Last night, Union beat Stillwater 1-0 in a matchup of undefeated district teams. Last true test for Union before playoffs. Union won 1-0 with a goal midway into the 2nd half but Union should probably have had 4-5. Really dominated the possession and Stillwater had no answers for Union's speed up the wings. One concern for me for Union is their lack of clinical finishing. They can create chances with the best of them in the state but finding the back of the net consistently has been a problem. That and they go through short stretches of the game where they resort to, as my son calls it, hero ball.
I don't know anything about the west side of the state but from everything I've seen, the state championship should come down to BA and Union. I would not have predicted this at the start of the season but Union's new coach is pulling the very best out of his players right now. And they're deep. They probably played 7-8 kids off the bench last night and they didn't really lose anything...and in some cases became more athletic and faster with certain players coming off the bench. 2 of the kids were on the basketball team playing for a state championship a month ago. Now they're blowing by fullbacks...and they've got some good technical skill. Union's goal came when one of the basketball players took the ball at midfield, basically dribbled past 3 Stillwater defenders up the sideline, past another along the goal line and took a shot that the GK saved but left the rebound at the top of the 6.
You want to know how rough it is at Jenks right now? They beat US Grant yesterday...1-0 This is a side Jenks should be beating by a minimum of 4-5 goals, even in a down year.
Owasso drilled Bixby last night. I haven't seen them play but I don't think people should sleep on them. There last game is a district game vs BA. That one will determine the district winner which is important because whoever finishes 2nd will likely have to face Union in the 2nd round of the playoffs. Looks like BA plays tomorrow at 6pm in Westmoore and then again on Firday at 8pm at Owasso. Tough stretch.
Last 4 games, Owasso has put up 8 goals vs Sand Springs, 8 goals vs Mustang (!!!), 10 vs Muskogee, and 6 vs Bixby. Mustang is usually really solid. And I'm wondering which player Owasso got back into the lineup because there is a noticeable uptick in goals scored the last few games. (They've lost twice, 2-1 to Mustang in one of those tournament festivals, and 1-0 to Union early on).
I'll be in Locust Grove on Friday to do the Locust Grove and Cascia game. Let's see if I hear any of the wonderful LG slurs that tend to show up at their soccer games.
