Oct. 10, 2012
Lobo Faithful,
The collegiate soccer season is an incredibly condensed four months (if you make it to the National Finals). It’s 20 regular season contests, conference tournament and NCAA Tournament in those four months. Training begins mid-August in 100-degree heat, and the NCAA Championships conclude mid-December in the cold of winter. The weather is transitioning here in Albuquerque and with this transition, we are fighting our worst enemy, the FLU! Cold weather gear is being issued to the team this morning (hats, gloves and heavy jackets) in preparation for our weekend trip to Colorado and the conditions we will face the next two months.
The team is back to good health, and we seem to have encountered and overcome the first major obstacles of the season. The mental grind of being on top, national rankings, being a professional prospect, uncertainty about what lies beyond graduation….. will I ever play?… am I good enough to play here?… the coaches don’t value me… I’m tired of just training and not seeing game time…. should I go to another school?……I’m better than the guy playing in front of me… I don’t like this style of play….
Player management become one of the most important elements of the job. The mental pressures of the season are what really wear you down. Being on top and staying on top is draining. The Lobos are everyone’s big game and you get your opponents “A” game every match. It’s a good problem to have, but quite a challenge. Our non-conference matches were against top opponents who played us “straight up”. All proud, accomplished teams who felt they were better than us and aimed to prove it via quality soccer. They didn’t know our team, and we didn’t know them. They were great, exciting games. Conference play is a different animal. Ten fierce matches with little rest, played over six weeks (single match weekends bookend four weekends of two matches). We’ve played the majority of our conference opponents for years and know each other inside and out. There is no fear, and teams are honest with themselves (the majority) and know it’s best to not play us in an open match. What we face, are well-organized, defensive teams, who look to beat us on the counter attack and on set pieces. This is what we faced this past weekend versus Air Force and Denver.
LOBOS VS AIR FORCE ACADEMY: OCTOBER 5, 2012 7:00 PM. ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO
Friday night was a perfect evening for soccer. Great crowd, perfect weather and we opened the match very well. Ball speed was excellent, good movement and we were creating chances. Air Force was compact in the back and played with a very defensive mindset. Their major threats were two excellent attacking players, their tenacity and opportunities off long throw-ins or dead balls. Despite creating numerous scoring opportunities, we couldn’t find the net. As the game wore on, Air Force became more defensive and committed to defending. For the match we held an 18-5 advantage in shots and our keeper was challenged to make only one save. It was a pretty one-sided affair outside of the scoreboard. Ultimately, soccer is about scoring goals, not possession or shots. As the clock ticked down in regulation time, 0-0 remained on the scoreboard.
Overtime! Air Force couldn’t have drawn up their game plan any better. Three minutes into the first overtime, they won a throw-in deep in our half. A long throw into the six-yard box, mayhem and the ball finds it way into our net. 1-0 Falcons in a crushing defeat. It was our first home loss in two years. Welcome to conference play! Here’s the recap from our website.
LOBOS VS UNIVERSITY OF DENVER: OCTOBER 7, 2012 1:00 PM. ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO
It was another challenging match versus a very familiar opponent. Denver has had an excellent season so far and came into the match ranked in the “Top 40”. They’re a well-balanced team with pride and some offensive weapons. This being said, their game plan was very similar to that of Air Force…. maybe a bit more open, but they would protect their goal and defend deep with numbers. We rebounded well from Friday night’s loss and really got the Pioneers on their heels early. 7-1 advantage in shots the first half and we created several chances which should have been goals…. needed to be goals! We were scoreless going into half time, and we were confident going into the second half. We continued to play well and create chances, but couldn’t find the net. Denver dropped even deeper and absorbed our pressure. After 90 minutes, still deadlocked at 0-0.
We held an 18-11 advantage in shots and a 11-4 advantage in corner kicks. The game was played in our offensive half. Overtime again and we were committed to winning this one. In the second overtime, off a long diagonal ball from Michael Calderon, Devon Sandoval read a defenders miscue and calmly slotted the ball into an empty net in the 105th minute. Not the way we wanted to win the match, but a tremendous display of perseverance and confidence. 1-0 Lobos. Match re-cap from our website.
Don’t ask why, but we are off to Colorado Springs and Denver this weekend to face two familiar opponents…. very familiar. It’s Air Force Friday night at 7:00 and Denver, Sunday at 1:00. Normally, this trip would be a nightmare, but this time it’s going to be a great challenge. Our team is excited to play Air Force on a bigger field and show what we are about. The same can be said for Denver. I feel good about things and am very excited to see our reaction and how we play. We depart Thursday and return Sunday night.
Hope to see the Colorado Lobo Faithful out in force this weekend.
Thanks for your continued support and GO LOBOS!
Coach
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