From Coach Ed Berberich:
The MCHS soccer Aces had back-to-back Big 8 matchups against the top 2 teams in the conference this week, losing at home 1-8 to the 2nd ranked in Indiana 2A (7th overall in state) Hatchets on Monday, then losing 1-9 to the 7th ranked in Indiana 3A (9th overall in state) Wildcats in Jasper the following night. Against Washington, Beau Stipp scored the Aces goal on an assist from Britton Heinrich. For the match, the Aces took 3 shots, 2 on frame, created 1 additional scoring chance, had 1 interception & 1 ball recovery. Tye Kanipe had 14 saves. Washington took 27 shots, 22 on frame. Against Jasper, Rayce Loudermilk scored the Aces goal. For the match, the Aces took 2 shots, both on frame, created 1 additional scoring chance & had 3 interceptions. Tye Kanipe had 23 saves. Jasper took 32 shots, 28 on frame.
These will be the best teams we face this year, more than likely even in the playoffs, so we knew this was going to be a rough patch for us. It's not always a lot of fun to go through these types of games in the moment, but it's really important for us to see teams like this firsthand, and the experience helps us in the long term if we approach it with the right attitude. I think the players did their best to try to learn through the way these 2 teams play & took the opportunity to try to continue working on things we want to get better at against top level competition. Despite what the scoreboards showed it wasn't all bad, as we had some moments in each game of decent ball movement in attack, it was just hard for us to sustain that in the face of the pressure they brought against us. Kanipe also played extremely well for us in goal in what should be 2 of the busiest nights of the season for him. He came out a little flat against Washington to start, but as that game went on he began looking better & better & that carried over into the Jasper match where he made a ton of beautiful stops. It's hard to stay as focused as he did when you're facing so many shots for such a long period of time, but he stuck with it & never gave up back there. As a team, we'll look to regroup before the next match and use these 2 games to make us better moving forward.
The 2 losses bring the Aces' record on the season to 5 - 3 (0 - 3). Their next match will be at 5:30 pm at home on Friday 9/13 against Evansville Day School.
PHOTO CREDIT: Christy McPherson