Titans can't find the answer to Loras, lose 1-0

After three straight games on the road, the Titans took to the friendly confines of Neis Field on Wednesday evening hoping to get back on the winning track. The team faced a familiar foe in Loras College, who the Titans have played each year since 2002, including in the NCAA tournament in 2005. Each of those games had all been decided by only one goal, and once again the Titan/Duhawk match up resulted in a one-goal game, this time with the Titans coming up on the short end of the score. The Duhawks scored in the first half when we failed to clear a corner kick opportunity and one of their players stepped in front of us and knocked home the loose ball.

We have sputtered in our attack so far this season, scoring only 12 goals in the first 9 games (by the way, half of the regular season is now behind us; time sure does fly!). We did manage to create some dangerous chances against Loras, with our best chance coming just a minute into the second half when Carly Calkins beat the Duhawk keeper to the short side, only to have the ball deflect off the post. We were consistently in the Loras end for much of the second half, but were unable to attack with the consistency and sharpness needed to create legitimate scoring chances for ourselves.

I asked the girls before the game to play with a renewed conviction and commitment to each other. I believe the team did that on Wednesday night as looking back at the game (after watching the video) I can't fault the effort or determination. On Saturday we embark on the second half of the regular season with our first conference game at North Park. 9 games to go to try to position ourselves for something beyond October 27th. However, I have asked the team to not look past the next day, be it a practice or a game. At 4-4-1, we are looking up at a lot of teams in the league and in the region at the moment, and in order to climb forward we need to follow the old cliche of taking things a day at a time. Our mission is to improve daily, not be distracted by elements, opponents, or other; and as mid-term time approaches we'll need to really have a renewed focus when we step on the field.

We are looking forward to the next challenge moving into the CCIW schedule. We have faith that as long as we keep working to improve our execution we'll make the necessary strides to become the team we envision for ourselves. Go Titans!