News and Announcements
All season we have had our sights set on districts. Everything we have done we have done to prepare for districts. District play is here. Tuesday we play against district-favorites Freeland. It will not be an easy task. They have a solid group of players and play a disciplined, organized system. They have a coach who is capable of leading them against quality opponents (but he can't score on me).
We have accomplished a great deal this season. We have the best record in the history of our school. We have a player with the most points in the history of our school. We have a goalkeeper with the most clean sheets in our school and the lowest GAA in our school's history.
No matter what happens Tuesday this team has left its mark at Clare High School. Along with this mark comes an ability that no other team in our history has had. I have seen the best come through this school. I have coached the best teams in this school. I believe in this team, and I am proud of you all.
Pine River is a team on the verge. Look to them next year to be a presence. This season, however, they have struggled. We were able to clinch the south at their expense and that is good. I was happy to be able to play some guys to try to get them some opportunities to score. A hat-trick for Cody and a record-breaking performance from Khua. Every point Khua gets now just adds to his legend. Bryce got himself one step closer to the clean sheet record. Bryce gets closer to the goals against per game record. Ian continues his resurgence with two goals and an assist.
Reed City. . . Reed City . . . I am not going to dwell on this game. We did enough to win the game. But we didn't. They are a good team, but we are good enough to beat them. But we didn't. When we give ourselves opportunities to win games we have to be able to close them out. It's that simple. This is the type of match, close to districts, that we test ourselves. We didn't pass this test. We won't have a second chance for Thursday against Burt Lake or the 19th against Freeland. If we want to put ourselves in their company then we have to perform in the big games. If we can't do that, then we aren't ready yet. But for this season, for your season, for arguably the best team we have had in Clare, it's crunch time.
"Do it! Do it!"
The week started in a phenomenal way. We traveled to Big Rapids Crossoads Charter Academy. We beat them handidly 5-2. Bryce scored on a pk. Khua scored a hat-trick. Jimmy scored his first goal of the season. I scared Jimmy a little bit on the way to the bus. :) 22% shooting.
Tuesday we did everthing right except finish. We were a little unfocused, but we still controlled much of the action. We made some offensive missteps and it cost us an important win in the conference. 0% shooting.
Thursday we rebounded in a big way! 19% shooting. When we allow 10 or less shots on goal and score some goals, we win. When we allow 10 or less shots on goal and we don't score, we risk losing.
Let's learn from this week and carry it over to next week's matches. Pine River Tuesday can seal the division for us. I want to make it a definitive victory with no margin for error.
Let's do this, boys!
We need to re-focus. We need to remember what got us to the top of our division. We need to play the way we did against Gladwin, Roscommon, Bay City John Glenn, Lansing Sexton, and Valley Lutheran.
Next week we play B.R. Crossroads, a team that has beaten us twice before. We play Gladwin again the very next night and they want vengeance after our first meeting. Thursday we return home against Houghton Lake and they will be healthy in their backline, hoping their keeper can seal the deal against us.
Don't get me wrong, nothing has changed my feeling that we can win out our schedule. There isn't one team that has me shaken in my belief in this team. The skill on this team is amazing. The chemistry is phenomenal. This team plays for each other in a way that most coaches only hope to have.
This week tested our grit. And we passed. Keep fighting for each other!
Gaylord (Champions) 4-0
Saginaw Valley Lutheran 3-1
Clare 2-2
Bay City John Glenn 1-3
Lansing Sexton 0-4
After the rain, the sun shone on a weekend of successful soccer. No, we didn't win the tournament, but we were the underdogs who took a bite out of two DII schools and were extremely competitive against a DIII powerhouse. No shame in losing to a school like Gaylord with close to 1,000 kids enrolled.
Khua edged closer to setting the singe-season goal scoring record (he has 19 and the record is 26). Taylor Ardis now has 7 assists, the single-season record is 12. Ian is returning to form, scoring twice against Sexton. We again demonstrated our offensive depth with eight different players earning points. Our current team record is 8-4; the all-time best is 12-6.
We have Fairview Tuesday and McBain NMC Thursday. We control our destiny if we keep winning. We have shown that we can match up against quality opponents. If all things continue to click in synch . . . who knows what we can accomplish.
