McCook United soccer teams drop games to Axtell

The McCook United Red and Black Soccer Teams hosted the Axtell Black Cats Monday evening in what turned out to be a thrilling display of great soccer control and balance throughout the entire match.

The match with Axtell was to be a full sized 11 against 11 game but Axtell limped into town after losing three players to injury the previous week. With only eight yellow shirts suited up for the match, an 8 against 8 format was inserted which created a very large field for few players.

Axtell controlled the game pace and found net on four occasions. The veteran Black Cats had an answer for all McCook's defensive efforts and found ways to score through McCook's young defensive front.

McCook's Red team looked fast all night and also had several convincing attacks on goal. McCook missed several point-blank shots on goal that would have evened this match in a hurry.

McCook coach Brad Trew stated that missed opportunities has been a bench mark so far this season for our United Red team and finishing will need to improve for wins to come our way.

Trew also states that just pulling the trigger and hoping the ball finds net can work at times but more often-then not, the ball goes just wide or over the top of the goal and the attack is defeated.

Taking better quality shots, dishing the ball off to open shooters or keeping the ball down low and hard into the corner of the net is the key to scoring and this is what our young team needs to address as a high priority in the future.

Axtell won this match 4-0, but anyone who was there Monday night would know that this match was very close start to finish and good times for this McCook Red team are just around the corner.

The McCook Black squad also played the Axtell Black Cats in an 11 against 11 match that shared a few of McCook's Red team players with the Axtell Cats to boost the game to a larger sided game.

The game was a whole new look for the players and great team control and balance was obvious throughout the entire match. McCook's Black team rose to the challenge and showed remarkable control and communication across the board.

Trew states that players that communicate well have an advantage, and in this case, the black squad found net on a great shot by Alan Goodenberger after an amazing attack on goal where Alan dished up a sizzler into the corner for the first score of the game.

The Cat and Company re-aligned and also found net to even the score at one each going into halftime. The match was stale-mated for most of the second half until the Cats found net late in the game to ice the victory for the veteran players.

This match was a lot to ask of the young McCook Black team, to take on the Black Cats with the help of several Red team players, but Trew states that you never get better at anything without playing against good players and this was a super opportunity for our younger McCook players to rise up and prove their abilities, and that is exactly what happened in this match.

The McCook United Coed Soccer team's next matches are scheduled for 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. May 2 at Oxford.