Beyond the Touchline, There is Nothing

The varsity concluded its season on Thursday night, losing to a talented Cherokee squad. The game was close at halftime, with Pershing only trailing 0-1. Pershing missed a great opportunity midway though the first half on a great combination pass from Aaron to Thomas to Jesse.

The score remained 0-1 for the first 10 minutes of the second half until Pershing failed to clear a ball out of their own 18 and the Cherokee team punched it in.

Pershing had 2 good chances to score in the second half, but could not convert.  The Generals played tough to the very end and were gracious in defeat.

Congratulations to the boys on a great season! I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and was proud to be a part of Pershing Soccer in 2012.

See you at the banquet!

Coach Steve

In another close, hard-fought game against Nixa Tuesday night, Pershing found a way to take the lead and hold on for a semi-finals victory 1-0! 

Nixa looked like they were going to take a first half lead on a breakaway, but Gage Patterson came out of the net strong to get a piece of the shot, then Wynston Barker swept the ball off the goal line to prevent the Nixa goal.

The score remained 0-0 in the second half, but Pershing started to gain offensive momentum with 15 minutes to go.  Pershing earned a free kick from the left side and Aaron Guilliams, who came off the bench due to injury, curved a dangerous ball into the box where Mitch Stephens struck a beautiful, driving header to the bottom left corner of the goal for the score. (As the Pershing team and parents went wild!!!)

Pershing held off a full offensive assault for the last 8 minutes from Nixa to hold on for the victory.

With the win Pershing earns the right to play Cherokee in the Championship Match this Thursday, Nov. 8th at 6:00 on Cooper #2……all players should be at the field by 5:15.  See you then!

Match Stats:  Aaron Guilliams-1A, Mitch Stephens – 1G

Caoch steve

Pershing JV Red vs Bolivar on Oct 30th.

Final Score was 0-3.

Pershing started this game possessing the ball about 90% of the time. Bolivar had 1 opportunity, and they capitalized on it making the score 0-1. Pershing had shots on goal, but could not finish.

Pershings’ strategy at halftime was to continue possessing the ball, making smart passes, and taking earlier shots. Pershing continued to possess the ball, make great passes, and took many shots, but none fell for them. Bolivar scored 2 more goals making the final score 0-3. This was the first time that Pershing JV Red had been shut out. In all other games, Pershing had
scored at least 2 goals per game.  This was Pershing JV Red’s last game of the season.

Here are some of the end of the season stats:

Record was 3-4-1

Goals For: 35

Goals Against: 27

Assists: 27

Please come out to support the Pershing Varsity squad.

Their first game of the Varsity Tournament is Tues. Nov 6th @ 7:30pm on Field Cooper #2.

Go Pershing!
Coach Blaine

End of Season Banquet

Monday, November 12, 2012

6:30 p.m.

McSalty’s Pizza
Café

1550 E.
Battlefield, Springfield, MO 65804

$8.00 per person

Includes Pizza buffet, salad, soda/tea/lemonade/tax and gratuity

(Wine and beer are available, but will be sold on an
individual basis)

RSVP by Thurs. Nov. 8 and make payment to:

Gwen Thomas gwenethomas@att.net

2161 S. Celebration Ave.

Springfield, MO 65809

In another closely contested match, the Varsity ties Nixa again 1-1.  Nixa found the net midway through the second half, but then Pershing rallied to get the equalizer shortly after on a great effort play and cross from the right corner by Jason Salvato followed by a patient, well-placed finish by Thomas Spence.  Both teams had a few more chances to get the game winner, but Pershing’s defensive line held strong, as did Nixa’s.

The Generals finish the regular season with 3 wins, 2 losses and 2 ties.  We will be the #3 seed in the tournament and get the opportunity to play Nixa again in the semi-final match on Tuesday, Nov 6th at 7:30 on Cooper #1 (turf field)

Great effort last night….especially with 5 of our starters not getting home from a soccer road trip until the very early hours of monday morning.

All parents should have received an e-mail with the end-of-year banquet information attached.

Coach Steve

Per Sandi at Lake Country:  all games for this evening are cancelled due to the amount of rain here at LCS-they had over 2 inches.  The games are rescheduled to Tuesday, October 30 on Cooper 2 and 3.  The games will beplayed as follows:

7:30 pm
Bolivar VS PershingRed
Cooper 2

The Varsity team rebounded last night with a solid performance for the entire game vs Carver and came away with a 5-2 win. The Generals possessed and moved the ball well, dominating play all over the field for the majority of the game. Pershing was also more efficient on their scoring opportunities than in the past few games, although several open crossing opportunities were not put in the net. We will be working on that in practice this week.

Great effort, patience and recognition of the “open man” by the entire team. Great work by Nathan Howard and Andrew Thomas to shut down the Carver threats down the middle of the field, and great finishes by Clay Compere.  Mitch Stephens, Logan McDonald and Thomas Spence provided just the spacing and support that was needed in the middle of the field, and Aaron Guilliams provided some quality free kicks, crosses and corner kicks.

Great game!! With the win Pershing is locked into the #2 vs #3 seed semi-final game in the tournament. See you at practice!

Match Stats:

Andrew Thomas 1A
Clay Compere 3G
Aaron Guilliams 1G, 1A
Mitch Stephens 1G
Logan McDonald 1A
Thomas Spence 1A

Pershing came into this game strong. Ty Wilmsmeyer started this game as a center back (defender), which is where he normally plays for the Pershing team. However, he was pushed up front to striker (forward) to see what damage he could do. He proved himself within just a few minutes when he scored off a beautiful cross from the left wing, Shawn Guillot. Pershing was now up 1-0. They held this lead throughout the first half.

Pershing was given a strategy at halftime. That strategy was to pretend that they were down 0-1, instead of being up by 1 goal. Once again, Pershing came out strong throughout the entire squad of players.

Pershing was given a corner kick about halfway through the 2nd half. Ty Wilmsmeyer was the kicker. Ethan Miller made a quick run towards him, so Ty quickly dumped a short ball to him. Miller immediately one-touched the ball back to Wilmsmeyer, who sent a cross from the right side across the mouth of the goal, where Ben Johnston was waiting to pounce. Johnston jumped up and headed the ball into left side of the net scoring Pershing’s 2nd goal.  Pershings 3rd goal came from Gavin Huntsman who was assisted by Anthony Salerno. This 3rd goal solidified Pershing’s win over Cherokee. Cherokee put up a great fight and were a great team to face.

Honorable mention to Ryan Feeney, who stepped back into Ty Wilmsmeyer’s defensive position and did a fantastic job defending Pershing’s goal.

Goals scored by:

1st Pershing goal: Ty Wilmsmeyer (1). Assisted by Shawn Guillot.

2nd Pershing goal: Ben Johnston (1) with a fantastic header. assisted by Ty Wilmsmeyer (1).

3rd Pershing Goal: Gavin Huntsman (1). assisted by Anthony Salerno (1)

Final Score: Pershing 3, Cherokee 1

Next game is Oct 23th vs Bolivar @
7:30pm.

Go Pershing!

- Coach Blaine