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Strikers Peaking at the Right Time
04/18/2010, 6:43pm (EDT)
By Mark and Chris Digman
Strikers peaking at the right time…
The Strikers have put together strong back to back efforts at home and the new 1-3-1 formation seems to be having an impact. The Strikers, while ending up in a tied match 2-2 (against Oxford) had many more scoring chances and near misses than their opponents, especially in the 2nd half. Every player on the team was active and never gave up. They played through a few tough breaks and maybe some questionable calls that perhaps should have results in at least one penalty kick.
Some of the highlights include:
Matt scoring unassisted in the 1st half by going around multiple defenders and with teammates on either wing, drilled a nice shot to the right side of the goal. He also did a great job looking for teammates with passes and worked hard to maintain possession with headers and good trapping and shielding of the ball.
Outstanding defensive play and movement by brothers Daniel and David. They definitely are a force to be reckoned with. They were often the last Strikers back and numerous times drilled the ball back into the offensive side or scrambled back to slow down the other team until help came back. They also worked well in getting the balls to the wings and when it made sense dribble and push down the field. They were the goalie’s best friend today!
Jason played strong defense early on and when he moved up to the middle of the field did a great job staying active with the ball and making sure the team maintained possession in traffic. His strong footwork was impeccable to say the least. He also made several good passes to keep the pressure on the Oxford defense.
Joel was aggressive and made strong passes to the offense and did a nice job in disrupting the middle of the field and getting the ball to teammates. He was also very active in front of the opponent’s goal which led to good opportunities for scoring chances by the team.
Duncan did a nice job on goal in the 1st half with some tricky balls and was very adept on punching the ball down the field. He made smart plays to aggressively grab the ball in the box. He also in the 2nd half made some nice passes and helped the Strikers maintain possession.
Dylan had a strong game maintaining possession and had multiple shots on goal including a sliding shot off a near goal by Kyle (although to us on the sidelines it looked like a goal). He also had a tremendous header attempt near the end of the game off a corner kick from Kyle. It looked good but just sailed a few inches over the net…what an attempt!
Justin had a phenomenal 2nd half in goal repeatedly making key stops including one stop when it was a 3 on 1 and he made key stop to keep it close. He also had tremendous kicks and in the waning minutes of the game one of his kicks was the assist to Kyle’s gaming tying goal. He made a decision to play goal the 2nd half because he thought it would give the team the best chance to win – and it did. Well done MVP of the game!
Last but not least, Kyle thanks to Justin’s great goal kick was able to drive around a few opponents on the left wing and blast a goal into the upper right corner over a fully stretched goalie to tie the game with only a minute or so in the game. Kyle had some great corners, deep throw-ins as well as some nice center passes which lead to scoring attempts. He also did a nice job maintaining is composure as the Oxford defense threw bodies at him to try to stop him from getting clean looks. He had some good attempts and his patience and hard work paid off at the end!
The Strikers look to have a strong tournament in Winston-Salem next week, Go strikers!
Tag(s): '99 Strikers
