Game 2>
Game 2, November 2, 1997
Kc vs St. Louis in St. Louis
I was worried about this game, needless to say. With a rookie
keeper getting the start against an always-tough St. Louis team, it was
difficult to be anything but worried. I listened to this game on the
radio, so if I have any of the information wrong, I apologize. It's
difficult (at best) to hear the station - I sat in my car for the second
half, as the station was too full of static inside my house. Maybe
someday the Attack will get a radio contract with a station that has a
transmitter that can actually reach to where their fans live.
Hopefully, that will be in my lifetime.
During the pre-game show, Attack player/coach Jim Schwab stated
that he felt Kevin Zimmerman had done a great job in goal against
Wichita on Saturday night. Schwab said the defense failed Zimmerman,
not the other way around. He also stated that the Attack was killed
defensively against the Wings, and that was where the game was lost.
Too many stupid goals were given up in Wichita, and they were hoping not
to repeat that mistake in St. Louis.
However, as the game went on, it became apparent that KC was
getting beaten offensively and defensively, though the first half
sounded like a battle of the defense. In the end, though, the Attack
was beaten soundly by a powerhouse Ambush team, led by a hat trick from
Curtis Stelzer. The Attack's only points all came from Brian Loftin,
who had a hat trick of his own. By the time it was all over, the Ambush
were 4-0 on the season and the Attack were 0-2. The final score?? Way
too much to way too little.........17-4.
The first quarter sounded as if Zimmerman was coming up big, making
some quick saves against an experienced opponent. Of course, Jamie
Swanner was having his usual great game at the other end. KC scored the
first goal at just under 7 minutes into the game. Kevin Koetters made a
perfect pass to Loftin, who beat Swanner to get his first goal of the
season. A few minutes later, St. Louis drew their first of three
penalties when Tony Siikala was carded for boarding Novica Marojevic.
Eloy Salgado took the shootout attempt, but it was deflected wide by
Swanner and the Attack were unable to convert on the power play. Before
the quarter was over, Stelzer had finished off his first goal of the
game to tie it up. KC 2, STL 2
St. Louis seemed to be taking a lot of quick shots and applying a
lot of pressure in an attempt to unnerve Zimmerman. However, they were
having a difficult time in scoring, sending many shots high and wide,
and Zimmerman was making a lot of saves, as well. Unfortunately, the
Attack seemed to be having difficulties finding the back of the net,
too. It's always tough to beat Swanner, and tonight was obviously no
exception. About 12 1/2 minutes into the quarter, Scott McDoniel was
shown the blue card for tripping up Salgado. Loftin was able to score
on this shootout, and then tacked on a power play goal to complete his
hat trick. Too bad no one else on the Attack seemed to be able to get
the ball inside the goal. KC 4, STL 2
Halftime stats:
Shots - KC 16, STL 15
Fouls - KC 6, STL 8
Shots faced - KC 15, STL 16
Saves - KC 11, STL 9
Blocks - KC 3, STL 4
If the first half was a defensive battle, the second half was more
of a defensive debacle for the Attack. It sounded as if all the
pressure from the Ambush was beginning to tell on Zimmerman. Shortly
after Zimmerman shut down Ambush leading scorer, Mark Moser, in a
one-on-one situation, the two of them were seen exchanging words.
Schwab talked to Zimmerman, but KC still couldn't seem to score. Even
after Swanner was penalized for an intentional handball outside the box
the Attack couldn't score. Mike Laposha went in goal while Swanner was
in the penalty box, and he deflected Loftin's shootout attempt wide. KC
was again unable to score during the power play, even without Swanner in
goal. St. Louis started their scoring rampage when the Attack again had
trouble clearing the ball out of their box and the ball trickled across
the goal line, with the goal being attributed to Moser. Before play
resumed, Swanner went back in goal for the Ambush. With a little over
five minutes left in the third quarter, Daryl Doran set up Stelzer's
second goal to give the Ambush the lead. Four minutes later, Joe
Reiniger took the ball from end to end, firing a shot off as soon as he
crossed the yellow line. Zimmerman obviously was not prepared for that,
and the three-pointer went in. According to the radio guy, during the
first half the Attack had been winning the 50/50 balls, but the Ambush
owned them in the second half. KC 4, STL 9
The final quarter started off as dismally for KC as the third had
ended. About a minute-and-a-half into the quarter, Brandon Ward had a
restart goal that bounced off the crossbar and into the goal to put the
Ambush up by seven points. Down at the other end, the Attack seemed to
be hitting the posts, the crossbar and Swanner, but not the back of the
net. With a little over eight minutes left, Wes Wade came in as Sixth
Attacker. Throughout the rest of the game, he and Zimmerman seemed to
be "rotating" duties. The Sixth Attacker gambit was to no avail, as
first Reiniger and then Stelzer scored 3-pointers to put the game
completely out of reach for KC. Reiniger's goal came from a rebounded
shot from Steve Kuntz, while Stelzer's was shot from just inside the
center line into an unmanned net. With St. Louis getting six unanswered
goals, KC ended their opening weekend of the season with a second loss.
KC 4, STL 17
It sounded as if Zimmerman was making some great saves, only to
have his teammates be unable to shoot accurately. Other times, the
rookie keeper was outplayed. Wade apparently was playing at forward,
but couldn't get his timing right again. Jeff Davis and Novi were
taking shots, but finding posts, while Koetters and Salgado had few
attempts, apparently. In addition to finding another keeper to get them
through the next 8 weeks or so until Warren Westcoat returns, the Attack
need to spend some time on such fundamentals as hitting the back of the
net and playing tough defense for the entire game. Good news? Well, at
least it didn't sound as if anyone was hurt.
Final stats:
Shots - KC 33, STL 39
Fouls - KC 23, STL 16
Shots faced - KC 39, STL 33
Saves - KC 22, STL 21
Blocks - KC 10, STL 9
Lori
SCORING SUMMARY
1 2 3 4 TTL
KC 2 2 0 0 4
STL 2 0 7 8 17
1ST QUARTER
KC - Loftin (Koetters) 2pg
STL - Stelzer (?) 2pg
Penalties: STL - Siikala, boarding, 2:00
2ND QUARTER
KC - Loftin (ua) 1pg, shootout
KC - Loftin (Wade) 1pg, power play
Penalties: STL - McDoniel, tripping, 2:00
3RD QUARTER
STL - Moser (?) 2pg
STL - Stelzer (Doran) 2pg
STL - Reiniger (ua) 3pg
Penalties: STL - Swanner, intentional handball, 2:00
4TH QUARTER
STL - Ward (?) 2pg, restart
STL - Reiniger (Kuntz) 3pg
STL - Stelzer (McAvin) 3pg
Penalties: none
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Game 3.html
Game 3 - Saturday, November 4.
KCvs Detroit Rockers
Hopes were high for this game, the third of the Attack's nine-in-a-row road games
to start the season. After going 0-2 last weekend, the Attack were looking for a
victory over the Rockers to turn
the momentum. With rookie goalkeeper Kevin Zimmerman getting his second start, the
KC defense was going to have to tighten up and give him the support he deserves.
KC has not signed another 'keeper, and if Zimmerman had to leave the game for any
reason, Wes Wade would most
likely step into goal. (From what I understand, Attack management has said they are
"happy with our goalkeeping situation." Odd statement, considering they have no
backup keeper while Warren Westcoat is out with the dislocated elbow. More on that
in another post.) At any rate, the Attack did have one new player - Simon Weiss was acquired
from the St. Louis Ambush this past week and he would see some playing time in this
match. For Detroit, Dennis Brose is still in a contract dispute and would not play, though new player, Roland Agyeare, would. (I apologize if I've messed up his name
- I can only go by what it sounded like on the radio). By the end of the game, which
featured almost as many penalties as goals, the Attack would have their first win
and the
Rockers would have their first loss.
The Attack rearranged the lineup a bit for this game, and when the first quarter
got underway, Wade had been moved from defense to forward. Nate Houser again shared
time with Kevin Koetters at midfield. The rest of the players were in their usual
positions. KC started taking shots
early in the quarter, but Bryan "Goose" Finnerty was making the saves. At the other
end, Zimmerman was in the right place, as well. After many, many shots in the first
15 minutes, both 'keepers still had a clean slate. KC 0, DET 0
The second quarter started out much like the first - a lot of motion, but no
scoring. The first penalty of the game went to Detroit for too many men on the field.
There is no shootout given for this type of penalty, and KC was unable to score
a power play goal in the next two minutes. It sounded like a defensive battle, with both
teams' plays being broken up before a goal could be scored, or with the 'keeper making
a great save. KC finally broke through and scored in the tenth
minute, when Koetters finally managed to beat Goose. After a flurry of shots/rebounds,
player/coach Jim Schwab chipped a ball to the far side where Koetters was waiting,
and Koetters sent the ball to the upper 90 for the two-pointer. There would be no
more scoring in the first half.
KC 2, DET 0
During the half-time show, there was an interview with Rich Paschette, editor
of "The Great Indoors," an indoor soccer newsletter. He had traveled to Detroit
to watch the game, one of many he'll go see in person this year. He stated that
KC's back line has "really come up big" for Zimmerman, which is what needed to happen. As for
Koetters goal, Rich said it was "the prettiest goal I've seen so far this season."
(For more information on "
The Great Indoors" email
<
[email protected]>
Halftime stats:
Shots: KC 13, DET 15
Saves: KC 13, DET 4
Fouls: KC 9, DET 11
Blocks: KC 2, DET 8
The third quarter started out much as the first half had gone - quite a bit of
action but no goals. The second penalty of the game came in the fifth minute, when
Detroit's Randy Prescott was called for a five-minute misconduct penalty. About
four minutes later, KC's Jeff Davis was shown the blue card for tripping. Jason Willan
scored on the shootout attempt to cut KC's lead to one. The Rockers were unable
to score on the power play. However, shortly after the penalty expired,
Wade was unable to clear the ball effectively and Erecalde gave the ball to Roy to
finish for two points and the lead for the Rockers in the eleventh minute. After
a lot of work, the Rockers had taken the lead.
KC 2, DET 3
After the buzzer had ended the third quarter, Nate Houser and Tim Ernst were
exchanging words. For their efforts, they were both given penalties for unsportsmanlike
conduct to start the fourth quarter. Since they were offsetting penalties, there
was no power play, though the teams would be 4 v 4 for the next two minutes. Even with
a little more room to operate, neither team was able to score in the opening couple
of minutes. However, before the third minute was finished,
Detroit had their third unanswered goal. The goal went to Malachino after the ball
rolled slowly into the goal after Zimmerman got a piece of it but could not stop
it. The Rockers now had a three-point lead. The Attack lived up to their name and
kept on attacking Detroit's goal, forcing Goose to make a lot of saves. At the six-minute
mark, KC finally got another goal. There apparently was a battle for the ball in
the corner by Detroit's goal. The Rockers could not get to it, and the ball was
finally sent off the boards by Novi Marojevic. Sam Ekeme had pushed up from his defensive
spot and was there to get his first goal of the season for the Attack. The radio
announcer had originally said that Schwab had the goal, so the action must have been
fast and furious as it's difficult to confuse Schwab and Ekeme under normal circumstances.
With just one point separating the teams, the next five minutes featured both teams
going back defensively and trying to time their
counterattacks carefully to avoid being beaten, as everyone knew that one more goal
by either team could easily be the decisive goal. In the eleventh minute, KC's Eloy
Salgado had the ball near the wall in Detroit's third of the field. He executed
one of his great spin moves
and sent the ball into the box. Novi was there for him, and scored on his third header
goal of the season to give KC the one-point lead. Right after play resumed, KC was
carded for too many men on the field. Schwab was "livid" and argued the case for
quite a while, with both Pato Margetic and Kevin Koetters joining in the discussion
with the referees. Of course, the call stood and Detroit had a two-minute power
play. The Attack sucked it up and held out the Rockers' attempts. Shortly after
the power play ended, Detroit sent Prescott into the game as Sixth Attacker to try
and score just one more goal before time expired. Zimmerman made some more saves
and his defense held solid to protect the lead and get the win. KC 6, DET 5
(The static was too bad to hear what the final stats were).
By the way, for the Attack's home opener on December 12, they are planning a "Salute
to Champions" night featuring past championship teams from Kansas City. These include
the 1969 Spurs, 1970 Chiefs, 1985 Royals and 1992 Blades. Of course, the main feature will be the raising
of the Championship Banner for the 1996-1997 Attack. The first 10,000 fans will receive
magnetic schedules and it promises to be a lot of fun.
See you there!!!
Lori
SUMMARY
1 2 3 4 TTL
KC 0 2 0 4 6
DET 0 0 3 2 5
1ST QUARTER
no scoring
Penalties: none
2ND QUARTER
KC - Koetters (Schwab) 2pg
Penalties: DET - bench, too many men, 2:00
3RD QUARTER
DET - Willan (ua) 1pg, shootout
DET - Roy (Erecalde) 2pg
Penalties: DET - Prescott, misconduct, 5:00
KC - Davis, tripping, 2:00
4TH QUARTER
DET - Malachino (Roland Agyeare [?]) 2pg
KC - Ekeme (Marojevic) 2pg
KC - Marojevic (Salgado) 2pg
Penalties: KC - Houser, unsportsmanlike conduct, 2:00
DET - Ernst, unsportsmanlike conduct, 2:00
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