Eagles Soccer has ‘learning curve’ challenge ahead of them

Eagles Soccer has ‘learning curve’ challenge ahead of them

by Bruce Wallace

The Eagles soccer team got exactly what it expected on Saturday in their jamboree – three games vs three bigger, more physical teams – each with winning soccer programs.

SoBoCo, with only three starting seniors left from a Final Four appearance last fall, failed to score a goal and tied Timberland 0-0, lost to Helias 1-0 and lost to Rock Bridge 2-0.

“We were better when we played our last game against Rock Bridge,” said Eagles coach Chris Miller, “Rock Bridge sort of pounded everyone else – but they only got their second goal against us with less than a minute left in the game. We went out and calmed down and passed the ball more. We had a number of quality chances against a quality team.”

In the SoBoCo opener – the tie vs Timberland — the Eagles had three freshmen on the field for a majority of the game, something not seen by Eagles soccer fans in a number of years. However, Miller has said that the combination of freshman talent and a big graduating class last year will give those freshmen the chance to show their skills.

“Sam Bonderer, Rece Gilmore and Rajesh Bennett played quite a bit and I think those young guys hung in there,” MIller said the challenge for the younger players – besides playing on a faster artificial turf surface – was simply the increased game speed.

~ Find out more in today’s Journal ~