The Remsen/Herkimer boys soccer scrimmage this afternoon was exactly why you can't rely on scrimmages to tell you much. Final score? Herkimer 4, Remsen 1. Andrew Stilwell scored all 4 Magician goals, and Remsen's goal was with 35 seconds left. Sounds like Herkimer was the class of the field, right? But wait. Not for a second did Remsen play with 11 players. With only 10 active for today's outing (a few guys were missing some necessary individual practices in order to participate), it bounced back and forth between 11v10 and 11v9. It actually took me a while to figure it out because the discrepancy didn't make itself so clear until the 2nd half rolled around, when the Rams started to wear down. It was a game marred by sloppy play and poor possession game. However, each team did show some bright spots. Letter grades!
Herkimer: C. Looks like a wildly young team out there. I'd be surprised if more than 4 or 5 kids were older than sophomore year. This shows you there's some weakness and inexperience. However, they showed promising signs that they'll be able to connect on scoring opportunities this season. Something they had a problem with last season was connecting a head or foot to a solid cross. 3 of the 4 goals today came off of crosses into the box. Far from the quickest team. Brightest spot is sophomore GK Austin Perry. He came on strong last season, making a lot of beyond-freshman saves, and he did the same today. Made a couple diving stops early - that can be a nice little momentum shift when games roll around. It's nice to have a security blanket between the pipes like that. Won't be the best season for Herkimer, but look for them to have a stronger 2nd half of the season - once the youngins get their feet wet.
Remsen: D (Incomplete). I think it's obvious why the incomplete is there. Kinda tough to give a grade when you don't see 11 players on a field. The theory is brilliant. I saw a lot of things that I probably wouldn't have seen if there were 11 out there. Maybe those Herkimer crosses wouldn't have connected. Maybe they would've been able to string better possessions together. Maybe they wouldn't have been more tired than a fat kid that had to sprint a mile to the buffet. However, that's a lot of maybes, and I can't grade maybe. I can grade what I saw - which is only fair. They worked their way to some opportunities early, including a strong one that made Herkimer GK Austin Perry make a retreating dive to his right to prevent the ball from getting by. However, as the game went on, the whole being undermanned thing caught up to the Rams. Chances came less often, and getting back to protect the box became more inconsistent, where a skinny, yet taller Stilwell was able to clean house. Hopefully I'll see a better Ram team take the field in a few weeks when that roster turns from 10 to 15.
I'll be at Jamesville-Dewitt bright and early tomorrow morning for Fayetteville-Manlius/J-D girls soccer! Get ready for the first installment of Most Valuable Thoughts - Fall 2013 style.
No comments:
Post a Comment