Ark Valley News - Hornets split a pair of non-division games

Sam Fields controls the ball against a Mulvane defender Sept. 24. The Hornets won the game, 6-0.

Hornets split a pair of non-division games
By Taylor Messick
Last Updated: October 01, 2015

With seven games remaining in the regular season, things might be moving in the right direction again for the Valley Center High School soccer team. The Hornets appear to be improving their team chemistry after re-shuffling the roster last week. The changes came on the heels of two major varsity injuries, as well as the departure of another varsity contributor.

This week, the Hornets ended a four-game winless streak at Mulvane with a 6-0 victory. The boys followed up with a 7-0 loss to a Salina South team that overwhelmed them. Although Valley Center has struggled lately, a successful season and a winning record are still attainable.

The competition doesn't get any softer going forward. Five of the final seven regular-season matchups are against Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League II opponents. The Hornets could potentially make noise in the division if they can build off the last few games and solidify their attack.

Because of the re-shuffled lineup, the team basically had to start reforming its on-field chemistry almost midway through the regular season. Head coach Steen Danielsen is aware of the adversity facing his team and doesn't mind facing the challenge at all.

"I don't think it's disrupted our chemistry," he said, "I think it's just new chemistry we have to form. It's not a bad thing; it's just something we have to build on. With their work ethic in the JV games and throughout practice during the season, the younger players have earned their spots — playing as much varsity as they are now. I think that's important. You don't just give that out to anybody; they deserve the minutes they're getting."

On Sept. 24, the Hornets traveled to Mulvane. This was just the second game with the current lineup, as the boys impressively hung around with a tough Hutch team in a 2-1 loss on the road in the previous game. It took a lot of time for the Hornets to get going in this match; but once they found the net for the first time, the boys got into an offensive flow that has been absent from their game for the past few weeks. The first 30 minutes of the match were scoreless, but Danielsen was able to regroup and organize his team to make the necessary adjustments.

"I just told the guys they needed to be patient," he said. "What was happening was Mulvane would pack into the box and we would try to force the ball through the wall of players. We had to spread them back out, be patient and look for the opportunity to penetrate."

Sometimes goals can come from outstanding individual efforts, which has often been the case for the Hornets this season. However, in the Mulvane game, the team seemed to be learning how to play Danielsen's system cohesively with one another. The result was that many of the goals came as products of the offensive attack, rather than from individual effort.

"Most of the goals weren't anything spectacular," he said. "We were just moving the ball. The biggest thing we learned there was just to be patient and wait for the attack to build up. But it's kind of hard — there are conflicting messages — because you're telling them to be patient and then other times to play with intensity and play as hard as you can. But there's a balance; during transition you have to play with speed and if it doesn't work, you have to drop it back out and collect the ball — it's just a matter of piecing the aspects together. It's not just like you can go a hundred miles per hour all game or go slow all game."

The boys got their first goal with less than 10 minutes left in the half when sophomore Tyson Ridenour scored off an assist from junior Garrett Glidewell. The Hornets kept it going with another score about five minutes later when freshman Max Fields scored an unassisted goal off a good offensive build-up. Valley Center took a 2-0 lead into halftime.

The boys didn't score again until 15 minutes into the second half. This time it was junior Kristian Retneria with a goal off of a penalty kick, giving the Hornets a 3-0 lead. About eight minutes later, junior Tanner Swett made a goal on a free kick. Swett is known for having one of the best legs around, and showed why when he blasted a ball from the top of the 40 into the net, through the opposing keeper's hands.

Seven minutes later junior Omar Rodriguez got in on the action, scoring off an assist from junior Brayden Dore. As the final seconds of the game ticked off the clock, Dore put an exclamation mark on the win with a goal of his own. Just as time expired, Retneria flipped the ball up behind his back. Dore was able to receive the ball in the air and knock it into the net at the final whistle, making the final score 6-0.

On Sept. 29, the Hornets played Salina South team at home. Coming into the match, the Cougars had a record of 8-1. During those nine previous games, Salina South outscored its opponents 50-3. It was obvious that the Cougars would be difficult to contain, but there were times when the Hornets did a decent job.

The boys looked aggressive in the first five or 10 minutes of the match. Possession was going back and forth and Salina South couldn't seem to find any holes in the defense. The demeanor and level of play changed quickly when the Cougars got their first goal. The goal came on a defensive breakdown when a Salina South forward crashed the goal from the backside and received a pass behind an oblivious Hornet defender.

This was just one of the five goals that came within a 25-minute span during the first half.

The goals seemed to be coming in somewhat similar fashion; many of the Cougar attacks seemed to build from the same spot, and they were having uncanny success. Danielsen identified this and was able to make some adjustments to keep the game from getting too far out of hand.

"It took awhile to get them back into the groove," he said. "But I think they did get back into it. We weren't shifting appropriately and our outside back was out of position. It's something we've been struggling with. It's not a new problem for us; we continue to get scored on that way. We've talked about some solutions but we'll have to see in practice. Thankfully, we've got a lot of season left. I think the majority of Salina South's scoring opportunities were down the right side — to our left back — and in the second half, when we switched people up, I think we shut it down better."

The stats would support Danielsen's claim, as the Hornets only gave up two goals in the second half.

Danielsen recognized the positive second-half performance and hopes the team will take that momentum into the next match.

"I liked how we responded in the second half," he said. "I think we shut down a large portion of the scoring opportunities. The difference between Salina South and a lot of the other competition we're used to facing is that if they create goal-scoring opportunities — they score on them and they finish. A lot of other teams get those opportunities but these guys finish. They're an impressive team."

The Hornets are now 3-5-1 heading into their second AVCTL II matchup at Maize South on Oct. 1.

Junior varsity — The JV Hornets won another pair of games this week against Mulvane and Salina South. Assistant coach Matt Coleman called the 5-0 win at Mulvane "sloppy" but was impressed with his team's win at home against Salina South. Coleman said the first half of the 3-0 victory was "the best the team has played all season." Freshman Sam Fields had two goals in the first half against the Cougars, and freshman Jackson Cates added another in the second half.

The JV Hornets, who have yet to lose a game this season, are now 7-0-2.