KFDM COOP Posted March 3, 2008 Report Posted March 3, 2008 Wind not a problem for Ganders By Dave Rogers Published March 4, 2008 When the West Brook Bruins failed to score in the first half of Monday night’s soccer game, their chances were gone with the wind. Lee’s Ganders took advantage of the 40-mile per hour wind in the second half to dominate the final 40 minutes and take a 4-0 win in the District 21-5A match at Sultis Stadium. “This was the worst wind I’ve played in,†REL’s veteran coach, Criss Dippel said. “But I wanted to play tonight, because that (a postponement) would put us having to play both Thursday and Friday. It’s hard to go 80 minutes on back to back nights.†The win puts the Ganders in sole possession of fourth place in the district with a 4-5-1 record and 13 points. Sterling, which had its scheduled game against Channelview postponed by the hosts on account of Monday’s rains, winds and near-freezing temperatures, can rejoin Lee in a tie for fourth with a win in the makeup game Thursday. The wind blew so hard Monday night that Gander goalie Jose Cornejo was able to boot the ball from his goal to West Brook goalie Sam Gurski at the other end on one hop, a carry of 85 yards or so in the air. So the ball stayed in West Brook’s end of the field most of the second half and the Ganders kept the pressure on Gurski. Octavio Torres broke the scoring ice 10 minutes into the second half, with Benito Huerta teeing up a Luis Camacho cross for an easy score by Torres. Edgar Sanchez got Lee’s second goal after a Bruin defender cleared a corner kick right to him for an easy chip-in with 13 minutes remaining. Huerta scored with 10 minutes to go after he beat Gurski to an ill-advised pass back by a Bruin teammate, and Camacho wrapped up the scoring with four minutes to go by outrunning Gurski to the ball on a breakaway. “We’re basically in the playoffs now,†Dippel said, not meaning that the Ganders had wrapped up a spot. He meant they were facing almost sudden death, needing to win their final four matches. “We’ve got to win every match to get that fourth place,†he said. The Ganders played with a sense of urgency from the start. They actually outshot the Bruins in the first half, despite having to battle the wind. “We played good defense and we won every ball,†Dippel praised. “We just had to keep it on the ground and work it up the field. “And I didn’t want the kids to think that the wind was all we needed. All they had to do was keep the ball on the ground and work it up. I was worried our defense was going to fall asleep with all the action on the other end. “Still, we were fortunate to be able to play with the wind behind us in the second half.â€
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