Kings Goal Club

October 13, 2011–In one of their best all around played games of the season, The Kings’ varsity team showed an extreme degree of poise and composure in defeating the Glen Este Trojans by the score of 2-0.  It was a total team effort of coaches and players working together to spoil the Trojans’ Senior Night in front of their home crowd.

The match started with a very lengthy introduction and affirmation of the nine Trojans seniors.  Each Glen Este player received commendations and accolades from mom, dad, the high school coach, their former SAY coaches and what seemed like a host of others.  All in all, The Trojan seniors were well recognized.

From the very beginning the match started out a bit on the physical side of things.  The wet and soggy grass field conditions contributed to a style of play that seemed to play into the Trojans’ desire to play physical soccer and knock the ball over the top.

But at the 8 minute mark in the match, Leo Mesones crossed a ball that Garrett Householder headed with great force toward the goal.  The Trojan keeper could not contain the ball and Max Burkert finished the deflected ball to give the Knights the first goal and the lead, 1-0.

From there, the Knights backline of Coughlin, Kettler, Fadayel and Kowal contained the Trojan offensive attacks by shutting down, disrupting and finally controlling every one of their attacks.  Danny Merz made his first start of the year in the keeper spot and he was dialed into the game all night.  A huge improvement over past games was evidenced by the fact that the Knights defended every corner kick and free kick by staying on their marks.  In the end, the Knights defenders gave an outstanding effort to earn the shutout win.

The first half ended with the Knights leading 1-0.  At the 52 minute mark in the match, Kings went on the attack.  As they put pressure on the goal, the Trojan keeper and centerback could not clear a ball that rolled into the six yard box.  Matt Hovis closed on the ball and attempted a shot.  But before he could get the shot off, he was mugged by two Glen Este defenders and pulled to the ground.  The center ref had no choice but to call a foul and award the Knights with a penalty kick.  Leo Mesones calmly stepped up and made the score 2-0.

The rest of the match amounted to Glen Este racking up three yellow cards for overly aggressive play, the Knights continually shutting down the Trojans’ over-the-top attempts and Kings possessing the ball with poise and not retaliating with physical play.  To put a cap on the match, Merz made a one handed save look easy at the 79 minute mark to preserve the shutout.

Kings ends the regular season with an 8-7-1 mark and a 3-4-1 FAVC league record.  That earns them sixth place in the league.  The win also gives them some momentum into next week’s tournament match against Colerain.

Hear Garrett Householder’s post-game comments:

Starters:

F: Mesones, Householder

MF: Meyer, Hovis, Burkert, McLelland

D: Kowal, Kettler, Coughlin, Fadayel

GK: Merz