The Kyyote's Howl

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.