Soccer deals with difficult losses against SLUH

The stands resounded with echoic “boos” when no call was given for a penalty kick to RBHS senior Cooper Smith with 6:32 minutes left in the first half of the varsity soccer game  Oct. 11. The score, then 0-1, didn’t change until there were only 25 minutes left in the second half to 2-0, with St. Louis University High extending their lead.
But the RBHS team came forward with a strong front on offense resulting in 2-1 with just more than 12 minutes of play time left.
RBHS pushed these last few minutes, making ample opportunities for a goal,  yet none of these drives resulted in another score. The game ended 2-1 for the varsity soccer team and 0-1 for the junior varsity team, with both teams swallowing a hard loss against SLUH.
Senior goalkeeper Greg Kelly said they were playing better than SLUH but just could not get the goals that they needed to show that.
“I think we were the better team, but we obviously didn’t show that on the scoreboard,” Kelly said. “Whoever’s not watching the game would think we were the worse team, but we just need to transfer everything to the score board.”
The “most dangerous score” of 2-1 according to Kelly, is a prime opportunity for a comeback, yet the many missed opportunities within the six yards of prime goal scoring ended with their loss.
“We have trouble finishing out [goals], especially on corners and throw-ins,” Kelly said. “The ball just gets right in the six and we can’t finish and its just been going on and on.”
Similar to Kelly, JV coach Scott Wittenborn found these missed chances and unfinished goals difficult to deal with.
“Your team works so hard, giving everything they got and they put the ball in the box,” Wittenborn said. “To just not put it in the back of the net is just frustrating and something we have to continue working on in practice.”
Overall, both said the team did really well, but just struggled with getting the actual goals.
“You learn from games like this when you play the good teams like this,” Wittenborn said. “It’s awesome to have that good of a team come and play you and we just need to learn from it.”
By Justin Sutherland