3rd October 2009
Mount Saint Mary's Frustrate a Clearly Superior Hopkins
The Blue Jays' Reserves are met with a very physical side
By Chris de LaiglesiaHaving won the game against Messiah and looking towards the Buffalo game, Hopkins started their second string against the newly established Mount Saint Mary's side. For many, this would be a debut game, and for others a first start in an official game. Having lost heavily to both Messiah and Buffalo, Mary's definitely had something to prove, and in a game against the first seeds, had nothing to lose.
Hopkins started strong with a goal early into the half. Macelveen received the ball on the edge of the area and proceeds to provide a pass to Roscoe, who finishes coolly for his first goal of the season. It rapidly became a different game however, and Hopkins were then on the back foot for the majority of the half. The 4-3-3 that de Laiglesia had decided upon did not work out too well, and the midfield was lost, unable to provide to the 3 forwards, and the backline was far too high up the field. Mary's best player then took advantage of this situation and managed to get a goal through a breakaway, where the ball provided was easily guided above the defensive line into his path.
This bombardment and heavy tackles from the Mary's team continued, even though Plover, Macelveen, and Roscoe continued to create chances, provided by Dye, Ruppel and Seebacher. The team went back to a 4-4-2 formation as they needed to regain the stability they had in their previous games. Apart from the goal, Hamilton, Sise, Yoo and Johnson were all solid, and were dealing with the balls coming into the final third to keep Morgan from doing too much. All the subs, including Preminger, Fisher (his debut game), Hage and Lontoc were all fine in their introductions, but still were unable to score before the halftime whistle.
The team was clearly frustrated at the scoreline, as the possession had been primarily theirs and Mary's were coming in with aggressive tackles. However they kept their composure and went into the second half. Cleary came on for Morgan, making it his debut game for the Club team.
The team created several chances, with the best one created for Plover, who was unable to capitalize. However moments later Seebacher was fouled in the area and Hopkins was awarded the penalty. Tait stepped up and easily converted, making the score 2-1. After the penalty, Hopkins started to show why they were indeed the first seeds. De Laiglesia, who had just come on for Plover, gets the ball at the edge of the area from Ruppel, and buries it into the bottom left corner. Then Macelveen gets the ball after a saved shot from Fisher, and makes it 4-1 in a matter of minutes. Roscoe then ends the game at 5-1 when Mieles provides a great ball though to him.
The game ended with the second string keeping possession and trying to find a sixth, with Henry spearing the attack, but were unable to do so. Hopkins ended the game on a good note, which was important as now they had to prepare themselves for Buffalo.
