Who Are These Guys?!

Wow, I wish I could be there!

This weekend I’ve had to follow our UVU Wolverines via Gametracker, which updates a play-by-play text feed about every minute or two. I know we’re in our first year - it's a lot to ask for game coverage when the team is on the road but it sure would be nice to be able to watch this match, or even listen to a radio broadcast.

The team, right now, is making the rest of the college soccer world scratch their heads and wonder, “who are these guys?” Opponents will at the least want to know what the coaches are feeding this amazing young team of theirs, because what they are doing is not normal.

As I write this, I am staring at Gametracker and in the 70th minute of Sunday’s game, we hold a 1- 0 lead on a Matt Gay penalty kick in the 52^nd minute against UC Irvine. I decided to begin writing this now because it doesn’t matter what happens through the rest of this match; what the UVU Wolverines are doing this minute in Las Vegas is just unheard of. They are playing a side ranked in every known college soccer poll – at #4 in the country in the NSCAA Rankings – and doing much more than just holding their own.

This UC Irvine match is the weekend’s encore. On Friday, the Wolverines scored a goal in the 49^th minute and held on for a 1 – 0 victory over a very good UC Riverside team.

If this was a movie, nobody would believe it. At the Division 1 level, a first-year program does not typically step onto the pitch, field, mat, track, diamond and compete with storied, long-established, well-coached teams. It’s suppose to take years to develop a team of this caliber.

[While writing that last sentence, UCI scored an equalizer in the 80^th minute. If the score ends this way, the teams will play overtime, in two 10-minute periods, with a golden goal format.

_______________

I quit writing for a while and watched the text line continue to update. Regulation time ended in a tie and the first overtime period went by scoreless, but UCI put a ball into the back of the net in the 103^rd minute to claim the double-overtime victory. UCI goes to 8-0-1, UVU falls to 4-3-0. This has to be painful for our boys; it’s difficult to come out on the wrong end of this kind of match.]

When I wrote the line above, “it doesn’t matter what happens through the rest of this match,” I thought, as all exuberant fans do, that we were about to pull off a colossal upset – oh so close! It is difficult to measure on Gametracker, but it does not appear that we were in any way outplayed. Irvine, a very experienced team, was able to sneak a shot in, which "surprised the keeper," so they take the W in double overtime. That does not mean the weekend was void of success. We picked up our first win away from home, and we played a top program straight up nose to nose.

Of course, outcomes do matter – winning is the reason we have interest in sport. Every player that laces up their boots and steps onto the field has championship ambitions. I would be ecstatically running around, dancing in the street right now if the Wolverines had pulled off this upset. As it is, I sat and sulked for a moment, and then I tried to put myself inside the head of the coaches. To be honest, if I was a coach on this team I would be crushed that we came so close and did not finish. But I would get on the bus with my players, take a deep breath and would be overwhelmingly proud of what they have already proven. I would want to get home, let my team recover from a tough week’s work, and I would be very hungry to make my way back onto the pitch against our next opponent. As a fan, I can hardly wait for next week’s game.

Since I didn’t get to see the match, I’ll have to save play-by-play analysis until our next contest – I’ll be in the stands to watch the Wolverines take on the Seattle University Redhawks in the opening WAC Conference game next Saturday. Seattle finished first in the WAC last year and did not drop a conference game all season. So opening the conference season with this SU team is one more challenge for our Wolverines. I think our guys will be ready and up to the task. I am sure the match will be competitive, and we are at home.

KSL Article About UVU Soccer

Kickoff this week: 7:00 pm on Saturday Oct 4^th, at Clyde Field – we need to fill the stands.

_____________________________

Personal Observations

1. It was an amazing week on the UVU Campus. Kyle Beckerman, of RSL and the USMN team spoke on Wednesday. It was a treat to hear him talk about his rise in the soccer world. Beckerman is the consummate journeyman. He is not the biggest, not the fastest, not the most technical. What he has is a work ethic without limit. Everything he has achieved, he has earned. It is gratifying to see an individual like this playing at the highest level of US Soccer. Beckerman’s message to the student body revolved around dreaming big, setting goals, and working hard.

2. I was asked this week why I am writing this blog. I built the shell in January, but to be honest, I did not have a master plan for its use. However, as the start of the season neared, I was bothered by the lack of coverage by our local sports media. RSL has made a big impact on this community – there are a few sportscasters that really do understand the game and speak about it intelligently, but right now they are not paying enough attention to UVU’s newest athletic program. I predict that will change, this team will begin to get more attention, because of the noise they are making on the college soccer landscape. At any rate, when I could not see, hear, or read articles in the local media I decided to write my own.

3. Soccer fans around the world are a unique breed. There is nothing quite like the loyalty that soccer fans have for their team and its colors. Not long ago I watched a piece on a fan of EPL’s Manchester City. They have recently won two Premiere League Championships – including just last season. But before that first win they had gone 75 years without. With that first championship, an elderly gentleman wearing City colors wept openly as the clock reached its end, and City took home its first trophy in decades. That same elderly fan was interviewed after the match – he had been a City supporter all his life, and of course, had never seen them reach the pinnacle before. So why, after years of futility wouldn’t this fan change his allegiance? Manchester United was a perennial winner, and it was close by - why didn't he decide one day to change teams. The answer is, that it’s not what happens in this sport – soccer fans become part of a team family. Soccer loyalty runs deeper than athletic contention. In Scotland the big rivalry is between the Celtics and the Rangers. These two sides split on political, religious, and social lines – fans of both are fiercely loyal to one and loathe the other, and it's generational, it might go on forever. In Spain, a Barcelona fan cannot be a Real Madrid fan – it’s a family feud when the two meet. In Argentina, its Boca Junior’s family and the River Plate family. Even in the US, this attitude is beginning to set in: RSL coaches and management have often spoken about their Utah fans being extended family. This soccer culture, a culture of extended family, will continue to grow at UVU too, until it becomes common and naturally engrained. The fans are very much a part of this team, and here we all wear #12.

4. In my mind, ours is a dream team with unlimited potential. I has accomplished good things already (we are in the top ten nationally in attendance), but the potential is even higher. I think UVU will grow to be the Maryland, or Akron of the intermountain west: a top shelf soccer program with a solid fan base that shows up and brings the passion to each and every match. USA soccer and the NCAA are taking steps to build more long-term relevance into the college game – this is a very good thing for Wolverine soccer. It's good now and it's only going to get better.

(I’ll write soon about the changes under consideration in NCAA Soccer.)

Don't forget - Saturday Oct 4th, 7:00 pm.