Last Saturday Southridge took on last years 3a league and district champions Sunnyside. The Grizzlies returned two first team all conference forwards who know how to score goals in bunches. Sunnyside was coming off a 2-1 home defeat to Kamiakin and were looking to get a victory to put thier team closer to the top of the table.
Southridge couldn't have wished for a better start to the game as a Sunnyside defender handled a ball in the 18 yard box in the fourth minute. Junior Captain Jared Brisbin went to the penalty spot and converted his first league goal of the season. The rest of the first half saw our Suns miss a few golden chances in front of the goal but overall the half went really well as the team were winning all the important statistical categories. At half time the boys realized that they had a much better team and felt like they could go out and finish their opponents off. Two goals in the first minute and a half was exactly what it took to ice the game. Corey Grady's long throw to the top of the 18 yard box found Sophomore Bill Landefeld who made his first start of the year laser a shot underneath the keepers arms. On the ensuing kickoff Freshmen Jake Zoulek stole the ball from a midfielder and dished the ball to Brisbin who notched his second goal of the game. The Suns were happy to protect the 3-0 lead for the remaining 38 minutes and even rest some key starters. Sunnyside coach Juan Pineda admitted that the biggest factor in the game was the physical play of Southridge, he said "at times it was like playing a football team not a soccer team." Branden Hale made five saves and earned his second straight shutout.
Next Game is 3/31 at Richland, come root for the suns as they go for three in a row!
Mar 31, 2009
Mar 26, 2009
Eisenhower
Last night we drove up the I 82 Corridor for the second time in four days. Ike has a very good team, they are well coached and have some really good players. They came into the match 0-2 after losing in a 0-0 shootout to Hanford, and 2-0 to Kamiakin. The game was very important because from here on out all the games count for league, any team falling in a hole will find it very difficult to dig out of.
The game started out in Ike's favor. The Sun's were unable to execute the game plan and were very lucky to have Branden Hale in goal. Hale made six saves in the first half including a crucial double save that kept Ike off the board. We were fortunate to get to the half at 0-0 as we weren't playing very techincal and it was only our work ethic and physical play that kept us in the game. The second half saw our team playing a bit more organized and we started stringing some good passes together to get some decent chances at goal. Once again Hale came up big making four additional saves to tally a total of 10 for the night. With about 20 minutes left in the game Jared Brisbin decided to take the game over. First he made two runs up the middle leaving defenders in his wake, later he set up Freshmen Chandler Mertens who rifled a low shot of the keepers left post, he also did the same for Freshmen Jake Zoulek but his shot was a foot wide of the mark, and in the end with nine minutes left in the game he took Bill Landefeld's long throw down and put it at the feet of Zoulek who promptly dispatched the keeper for the game winning goal.
It was a very exciting ROAD victory that proved we can win important games at any venue. Some things to point out was our defense played very well, some mistakes were made but they were made going full speed and that is what kept Ike from capitalising. Sophomores Conner Cravens and Josh Mendoza played great and will continue to improve as we play these types of games. Once again Michael Brewer was in the right places and shut down two of Ike's more dangerous players. Congratulations to Branden Hale on his second shutout of the season. Special praises are in order to Jake Zoulek, not only did the Freshmen score his first career goal but he netted the game winner and not too many first time goal scorers can claim that.
The game started out in Ike's favor. The Sun's were unable to execute the game plan and were very lucky to have Branden Hale in goal. Hale made six saves in the first half including a crucial double save that kept Ike off the board. We were fortunate to get to the half at 0-0 as we weren't playing very techincal and it was only our work ethic and physical play that kept us in the game. The second half saw our team playing a bit more organized and we started stringing some good passes together to get some decent chances at goal. Once again Hale came up big making four additional saves to tally a total of 10 for the night. With about 20 minutes left in the game Jared Brisbin decided to take the game over. First he made two runs up the middle leaving defenders in his wake, later he set up Freshmen Chandler Mertens who rifled a low shot of the keepers left post, he also did the same for Freshmen Jake Zoulek but his shot was a foot wide of the mark, and in the end with nine minutes left in the game he took Bill Landefeld's long throw down and put it at the feet of Zoulek who promptly dispatched the keeper for the game winning goal.
It was a very exciting ROAD victory that proved we can win important games at any venue. Some things to point out was our defense played very well, some mistakes were made but they were made going full speed and that is what kept Ike from capitalising. Sophomores Conner Cravens and Josh Mendoza played great and will continue to improve as we play these types of games. Once again Michael Brewer was in the right places and shut down two of Ike's more dangerous players. Congratulations to Branden Hale on his second shutout of the season. Special praises are in order to Jake Zoulek, not only did the Freshmen score his first career goal but he netted the game winner and not too many first time goal scorers can claim that.
West Valley
For the second week in a row the Suns were to play the second game of back to back tilts on the road. This time instead of a trip across the river we loaded up the "yellow limousine" and headed for Yakima. One of Southridge's biggest weaknesses over the years has been our ability to win on the road. Our biggest fear is the boys coming out flat and not ready to play. Unfortunately it happened again against the Rams. West Valley scored two goals in the opening 10 minutes and it took us another 20 minutes to start playing to our capability. Junior Captain Jared Brisbin scored his third goal of the year off an assist from Michael Brewer and it was only a few minutes later when Brewer got his own opportunity to score. The ball was served off a corner kick from Freshmen Chandler Mertens who had just entered the game as a sub. The ball was driven low and hard and Brew rose up between two defenders to smash the ball into the back of the net. The rest of the game was close with each team getting chances at the goal, but in the end it was West Valley scoring with just eight minutes left in the game.
Central Valley
Sorry I haven't updated the blog here's whats been happening. Friday the 20th we played Central Valley from the GSL. We knew this team beat Pasco the previous year in the regional championship and we knew they had some good players coming back but that was about it.
The game started off with a bang. on kickoff the ball was dropped to Tanner Crass who sent a long ball into the box that Adolfo Garcia crossed into the six yard box, unfortunately Corey Grady was a step to late and couldn't get a strike on the ball. However Grady was able to open the scoring in the 38th minute with his first goal of the year. The Suns were happy to take a 1-0 lead into the locker room and were asked to go out and finish the team off. The boy's continued to dominate the second half, playing very physical, executing the game plan. Jared Brisbin scored two goals of beautiful crosses from Adolfo Garcia and Tanner Crass. Senior Trent Mccoullough scored his first career varsity goal as Grady tacked on an assist to go with his goal. Head Coach Chip Elfering wanted to point out the stellar play of Senior leader Michael Brewer, who helped the defense earn their first shutout of the year. Branden Hale also played to his potential making five saves including a one on one breakaway 10 minutes from regulation.
The game started off with a bang. on kickoff the ball was dropped to Tanner Crass who sent a long ball into the box that Adolfo Garcia crossed into the six yard box, unfortunately Corey Grady was a step to late and couldn't get a strike on the ball. However Grady was able to open the scoring in the 38th minute with his first goal of the year. The Suns were happy to take a 1-0 lead into the locker room and were asked to go out and finish the team off. The boy's continued to dominate the second half, playing very physical, executing the game plan. Jared Brisbin scored two goals of beautiful crosses from Adolfo Garcia and Tanner Crass. Senior Trent Mccoullough scored his first career varsity goal as Grady tacked on an assist to go with his goal. Head Coach Chip Elfering wanted to point out the stellar play of Senior leader Michael Brewer, who helped the defense earn their first shutout of the year. Branden Hale also played to his potential making five saves including a one on one breakaway 10 minutes from regulation.
Mar 17, 2009
Opening Weekend
On Friday we opened our Non League schedule with GSL favorite University. The game was interned to be a warm up for the Pasco game the following night and things were going really well until the yellow cards started piling up. The game was close at half time, a 1-0 deficit could have been reversed but Head Coach Chip Elfering didn't want to risk players getting two yellows and missing the Pasco game. Every bench player played in the game and the final score was 3-0. Branden Hale made seven saves and Hugo Garcia and Jared Brisbin played really well in the middle.
On Saturday we traveled across the river to take on league favorite Pasco. We knew going into the game how tough they were on paper and we needed to play extremely hard and stick to our game plan to have a chance to win the game. Unfortunately they scored in the first 35 seconds and finished with three goals in the first half. In second half the Suns come out more determined to play with purpose and we saw a better team. We were able to string some passes together, played a bit more physical, only allowed one goal, and even put the ball in the back of the net although it was called back for a handball. Once again Hugo Garcia was probably the best Suns player as he was involved in several tackles.
Around the league:
Walla Walla, West Valley, and Sunnyside picked up regulation wins with Wenatchee and Hanford winning in shootouts.
On Saturday we traveled across the river to take on league favorite Pasco. We knew going into the game how tough they were on paper and we needed to play extremely hard and stick to our game plan to have a chance to win the game. Unfortunately they scored in the first 35 seconds and finished with three goals in the first half. In second half the Suns come out more determined to play with purpose and we saw a better team. We were able to string some passes together, played a bit more physical, only allowed one goal, and even put the ball in the back of the net although it was called back for a handball. Once again Hugo Garcia was probably the best Suns player as he was involved in several tackles.
Around the league:
Walla Walla, West Valley, and Sunnyside picked up regulation wins with Wenatchee and Hanford winning in shootouts.
Mar 10, 2009
Hello Parents
I know that after tonight's parent-coaches meeting some of you are viewing this blog for the first time, so I thought I'd dedicate a post to you.
First of all I'd like to thank each and every one of you for the time, energy, and effort that you put into your children's lives and into the Southridge athletic programs. We are excited to have your sons on our teams and look forward to having a great year.
The purpose of this blog is to give some more exposure to the soccer team. Unfortunately, the Tri-City Herald doesn't devote much time to high school sports and especially to soccer. So this blog will supplement the lack of coverage that goes on and keep you informed on how the season is progressing.
*Two things you can do to be involved in the blog*:
-Give the address to your friends and families who live out of town and don't get a chance to watch very many games. They will be able to follow the season and see how the Suns are doing.
-Next you can go to Google and create a user name and password and leave comments after a posting. You can tell the boys how proud you are of them, and leave encouraging messages for others to read.
Also I will have the schedule, as well as league standings and league stats, posted throughout the year.
Once again thank you for your time and commitement to the program.
First of all I'd like to thank each and every one of you for the time, energy, and effort that you put into your children's lives and into the Southridge athletic programs. We are excited to have your sons on our teams and look forward to having a great year.
The purpose of this blog is to give some more exposure to the soccer team. Unfortunately, the Tri-City Herald doesn't devote much time to high school sports and especially to soccer. So this blog will supplement the lack of coverage that goes on and keep you informed on how the season is progressing.
*Two things you can do to be involved in the blog*:
-Give the address to your friends and families who live out of town and don't get a chance to watch very many games. They will be able to follow the season and see how the Suns are doing.
-Next you can go to Google and create a user name and password and leave comments after a posting. You can tell the boys how proud you are of them, and leave encouraging messages for others to read.
Also I will have the schedule, as well as league standings and league stats, posted throughout the year.
Once again thank you for your time and commitement to the program.
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