Men’s soccer drops home opener

The PUC men’s soccer team held its first home match on Sept. 7 at Morton High School.  It was a rough contest, as they dropped the match to Concordia 6-1.

While they were able to maintain possession of the ball for the first half, Concordia managed to score first. By the end of the first half, Concordia was up 2-0.

Despite the deficit, however, PUC was able to keep their defenses up during the first half.  Sadly, the second half was a different story.  While midfielder Djurica Bukur was able to get PUC on the board, Concordia piled on four more goals to win convincingly.

 “We controlled long stretches of the match, but we made terrible errors deep in our own territory, and Concordia punished us each time,” Head Coach James Drzewiecki said.

Since they are only in their first season, PUC men’s soccer has a way to go in becoming a unified team, while Concordia’s soccer team has been able to be more in sync since they are a veteran team.

“Some of the problem is our lack of mental focus.  Some of it is our lack of physical strength,” Drzewiecki stated.

Drzewiecki went on to say that many young teams start off shaky when it comes to getting in sync with each other. 

“As coaches, we have to help our players develop in both areas,” he said.

On Sept. 9, the men will be heading over to Des Moines, Iowa, to play against the American Institute of Business. While Drzewiecki knows they are an excellent team and he believes they have a chance to win in Iowa.

“It will be because we play up to our potential,” Drzewiecki said.  “If we can do that, I know we can get the win.”

For the rest of the season Coach Drzewiecki believes there will be an improvement from last Friday’s game. He believes that as the season progresses the team will get used to how their fellow team mates move.

“During the first half of the game, we showed everyone what we were capable of as a team,” he said.  “As we mature and get mentally tougher, I think we're going to be a team no one wants to play.”