Steven Petrov
The Paw Print
Winning their 3rd game of the season, the “Grizzlies” are now with a 3-0-1 overall record and 1-0-0 RMAC record. Coach Busen’s team dominated throughout the whole game outshooting its opponent with 21 to 7 and having 9 more corner kicks than CCU (12 : 3.) CCU’s “cougars” also had their opportunities to score, which mostly came after set pieces (either corner kicks or fouls.) Having a number of players above the 6.0 feet mark, CCU was “dangerous” in the air and caused some problems for the ASU’s defense. However big saves by the “grizzlies’” goalie, Jared Wilson, kept the score 0:0. The second half started, and the “cougars” were the first ones to get create a goal-scoring opportunity. Three minutes into the second half, after a mistake in the ASU’s midfield, CCU got a chance for a counter-attack. With an individual dribble and a quick combination by the CCU’s offense, the ball was in the ASU’s penalty box, where Jared Wilson had to step of his line, come out and block the shot. The following rebound gave CCU another chance to score through Josh Hamm, who was at the edge of the 18-yard box. His shot was blocked by Andrew Hinkle and the game remained scoreless. After that the “grizzlies” controlled the rhythm of the game, by possessing the ball well in all three areas of the field (defensive, midfield, attacking.) Matthew Stefanko, Aaron Fox, Norberto Lopez, and Hawken Hanna had all had couple of powerful shots, creating good opportunities for the ASU’s forwards to get a rebound and put the ball in the net behind CCU’s goalkeeper. Unfortunately for the team, led by Coach Busen, the score remained the same 0:0 and the game had to go to overtime. Using multiple subs throughout the whole game, as usual, coach Busen kept a lot of his players fresh going into the overtime, which eventually would turn out to be of significant importance. The 1st period of overtime was pretty much played in the same manner as the last 30 minutes of the second half – ASU was attacking and CCU was mostly defending trying to waste time on every possible occasion, and showing that they were happy with the tie. Going into the 2nd and last period of overtime, the “Grizzlies” showed good work ethic, and discipline and kept looking for the goal till the last minute. With 1 min and 10 seconds left on the clock, the freshman Symon Fabbricatore, found the ASU’s top goal scorer for this season Aaron Fox at the edge of the 18-yard box, who then placed the ball in the upper right corner of the goal behind CCU’s goalkeeper, giving ASU the win and the really important 3 points. The excitement among the greens was enormous and everyone ran onto the field to celebrate the goal scorer, and to enjoy the win.
Now the “Grizzlies” must recover, and focus for their next game on Tuesday against Fort Lewis. The game was originally scheduled for this past week but was cancelled due to a thunderstorm and now the greens have the chance to go out there for a re-match.
What’s Been Said…