First of all, let me say I am way glad we are done with one day road trips for a while. Five in a row is tough on everyone, but made easier when you win. Our week was full of tense moments and interesting developments for sure.
Tuesday saw us again move up in the Adidas/NSCAA region VII rankings to #7. We also for the first time were mentioned in the ESPNRise Illinois rankings, coming in at #5.
On Tuesday we were also on the road for a conference game at U.T.H.S and it was more of a battle than we expected and then some. It started out bad when Ethan Venvertloh was unable to play because of an injury from Saturday. We adjusted to that pretty well, but 5 minutes into the game, Zach Forbes busted open his lip and had to go to the ER for 10 stitches. Being one person down is bad, but being down 2 really puts you in a tough spot. We got a lot of great minutes from kids on our bench and some of them grew up that night. We battled all night and with 4 minutes left in the game, we saw our life pass before our eyes. UTHS hit one off the crossbar that if it were 2 inches lower, would have been a goal. We managed to get to OT and at that time, here comes Zach Forbes back from the ER. Rather than throw him in on defense, we put him up front. Wouldn't you know it, just 1 minute into OT, Zach got the ball on the wing, took it down the field and crossed it to Matt Burrus who got the golden goal winner and improved our WB6 streak to 22 games.
On Friday, we traveled to Springfield High and for the first time all year, had to have a stern talk at half-time. We have told them time and time again about moving the ball, and for whatever reason, we continue to try and dribble through teams. When we move the ball like we are capable, we are a tough team to beat. The 2nd half was much better. Gavin Schaefer and Bronson Melvin each scored for a 2-0 victory.
Saturday we hosted Rock Island Alleman and had no idea what to expect. On Tuesday, they had lost to Moline in OT and maybe they would be better than we initially thought. It wasn't to be as we scored early and often and won 8-0. Better yet, 8 different players scored goals and four others recorded an assist. The 3 victories moved us to 12-0-1.
This upcoming week we host Macomb on Monday before heading to Collinsville for the Gateway City Soccer Classic. The classic will test us in 3 very competitive games. No team in our bracket has more than 1 loss on the season, and at least four teams will be ranked in the top 50 in the nation. In our bracket, there are teams from Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and New York. Should be a lot fun.
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