2012 Boys’ Soccer
Introducing our 2012 Varsity Soccer Team:
Congratulations to student Lu Reh!
Lu was named to the DeafDigest All-American soccer team for fall 2012! Great work Lu!!
FALL 2012 ESDAA NORTHERN REGIONAL SOCCER TOURNAMENT RECAP:
10/19/2012- St. Mary’s School for the Deaf vs Rochester School for the Deaf
The boys varsity soccer team travelled to Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf this past weekend for the 34th annual ESDAA Northern regional soccer tournament. Our teams first challenge would be facing off against our rival and last year’s defending champion, the Wildcats from RSD. Earlier this season our squad didn’t fare well against Rochester, so we decided to make some adjustments in an effort to have a more competitive game and potentially pull off an upset. Unfortunately, our plans didn’t work and once again the Wildcats were able to dominate our team from start to finish. Baylen Oliver played exceptionally well as a 1st time defender and Dustin Robinson made some key saves in goal to keep the score of the game somewhat respectable. The final outcome ended in a 6-0 decision. Although losing to RSD in our first match was difficult to swallow, the players realized that there was an entire weekend full of competitions and games and if they were going to pull themselves out of this slump they needed to continue to prepare for the next opponent and remain positive.
10/20/2012- St. Mary’s School for the Deaf vs Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf
In an effort to rebound after a tough opening round loss on Friday afternoon, our boys were ready to earn back some respect on Saturday morning and salvage what was left of this year’s tournament. Our first of two obstacles today would be the host school, the Lions from WPSD. The coaching staff made the decision to abandon the formula from our previous game and go back to the game plan that was more successful for us throughout most of our season. Although we played better, it was not enough to hold back the Lions. We were able to muster more of an offensive attack but we were not fortunate enough to put any shots past our oppositions keeper. Our defense could only keep our team in the game for so long before WPSD put a few goals in. We lost the match 3-0. That being said, we didn’t have much time to sulk or lick our wounds because the tournament schedule had us playing back to back games with the next opponent being against division 1 school, the Spartans from Ohio School for the Deaf.
10/20/2012- St. Mary’s School for the Deaf vs Ohio School for the Deaf
There was no rest for the weary as the Bisons were forced back into action for our third and final game of the tournament. With only a few minutes to brief our players on a strategy against the Spartans, we told our team to not only continue to build off of a solid improvement from the previous match but to play with more emotion than ever before because this would be our seniors (Jacob Rhoades & Peter Miazga) last soccer tournament game. It was important that our guys left “everything they had on the field.” The Bisons played with more heart and focus then the coaches had ever seen before. Dustin Robinson caught the opposition “sleeping” at the kick-off and slipped a goal past their keeper to start things off and put us up 1-0. It was our first goal of the tournament but it wouldn’t be our last. At the 10:00 mark, Ohio School for the Deaf was in control 4-1. However, the 1st half turned into a “see-saw” battle with St. Mary’s countering back with four goals of our own ( Lu Reh-3 goals & William Spencer-1 goal) leading at halftime 5-4. During the break the coaching staff reiterated how important it was to remain in control of themselves. It was the first time this team had any lead in a game this season. Needless to say the boys were excited, but if they were to be successful they needed to temper those emotions until the game was finished. The intensity picked up where things left off in the first half. Both teams played relatively conservative and were deliberate in picking their opportunities to be aggressive on offense. Both teams were able to capitalize on the scoreboard exploiting each other’s defense. But with 5 minutes remaining Lu Reh notched his 4th goal of the game and as time started to wear down, panic set in for the Spartans and they were unable to overcome it. THE BISONS WON 8-7! It was the first time the program was victorious in over 2 years. We finished in 3rd place overall and had two players honored as all-stars (Lu Reh & Dustin Robinson). Please wish the team congrats on a successful tournament.
FALL 2012 GAME RECAPS FROM COACH BOOKE:
Thursday, October 25th vs. Gow: Having won our two previous games in a row, the Bisons had a lot at stake for their final game of the season by setting themselves up for their first potential win streak in a few years. Our team was able to control the GOW school for the majority of the contest. We out shot our opponent 13-4. Both Lu Reh and Dustin Robinson had their opportunities with a few break-a-ways but unfortunately we had a number of attempts that either hit the cross bar, the posts, or just went a shade wide. Baylen Oliver proved to be up to the task once again by making a number of key saves in goal throughout the game.
Unfortunately we had one defensive breakdown that led to a GOW goal and that was the final outcome, 1-0. It should be noted that at the start of our season if we had lost a game 1-0 our players would have been satisfied that we at least made the game competitive. Now after a few wins under our belt our players are no longer content with just a “good game”. That is exactly that attitude that we have strived to achieve this season and hopefully they can bring that mentality into their next sports season.
Please wish the team congrats on what we would consider a large step in the right direction and congrats to our Seniors (Jacob Rhoades and Peter Miazga) on the final soccer game of their high school sports career.
Tuesday, October 23rd vs. Central Baptist: The question remained as to whether the Bisons hard work, determination, and good fortune would carry over from last weekend’s deaf tournament into the end of our regular season schedule. Under less than ideal conditions, the team hit the road for a extended excursion to Yorkshire, NY to play against the Lions from Central Baptist in the midst of some ominous weather.
Although the scoreboard did not favor our club (0-2) in the first half of the contest, it was clear that we were the better team and that it was just a matter of time before we would regain control. We would never concede and eventually preserve as long as we continued to play smart and aggressive.
It has been preached to this squad all season that this type of “will” to win comes from having already having tasted victory. Once you taste success once, you begin to want it all the time. Your approach to how you practice and how you perform in games changes because you will stop at nothing to experience that feeling again. That type of attitude is what our team put out on the field in the second half of the game.
We opened up the second half with two quick strikes off the feet of Lu Reh and Dustin Robinson that allowed us to tie the game. With 13:00 min remaining in the contest, Lu Reh scored again giving us a one goal advantage that we would not relinquish.
The Boys team walked away from Central Baptist with its second win in row 3-2. Please wish them congrats on a job well done. Our last game of the season is this Thursday at home against the GOW school.
Tuesday, October 9th vs. Falk: After an extended holiday weekend the Bison’s once again hit the soccer field in the 2nd of a two game season series against the Falk school. Do to some unforeseen circumstances, the coaching staff was forced to make some positional changes that put one of our veterans (Dustin Robinson) in as our keeper, Lu Reh as a defending stopper in the middle, and William Spencer as a solo mid-fielder. Unfortunately it was the same old story for our club. We started off too slow and before we knew what was happening, our opponent jumped out ahead by a 3-0 margin.
With about 10min remaining in the 1st half we found our legs and were able to “tilt the table” a little bit back in the other direction in order to make the game competitive. In the second half of the match, our players started understanding and feeling more comfortable in their new roles on the field. Although neither squad tallied anymore goals, the Bison’s were able to register 18 shots on our opponents which is the highest total we have had all season.
William Spencer was responsible for 11 shots and in “stoppage play” he actually scored his first goal of his varsity career. I believe that the Bison’s were the better team in the final 20 minutes of regulation as well as “stoppage play”, it just too bad we weren’t able to put it together at the start of the game. That was our final game before next weeks annual ESDAA northern regional soccer tournament. We have many things to focus on between now and then and hopefully we can “right the ship” in time.
Wednesday, October 3rd vs. Rochester: When the sports schedules comes out at the start of each season, the contests against the Wildcats from Rochester School for the Deaf are immediately highlighted, circled in red, and then often times has a large asterisk placed next to the date. It is expected that most sports programs use their rival as a tool to motivate their teams to prepare and work a little harder than normal. It is also customary to use your rival as a “measuring stick” to assess how the squad has improved and what areas of weakness need to be addressed. According to official reports, RSD has dominated the Bison’s in soccer over the past few years.
Our teams goal yesterday was to make the match more competitive and prevent the Wildcats from “kicking us around” (pun intended). Although our opponents had a number of opportunities in the 1st half that kept our team on its heels, our defense (Cole Rodgers, Jacob Rhodes, Josh Meyers, Dustin Robinson & goalie Baylen Oliver) was able to thwart any goals from actually being scored.
At halftime with the scored tied at 0-0, we started to gain some confidence in our ability and prove to Rochester that they were going to have to really battle if they were going to defeat us. Unfortunately, as the 2nd half wore on we could no longer contain the Wildcats or mount any kind of attack ourselves. With 10 minutes remaining in the match we found ourselves down 2-0 and by the end of the game the final score was 4-0.
Once again we are still trying to put together a full game that limits the mental mistakes. Although our boys were frustrated by the outcome, they will continue to strive in an effort to bring our program back to the prominence that it once had.
Thursday, September 27th vs. West Seneca Christian: With our 3rd game in less than a week’s time, it was to be expected that our Bison’s would appear slightly lethargic against the Falcons from West Seneca Christian. Unfortunately, our sluggish beginning directly resulted in a 2-0 hole in the first 10:00min of the match that our squad never quite climbed out of. After the ill-fated set back we were able to regroup and “stay the course” with the schemes that we had laid out prior to the start of the game.
In the 2nd half of the contest, our athletes raised their level of play and consequently 2nd year player (Lu Reh) was able to punch in a goal that has not only eluded our team so far this season but has also broken a two year scoring drought for this program. With limited time remaining and our team only trailing by one goal it forced us into a high risk/high reward approach. Regrettably, our defense bent a little too much and we allowed our adversary to score one more time which ended any notions of a comeback.
The final score was 3-1. Our team has displayed improvement with each match we have played this season. Now the challenge is being able to put it all together for a full game.
Tuesday, September 25th vs. Falk: This past Tuesday our boys varsity team took on the Falk school in our second soccer match of the season. Our club was determined to improve upon some of the errors we exhibited in our previous contest.
Right from the get-go, it was clear that we were going to play a more aggressive style of defense in an effort to provide our offense with more opportunities to score. In the 1st half of the game our assertive approach was dictating the tempo of the contest and although we were unable to slip anything by our oppositions goal keeper, we tallied more shots on goal then we did the entire match that preceded this one. Our best chance came at the 14:00min mark when one of our mid-fielders(Lu Reh) rang a shot of our competitors cross bar only to have the ball fall straight down to the goal line and roll a few inches in the wrong direction.
At half time the score was tied 0-0 and although our team was happy with our effort so far, we knew there was still a full 25:00min of soccer left to play. Unfortunately, the 2nd half of the contest didn’t go as we had planned. With limited substitutes, our players gradually could no longer impose the same type of will that they forced upon Falk earlier in the game. Despite a stout defense led by Jacob Rhoades and a number of key saves by Baylen Oliver, Falk eventually was able to tack on some goals and dashed any hope that we might be able to squeak out a win.
In our post game meeting the coaching staff as well as the players talked about how they were able to see some positive changes in our teams style of play and realize what it is going to take in order to continue to present a challenge for other teams. Once again, we would like to thank all of our supporters and look forward to seeing you at future games.
Homecoming: Saturday, September 22nd: Your Bisons varsity soccer team took part in this past weekend’s St. Mary’s homecoming festivities by opening up their regular season schedule against the Panthers from Division 1, Pennsylvania School for the Deaf.
Although the weather outside left something to be desired, our club was anxious to put our skills and strategies to the test against a formidable opponent. In the midst of dodging rain drops and mud puddles, we were unable to evade the Panthers offensive attack in the first half of the match. Our defense comprised of a rookie goal keeper (Baylen Oliver) and a few squirrely veterans (Jacob Rhoades, Dustin Robinsion, Cole Rodgers, and Josh Meyers) faced a barrage of shots that resulted in 2 goals at the 2:00 mark and the 18:00 mark.
At half time we were able to re-group and mend some of our defensive breakdowns in an effort to get back into the contest. The second half was much more evenly balanced with both teams trying to gain an advantage. Lu Reh & William Spencer had a couple of quality shots on goal but we were still unable to score. Unfortunately, recent history with our team has shown that scoring has been our achilles heel.
As time wore down, we needed to take some more offensive risks which left our defense “hung out to dry” and PSD was able to notch 1 more goal before the day was done. Both Kevin LeRoy and myself with pleased with the effort our Bisons gave and we both saw signs of improvement.
We would like to thank PSD for coming this weekend, the SMSD residential staff for setting up accommodations, and as always our fans for their continued support.
Fall 2011 Boys Soccer Wrap Up
The boys soccer team traveled to Rochester this fall for the annual ESDAA Soccer Tournament. We faced three very tough teams during the weekend.
We opened against Rochester School for the Deaf on Friday and lost to them 5-0. We had two games on Saturday morning. We faced Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf and lost to them 4-0 in the first game. The last game was against American School for the Deaf and we were defeated 3-0.
The boys don’t possess the talent like we have had in the past but make up for it in heart and hustle! They were positive and gave great efforts throughout the weekend. Mark Morello struggled in net but refused to go down without a fight. Justin Adney and Lu Reh were all over the field. Dustin Robnson, Jacob Rhoades and Nick Tack continued to improve defensively as the tournament progressed. Drew Cannizzaro, Joshua Meyers being new were a little overwhelmed at times but managed to give their best! William Spencer, Peter Miazga and Cole Rodgers aided from the bench and helped out where ever necessary.
Dustin Robinson and Lu Reh were selected to the 11 man All-Star team! Lou Reh also took home the tournament trophy for highest individual points in the shots on goal competition!
