W-D-L: 1-1-7 3-1-6
September 27, 2013
7:00 pm @ Houston Baptist University, Houston
Many of the most productive and hard-working athletes in the world have gone through slumps every now and then. Even the best ones. Michael Jordan's shooting slump in 1992 lasted several games. LeBron James went through a memorable slump in the middle of the most recent NBA championship series against the Spurs. Maria Sharapova has been struggling as of late. The greatest woman golfer of all-time Annika Sorenstam went through a notorious slump in the middle of last decade. Alex Rodriguez, Leo Messi, Brett Favre, Tiger Woods - and these are just a few of the best in history. Even Manny Pacquiao has been described by his faithful as being currently in a slump. HBU's junior forward Natalie Hager, one this blog's favorite strikers, has some distinguished company. Natalie finished at the top of the team's goal-scoring table each of her first two years as a Husky - netting eight last year and seven as a freshwoman straight out of Port Neches-Groves High School. By this stage in the 2012 schedule, Natalie had already chalked up five on her way to a second straight All-Great West Conference first team selection. Now going into the current conference schedule, Natalie has seen the back of the net just once in eight games.
Despite the goal-production deficiency however, Natalie still remains a critical component in the Huskies' offensive scheme. What the stat sheets never show are the multitude of soccer's intangibles, aspects of the game which are nearly impossible to quantify, that can only be seen through the prism of a holistic qualitative sensibility. How would one statistically compute, for example, that when Natalie is on the point, the epicenter of HBU's offensive drives move deeper into opposing territory by a good, I would say, 10-15 yards average? Natalie's innate ability to find effective spaces inside the box, and get there quickly, takes HBU's offensive sequences closer to goal, thus forcing defenses to execute more often in recovery positions, leaving her striking partners with more time. Great players naturally find alternate ways to contribute.
The Northwestern State Lady Demons' twenty returning letter-earners, including ten starters, eight seniors and every one of their top five goal-netters, came to the bayou city seeking to avenge last year's 3-1 home loss against Houston Baptist in which two goals were struck by - guess who - Natalie Hager. As a matter of fact, NSU had lost both previous outings against the Huskies, and needed to find a way to cut this streak off, now that HBU is in the Southland Conference and this matchup actually means so much more. It took two of their top scorers, including Guyana international Ashlee Savona, who netted the golden winner in overtime after Cassandra Briscoe answered Allison Abendschein's first half goal to end regulation in a 1-1 tie. Northwestern State and their Ontario contingent, comprising seven of their starters, welcomed their new conference-mates by erasing the memory of a 5-1 aggregate deficit over the last two seasons.
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| Ashlee Savona (9) runs the midfield for Northwestern State, creating some key possessions, and scoring the winning golden goal. Ashlee is one of seven Demon recruits from the province of Ontario. She was capped by Guyana for 2010 Gold Cup action, in which she logged extensive minutes during Caribbean qualification and the group stage in Cancún. |
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| Rebekah Tovar (21) and Amina Radoncic (26) are a critical presence in the middle of the HBU offense. |
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| Danielle Harding (10), Shannon Danku (19) and the Lady Demons' defensive line take tremendous pressure from Alessia Dal Monte (9)... |
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| ...and Natalie Hager (13). |
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| Natalie (13) often finds space deep in opposing boxes. When Natalie is on the point, the median center of the HBU offense moves forward significantly... |
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| ...forcing defenders like Taylor Mulnix (22) to make plays from positions of recovery. |
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| Striker Molly Missimer (12) takes on Taylor (22) and Jackie Strug (5). |
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| The pressure pays off for the Huskies, as freshwoman Allison Abendschein (10) scores her first goal as a Husky. |
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| Chelsea Schaeffer (26), Brooke Eastburg (8) and Cassandra Briscoe (7) bring the Lady Demons offense to life after the interval. Cassandra's goal sends the game into overtime. |
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| The performances of goalkeepers Shelby Horn (30) and Jessica Danku (00) keep the game even. |
(All photos by Kokoy Severino.)
The consensus from sports psychologists out there seems to be that athletic slumps, when not caused by injury or trauma, are largely a mental thing. The most commonly recommended remedy to get out of such a slump seems to be relaxing and stop thinking about it so much; too much forethought, it seems, causes players to overwork themselves to an unnatural state. So if Natalie is reading this blog, hopefully she forgets everything I just said, and just go out there, continue to work hard and perform the way she naturally does. She will find her target I'm sure. All great athletes do.
UPCOMING MATCHES OF THE WEEK:
Sunday Sep 29 Rice (#134) @ UTSA (#234) 1:00 pm (Conference USA)
Thursday Oct 3 University of Cincinnati (#140) @ U of H (#232) 7:00 pm (American Athletic Conference)
Friday Oct 18 Colorado College (#24) @ Rice (#134) 7:00 pm (C-USA)
Thursday Oct 24 University of Central Florida (#12) @ U of H (#232) 7:00 pm (AAC)
Friday Oct 25 Grambling State University (#325) @ TSU (#327) 7:00 pm (SWAC)
Sunday Oct 27 East Carolina University (#174) @ Rice (#134) 1:00 pm (C-USA)
Thursday Oct 31 LSU (#55) @ Tx A&M (#56) 7:00 pm in College Station (Southeastern Conference)
Friday Nov 1 Sam Houston State University (#284) @ HBU (#242) 5:00 pm (SLC)
Monday Nov 4 Conference USA Tournament 1st Round @ Rice 4:30 and 7:00 pm
Wednesday Nov 6 Conference USA Tournament Quarter-Finals @ Rice 4:30 and 7:00 pm
Thursday Nov 7 Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament @ Houston Amateur Sports Park
Friday Nov 8 Conference USA Tournament Semi-Finals @ Rice 4:30 and 7:00 pm
Saturday Nov 9 Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament @ Houston Amateur Sports Park
Saturday Nov 9 Red River Athletic Conference Tournament @ Houston Amateur Sports Park
Sunday Nov 10 Conference USA Tournament Final @ Rice1:00 pm
Friday-Sunday Nov 15-17 NCAA Division I Tournament 1st Round @ Campus TBA
Sunday Nov 24 NCAA Division I Tournament 3rd Round @ Campus TBA
Friday-Saturday Nov 29-30 NCAA Division I Tournament Quarter-Finals @ Campus TBA
Saturday Dec 7 NCAA Division III Tournament Final @ Blossom Stadium, San Antonio 1:30 pm
(Kokoy's Matches of the Week are those which I plan to attend. Schedule subject to change.)
Kokoy Severino has been coaching junior high school soccer in the public school system of the Greater Houston area for 19 years. He holds a National Youth Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, two coaching certifications from the United States Soccer Federation, and a Master in Educational Leadership degree from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. His research focuses on the relationship between interscholastic competitive soccer and the academic success of at-risk students. He returns regularly to his native country of the Philippines and conducts soccer training sessions for economically disadvantaged youths.
"This blog is to document the intensity, the depth, the passion, the strategic and tactical nuances, the stars, the spectacular play that I witness in the women's teams at the college level. And in doing so, it is my hope that others might be inspired to discover for themselves the beautiful game brought by the women." (Kokoy, from blog entry dated Nov 4, 2012)
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