Local HS Soccer

[TU_BLA]

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.

 

[TU_BLA]

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 " 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.

 

[TulsaRulzOSUdrools]

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.

 

[tudirk]

Jenks girls coach is in a little over his head. The officials in the Jenks girls' game were horrible. Still could have won.

 

[lawpoke87]

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.

 

[tudirk]

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?

 

[lawpoke87]

He's only been the coach this year though. Would they have won last year with him at the helm?

That would probably be a no. Not sure he has the coaching chops to beat a more talented team.

 

[TU_BLA]

That would probably be a no. Not sure he has the coaching chops to beat a more talented team.

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.

 

[tudirk]

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.......

 

[TU_BLA]

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.

 

[lawpoke87]

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?

 

[TU_BLA]

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.

 

[TulsaRulzOSUdrools]

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?

 

[TU_BLA]

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.

 

[lawpoke87]

How big is the gap between 6A and 5A boys soccer ? Assume it’s less than what we see on the girls side.

 

[TU_BLA]

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

 

[TU_BLA]

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

 

[TulsaRulzOSUdrools]

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.

 

[TU_BLA]

So, the 5A game has been rescheduled to Monday at 6pm at TU. Something about a schedule mishap. Barlow is set to center this one, not the 6A final. 6A final is still set for tonight at 5pm at TU.

 

[lawpoke87]

Have some sad news. Energy has a U15 girl who made the US U15 national team. She was set to go to Europe next week for their World Cup tourney. She tore her acl last night playing a “fun” high school end of season intrasquad scrimmage. I believe she’s currently the only girl from Oklahoma on a U.S. national team. Feel awful for her.

 

[TU_BLA]

Have some sad news. Energy has a U15 girl who made the US U15 national team. She was set to go to Europe next week for their World Cup tourney. She tore her acl last night playing a “fun” high school end of season intrasquad scrimmage. I believe she’s currently the only girl from Oklahoma on a U.S. national team. Feel awful for her.

That's terrible. Probably on turf too and probably their season was over and they were messing around. That's what the boys at Union have been doing the last 2 weeks...just messing around during their normal class/practice time.

It's not the HS thing that caused the injury though...she could have just as easily torn it during club training or at US training (but not as likely because they probably don't train on turf). It's the turf. What HS does she go to?

 

[lawpoke87]

That's terrible. Probably on turf too and probably their season was over and they were messing around. That's what the boys at Union have been doing the last 2 weeks...just messing around during their normal class/practice time.

It's not the HS thing that caused the injury though...she could have just as easily torn it during club training or at US training (but not as likely because they probably don't train on turf). It's the turf. What HS does she go to?

Edmond North

 

[TU_BLA]

Edmond North

I'm trying to remember if they had a grass practice field to the north of the stadium. I do know they play in the football stadium but can't quite remember what they trained on there.

 

[tudirk]

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.

Good call on going to PK's. Jenks Goalie is INCREDIBLE.........

 

[TU_BLA]

So he (Jack) and my son were training partners for 2-3 years working with Lewis Amos. Jack has about 3 inches and 70 lbs on my son. He and my son approach PKs the same way, pick up a clue in the takers approach to the spot, they usually give something away as to which side they're going. If you notice, he went the right direction every time. Tells me he's not really guessing and is reading something.

He's a really good shot stopper. He does need to work more on his feet and distribution from the back, IMO. He's got a big powerful leg and likes to punt too much, and they go so far it's usually a turnover.

He'll be playing with my son's club team in Dallas next month in a regional. He'll likely be playing striker in that tournament with my son in goal.

That's the 2nd year in a row he's beaten BA in PKs for the state championship.

 

[TU_BLA]

I'm going to revive this thread for the 2025 season. My perspective will be slightly different as I no longer have a kid playing HS soccer so it will come more from the referee side and my observances and some interesting score lines I've seen early season.

6A- probably going to come from the west side this year. Look at Norman North or Mustang. Jenks lost a lot and they don't have a brick wall at GK this year that they can go into PK shootouts thinking they're in good shape. They'll have to find some goals. BA is going to struggle as an early season game vs Edison showed (lost 3-1). Union won't be very good I suspect. They'll still have some speed and creativity and they've got two thumpers at CB but they will struggle to find goals and they don't have the GKing to keep them in games. Owasso might be a team to watch on the east side. They've got a ton of speed. Bixby is going to be meh. Their window has sort of closed. They have a good 10 in Johan Mendes but I suspect he will be shown at least a RC or 2 this season as he has reliably shown to be short-tempered with referees. I saw Bixby play on a number of occasions last season and he picked up a YC for dissent in each of them. (one he was shown a second yellow before he could even leave the field after the first one because he refused to leave the field in a timely manner).

5A- Probably still Edison's to lose. Really good group returning for them. BK may have something now that they don't have to play in 6A. They'll have a really nice CB who is just super poised, not afraid to be physical and wins just about every 50/50 header. He's also a weapon on CKs and set pieces in the box. They also have a good solid GK back here. I don't know about their ability to score goals though. Coweta won't be a threat after a decent run in state last season. I ref'd their match against Memorial last night. They have some nice, fast forwards but they lack a ball-control MF so it's difficult for them to build an attack. Their GK situation is also really dicey. The starter wasn't very good and the backup was...well he got to play late in the game last night. They are physical. Memorial has a nice team. Their GK is a big kid who handles the ball with his feet really well. Memorial replaced him with a younger, smaller kid in the 2nd half, mainly because the games don't really count yet but I suspect 1 will play the majority of minutes after March 1st comes. Memorial really does a nice job of keeping and controlling the ball but like a lot of teams at this age, they force things in the final 1/3 and it breaks down. They've got some good pace with their outside backs and their strikers.

I haven't seen any 3A or 4A sides yet.

Coweta's girls are solid but I suspect they do not have the ball control in the MF to be serious. They do have 2 ncie GK options and their CBs are bruisers.

6A girls, BA will be decent, Jenks will be good again but I fear their coach is going to run his starters into the ground because there is a significant drop off after them. Union's girls won't be very good at all. The couple of training sessions I saw and they just don't have the horses plus their best player transferred to BA because the Union head coach refused to take her out of the game after showing signs of a concussion last season. I think they also lost their starting GK from last year. And the Union HC is just not a good coach...she treats the game and the HS players like they're 10....kick it long and see if the forwards can outrun everyone. It works against US Grant...it doesn't work against Jenks, Owasso, and BA.

 

[lawpoke87]

I'm going to revive this thread for the 2025 season. My perspective will be slightly different as I no longer have a kid playing HS soccer so it will come more from the referee side and my observances and some interesting score lines I've seen early season.

6A- probably going to come from the west side this year. Look at Norman North or Mustang. Jenks lost a lot and they don't have a brick wall at GK this year that they can go into PK shootouts thinking they're in good shape. They'll have to find some goals. BA is going to struggle as an early season game vs Edison showed (lost 3-1). Union won't be very good I suspect. They'll still have some speed and creativity and they've got two thumpers at CB but they will struggle to find goals and they don't have the GKing to keep them in games. Owasso might be a team to watch on the east side. They've got a ton of speed. Bixby is going to be meh. Their window has sort of closed. They have a good 10 in Johan Mendes but I suspect he will be shown at least a RC or 2 this season as he has reliably shown to be short-tempered with referees. I saw Bixby play on a number of occasions last season and he picked up a YC for dissent in each of them. (one he was shown a second yellow before he could even leave the field after the first one because he refused to leave the field in a timely manner).

5A- Probably still Edison's to lose. Really good group returning for them. BK may have something now that they don't have to play in 6A. They'll have a really nice CB who is just super poised, not afraid to be physical and wins just about every 50/50 header. He's also a weapon on CKs and set pieces in the box. They also have a good solid GK back here. I don't know about their ability to score goals though. Coweta won't be a threat after a decent run in state last season. I ref'd their match against Memorial last night. They have some nice, fast forwards but they lack a ball-control MF so it's difficult for them to build an attack. Their GK situation is also really dicey. The starter wasn't very good and the backup was...well he got to play late in the game last night. They are physical. Memorial has a nice team. Their GK is a big kid who handles the ball with his feet really well. Memorial replaced him with a younger, smaller kid in the 2nd half, mainly because the games don't really count yet but I suspect 1 will play the majority of minutes after March 1st comes. Memorial really does a nice job of keeping and controlling the ball but like a lot of teams at this age, they force things in the final 1/3 and it breaks down. They've got some good pace with their outside backs and their strikers.

I haven't seen any 3A or 4A sides yet.

Coweta's girls are solid but I suspect they do not have the ball control in the MF to be serious. They do have 2 ncie GK options and their CBs are bruisers.

6A girls, BA will be decent, Jenks will be good again but I fear their coach is going to run his starters into the ground because there is a significant drop off after them. Union's girls won't be very good at all. The couple of training sessions I saw and they just don't have the horses plus their best player transferred to BA because the Union head coach refused to take her out of the game after showing signs of a concussion last season. I think they also lost their starting GK from last year. And the Union HC is just not a good coach...she treats the game and the HS players like they're 10....kick it long and see if the forwards can outrun everyone. It works against US Grant...it doesn't work against Jenks, Owasso, and BA.

On the girls side, I have BA and Jenks in the East. Both are loaded with ECNL players. Jenks has the best player but BA is probably deeper with upper class men

 

[TU_BLA]

I am refereeing Bristow vs Cordell tonight. I'll be honest, I had to look up where Cordell was....it's about 1.5 hours west of OKC. They've got a good 2.5 hr ride to Bristow for these games. 3A soccer. Bristow is really good. I know their top goal scorer is headed to a soccer academy in Spain in the Fall. My son played with him for a couple years at Blitz. He was off the radar because his growth spurt came really late. Now he's tall, added some strength and speed and an absolute handful. I would say his weakness is that he doesn't see the field well and is not the type of player to give the ball up. Jamie Tarrt in the 1st season of Ted Lasso. BUT, I think his coaches want him trying to beat defenders 1v1....he's pretty good at that but he'd probably score more goals passing to his teammates and forcing defenders to be more honest about their defending. There's another good player at Bristow who played with my son as well. Very versatile, can drop him at CB or the 6. I think he's best at the 6. Solid defender in the back but also good at distributing the ball in playing out of the back as well.

Union plays Piedmont tonight. I expect a win for the Redhawks in that one. Union seems to have re-found their identity from the Mike Wilson years. Good ball control, even better movement and guys who can beat any HS defenders up top. They will need to figure out who's going to be the rock at CB as the player who was there broke his arm on Tuesday at Jenks.

 

[TU_BLA]

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.

 

[lawpoke87]

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.

I have a buddy who’s an assistant coach on that Owasso boys team. He’s obviously a bit biased but he truly believes they can win state this year. They have ECNL players all over the field. Several of which will be playing MLS Next next year

 

[TU_BLA]

I have a buddy who’s an assistant coach on that Owasso boys team. He’s obviously a bit biased but he truly believes they can win state this year. They have ECNL players all over the field. Several of which will be playing MLS Next next year

And I know they lost one started from last year when his family moved to the Muskogee area and they go to Hilldale now (and are really successful with the soccer thing). Usually I don't take much from preseason tournament games because they usually play multiple games on short turnover and reduced time. But the Jenks tournament played full 40 min halves so a better indicator although coaches may have still experimented with lineups. Union beat Owasso 1-0 during that one. Believe BA beat Owasso 2-0 in that tournament. I think Friday will be a good indicator for the two of them. Union plays Ponca City and then has a makeup game vs Sapulpa, both at home. I can't imagine Union not beating Ponca by 4-5 goals, and they should run rule Sapulpa.

 

[lawpoke87]

Watched Bixby girls beat Owasso 1-0 last night on a goal which bounced over the keepers head. Gotta love girls high school soccer. Fairly clear at this point that Jenks and Bixby are the two best girls teams on this side of the state. I’m not sure either can beat Edmond North. Considering Jenks has two D1 players sitting out their quality is pretty darn impressive.