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The G-I Report: Dan Gibson's and Tom Irvin's Season Blog
By Dan Gibson and Tom Irvin
8/23/2008
This season, University of Evansville men's soccer players Dan Gibson and Tom Irvin will share a blog about life on and off of the pitch with the UE men's soccer team. To comment on Dan and Tom's season blog, please click here.
Blog Entry #4 - By Tom Irvin
Posted November 4
This past weekend was a special one for the Aces Soccer team.
Saturday, November 1st, was a special day in that the Aces assisted at the Special Olympic Bowling tournament. The participants we met and were able to assist to bowl were some of the most energetic and happy people we had ever been around. We had the honor of presenting the awards and announcing the scores to all of the participants, and the sheer joy each contestant received from the opportunity to be recognized in front of everyone was amazing. We all gave out what felt at the time like a hundred handshakes and hugs. For just meeting these people for the first time, it felt like they had made us part of their family. The most rewarding part of the event was helping the blind competitors who were bowling. They each bowled with their own ramps, rolling their ball down the ramp and listen for the pins to be knocked down. It was amazing to hear them plead with their ball to get a strike each time the ball rolled down the ramp, and overwhelming to see them cheer when they heard the pins fall. It was an amazing experience - one that we felt so grateful for being able to be involved with.
Coming off a good win at Eastern Illinois the previous weekend, we knew that we had a tough test ahead of us with Bradley coming to Black Beauty Field. Bradley is a team that has gotten the best of us in recent memory, and went to the "Elite 8" of the College Soccer Cup in 2007- knocking off Indiana University and the University of Maryland along the way. Bradley has always been a force in the Missouri Valley Conference, winning the conference tournament in 2007.
This season has been no different from the standpoint that each game in the Valley is critical on how the seeds would end up for the conference tournament. The game was a hard fought one, and Bradley scored very early on after a miscommunication on the marking off of a restart. The Aces were able to rebound with Richard Menjivar hitting a blast in the top corner from 18 yards out, and we controlled the tempo and possession of the game for the large majority of regulation. We had the most shots we have had all season, and had the ball in Bradley's half for the majority of the overtime period with shots ringing the post. With the game heading into overtime, we made the break through when Richard Menjivar and Robby Lynch set up the game-winning golden goal.
A great win instills more confidence in our team, and we are awaiting the Drake Bulldogs in a critical MVC match this upcoming weekend.
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Blog Entry #3 - By Dan Gibson
Posted September 9
After a good start to the season at the University of Kentucky tournament, the Aces were looking forward to a much needed day of rest at the beginning of the week. Even though the record showed 2-0, we felt that we had areas that could be improved. We faced two tough challenges in Detroit and Central Arkansas, and those teams showed what areas could be improved through watching video individually and as a team. We were all very excited for the upcoming weekend, where we could play our first regular season home game in front of our fans.
The Butler game was a very good test for the Aces, as we won, 3-2, in front of 1000 fans at Black Beauty Field. The crowd was excited and we could definitely feed off of their energy as we got off to an explosive start. The first goal started when Tom Irvin collected a ball off of the Butler goalkeeper and had a nice combination with redshirt freshman Tyler Crawford - who seems to always be around the goal with the ball. That allowed Irvin to tally his first goal of the young season. Right before halftime, freshman Tad Kreamelmeyer received the ball in a wide spot from Richie Menjivar and served the ball to the back post where Mike Luttrull placed a header to the back post and into the back of the net. The third and final goal for the Aces came with about 25 minutes remaining in the game when a quick counter-attack placed Mike Luttrull in on a breakaway to notch his second goal of the game.
The Butler team never stopped pressing us, and scored a couple of goals in the final 15 minutes to make the game a barn burner for the last 5 minutes. The team was a little disappointed after the game, because we turned a game that we had total control into a game that we had to grind out in the last 5 minutes. When all was said and done, the Aces came through with a win but learned a vital lesson in closing out a game. We now have a full week to recover and prepare for the ProRehab Aces Soccer Classic, held at Black Beauty Field, where we will play North Florida on Friday and Valparaiso on Sunday.
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Blog Entry #2 - By Tom Irvin
Posted September 6
With the start of the season right around the corner, Bellermine stood as our last pre-season test. We came out on our game, barely allowing Bellarmine out of their half for the first 15 minutes. We all agreed about getting a huge boost from the attendance. The crowd was loud and more supportive then any other crowd in recent memory, and we averaged over 1,000 fans a game through our pre-season exhibitions. The student section behind the goal - dubbed 'the Hard Aces' - really gives us a lift, and helped in our 3-0 win over Bellarmine.
With pre-season completed, our direction was towards our next opponent, University of Detroit, in the University of Kentucky Invitational Tournament. Detroit had beaten last year's runner-up in the College Cup (Ohio State) in a preseason exhibition, so we all had to be focused on the task at hand. Extra motivation for a great weekend came in the form of Olive Garden bringing back their 'never-ending pasta bowls'.
Consistent with our pre-season matches, we came out firing on all cylinders offensively. Saying that, we had some challenges in breaking down a packed-in Detroit defense. The 0-0 deadlock was finally broken in the 80th minute when Tyler Crawford put his name in Aces supporter's hearts by slipping Mike Luttrull in for the goal. Mike quickly repaid Tyler, assisting him five minutes later to finish it 2-0.
Our last test for the weekend came with our second game of the Kentucky tournament on Sunday against Central Arkansas. We came out quick, scoring on a 'Vidic-like' header from Kipp Erskine. The game ended 3-0 with Mike Luttrull and Mitch Mansfield also chipping in goals. We also received some quality minutes played by freshmen Bobby Reiss, Mitch Day, and Blake Schneider.
We ask everyone to come out and support the Aces against in-state foe Butler at 3pm on Sunday.
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Your Comments:
Dan,
Congrats on your fine start!!!
Posted by Spider
September 9 8:52 AM
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Blog Entry #1 - August 22
As the summer started to wind down, the Aces soccer team slowly started returning to Evansville with high hopes for the upcoming season. Everyone was very excited to return and get started, and had clearly worked hard over the summer. As we all shared stories of our summer vacation, we knew that fitness tests were looming.
Our first fitness test was the infamous 6-minute run, gauging how far we can run over 6-minutes. Once finished, the results led us to believe that this team was fitter then any other in recent memory. Led by Robby Lynch, the entire team passed the standard and most players recorded their best times. We had a series of meetings with trainers, doctors, NCAA compliance, and team psychologist over the next couple days, culminating at 12:01 AM Wednesday morning with the Beep Test.
Once the fitness tests were over, two-a-days started and presented different challenges. With the upperclassmen preaching to the newcomers about the Indiana heat, we were fortunate enough to string together a week of low-80's and overcast weather. We didn't have long to prepare for our first test of the 2008 season, which came at the University of Louisville (the pre-season 21st ranked team in the nation) about three days into pre-season. The UL game gives everyone a quick chance to showcase their talents right off the bat. Although the game was a 2-0 loss, there were many positives to draw from. We had over 20 players see action in the exhibition match, giving us the chance to see how our new incoming players could mesh with our returning nucleus.
A few days later, a different but equally challenging task awaited. The high intensity of the “Mayor’s Cup”, which pits us against cross-town University of Southern Indiana (USI), provided us an opportunity to see the kind of game with a playoff atmosphere – showing us that we need to push through a variety of distractions. Whether it be the crowd (1,000 fans for a mid-week exhibition game), the weather, or the physical play, Coach Jacobs made sure we all stay focused on the things that we are able to control. The game ended in a 3-0 victory, with goals from Sam Bornstein, Jarrett Robbins, and Mike Luttrull.
We have our last pre-season exhibition match up against Bellarmine this Sunday, the 24th of August, at Black Beauty Field.
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