From Coach Ed Berberich:
The soccer Aces hosted the Richland County Tigers Thursday, putting up a good fight but ultimately losing 5-1. The first 20 minutes were scoreless before the Tigers finally put one in the net. They would add 2 more later in the half leading to an 0-3 deficit for the Aces at the break. The Tigers added 2 more goals in the 2nd half while the Aces scored one of their own when Santiago Guanipo hit on a free kick from just outside the goal box for the final 1-5 score. The Aces took 4 shots, all on frame. Michael Reed played in goal and had 12 saves on the night.
We came out and played quite well especially considering the opposition we were facing, as Olney looks to be a strong team this season. The first 20 minutes in particular, but really the whole 1st half, contained some solid and cohesive play by us. Michael came in and played great in goal in his first ever high school soccer game. We're still working on our chemistry and our team defending principles out in the field, which can lead to giving up some shots. With Olney being as skilled as they are, Michael was under a lot of pressure but he performed very well. We're still working new & injured players into the team and we haven't had many games yet so our conditioning is still one of our biggest issues. Once our legs started to get tired our play fell off a bit and we began to look out of sorts, but the guys fought through it and never gave up on the game. Our schedule is brutal to start the season but that can make us stronger if we keep the right attitude and keep learning. With where we're at as a program, there are no shortcuts but we're beginning to see some things out there that we've been working towards. We're looking for these guys to learn how to become soccer players and to keep a consistent effort regardless of the situation. So far we've had no problems with sustaining our effort and if we keep that up I believe we'll continue to improve individually and as a team.
The schedule doesn't let up as the Aces host undefeated Massac County at 12 pm on Saturday 9/6.