Roosevelt tops Coventry, 5-1

Roosevelt took down visiting Coventry on Tuesday night, 5-1, in a game that was largely unintriguing for both players and fans. Coach Mitchell recognized early on that Coventry's varsity squad was roughly equivalent to his JV team. Mitchell put in the "B" part of the varsity team in order to get some playing time and practice for some of the players accustomed to not getting a lot of it. The defense was solid all game. Coventry was able to take advantage a bit of weak left side defense, executing some nice crosses, but in general these gains were minimal. Passes were well timed, and fifty fifty balls more often than not were won by the good guys. Bradford was denied her fourth shutout mid way through the first half when Coventry poked one in from inside the box. Aw, we'll let her off this time (ha).

The only point of real, ahem, non tedium, was when Bradford, defending from the north side, slid out from the goal to try and knock the ball out. She accidently hit the Coventry attackwomen coming from the right, gutting the poor girl in her stomach. Bradford, to her credit, immediately went to the girl, upset over the hurt she had laid upon her. The girl got up soon enough. The ref gave Bradford a yellow card, (re the rules of the OSHAA), sending her off the field for one series of play. You would think Coventry would have been granted a direct PK, but no, the ref granted Roosevelt a goal kick, as the ball had last been touched in bounds by the visitors. Now, we in the Roosevelt stands, and the Coventry fans in their stands, were both like "Say what?" Boos echoed across the stadium and verbal tirades rained upon the heads of the referees, who in the words of Mr. Mitchell, "clearly hadn't played soccer in their lives." Mitchell said after the game he had never seen anything like it. Mr. Bialik in the stands blamed it on the poor institution of American soccer. And Paul Sampson just sat there, blinking in disbelief. Now, we'll take it, but let's just hope we don't get this field referee again. Mitchell, who's had experience with the errant ref in question before, said of past games with him, "He's consistent". Mitchell worried that a mutton headed soft in the brain call like this would come at a big time, say during a close match or a playoff game.

What's important  here, the broader point is (and there are rarely times to find broader points!), referees end up being responsible for outcomes of games. Just like our Supreme Court justices need to rule over American citizens with decency, respect, and a firm knowledge of the law, so too do referees need to have the same reverence for the rules of soccer when officiating games at any level. Just like we saw with Serena Williams in her U.S. Open tennis semi final loss to Kim Clijsters, refs determine a lot. They can swing a game. Referees need to make sure that when they do swing a game, one way or the other, they are doing them with full knowledge of the rules and customs of the game. This was ludicrous.

It's Pancakes and Waples Syrup for Rough Riders!

With the team trailing 1-0 with fifteen minutes left to play, the Riders, nearly all of whom were off their game for one reason or the other, needed a big lift. Despite sloppy passing, bad defense, and an offense that had no trouble getting the ball into the goalie box but a lot of difficulty getting it past the Boardman goalie, the Lady Riders were only down 1-0, a bouncer scored by a Boardman attackwoman with under a minute left to play in the first half. The normally pragmatic and unemotional Coach Mitchell at halftime told his struggling squad at the break, "for the first time in seven years, I have nothing good to say..." Continuing, (paraphrasing) "we're not playing our best... correction, you're not playing you're best." Harsh words, but words the Riders apparently needed coming out of the half. The Riders seemed to control the tempo the minute the ball was put into the play that second half, making some nice runs into the box, and taking some of the pressure off of Rider goalie Abby Bradford.

The "big lift" came with fifteen minutes to play. Erin Waples, a sophomore attacker, whose brother plays on the boy's varsity team, approached the goal from the left sideline. With an amazing thwack of her left foot, the ball, bending like Beckham, flew just over top of the goalie's hand and into the goal to tie up the game with just under fifteen left to play. AND THE CROWD WENT WILD! But she was not done. Waples, on the next Rider possession, would shoot it past the goalie, again with her left foot. AND THE CROWD WAS INSANE. 2-1 Riders. We were just recovering from hooting and hollering in the stands, hyperventilating and all, when Waples took the ball once more on the left side, from a nice feed from Hannah Sampson, and bent it again into the top left part of the goal. 3-1 Riders. A hat trick in less than one minute, about fifty seconds by my calculation. This must be one of the fastest ever recorded. Yahoo! Answers says that the fastest hat trick by professional players came in 1964, when Ross County player Tommy Ross scored three goals in 90 seconds versus Naim County F.C. By this, Waples abolished Ross' record. 


After this "miracle minute," the Riders nor Boardman ever threatened again. Though the Riders should be happy to come away from Boardman with a win, they should be concerned with the lack of spirit and drive they had during the majority of the game. They'll need to improve if they want to stay competitive come playoff time. Waples won't be able to score three goals so easily again. Though I think she deserves more playing time... ! 

Kent 7, Southeast 0

Kent thoroughly dominated the game tonight, downing the Southeast Pirates 7-0. It was thoroughly a possession game for the visiting Riders, who scored FIVE goals in fifteen minutes. Players were shuffled around, giving defensive players like Savanna Kirtley a shot on offense (she scored!), and bringing in Jocelyn Schmidt for some experience in goal. The game was a bit of a letdown, what with all the excitement surrounding the Ravenna game. Though Roosevelt will be happy with a win, this doesn't feel quite as satisfying as a tight victory over Norton or the Ravens. The silver lining is, Roosevelt improves to 3-2, a winning record!! Cheers to Erin Waples for a two goal night, to Chloe Maxwell (who is really doing well this season) for her goal, my sister Emily for her goal, and to Erin Knopsnider for knocking one off her head into the goal from a corner kick. Niceeeeeee. Good job, Riders!

Kent-Ravenna game doomed by thunder and lightning, make up announcement soon.

An impressive victory over Norton 3-0

Solid defense, and goals from Michaela Kline, Erin Waples, and Annie Kenney, led to a demolition of the Norton Panthers at Norton HS tonight. The field itself posed more problems for the girls than the opposing team did: these problems included an uneven field (meant for football games), and harder soil leading to bouncier balls off the surface. This, not to mention the constant xylophone music from an adjacent field, and no national anthem, all provided deterrents for the girls. They were not to be deterred so easy. The offense rebounded from a ho-hum effort against Stow and really set the tempo of the game. Though passing was made difficult by the surface and touches at times were sloppy because of this, the offense managed to keep the pressure on Norton's goalie all the way through.

I was very impressed by the hustle of the team, especially against a very physical Norton team. The refs weren't making many pushing-and-shoving calls tonight. It took good leadership and good perseverance to keep up the pressure.

Norton had several moments in which they COULD have scored (maybe should have), including some well designed breakaways, though they couldnt ever capitalize. Roosevelt managed to take their opportunities when they could, luckily enough.

This game should inspire a lot of confidence in the girls, defeating their 2008 season rival and only real competition in the league from the last year. This puts them in a solid position to own the PTC as conference play really gets underway. NEXT UP, RAVENNA AT HOME!!!!!



P.S. Let's support Norton (in our hearts) in getting their levy passed this spring... their school could use a facelift! Still though, what a quaint little place it is.

Kent falls to Stow, 2-1; WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE.

Kent suffered a heartbreaking loss to crosstown rival Stow yesterday. Though the defense played solid most of the way through, it was the offense that failed to capitalize on several opportunities. Unfortunately, this is a trend we are seeing as this season unfolds. Roosevelt needs to refocus itself on offense; they even might want to add another player up on the forward line, or at least midfielders that typically play back up into the box. It's not that we are bad shooters-- it's that the offense, dominated last year by departing senior Katie Mitchell and a lesser extent by Brianna Serafin, is young and unexperienced. Rebecca Thomas provides good leadership on the forward line; however, she too admits to missing some easy opportunities yesterday. It's a matter of execution-- Coach Mitchell MUST get his offense reenergized. It's like my dad says, "it's hard to win games with one goal."

This has the added effect of putting pressure on the defense. After Roosevelt scored early (12') to go up 1-0, the pressure was on the defense to hold the lead. They did, arguably, a good job, but eventually fell apart-- Stow stepped up its game in the second half with two scores in the last 25 minutes. The pressure of holding a one goal lead is one thing, but when the offense continues to miss scoring opportunities, that  just may be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's, er, the Rider's, back. It must have been very frustrating to be a Rough Rider player yesterday-- I imagine the offense is kicking itself for missed opportunities, and the defense is doing the same for allowing their lead to slip away.

In the scheme of things, this isn't terribly important. Conference play starts up this Tuesday AT the 2008 conference champion Norton Panthers, the Riders' main competition last year. Remember what we talked about in preseason analysis-- for us to be successful, we need confidence. Our chemistry is there, our skill is there, but it's our confidence that can make or break this team. Senior leaders need to send a message to its squad that they will not put up with more preventable unnecessary losses. This is NOT the time for the team to doubt its ability; it IS the team for the team to reassert itself. After two tough non conference losses, Norton is a huge game for the confidence of the team. It's important for Roosevelt to know they can dominate their conference... headline Wednesday morning reads: "Roosevelt says 'YOU MUST RESPECT THIS HOUSE.'"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnECY26PSHk-- this is a bad-a commercial. Be inspired ladies.


P.S. A wag of the finger to OSHAA for continuing to sell tickets even after half time. I was hoping to prance in yesterday at halftime, saving the $6... but nooooo. The Stow ladies said they never stop selling tickets throughout the game. Well, boo boo to you you. I need to get a press pass or something... oh Mr. Rutskyyyy?

KR defeats Tallmadge 3-0

I will tell you, my friends, it is nice to have Abby Bradford in goal. Though the Riders didn't play their best game last night, especially in the first half, Bradford was spot on. Though passes weren't terribly clean, and though shots on goal weren't turning into shots in goal, and though the defense allowed some nice crosses into the Riders' box, there was Bradford to pick up our slack. It must be nice for the defense to know that EVEN IF they have an "off night," or even a not-up-to-par night, they have a solid field general directing them. This is Bradford's fourth shutout in six games (wow!).

This is not to overemphasize the degree to which Roosevelt didn't play "their" game. They allowed a relatively small number of shots on goal, a credit to the defense, and of course, didn't allow a goal. We at the blog love shutouts, prefer them really, so keep it going Roosevelt, if only to please us at the blog!

It was a particularly refreshing night-- it was cloudy, so those in the stands didn't have to watch the game with the glare of a setting sun in their faces. Expect more of these as winter approaches... ugh.

There was also quite a crowd gathered to watch our girls play! It seems this team has created quite a buzz around the school... now to keep the buzz going! Let's get 'em at Stow this Saturday, a crucial game from the standpoint of team confidence. Win or lose, let's play them tough!