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“A fair result,” Scott Turnbull called it, after a scoreless tie against St. John's University in the Cougar men's soccer season opener at Big Cat Stadium tonight before a crowd of 350.
Turnbull's assessment sounds a bit modest considering how the Cougars entered the 2010 campaign, down six seniors from last year's 2009 UMAC championship team.
But, in spite of the turnover, the first-year interim head coach has high expectations for his team, including several new faces like Dallas Campbell, Cory Schmeling, and Ryan Cadigan who pressured the Johnnies' defense all night.
“I was especially pleased with our freshmen,” Turnbull said after the match. “They played strong. They didn't get intimidated at all.”
The Cougars' defense was also stellar, frustrating the St. John's offense. When the Johnnies did manage to break through, junior goal keeper Tyler Weber snuffed out several attacks, using his own aggressiveness to end charges well away from the goal.
“Weber was fantastic tonight. I think it's the best game I've seen him play.”
The Cougars dominated possession in the first half, making several long runs into the Johnny end, but were unable to convert. In the second half, St. John's dropped a striker into the midfield to bolster their defense, limiting the Cougar attacks for the remainder of the game.
At the 75th minute, St. John's made several substitutions to raise their offensive intensity, but UMM held fast until the end of regulation.
In the first overtime, the team traded possessions with the Cougars' best chance coming with 4:32 remaining when sophomore Matt Vik stole a Johnny passed and forwarded the ball to freshman Matt Bennis. Bennis had a clean look at the goal, but Matt Anderson smothered in front of the goal.
The Johnnies made a late run in the period when Weber collided with a St. John's player near the 10 yard mark. The ball continued rolling toward the goal, but an alert Scott DeVries knocked it wide. Then ten seconds later, off the ensuing corner kick, the ball came to rest at the foot of a St. John's player, but sophomore Kyle O'Connor made the play of the night and swiped the ball away. He earned a hug from Weber for the effort.
A Vik header with 30 seconds to go sailed high and the first overtime ended.
In the second overtime, the Cougars would manage three more shots (to just one) but could not break the Johnny defense.
Each team had 15 shots on the night. Weber recorded six saves. The fouls were nearly even with 12 on UMM, 11 on St. John's.
The Cougars journey away for the weekend, playing Hamline this Saturday and venturing northward to UW-Superior for a Labor Day tilt.
