VARSITY ATHLETICS

September 26, 2008

A Rough Start, But Good Rebound...

By Senior Goalkeeper Konrad Karasek (Prospect Hts., IL)

Coming into a season like this with the recent successes Case Soccer has experienced, we had some extremely high expectations and even loftier goals. For those of us who are seniors, we understand that this season is it; we have about two months left in our soccer careers and then we are going to hang up the jerseys for good. With that in mind, there is a very noticeable and elevated sense of urgency and desire to perform our best and live up to the ever-growing expectations that have been laid out before us.

With that said, it comes as no shock that our two losses, to Hiram College and Oberlin College, dealt a blow to our confidence and our outlook for the season. We could not believe what had happened. Just a short time ago we were sitting at 3-2, and just suffered the worst loss that our senior class has ever experienced in a Case uniform. We instantly fell from the national polls and, even worse, the regional polls. I believe it was the first time that we were left out of the regional rankings since my sophomore year.

This led to a greatly needed reflection on the team as a whole. What were we doing wrong? What can we do to fix it? Was there simply too much hype about the team? To the last question, I am going to have to give a solid NO. I think that our team definitely has the capability to make some noise, especially when we get into UAA [conference] play. Since our loss to Oberlin, we have won three straight games, two of them hard-fought, one-goal victories against John Carroll and Wooster. I am especially proud of the team for the way they played the game we had this past Tuesday at Wooster. Coming back from a goal down to win 2-1 in overtime was definitely a confidence booster and showed that we have a lot of fight in us and we will never settle for less than an all-out effort on everyone’s part.

Moving on to Saturday’s game, we are trying to really focus on settling down and getting another win. Right now, we have a few key starters that are struggling with injuries, which forces us to develop an adjusted game plan with new guys in different positions. However, I feel that everyone has done a great job so far and I really would like to commend all the guys, especially the younger group, that have stepped up into their new roles and found a way to get it done when it came to game time.

The outlook for the next few weeks is looking good, though. We are starting to get everyone healthy again and are starting to get a good rhythm and flow going on the field. We look to keep our momentum going as we prepare for a tough week of matches against quality sides like Ohio Wesleyan and our first UAA competitor New York University.

Posted by: Creg Jantz September 26, 2008 02:45 PM | Category: Men's Soccer

Posted by: cnj4 (Creg Jantz) September 26, 2008 02:45 PM | Comments (2) | Trackback