What do you do when you concede a second goal in the 51st minute against a side that beat you 3-0 the previous season? Do you fold? Do you point fingers to assuage your ego? Those are both common responses but, proudly, not the options the boys reached for this past weekend against Macalester.
Our boys banded together to create a memorable performance after the Scots jumped to a 2-0 lead this past Saturday. We outshot them 12-4 from that point forward! On the back of three straight corner kicks, Tim Spesia volleyed home his first collegiate goal to breath life onto Haws field. Shortly after that, Guy Mohs set the game on fire with his first of the season when he tapped in Ben Becker’s header that caromed off of the crossbar. The final touches were administered in the 89th minute when Kagan Foster put life and limb on the line to challenge for a header with their keeper. His bravery won us a PK that captain Leighton Lommel tucked into the side net as calmly as you like.
We lined up in one of our very last MIAC matches with the tommies (I trust most of you know they are leaving the MIAC) in St. Paul yesterday in relentless rain. We jumped to an early lead 8 minutes into the match when a vertical pass from WB Nick Devasia connected with Kagan Foster between their CB and GK. He did the work to beat the keeper before tucking it away. We were always going to need to be on point all day to keep their attack at bay which wasn’t to be this time around. They netted two goals just before half and found a third after the intermission. We are hoping that we get another chance to play them as it wasn’t the full 90 performance we had scripted.
The MIAC, as you all know, is a bruising conference in soccer right now. Take a look at the standings after four games. I warned the boys against reading the press clippings after our incredible comeback against Macalester as well as trusting their emotional response to the defeat by the tommies. Much of the MIAC table at the end of the season will be sorted by how teams react after taking a ding. Well, we took one yesterday. . .and we get to answer that question at Saint Mary’s on Saturday. I believe the boys will show the resiliency necessary to lay claim to 12 points through half of our MIAC schedule. That, incidentally, is the total we earned through the entire gauntlet last fall.
Let me recommend watching the webcast of our homecoming game Saturday before you attend the 2019 J-Club Hall of Honor Dinner where they are honoring Pat Haws for his incredible coaching career at Saint John’s! Check out the video linked below. I’ll be hustling back from Winona to be there with you!
OUR FAMILY vs. their team,
John Haws