EKL Home vs. Gardner

Game 5: vs. Gardner at home (5-0)

This was one physical contest in the first half. We lost Danny Gabriel to a concussion a few minutes in when he was undercut on a headball, then hitting the turf hard.

 

It remained 0-0 until the last few seconds of the first half.  Curt Whigham (The BWhite Player of the Match) moved back to outside right wing just before the first half ended.  He created a quick T-Ball we didn't pull the trigger on, and then he crossed the final ball in  that got cleared before Sketers put it nicely back on for a Stoecklein header that came off the keeper before Wirt knocked it home. (We tried Sam some at wingback last game, hoping for some offense as he had been our best offensive weapon. That move paid some dividends tonight.)

Second half we showed some fire. Just 14 seconds in Whigham hit an inverted T-ball to the backpost where Devin was able to run on to the cross, beat his defender, and knock in another left-footed goal for himself.

Losing Danny, who has flat out been our best player this year, did seem to affect us most of the first half.  We did, finally, though, get some kids stepping up tonight.  Evan gave us some great center midfield minutes, and how good was Parker? B gave him a shoutout for his play at center midfield for the match.

So many of our kids came off the bench to play well in that second half. Ryan Holland just had some big-time sticks at centerback, and Shaw and Martinek held solid on the flanks. Esteban also contributed a lot at center midfield. And once again Cole played well in that defensive center midfield spot, tonight scoring one and assisting on another.

But Evans, Sketers, Howard and Wherry looked some much more compact and connected to our midfield tonight. Our offense and our defense were both good, especially in the second half. Gardner does have more losses than wins but they have played everyone close—3-2 against Mill Valley, for example.

We travel to Miege next Tuesday. That will be one tough battle for us. And it will carry some EKL significance.

Stats:

First Half:

Saints: Shots: 12 (4) Corners: 2 (Wirt 2)

:03 Wirt (Sketers hits the D-ball for a Stoecklein header off the keeper)

Trailblazers: Shots: 3 (2)

Second Half:

Saints:

Shots: 25 (8) Corners: 2 (Whigham, Gaspo)

39:47 Diggs (Whigham inverts the t-ball)

27:58 Geiss (Ricardo T's it through the Arias feint)

22:43 P. Stoecklein (Whigham bends the corner in for a Geiss redirect)

14:53 Gasparovich (Caragher chips it over the line for a run-on and a 1-v-1)