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Local HS Soccer

More playoff games tonight.......
Did any of them actually get to finish. Edmond Memorial and BA were in the 1st OT period when the storms rolled through and delayed the game. Owasso and Bishop McGuiness got delayed (never saw if anyone finished). Owasso @ Edmond North got delayed in the 1st half, never went back to the feed to see if they got to finish.

Just went to the Skordle app and it says Owasso and Bishop McGuiness are 1-0 Owasso in the 2nd half...wonder if it got suspended there. Jenks hosts Edmond North got pushed to today, and that the Owasso McGuiness game will pick up today. Not sure how much they got in but a few years ago Union and Ed. North played a final in OKC that got suspended late, tied 1-1, OSSAA decided to suspend the game and Union had to go back to OKC on a Monday afternoon at 4pm to play overtime, where Daryl Dike promptly scored less than 5 minutes in to win. Union coaches were just a bit pissed off about that situation.

It also says BA and Ed Memorial tied 0-0. BA had a late goal wiped out by the AR. BA's broadcast crew were a bit upset and couldn't figure out why. My wife doesn't think the ball went in. Personally, I think the ball came off a BA player's hand while it was bouncing around in the box. The 2 guys on their Arrow Vision call were incredulous.

Listen, BA has some incredibly talented players but I think their coach wastes that talent with his preferred style of play, which is long balls over the top. Their D is solid but again, Schmoker never really allows his FBs to run into and get involved in the attack. He'll push them up for set pieces but you never see the overlapping runs. After Shane Schwab got fired from BA 3 years ago, I thought Schmoker was an odd choice for them as I had seen his style at BTW and wasn't a fan. BA has the players to hold the ball all night and work the ball through the midfield into the attack, but they don't so chances that should develop simply don't and they're heavily reliant on set pieces in the attacking 1/3 to generate their offense. They're 15-1 having won 11 straight games but every game I've seen is this nail biter and they pull something out of their a$$e$ in the last 10 minutes because they're OK sitting in that low block the entire game. (They did this last year against Jenks in the state final with the goal of getting the game to PKs and it backfired on them...Jenks and BA play very similar systems with similar philosophies in game management. They are both averse to risk even if it means not generating any chances on offense).

BTW, Mustang beat Yukon 3-1 last night. I like Mustang's team a lot. Well coached. Backline is giant and physical but they're also susceptible to quick forwards who move the ball well. Union really had them on the ropes for about the 1st 30 minutes of the game they played and had they finished better, probably should have come out with a result. I don't know which teams that are left that have that same type of speed though so they may be set up for a finals run.
 
Updates: Owasso beat McGuiness 2-1.
BA beat Edmond Memorial on a 40 yd free kick with about 4 minutes left in 2 OT. My son saw this and literally said "What the **** was the keeper thinking? Why did he come running off his line when the kick was take?" The kick went over the GKs head into the upper part of the net, but yeah, why did he take 3 steps towards the top of the 6 before having his "Oh :crap:" moment realizing it was going over his head? BA again finds a late goal despite not generating any offense at all really.

Jenks beat Ed. North 2-1 in PKs. Jack Franklin not only scored one of the PKs for Jenks but also made the deciding save to win the game.

Final four is BA vs Owasso and Jenks vs Mustang. Games are set for tomorrow at 7pm and 7:30pm respectively but I'm not sure where. Usually by this point they play neutral site games. OSSAA site says that Jenks and BA will be hosting. My guess is Jenks vs BA for the title again this year. I don't think Mustang will get any calls vs Jenks and it will be interesting to see who the OSSAA assigns to ref this game, a Tulsa or an OKC ref. Mustang's back line is absolutely giant. If Jenks sits in the low block as has been their game plan the last 2 seasons, Mustang could make them pay as they have very capable forwards and they do a decent job of controlling the ball in the MF. Mustang is susceptible to teams with speed as the giant backs are quick but they're not catching faster forwards over a sustained distance. Jenks doesn't have the type of speed to really scare Mustang (IMO).

BA vs Owasso will be a good matchup as Owasso isn't afraid to press the attack and they've got a couple of very physical center backs that won't back down to BA. BA does have a very quick forward in Josh Nyogi who will test them and I expect Dylan Hamer (Owasso CB) to let Alex Muravski and Marcus Givens know he remembers them from their Blitz days. Hamer is called "Hammer" by his teammates and he just outmuscles everyone on 50/50 balls. The matchup I think will decide the game will be BA's RB Ben Osborne trying to keep Owasso's little fast LW in check. This kid gave Union fits, he gave Jenks fits, he gave Bixby fits. I have yet to see anyone who can keep him in check with his speed ($37, don't know his name).

BA's game should be on their Arrowvision channel. I know Jenks didn't request permission to show their last game on their YouTube channel which was odd...don't know if they will for this one.

On the girls side, it's all west side teams. Deer Creek @ Edmond North and Yukon @ Norman North. Probably a testament to the fact that OK Energy's girls ECNL sides are overall better than what the east side has to offer right now.
 
It’s a testament that our high school coaches are less than stellar. That Jenks girl's team is loaded with girls going to South Carolina, Oklahoma state, ou and other d1 schools. Some lesser schools dream of getting just 1 division one player.

It really is that the coaching is just terrible. Too direct. Play people out of position. the quality overall is not good. the decision-making is god-awful amongst the players. Then when they should take people on. They don't. The subbing patterns make no sense.
 
Jenks girls coach is in a little over his head. The officials in the Jenks girls' game were horrible. Still could have won.
 
Jenks girls coach is in a little over his head. The officials in the Jenks girls' game were horrible. Still could have won.
Jenks won the ship last year and were the best team in the regular season this year. They certainly were the most talented team. Coach isn’t great but they’ve won a lot of games over the past two years. Jenks probably has the number of state titles they deserve over the last two seasons … one.
 
Jenks won the ship last year and were the best team in the regular season this year. They certainly were the most talented team. Coach isn’t great but they’ve won a lot of games over the past two years. Jenks probably has the number of state titles they deserve over the last two seasons … one.
He's only been the coach this year though. Would they have won last year with him at the helm?
 
Who is the girls coach and where did the guy they had last year go?

And whoever they have is way better than Rozell at Union.
New coach is James Gross played at TSC and Memphis. Great guy just not ready for that role. Last coach retired not sure why he wasn't great either. On the boys Side Eric Marshall is legit.......
 
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New coach is James Gross played at TSC and Memphis. Great guy just not ready for that role. Last coach retired not sure why he wasn't great either. On the boys Side Eric Marshall is legit.......
Yeah, not sure how you screw up having the most talented team in the state but somehow he did.
 
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What are our expectations of a high school coach ? Do we expect them to be at an ECNL level? Have an A or B license? Played professionally? Coached hundreds of high level games? I have no idea what license Gross has or his experience, if any, at high level club competition as a coach. Any professional playing experience? Goes back to my original question…what are our expectations of high school soccer coaches?
 
What are our expectations of a high school coach ? Do we expect them to be at an ECNL level? Have an A or B license? Played professionally? Coached hundreds of high level games? I have no idea what license Gross has or his experience, if any, at high level club competition as a coach. Any professional playing experience? Goes back to my original question…what are our expectations of high school soccer coaches?
I think experience coaching that age group but also understanding the unique dynamic of being a high school athlete and the ultimate goal being to graduate HS and then have options beyond graduation whether it's going to college, being workforce ready, etc. Mike Wilson's stated goals every year was to have 100% eligibility throughout the year and get the 6A academic award for having the highest team GPA in the class. He was a hell of a soccer coach to boot and he developed his players in all aspects of life (IMO). I don't necessarily think you need to be a high level club coach, but you should have to demonstrate a certain level of expertise in coaching this age group because it's more than just technical and tactical knowledge.
 
I think experience coaching that age group but also understanding the unique dynamic of being a high school athlete and the ultimate goal being to graduate HS and then have options beyond graduation whether it's going to college, being workforce ready, etc. Mike Wilson's stated goals every year was to have 100% eligibility throughout the year and get the 6A academic award for having the highest team GPA in the class. He was a hell of a soccer coach to boot and he developed his players in all aspects of life (IMO). I don't necessarily think you need to be a high level club coach, but you should have to demonstrate a certain level of expertise in coaching this age group because it's more than just technical and tactical knowledge.
Union does not care about highest gpa in the class. That sounds good but #2 in student population and ridiculous facilities wants trophies.

How many first round exits would union tolerate with the highest 6A GPA?
 
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Jenks beat Mustang pretty easily, 3-1 last evening while BA held off a game Owasso 1-0. Owasso carried much of the play early and late and had several chances they are going to be kicking themselves over missing. Rematch for the 6A title between Jenks and BA, game to be played at TU. 5A is an all TPS affair with Edison facing off against BTW. Not sure what day or where that game will be played but I would expect they might try to play those two back to back at TU on Saturday evening.

UPDATE: Jenks vs BA, 5pm Saturday, May 11th @ TU. Brian Barlow, a very qualified referee is going to center the final so that's good news. I will say, watching the BA/Owasso game last night that whoever the ref crew was did an excellent job. Center didn't fall for any of BAs dives in the box (there were several...at least one was so obvious a dive it deserved a yellow IMO). Should also be a unique dynamic as well as AJ Franklin, an assistant coach with Jenks as well as a highly regarded area referee, has worked with Barlow in the past.

PREDICTION: This game is going to PKs. I'll be shocked if either team scores a goal in regulation and OT just because they both play the same style and from a low block on D. If there is a score in regulation, my guess is it will be BA off a set piece (corner or free kick). Neither of these teams really score a ton of goals in the run of play and from a build up attack.

5A Prediction: Edison over BTW. Edison is pretty stout. They've been in the semis and finals the last 3 seasons. They beat Southeast (OKC) in OKC last night and they were the prohibitive 5A favorites coming into the season. BTW has had a nice season and are solid through the MF. I worry about BTWs goalkeeping. It's avg at best.
 
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EDIT:

5A Final is FRIDAY, MAY 10th at 2:00PM, 6A FINAL is FRIDAY, MAY 10th at 5:00PM both at the Hurricane Soccer and track Stadium. TU's commencement on Saturday and some athletes also being part of their respective track and field teams wanting to compete in the state meet on Saturday were drivers in the consideration of when these games would be played
 
How big is the gap between 6A and 5A boys soccer ? Assume it’s less than what we see on the girls side.
Booker T isn't competitive with the better 6A teams. Union beat them 4-0 early on in the year and if I am recalling correctly, they didn't record a shot on goal against Union. I want to say Bixby and Owasso both thumped them pretty good as well.

I don't know much about Edison other than they've been really good the last 4 years. Their group has been together for a while and a good chunk of them played together at WSA for a while as well.

I can only go back 4 years when I started paying attention but I know Union's current group of seniors thumped the then Edison varsity side 2 years ago when the Union boys were on the FR/SO JV team. I think that would give you a good idea of how deep some of the 6A schools are in terms of talent. BA has a good crop of seniors (7 that play a lot) but they're also stacked in the younger classes with a lot of FR/SO getting pretty significant minutes.

And the best team in the state regardless of class might be Crooked Oak which plays 3A. They are solid and pretty much a perennial state finalist. I'd like to see them play some larger schools. They went 15-2 this season, beat their 2 5A opponents pretty convincingly, but lost to Enid and Santa Fe from 6A, but thumped Ponca City (6A) 5-1. I don't know if they could compete with the big dogs on a regular basis but they're doing something right
 
What are our expectations of a high school coach ? Do we expect them to be at an ECNL level? Have an A or B license? Played professionally? Coached hundreds of high level games? I have no idea what license Gross has or his experience, if any, at high level club competition as a coach. Any professional playing experience? Goes back to my original question…what are our expectations of high school soccer coaches?
That is a good question. I think it depends on the school. If you are at Jenks, Union, or Ba, it is someone pretty competent.
Jenks beat Mustang pretty easily, 3-1 last evening while BA held off a game Owasso 1-0. Owasso carried much of the play early and late and had several chances they are going to be kicking themselves over missing. Rematch for the 6A title between Jenks and BA, game to be played at TU. 5A is an all TPS affair with Edison facing off against BTW. Not sure what day or where that game will be played but I would expect they might try to play those two back to back at TU on Saturday evening.

UPDATE: Jenks vs BA, 5pm Saturday, May 11th @ TU. Brian Barlow, a very qualified referee is going to center the final so that's good news. I will say, watching the BA/Owasso game last night that whoever the ref crew was did an excellent job. Center didn't fall for any of BAs dives in the box (there were several...at least one was so obvious a dive it deserved a yellow IMO). Should also be a unique dynamic as well as AJ Franklin, an assistant coach with Jenks as well as a highly regarded area referee, has worked with Barlow in the past.

PREDICTION: This game is going to PKs. I'll be shocked if either team scores a goal in regulation and OT just because they both play the same style and from a low block on D. If there is a score in regulation, my guess is it will be BA off a set piece (corner or free kick). Neither of these teams really score a ton of goals in the run of play and from a build up attack.

5A Prediction: Edison over BTW. Edison is pretty stout. They've been in the semis and finals the last 3 seasons. They beat Southeast (OKC) in OKC last night and they were the prohibitive 5A favorites coming into the season. BTW has had a nice season and are solid through the MF. I worry about BTWs goalkeeping. It's avg at best.
1. the games are Friday, not Saturday.

2. Barlow spends most of his time as an AR for a reason. We will leave it there. He never played soccer, and the BS he espouses shows that. People who have been around soccer have watched him F games beyond all disbelief and then proceeded to blame the crowd for all of his problems.

3. BTW has been in 6A for the last few years. They have been competitive and got into or just missed playoffs. It is always hard when you are the smallest 6A school. They have beat plenty of 6A schools in the last few years.
 
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