The Kyyote's Howl

Yesterday afternoon was beautiful, shirtsleeve and shorts weather in El Paso. That is what many wore to the soccer match, last night. That was a mistake. Although the temperature was just below 70 degrees, the steady 25 mile per hour wind made it feel much, much colder. The wind played a big role in the final score of the game, a 6-3 win for the Miners. As Coach Cross said, there’s a reason they have that coin flip before the match.

The wind was blowing directly into the south goal, the Houston goal that first half. The Miners, along with the help of the wind, were able to keep most of the play in the Houston end of the pitch. Goal kicks from the Houston goalkeeper were rather comical. I joked that one would eventually come back and score on her, and one almost did. She would kick the ball, the wind would catch it, stop it, and bend it right back at her. One of them nearly bounced over her head, while she was standing three or four feet to the left of her own goal, just on line with her goal. Kicks with the wind were like cannon shots. Kicks across the field were almost impossible to control if they got up into the wind. Kicks directly into the wind behaved much like a Frisbee.

Everyone was miserably cold. Players and fans. The soccer players would spend ten minutes trying to warm up before being substituted into the game. Players coming off the field would get hooded warmups on and huddle together with other players for warmth.

Six minutes into the match Tess Hall made a high, arcing pass that Azia Nicholson headed back toward the left post to a waiting Brittany Kindzierski, who sent the ball into the net.

The Miners attacked constantly, keeping the pressure on the Houston defense. Tori Martyn blasted a shot the missed by inches, just to the left of the goal.

With just over twenty-four minutes left in the first half, Tess Hall sent a corner kick bending into the players in front of the goal, and the ball rolled to the back of the net past a diving Cougar goalkeeper.. The Miners celebrated, but those of us on the sidelines couldn’t say who had scored. I thought it had gone off of Lauren Katada, one official said he believed it was an own goal off of a Houston player, and another said he thought it was simply bent in by Hall, herself. Officially, that how it was scored.

Less than two minutes went by, and Tess Hall sent a cross to Katie Dorman, who drilled it past the Houston goalkeeper, and the Miners were up 3-0 on the Cougars.

Dorman just missed another shot to the right of the goal. With 13:32 left in the first half Dorman drew the defense to her and sent a pass to Kindzierski, who put the shot home.

The half came to a close with the Miners leading 4-0, and the Cougars looking for cover. No, seriously, the Cougars assistant coach was looking for shelter from the wind and the cold for his players. He asked if they could go into the equipment storage shed, and was given permission. The shed may have been a safe haven to allow his players to recover from their shell-shocked first half of the Miners pummeling attack, too.

He had to be telling them to hang in there, that the second half would be played with the wind at their backs. Down four to nil, it may have been been an easier sell, had his players been able to think about taking the field on a nice day. But, being down four goals, having to leave the shelter of the shed to go back out into the cold and wind, most likely took all of the courage the Houston girls could muster.

In the second half, the wind was to the Cougars advantage. But, it was the Miners who struck first, anyway. Ten minutes in, Lauren Katada took a pass from Tori Martyn at midfield, and streaking into Houston’s side, blowing past her defender blasted the ball past Houston’s goalkeeper.

The Miners weren’t done, yet. Brittany Kindzierski took the ball, and working her way past and through the Cougar’s defenders, rifled the ball into the net.

With a 6-0 lead, and the cold and wind in their faces, the Miners may have taken their foot off the pedal, mentally speaking. With 18:49 left in the match, Houston finally got onto the scoreboard, and in the final few minutes, the Cougars added two more but by then the game had already been decided. Both teams just wanted to get in doors, and warmed up.

The weather was a huge factor, but in the end, it was the Miners’ will to win that was the deciding factor. When the girls are on their own grass, they are practically unbeatable. Well, this season, they are unbeaten at home. They will have another chance to stretch their home win streak on Sunday, when they will take on the Rice Owls at 1:00 PM.

Here’s this week’s interview. This week Coach Cross and Tori Martyn visit with me, and the soccer fans of El Paso, and UTEP (oh, and those friends of ours north, and south of the border, too).
Cross Tori Martyn

She’s as cute as a bug’s ear, not much bigger than that, but tougher than a two dollar steak.  In addition to shin guards, she should wear boxing gloves, because make no mistake, behind the big, disarming smile, is a warrior.  She isn’t the girl you see blasting the ball past the opposing goalie.  She’s the girl who mugged the opposing player, took the ball, and the player’s lunch money, and passed the ball to the girl who blasted the shot past the opposing girl.  If you see a mob or just two or three girls pushing, scratching, clawing, and kicking, she will be the one that comes out with the ball.  If there is a loose ball in her area, she has already filed a claim on it, and you better not get in her way if you value you health.  Like I said, she’s as cute as a bug’s ear.

When I told her she looked like a body puncher out there, she chuckled sweetly, and said. “I’ll do whatever I can for my teammates.  Like slide, and make a tackle, if that’s what it takes, I’ll do it.  Everybody pitches in.  Everyone does their part.  So, it makes it a lot easier.  Everyone has their role.  It’s fun.”

Everytime you talk to the girls on the soccer team, two things stand out.  First, they are humble, and are very good at deflecting praise to others, and two, they deflect the praise to others, because they are a team.  They think in terms of the team.  Goals are almost always scored by the one who, after all of the other girls had done all of the work, was just lucky enough to have had the last touch.

I pressed Azia about her role as a hub in the center of the wheel.  Again, she laughed, softly, when I said that she was such a battler out there, and wasn’t one getting a lot of glory, but was the one who was feeding the ball to those who do.

“I am fine with that!”, she said, emphatically.  “To be honest, I am totally fine with just passing it off to the forwards and letting them get the glory.  That’s fine with me.  Anything that I can do to help the team.  They always help me.  So, it works out.”

As I said, it is all about the team, with these girls.

“Yep.  Exactly.  It’s a team effort,” said Azia.

The girls from Northern Colorado had no intention of getting into a shootout.  In their six games, they had only scored three times, and had only given up 8 goals.

The Miners  hadn’t been having any trouble generating offense, but have had some trouble getting their shots into the net.

The Northern Colorado girls came wheeling out in their war wagon with their muzzleloaders sticking out of tiny shooting windows, looking for easy targets to take pot shots at.

The Miners came out on ponies, packing shotguns, circling the wagon, looking to blast their way in.

Well, OK, that’s not the truth.  There wasn’t any war wagon, ponies, muzzle loaders, or shotguns.  There were pot shots and blasts, though.

The Bears came out firing, and sent a long ball that bounced off of the crossbar in the first minute of play, and then another ball sailed wide of the Miners’ goal.

The play moved back and forth from one end to the other, early on.  Then, Brittany Kindzierski went on a long run down the right side before sending the ball to a waiting Katie Dorman who eased the ball into the left side of the net.  With five and a half minutes gone, the Miners had the 1-0 lead.

Tori Martyn dumped a great pass down to Tess Hall and her shot just missed.

But, the Bears didn’t have any quit in them.  They kept coming back to the Miners’ end of the pitch.  They only took 3 shots, that first half, but two of those were saves by Sarah Dilling, and they forced four corner kicks.

In that first half, the Miners took eight shots, and forced two corner kicks.  The Bears’ Kirsten Salimen made two saves, and allowed the one goal.

The second half saw the teams move into each other’s end of the field, with shots and corner kicks being traded back and forth.

At one point, the ball emerged from a tangle of players just in front of the Miners’ goal, headed for the net.  Quick feet, and solid defense on the part of Kenah Linger kept if from going in, and Kenah sent it safely out of the area.

Lauren Katada sent a perfect pass to a waiting Tess Hall, who blasted it toward the Northern Colorado goal.  A diving save by Salimen kept it from getting through.

A long kick from Kenah Linger was sent deep into the box, and Tess Hall headed it just to the right of the goal.

The Bears kept fighting back, though.  Like a fighter who is being out boxed, they kept throwing haymakers of their own.  The team was under assault, but was still dangerous.

But, with 19 minutes left, Tori Martyn sent a long pass ahead to a streaking Mackenzie German.  German touched it two or three times, setting up the goalkeeper, and then drilled at the ball into the right corner.

That second goal only increased the urgency in the Northern Colorado attack.

The Bears sent their girls at the goal, and a ball rolled into the back of the net.  The Northern Colorado girls were still celebrating when the referee signal that there had been a foul called, and the goal was erased.

Down at the other end of the pitch Lauren Katada was fouled, and before anyone could set their defense, she sent her free kick at the goal, bouncing it hard off of the crossbar.

In the second half, the Bears took 6 shots and forced three more corner kicks.  The Miners took another 9 shots in the second half, and forced two corner kicks.

Katie Dorman said, after the match, “They were strong!  They were feisty.  They came out hard.  It took us a while to put them away, and get that second goal.  Props to them for working hard the whole game.”

Well, as long as we’re handing out props, the Miners have some coming.  The Miners are now 5-2.  They are perfect at home.  When I say perfect, I mean perfect.  They haven’t lost, but more impressive than that, they haven’t allowed a ball to touch the back of their net.  The Miners are 14-0 in goals scored and goals scored against at University Field, this season.

Mackenzie German Click on the link to the left to watch the video interview with Mackenzie German

The Miners soccer team got back on track Friday night with a 2-0 win over the Trojans of Arkansas Little Rock.  The Miners controlled the play for almost all of the first 45 minutes of play, scoring twice.

The first goal came at the 5:02 mark when Katie Dorman sent a ball into the middle of the field in front of the Trojan goal, and Mackenzie German was able to send it home.

Mackenzie described her gaol this way, “I don’t know.  It kind of just came through my legs, hit the other player, hit me again, and the touch went in.  I shot it with my left and it went in.”

The second goal came with 40:53 gone, when Tori Martin’s pass lead a streaking Amanda Pak on a break away with Pak sending it into the right corner of the Trojan net.

During the first half, the Miners took 7 shots at the Trojans’ goal, and kept the Little Rock team to just one shot at the Miners’ net.

In the second half, the Trojans tried to make a game of it.  The Trojans got off six shots, but Sarah Dilling only had to make two saves the entire game, one in each half.  Meanwhile, the Miners kept firing at the Trojans’ Michelle Pittman, taking another 9 shots in the second half, forcing Pittman into making 5 saves in the second 45 minutes.

Throughout the match, the Miners  used great ball handling, smart passing, and determination to move the ball, and win every ball that was up for grabs, and taking the ball away from Trojans like they were taking candy from babies.

After the game, Coach Cross talked about the character of the Miners team, shaking off the two road losses from last weekend and coming out tonight playing so hard, and with such focus, and determination.

Mackenzie echoed the coaches’ feelings, “Well, coming off two loses we played a lot better.  We wanted it a lot more.”

The Miners will return to University field Saturday to play Northern Colorado.  Northern Colorado lost a heartbreaker in the final minute of regulation play, 0-1 against the NMSU Aggies, Friday night.

Dr. E.P. Scarlett High School is located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.  It is one of Calgary’s smaller high schools, but Coach Cross must have it bookmarked on his Google maps, because the Miners have two of the Lancers’ girls playing soccer here, at UTEP.  Both girls, Amanda Pak, and Hannah Asuchak, are freshmen, two of seven freshmen on the Miners soccer team.  The two wasted no time making their presence felt.  Both have already worked their way into the starting lineup, Hannah in all five games, and Amanda in three of the five.  In the Miners second game of the season, Amanda Pak put the ball in the net twice, and her two goals has her tied with Tess Hall, and Lauren Katada leading the team in goals scored.

I visited with them during a break at practice.  Both girls told me that they like it here.  It must be a huge change, though, from the foothills and prairie of Alberta to the desert of West Texas.  I asked them if they had been signed as a package deal, and they told me that they hadn’t.  So, it must have been a pleasant surprise to find that they would be playing together after high school, while going to college, especially 1800 miles away from home.

The girls have been working hard, and the competition has been a step up, but they believe it is going to pay off.

Of the past weekends’ games, the girls felt that the team had played hard.  In the Sunday game, the team controlled most of the game, but just couldn’t get the ball in the goal, and then, in overtime, the Miners were just unlucky when the Texas State team was able to score the winning goal.

The two freshmen spoke about the upperclassmen, and how they have helped make the transition easier.

“They are all really supportive,” said Hannah.  “They help you out with everything, school and soccer.”

“Yeah, I think most of the upperclassmen are leaders.  They’re all just really helpful and nice to us,” Amanda added.

I asked the girls what they needed to work on most, and their strengths, as individuals.

“I would say, probably, finishing,” Amanda said.

“I’d say my juggling,” Hannah said with a laugh.  “It’s not my best.”

“What do I do best?” Pak thought aloud.  “I’m pretty good at one to one.  That’s probably one of the things I do best.”

Hannah said, “I’m aggressive, and fast.”

The girls let their play on the field do most of the talking.  Come out this weekend and watch the games, and see what they have to say.  Although the two are soft spoken, and then, with few words, my guess is they are being heard, loud and clear, all the way up in Calgary, making the Lancers proud.

The Miners soccer team dropped a pair of tough matches this past weekend.  On Friday, the ladies travelled to Stephen F. Austin, and were edged 1-0.  Then, on Sunday, the Miners battled Texas State to a stalemate after 90 minutes.  Texas State put the ball into the net in overtime and came away with a 1-0 win.

Coach Cross talked about the contests and this weekends matches against UALR and Northern Colorado.

“Friday night, was the best team we’ve played on our schedule.  Stephen F. Austin is a very good team.  They’re picked to win their conference.  It was a pretty even game.  We had one defensive breakdown, and they capitalized on it, and that’s all she wrote, on that one,” said Coach Cross.

“We really got after it, on Sunday we actually played really good soccer.  We had our chances, and we just didn’t put them away.  Sometimes soccer can be cruel, but it was a learning experience, and we’re going to let it motivate us, learn from it, and be ready for this Friday.”

The Miners held the Texas State team to one Shot On Goal in the second half, after allowing 6 in the first half.  I asked if he had made adjustments at the half or if that was just the way it played out.

“The girls played good soccer.  The girls had a good game.  They just didn’t put the ball in the back of the net.  That’s the sad thing about soccer.  Sometimes you can play well and not win.  It was a bit cruel, the way it went, but we’ll just let it make us better’” Coach Cross explained.

In any soccer match, perhaps 90 to 95 percent of what happens is controlled by the teams play, but there is that fraction of each game that is just the luck of a game.  A ball bouncing off of a player unexpectedly.  The ricochet off of a post to a wide open player, a player that may have actually been out of place.  The goal scored in the Texas State game was one of those goals in which luck played a role.

Coach Cross talked about that, “The goal they scored, we tackled it, and the ball just kind of deflected off someone to the right person, and sometimes it is just those bounces, unfortunately.  I like to control it as much as we can, but sometimes it boils down to that.”

He talked about the teams being pretty evenly matched, “I think both games could have gone either way.  They were both quality teams.”

One of the strategies teams have employed against the Miners so far, is to pack the defense in around their goals.  So I asked Coach about how his team has to deal with that.

“We’re going to work on that all week.  Being able to finish under pressure.  Be more than one player to score a goal, and numbers down attacking,” said Coach.

I asked if going over the top, using headers, was another way of attacking the defense when it is packed that way.

“Sometimes, that’s a great option, when they’re really packed in, to go over the top like that.  But, we had our opportunities in that Texas State game.  We just didn’t capitalize on them, unfortunately,” he said.

Turning to this week, we talked about the upcoming matches.  On Friday, the Miners will host UALR with the World Soccer Night promotion.  Wear an International soccer team jersey, and get in free.

Coach Cross said, “They seem to be a good side (UALR).  They’ve got some speed.  I think it’s a team we’re going to have to be our best at to win.  Pretty comparable to what we saw this weekend, and Northern Colorado’s traditionally had a real good team.  So, it’s a tough weekend.  The positive is that we’re here at University Field, which is where we love to play.”

There are no more cupcakes on the Miners schedule, and that’s good preparation for the tough competition the Miners will face once they get into Conference USA play.

The Miners will take their show on the road this weekend.  On Friday, the ladies will play the Lumberjacks of Stephen F. Austin, and then, on Sunday the Miners will take on the Bobcats of Texas State.

The Miners are 3-0-0 for the season, with wins over New Mexico State, Houston Baptist, and Prairie View A&M.  The games so far have basically been tuneups.  The competition gets much tougher this weekend.

The Lumberjacks are 1-2-0 for the season, but their first loss came against SMU, 2 goals to 1.  The winning goal didn’t come until the 87TH minute of the game.  Then, four days later, they lost to Tulsa, in a 1-0 match.  They got their first win over Oral Roberts, 4-0.

“Stephen F. Austin is picked to win their conference, and last year we played at their place and beat them in overtime,” said Coach Cross.  “They’ve got a very good team.  I think they’re a better team than last year.  They’ve played our conference really close.  This is a big test for us.”

I asked the girls, Chandra Morden, and Jessie Pettit about the step up in competition.

“Oh, yeah,” said Chandra.

“Finally,” said Jessie.

“I think that was our last exhibition for the people.  Now, it’s starting to get tough,” said Chandra.

The two recalled the game last year in which the Miners were taken into overtime before they were able to put SFA away.

“It was a tough game,” said Chandra.

“And we were really good, in the beginning last year, too.  So, that was very…whoa,” said Jessie, looking for the right word to describe  the toughness of that game.

“An eye opener,” Chandra jumped in to help.

“We have a tough weekend ahead of us,” said Chandra.

Jessie is looking forward to playing Texas State, who is 1-2, at their place in San Marcos.

“It’s like right next to my house,” Jessie said, beaming.

The one common opponent for the Miners and the Bobcats was Prairie View A&M, and the Bobcats won their game, 6-0.

Head Coach Kevin Cross was feeling better about the health of his players on Tuesday than he was after last Saturday’s game, when the Miners Tori Martyn, and Gina Soto were injured.  There was concern that Soto may have been seriously injured when a Prairie View A&M player slid right into Soto’s foot.  X-rays showed that there were no bones broken.  The bones were bruised but she should be back, soon.  Tori Martyn was back, running at practice on Tuesday.

“I’ve used up a lot of my luck, here, this week.  But, I’m in a much better mood today, than I was on Sunday night,” said Cross, Tuesday afternoon.

The Miners’ Kenah Linger is like diamond studded brass knuckles.  Pretty, but hard, and just made for putting a beat down on an opponent.

Seniors Chandra Morden, and Jessie Pettit had their take on Kenah, the warrior.

“On the field she’s so tough, but off the field it’s actually kind of funny.  Like, one time, it started to rain a couple of days ago, the rain was in big drops, and she was going like.”Agh…!  It hurts!”,” Chandra said, giggling.

Jessie chimed in, “One of the biggest girlie girls off the field.”

“Yep,” agreed Chandra.

Jessie continued, “But, on the field, we put their best attackers, if we’re defending,  we put their best attackers to go against Kenah, because she will fight to the death for the ball.  She will win the ball, no matter what.”

Chandra talked about Kenah’s competitive nature, “Last year, I went to her house for Spring Break, and she has a younger sister, and I think that’s where she gets her competitiveness with, because like, she’s so competitive.  I’m competitive, but me and her, go at it.  Like, we’re in her kitchen, and we’ll take like an orange and she’ll try to score on me.  We get competitive over everything.  She’s one of the most competitive people I know.”

Whenever there is a ball to be gotten to, if Kenah doesn’t get to it first, which she usually does, she usually takes it, very quickly.

Jessie was quick to attest to that, “You better watch you hair.  Your jersey.  She’ll get the ball.  Somehow.  I hate going against her.  It’s bad.”

Kenah is a ferocious defender, clearly, but she is also a big contributor to the Miners offense.

“She’s awesome.  She’s our last defender, and that’s the one we’ve got to really put our jobs on, because if they get past her, they’re going to goal.  So, she’s the one that we’ve got to trust, she’s fiesty, and if I was going to war, she’s one I would take with me,” says Coach Cross.  “She’s also integral in starting the attack, because when she hits the ball, she distributes it out, and has a phenomenal long ball, and some very good leadership qualities, too.”

Jessie Pettit spoke about Kenah’s contribution to the team, defensively and offensively, too, and about her leadership. “She’s pretty much the heart of our team, because it starts with her, it ends with her.  She starts the attack, and she’s the last defender.  So, if it gets past her, we’re done.  We put our team in her hands, pretty much.”

Chandra spoke up, “I would say that she’s a sophomore, but she’s more mature.  She’s one of the most mature players we have here.  She’s uh, I would say that she’s not afraid to say, like she’s straight up.  She’s not afraid to tell someone if they’re doing something wrong.  She’ll say it in a nice way, but truthfully, not like other girls would.”

“She’ll tell you what needs to get done, right then and there.  No ifs, ands, or buts about it.  You have to do it,” said Pettit.

I asked if Kenah was kind of an Iron Maiden, as it seems that she rarely comes out of the games.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her get subbed, except for Sunday.  Ever,” said Jessie.

“Yeah, I’ve seen her, like last year, I saw her get subbed for about a minute, when she hurt her knee, but she went right back on,” said Chandra.

“She even went in for forward, one time, last year, when we did bad,” said Jessie.

I asked how she did, and Chandra said, “She got a couple of shots off.”

She got an assist last weekend, but she wants more.

“She’s been telling me that she wants to score a goal, this year.  That’s what she’s been trying to do with her long kicks, there,” said Chandra, as both girls chuckled.  “She’s determined to get a goal.”

Chandra added, “She wants the glory, even though she doesn’t look like it.”

If Kenah wants to score a goal, this year, I’ve got five bucks that says she will.  One way or another.