KFDM COOP Posted March 27, 2008 Report Posted March 27, 2008 03:50 PM in High school soccer In soccer, turf matters When the high school soccer season began, we all knew the Friendswood girls team would play deep into the postseason. Because of its successful history, we knew the Friendswood boys team would have a chance to do it, too. After Tuesday's by-the-skin-of-its-teeth victory over Sharpstown, however, it looks like the Friendswood boys have a good chance to match the girls team postseason victory for postseason victory. A big reason for that is that one of the Region III favorites Katy Seven Lakes lost to Houston Davis in the second round on Tuesday. Friendswood will play Davis Friday night at 7 at Clear Creek ISD's Veterans Memorial Stadium. The site is a big deal because Veterans Memorial Stadium is turf. That should give Friendswood a big advantage. I saw the last 30 minutes of the Seven Lakes/Davis game on Tuesday as it was the first game of a doubleheader that featured the Friendswood girls in the nightcap. It was clear the absolutely dispicable nature of the pitch at Houston ISD's Dyer Stadium played a big role in Davis' victory. The grass has holes all over the place, which made it nearly impossible for any player to settle the ball. When you can't settle the ball, you can't play quickly. When you can't play quickly, credible teams still have a chance. As a result, Davis hung around until it got a legitimate chance at a penalty kick in the game's late stages. That's all it needed. That brings us to the Friendswood girls game against Richmond Foster Friday at 5:30 p.m. The game will be played at Angleton, which is a grass field. When I covered a football game in Angleton this past season, the field looked in decent shape — better than Dyer Stadium looked on Tuesday, anyway. Angleton has quality soccer teams so perhaps that means the condition of the field is good. If it is good, the Friendswood girls should win. If it is bad, however, Friendswood fans should get ready for a barnburner. The Friendswood starters took 27 shots in the first half on Tuesday at Dyer. They put seven of them on target. Sure, they scored four goals in that time, but it's not a good sign when you miss the target 74 percent of the time. That all comes back to the condition of the pitch. Friendswood fans also probably remember last year's playoff game against Foster. On ground that was almost as equally poor as Dyer Stadium, Friendswood fell behind at halftime before scoring three second-half goals to escape the hostile and excited environment. It's been a bit of an easy run thus far for the Lady Mustangs, but expect that to change in a big way on Friday — no matter the condition of the pitch.
FriendswoodFan Posted March 27, 2008 Report Posted March 27, 2008 Well said. I too watched the games at Dyer, and the field was indeed a mess. And, frankly, I thought the Lady Mustangs played with very little focus against an overmatched opponent. Angleton's field is grass, but as of a few weeks ago when FHS played Angleton, it was in beautiful condition -- like a carpet. It is also large. Both the condition and the size of the field will be a big improvement over the field these two teams played on last year. Expect a fast, physical game, but look for Frindswood's supperior team to win this one going away.
FriendswoodFan Posted March 28, 2008 Report Posted March 28, 2008 Final score Friendswood - 6 Foster - 1 Talent matters too!!!
watash Posted March 28, 2008 Report Posted March 28, 2008 there you go again FF talking about the size of the field again just kidding, we'll be watching your team, good luck. who is next?
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