when I thought he should have just talked to the player and given him a warning.  He called a yellow late on a player for what I think was delay of game after he requested the ball be moved a few times and Memorial leading 3-0.  Strange.  He let a lot of calls go with nothing.  I know a tough job and all respect to refs, just my opinion that he had just an okay game.

Weird watching when your son is not playing. Cooper was not able to play tonight and I must say it is a bit weird to watch a game when your son does not play. Stress is different.  Less anxiety. Maybe a bit more relaxing, but definitely weird.

Memorial handles missing starters better tonight.  Earlier this year in the Rice Lake game, Memorial was missing two starters and the game felt out of sync.  Lots of missed opportunities.  Tonight, with two starters out of the line up, and several players needing to come off for injuries, Memorial managed thru and did not miss a beat.  Rotations were different and the bench stepped up.  A good sign of a team maturing as the season develops.

I will end with this image.  Your 2017 BRC Conference Champs.  Eau Claire Memorial.  See the glow behind them as the sun is setting.  Seems appropriate (gotta find a way to get better video during these games, it gets dark fast). Let’s finish off the last few games and build toward something bigger!!

Another game and another clean sheet for Memorial.  It was a business like performance as the Abes scored early and maintained a healthy portion of the possession, picking up three goals in the first half on their way to a 5-0 win at North.  The formula is familiar the past few games.  Dominate play in the first half, get your goals, get a solid lead, rest the starters, let the young guns get some playing time, keep a clean sheet.  Wash….Rinse….Repeat.  Their performance was solid.  Of note, Matt Martinez got a start at the winger position and injected some excellent pace, energy and a deft touch.  His play early dictated the pace and energy for Memorial and got them out of the gate fast.

Note to self, check your phone and make sure it is set up to video when you arrive at the game.  Sometimes Memorial scores very early.  I found my spot and went to camera and video and…nothing…black screen…uh oh.  What now…better reset the phone, must be an Apple glitch.  As I am resetting, of course, Martinez makes a beautiful run down the right side….offers up a little shake and bake…gets the corner and sends in a beautiful cross into the box.  Jacob Peloquin is making a surging run into the box and he “crushes” a one time right footed volley into the back of the net.  That one had some power on it.  A really nice goal.  Bummer….I missed it…still have a black screen on my phone.

As well, I must mention that the game might have turned a bit in the first half if not for some quality GK play from Tyler Hanson.  On two occasions, Braden Pick from North got into space, used his incredible speed to get some clearance and create a very dangerous situation.  On both occasions, Hanson made the perfect read, zoomed into sweeper keeper mode and made two really nice saves.  A nice block on the first and a sweep up of a loose ball on the second.  A third nice play also kept Pick from getting off a shot.  Great work.  I think with another keeper and another team, Pick scores at least one goal, maybe two.  On this day, Hanson was ready…no goals.  I happened to bump into a Eau Claire native Patrick McLain in the second half and he commented on Hanson’s play.  McClain might be the most successful Eau Claire native in regards to his college career and professional career.  4 Years at Division 1 Cal Poly SLO where he was named 2nd team All Big West and holds the school record for save percentage at .835.  He has played GK professionally since 2009 between the USL and MLS.  Securing 60 starts in the USL and another 5 in the MLS.  He is currently with the Minnesota United MLS team and I sure hope he gets some more chances to show his stuff.  Cool that he has attended two Memorial games this year supporting his Alma Mater.  A great role model for our local teams and players.  When Pat says Hanson looked good and was sharp in the field, it means something.  He made reference to how good he is at reading plays and shutting down opportunities.  Well done Tyler.

Lets take a look at some highlights.  Sorry I don’t have Peloquin’s goal referenced above.  My bad Jacob. It was a nice goal.

Longville scores to make it 2-0 on a surging run down the middle, makes a few nice moves to create some space on the left side, gets the ball onto his left foot and powers a low drive past the goal keeper.  The speed of his runs is amazing, he keeps great control and creates a lot of power, even with his left foot.

If you have checked out some of the earlier posts, then you know I have been on a Haig watch for a goal all year.  He works so hard and has been close so many times, that you just knew one was coming. Well..here it is.  A very nice assist from Longville (I think Jack uses his outside right foot for the pass, very cheeky) plays Haig into open space down the right side.  Haig times the run perfectly, sets up the GK and ones times a nice side foot in the lower right hand corner.  Well earned and well deserved.   In tribute to Haig’s first goal of the year…or maybe because I hit the slo motion button by mistake…I prefer the tribute…this goal is in slo mo.  Hang in there because it looks really cool in slo mo.  Sometimes mistakes pay off and a nice rebound for me after missing the first goal.

Another nice run by Jack that just misses his second goal. He surges past three defenders and gets off a shot from a tight angle.  Almost.  He was rewarded in the second half as he scored his second goal of the game on a rocket shot off the post and in and then also gets his second assist of the game.

As mentioned earlier, Martinez really played with energy and got the Abes off to a fast start.  He was rewarded in the second half as he finishes off a nice pass from Longville and deftly flicks it up and over the keeper for a 4-0 lead.  His second goal in as many games.  He is really adding another offensive dimension to the Old Abes attack.

Top 3 Takeaways from the Game

Another Clean sheet for Memorial. 9 league games, 8 Clean Sheets and only 1 goal allowed.  Impressive.

Man of the Match (MOTM). I think tri-winners tonight.  I just can’t decide so bloggers prerogative!  Longville with 2 goals and 2 assists.  Martinez with a goal and an assist and Hanson with two big saves in the first half to prevent any North momentum and keep things calm.

A win Tuesday secures the Conference Crown. (I think) Big game on Tuesday against Hudson.  A win could clinch the conference title. You know Hudson will bring it so we need to be ready.