March 7, 2002
Memphis Shock at Rowdies

We began and ended the game with 1 sub, meaning half of the team were subjected to playing the whole game. To start off the game, there were about 10 offside calls in the first 10 minutes. A lot of the first part of the first half was in the midfield area. Both teams were trying to feel each other out. While neither team was getting any goals, we seemed to have the upper hand in the possession area. While we were pressuring their goal, our defense was showing their strength and smarts by playing the balls back to the keeper and having great position on through balls. Our offense on the other hand just couldn't seem to get past the 5 defenders that were playing back.

We did have a few chances on goal. Bishop, J.J., Jeremy, Kevin, all had good shots on goal. Unfortunately we just couldn't hit that back of the net. Our first good chance happened when Bishop was taking the ball up the right side of the field, cut to the inside to lose his defender, then shot off his left foot. He couldn't get enough on the shot to give the goalie a hard time. One shot should have resulted in a penalty kick. J.J. was dribbled into the box on the left side and shot a ball that was deflected down by a Rowdies arm. The ref didn't call a foul. Where as minutes later, a not as obvious handball was called.

The Rowdies best chance of the game came with roughly 10 minutes left in the half. A through ball was sent up the Rowdies forward. One of the few times that the refs didn't call offside, their forward was streaking toward our goal. Billy was hustling back on defense and forced the Rowdies player to take a shot from a long distance. The ball skidded across the wet grass. Baxter had a hard time keeping control of the ball and knocked it across the mouth of the goal. A Rowdies forward was following the play and him, Todd, and Baxter all went sliding for the ball. The forward couldn't get a good foot on the ball and shot it to the left of the post. Minutes later the ref called half.

At half, we decided to make some changes to get some more offense going. The Rowdies seemed as if they were playing for a 0-0 tie. We were bound not to let that happen.

The formation change allowed us to put even more pressure on the Rowdies defense. For easily 35 minutes of this half, the ball was played on the Rowdies side of the field. We had many more good shots on goal this half. Mark had a few hard shots that were knocked down by a seasoned goalie. Once again we could not get any shots to go in. Along with Mark, Dennis, Bishop, Matt, J.J., Jeremy, Kevin, and even some defenders were taking shots on goal.

Halfway during the half we finally got a break. Jeremy and Geoff the keeper were going for a ball that was just outside the box. While they ran into each other, the ball got somewhat cleared to J.J. He quickly got off a shot that was kinda miss-hit. With Geoff running back into the goal, one of his defenders was knocking the shot down. Only problem was it hit his right arm. The ref called a PK. Compared to the earlier handball in the box, this one would've been easier to miss. So J.J. walked up and shot the ball in the back of the net. Memphis Shock 1-0.

The Rowdies dropped from their 6-man defense and tried to tie the game up. They still couldn't get anything going. Within the last minute they got a little flurry on our side of the field, but nothing serious. After 90 minutes, the game ended in a 1-nil victory for the Memphis Shock.

Being our first game this was a good start. Granted the outcome doesn't reflect on how much we were on their side of the field, we did outplay our opponents. One aspect of the game was the outrageous number of offsides that were called. Numerous times offside was called when the player was clearly on the safe side. In total, there had to be at least 20 offside calls. Defense just didn't allow anything. That was even having 2 of our starting defenders not playing. Todd and David did a great job back there as always but Billy stole the show at defense. We didn't quite expect what he showed, but I'm not gonna complain. Midfield, everyone did a great job passing the ball, making plays, and in defense. Forwards, while starting slow, came on strong in the end to give the backline of the Rowdies fits.

Next game is against the Memphis Waves, winners of D4 last Fall. The Waves will soon know what life in D3 is like.

Dennis Thompson