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Christian Gateskill-Fuqua (10) of Danville gets tripped up by Collins defender Jack Oakey in the first half Tuesday. Gateskill-Fuqua scored the Admirals¿ only goal in their 2-1 loss. (Clay Jackson / August 22, 2012) |
As much as No. 23 Collins possessed the ball Tuesday night, Brent Beauman knows his Danville team was lucky to have a chance to tie the game late.
Christan Gateskill-Fuqua scored with 3 minutes, 37 seconds to play to trim Collins’ lead in half, but the Titans never let the Admirals get off another shot and walked off with a 2-1 win at Reynolds Field.
“They were a very technical team, a very good team. They possessed the ball very well, you can tell there were a lot of club players on the team,” Beauman, the Danville coach, said of Collins. “We’re still defending well, we’re still looking for that offensive spark. We’ve got a lot of frustration. At first it was kind of hindering us, but now I think we realize we can step above that and go on.
“As I told them, of course we’re not where we want to be, but adversity now will get us prepared for the end of the season when it really matters.”
And Beauman realizes that at this early stage of the season, there is still a lot to be worked out, especially with an offense which got few chances against Collins and had just four goals in four games.
“Just trying to figure out a system whether we want two up top, three up top, one up top,” he said. “I think Christian and Noe (Ayala) are kind of starting to understand each other, they’re still working out their timing with Shawn (Ramos). I think it’s a timing issue, getting our runs down where we’re working off each other.”
Collins (3-0-1) got its first score on an own-goal when a Danville defender tried to clear the ball, but knocked it in to make it 1-0 with 23:14 left in the first half. It stayed that way until early in the second half when the Titans took a 2-0 lead with 32:05 to go.
Danville (1-2-1) was finally able to cash in late the game.
Paul Miller replaced Brandon Hughes in goal for Collins with about 5 minutes to go. That’s when Gateskill-Fuqua took a deflected pass, raced downfield and put a shot past Miller into the upper left side of the goal to cut the lead to 2-1 with 3:37 left. Hughes then came back in, but Collins possessed the ball until time ran out.
One bright spot for the Admirals this season, Beauman says, has been the defense, which is also still trying to figure out a rotation.
“Through two scrimmages and four games, we’ve had six different back lines,” the Danville coach said. ”Ben McAllister’s stepped up and is doing a great job. Dylan (Mullins) is a role player who will play anywhere you want him to. Calvin (Steber) and Damir (Karapandzic) had a great year together last year, and Matt (Oster) is a great goalkeeper and he keeps us in the game.
“Defensively, we’re OK. Defense wins championships, but not if you don’t score.”
But still, Beauman knows it’s way to early in the season to hit the panic button yet.
“These seniors, they’ve won district every year, they’ve won region every year, they’ve been in the final four, and we’ve had a lot of great players in front of them. And now it’s their turn and there’s no reason to get discouraged or down,” he said. “We did the same thing last year, we didn’t have the best season, but ended up doing OK.
“We’re doing good. They’re working hard, and they are now seeing where they can improve and they’re focusing on those things.”
Christan Gateskill-Fuqua scored with 3 minutes, 37 seconds to play to trim Collins’ lead in half, but the Titans never let the Admirals get off another shot and walked off with a 2-1 win at Reynolds Field.
“They were a very technical team, a very good team. They possessed the ball very well, you can tell there were a lot of club players on the team,” Beauman, the Danville coach, said of Collins. “We’re still defending well, we’re still looking for that offensive spark. We’ve got a lot of frustration. At first it was kind of hindering us, but now I think we realize we can step above that and go on.
“As I told them, of course we’re not where we want to be, but adversity now will get us prepared for the end of the season when it really matters.”
And Beauman realizes that at this early stage of the season, there is still a lot to be worked out, especially with an offense which got few chances against Collins and had just four goals in four games.
“Just trying to figure out a system whether we want two up top, three up top, one up top,” he said. “I think Christian and Noe (Ayala) are kind of starting to understand each other, they’re still working out their timing with Shawn (Ramos). I think it’s a timing issue, getting our runs down where we’re working off each other.”
Collins (3-0-1) got its first score on an own-goal when a Danville defender tried to clear the ball, but knocked it in to make it 1-0 with 23:14 left in the first half. It stayed that way until early in the second half when the Titans took a 2-0 lead with 32:05 to go.
Danville (1-2-1) was finally able to cash in late the game.
Paul Miller replaced Brandon Hughes in goal for Collins with about 5 minutes to go. That’s when Gateskill-Fuqua took a deflected pass, raced downfield and put a shot past Miller into the upper left side of the goal to cut the lead to 2-1 with 3:37 left. Hughes then came back in, but Collins possessed the ball until time ran out.
One bright spot for the Admirals this season, Beauman says, has been the defense, which is also still trying to figure out a rotation.
“Through two scrimmages and four games, we’ve had six different back lines,” the Danville coach said. ”Ben McAllister’s stepped up and is doing a great job. Dylan (Mullins) is a role player who will play anywhere you want him to. Calvin (Steber) and Damir (Karapandzic) had a great year together last year, and Matt (Oster) is a great goalkeeper and he keeps us in the game.
“Defensively, we’re OK. Defense wins championships, but not if you don’t score.”
But still, Beauman knows it’s way to early in the season to hit the panic button yet.
“These seniors, they’ve won district every year, they’ve won region every year, they’ve been in the final four, and we’ve had a lot of great players in front of them. And now it’s their turn and there’s no reason to get discouraged or down,” he said. “We did the same thing last year, we didn’t have the best season, but ended up doing OK.
“We’re doing good. They’re working hard, and they are now seeing where they can improve and they’re focusing on those things.”
