SVSU men’s soccer team lost to Davenport 4–0 in first conference game of the season.
Davenport scored the first goal 1:13 in, taking the lead.
SVSU attempted its first shot 12 minutes later but was blocked.
At 16:15, Davenport scored its second goal, furthering the gap between the team’s scores.
“We knew Davenport were very industrious, very hardworking,” head coach Louis Barrow said. “They’ve got some good quality and some very hardworking players. We felt like they knew what they were going to do, and they did that. They’re a very direct soccer team, which
means they go from back to front very quickly.”
After Davenport racked up two goals, SVSU fought back with two shots on goal back to back.
Davenport responded with another shot but was blocked by SVSU goalie Mason Maziasz.
The last 20 minutes of the first period saw no goals by either team but a few substitutions from SVSU and one from Davenport.
“For some reason today, we didn’t deal with it correctly the way we know how to,” Barrow said. “They outworked us. In soccer, when you get outworked, the other team, if they’re outworking you, they’ll get the bounces, the touches, the calls from the officials. It’s just the way soccer is.”
In the second period, SVSU came back with energy but still struggled to keep up.
Davenport scored the first goal of the period at 46 minutes into the game.
SVSU responded with a shot that was blocked.
“We felt good coming in,” forward Gabriello Calamita said. “I thought the score would be reversed really. At home, we’re supposed to make it a fortress, and it’s kind of didn’t really go our way from the start.”
SVSU tried to maintain control of the ball in the second period but struggled as Davenport turned up the pressure.
Davenport and SVSU went back and forth, attempting to score, until Davenport scored its final goal at the 86th minute of the game.
Team members and coaches at SVSU expected the game to be difficult because of the playing style of Davenport, although they anticipated more of a fight.
They prepared for this game and their Sunday game against Ashland by mimicking their playing styles.
“Because we knew they were direct, when we go into training, we’ll set up the 11/11. We’ll have one team act as SVSU, and one team mimic what Davenport would do,” Barrow said. “And then when things break down, we stop it, analyze it and change formations or tactics.”
Forward Lachlan Hepburn reflected on the atmosphere and outcome of the game.
“We come into every game like it’s the same game every time,” Hepburn said. “Today we came in like it was the same game, but the atmosphere was different. We were outworked today.”
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