Marquette University Athletics
Steve Adlard's Coaching Diary
10/29/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Once a week during the soccer season, Steve Adlard, Marquette University's head men's soccer coach, will share his thoughts on the Golden Eagles' squad.
(Note: Assistant Coach Bryan Mogford fills in for Coach Adlard in this week's diary)
October 29, 1999
Q: Your team had a quite a match against St. Louis, the No. 12-ranked team in the nation, this past Wednesday
A: The St. Louis game was the dedication of its new stadium, so obviously it was a big evening for them with a big crowd in attendance. They are a good team and have some quality players. They always come out strong and we knew they would come at us the first 30 minutes. St. Louis was the better team the first 30 minutes, we really weren't able to generate any control possession in their half of the field. Whatever we put down there was coming back to our end and we were under a lot of pressure. They scored a goal off this pressure that resulted from when the ball dropped into the penalty area. We had a chance to clear it, we didn't clear it, and they scored off of that.
In the second half, we pushed Tom Nolan up front, who at 6-foot-4 is a physical presence. One of the problems in the first half was that everything we got forward, St. Louis' big center half was clearing it. When we pushed Nolan up front it made a difference because he was able to contest the balls that were going in and that helped us gain possession.
We scored an equalizer when Marshall Morehead got possession and got out wide. He crossed the ball into the box and Bryan Godfrey came in at the far post and scored a great a header. Now, it's 1-1 and we're in the game. What we had to do was keep that goal for about 15 minutes. However, St. Louis turned around and scored almost immediately after we did, probably within five minutes. So we went from the game being 1-1 and feeling good to being down 2-1 just five minutes later and feeling a bit deflated. St. Louis scored again soon after that and now we're chasing the game.
We then put Nate Winkel in out wide on the right and moved Sean Reti out wide on the left. We put Nolan up front with Marshall so now we had a lot of people pushing forward because we had nothing to lose. St. Louis had difficulty in dealing with the pressure that resulted from that switch. Both our wide players were doing well and we were controlling the game. Bryan Godfrey got a free kick from about 45 yards out and put the ball in the air in a central location and Tom Nolan got in front of the defender, got his head on it, and scored. That was a major part in the game for us because Tom was the original player who came in and started giving St. Louis problems. Ironically, he scored a goal just like that from the same position the day before in practice.
That goal helped elevate us. A few minutes later, Sean Reti cut inside and rocketed a shot in from about 35 yards out. Now, all of a sudden, it's tied at 3-3 and we are all over them. With about 10 minutes to go we're feeling that we can win the game. We had some pressure over the remainder of the game but weren't able to score.
In overtime situations, we feel that crosses are important, getting the ball out wide and crossing the ball into the box and trying to score off that. History tells us that a lot of goals in overtime are scored on crosses. Unfortunately, it was St. Louis who got the cross. They got a player out wide, we tried to prevent the delivery, but the ball came in about four feet off the ground and their player scored a nice goal.
If you could have picked a game for that dedication ceremony, that would have been the game. From a spectator point of view, it was an exhibition of tremendous soccer skills from both teams.
Q: After going into their stadium and playing before a huge crowd, will that give your team some added confidence if you are able to play them down the road?
A: We did go into their stadium, played before a large crowd that was obviously rooting for St. Louis, and we weren't intimidated at all. We played our game and I think that one of the strong qualities of this team is that they are starting to have the belief that no matter how much pressure the other team puts them under, they can deal with it. When we fell behind, 1-0, our players knew that they would continue to battle right to the end.
I just feel that the players believe they can play with anybody. And after going to St. Louis and playing tough against a highly ranked team on a night like that, you have to feel confident.
Q: The team's final regular-season game is Monday (Nov. 1) against Missouri-Kansas City at home. What can you tell us about that game?
A: They have improved and have had some good results. We went to Oakland and lost and Oakland, I felt, was a very good team. Oakland then goes to Kansas City and gets beat. So we can't underestimate them. Their record would indicate that they have a fine team that has improved from when we played them last year.
Our players have to become consistent in terms of the quality of the play that we showed at St. Louis. If we can reproduce that sort of performance on a consistent basis, then it will be very difficult for anybody to play with us. I think the confidence is there. The thing you have to be mindful of is that we can compete with teams if we give maximum effort irrespective of the opposition. If we focus on what we do well and we impose our game and our will on the opposition, I believe that we will be a force for anybody to deal with.
Q: The game against UMKC is Senior Night. Can you talk about this year's seniors?
A: Chad (Garofola) and Ryan (Taylor) are tremendous team players. They will do whatever it takes for the team. They've been very coachable and will go out and try to do whatever you tell him. They are good people to have represent your soccer program.
Jeremy Evans was a junior college transfer who came into the program last year and contributed. Coming off the bench, he always gave his best. Unfortunately, he broke his leg this past spring season and has been recovering from that break. He's a fine citizen and a good player to have on the team.
Nate Winkel is a tremendously gifted player. To his credit, he was diligent about coming in during the winter months to work on what we needed him to do in order to contribute. I was really pleased for him at St. Louis when we put him in during the second half. It was a time when we needed to go forward and all these attacking skills that he has lent itself to that situation. He was able to use that talent for the team and I thought that he did a good job.
Overall, this team is a good group of players. I think part of the reason for that is the leadership that our seniors have shown. That tends to filter down to the rest of the team.
