Hickman’s second loss of the season comes at home against Rock Bridge.
The Hickman soccer team lost only one of its first 10 games, but the second loss of the season Wednesday might not have been a positive turn for the Kewpies.
Coach Jon Strodtman said he thinks the Kewpies have played sloppy soccer most of the year and that Wednesday’s 3-1 home loss to Rock Bridge will help the team realize that.
“It bothered them,” Strodtman said. “That’s what coach (Jay) Ward and I have been feeling for the past several games.”
The loss left several players stunned, silently walking off the field with blank expressions. Not only were the coaches and players upset about the Kewpies’ play, but Rock Bridge has a worse record, and now bragging rights.
“We’ve just got to keep our heads up, we’ve got to get better,” defender Ben Dierkes said. “It’s either going to be if we can come back from this or if we are just going to fade away, and we are going to try to come back as best as can be.”
With a 2-2 record in Class 3 District 10 play and only one district match left, Hickman is not likely to get a high seed in the six-team district tournament.
In terms of talent and potential, however, Strodtman and the players said the Kewpies could make a run in the tournament.
“They have great potential. It’s a good squad,” Strodtman said. “But they’ve got to find it within themselves to get with the program and not want to feel this way again.”
Sophomore defender Matt Brumit said the Kewpies have to “harness” their talent.
“We need to step it up, get more overall focus,” Brumit said. “I feel if we get more grip on the game then we can do very well.”
After the Rock Bridge loss, Dierkes was set to start fixing problems.
Among the things that Dierkes said the Kewpies need to improve on are marking up better on defense, getting midfielders back on defense, defending against through balls and maintaining a full effort throughout the whole 80 minutes.
Poor marking was the most talked about liability after the game. A failed clearance followed by missed marks by the defenders allowed the first goal, and Hickman never recovered.
“We need to take better care of manning the back and (have better) overall awareness of men around you in the area,” Brumit said.
Strodtman said the marking has been a problem for several games, and that the players “don’t want to mark.”
“Nobody cost us the game, but it’s sure sad to see some of the stuff that happens,” Strodtman said. “It’s not right, but everybody makes mistakes.”
Hickman was supposed to have a chance to fix its problems on Saturday against St. Thomas Aquinas (Kan.), but the game was canceled.
The Kewpies’ next match is Tuesday at Marshall. Strodtman still held a team barbecue on Saturday, but he would have rather played a game before the meal.
“They don’t need a break. A couple days’ break is all they need,” Strodtman said. “We had really too much of a break between last game and this game.”
Hickman had eight days off before playing Rock Bridge.
“Hopefully, the kids will use it and learn from it,” Strodtman said.