I have lost count of the number of penalty shootouts I have been a part of since coming to Plattsburgh in 2007. All I can say is that they usually don’t end too well for us. In 07 we lost in the conference final, in 08 we lost in the conference semi-final and in 09 we lost in the conference final, all on penalties. It is not an easy to win and it is an especially disappointing way to lose. Luckily we were on the right side of the decision yesterday and we advanced to the conference tournament.
Although we beat Geneseo 3-0 in the regular season we knew that it would be anywhere near the same type of game this time. They are one of the hardest teams to play against just because of their high pressure and direct style of play. We wanted to get an early one to settle the nerves a little bit but that was always going to be hard. We were handed a boost with the return of Levine at left back, he had been playing well prior to hurting his hamstring and it gives us a different look with him in the lineup. Also Bart was finally looking healthy and we know we can always count on him to have huge games in playoffs.
I don’t think we started too well in the first 10 minutes but we grew into the game and started to put them under some pressure. We were getting some decent opportunities from corners and our passing was focused towards the corners because their back 3 was extremely narrow. We took the lead after a corner was cleared out but Mart kept it alive in the corner and played it back to me, I crossed one deep to the far post where Bandov headed right back across goal and in. I think the goal was more than we deserved but in order to completely take control we had to push on and try and get another one.
We went into half time feeling confident but we knew that they were going to come after us as neither team was willing to let their season end without a fight.
The second was an ugly and scrappy affair, just the way Geneseo likes it. This type of game suits their style of play because they are a smash mouth team. I mean this in the nicest way and they were the better team in the next half.
We seemed to be happy with our 1-0 lead but that is rarely enough, especially in a playoff game. With about 10 minutes left in the game they had a corner which we didn’t clear too well. Their center back, who was also their last man back started to line up the clearance from about 35-40 yards out and he hit one that was probably going on goal but there was still a crowd on the edge of the box from the corner and it deflected off Bart and went it. There was nothing that neither Andy nor Bart could do. I don’t think Bart had any choice but to try and block it and the wet conditions made it hard.
That goal really took the wind out of our sails and going into to overtime I think they had the momentum. I don’t think they capitalized the way they should have because we were really on our heels. With that being said we definitely had the chance of the overtime. Shaughnessy made a harmless looking flick turn into a cross along the goal line and Bandov, along with a defender, slid in but could not get a touch on it.
So to penalties we went. All of the seniors who played wanted a pen. Lojo, Bart and Payne are our primary takers and then Googz and I said we would take one. We wanted to go first to put some pressure on them and we duly did that after Bart took a great penalty sending the goalie the wrong way. Then arguably Geneseo’s best player hit the post with his. From then on we hit all of our penalties and took the shootout 5-3. It was a nice win but we are disappointed that we let the game get that far. For the seniors it was a bit of a scare because we were extremely close to ending our career’s too early. We don’t expect anything less than playing in the conference championship game. Even then we expect to win it because that is the level of our program. So although we are happy we won we will not be getting carried away because there is a lot of work to be done before we face Oneonta on Friday at their place. It’s all about getting one more game for us seniors. We just want to extend our careers one game at a time. Nobody on the team has a SUNYAC championship and that is our number one goal and we will be doing everything this week in practice to achieve that goal.
It was a great weekend all round with a Plattsburgh win and a Liverpool win. That’s 2 wins in a row and all those people writing us off will soon be eating their words because we will be up there at the end of the season, the fans know it and so do the team it is only outsiders who do not believe. YNWA
Here is Torres' brilliant backheel to set up Maxi for the goal. Oh and by the way, Man Utd are still dirty cheats.
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