Bobcats Advance Despite Nor'easter

FSU Girl's on field Saturday afternoon

With much of the East Coast under snow due to the very rare October Nor'easter there was still playoff soccer to be played.  Both York and Frostburg pushed back their playoff matches to Sunday to avoid playing in the freak snow storm.

The maintenance crew would get to work on Saturday evening and the coaching staff along with some FSU administrators would finish off the work Sunday morning to make sure the facility was safe and ready for playoff soccer on Sunday afternoon.  Kick-off times were pushed back to give the field ample time to be cleared.  The women would host St. Mary's in #3 vs. #6 match at 4:00pm and the men would take on Wesley in the #4 vs. #5 match at 6:00pm.

FSU mens coaching staff after snow removal
on Sunday morning

With the women's game going into a shoot-out the men would not kick off until 6:45pm as temperatures would dip into the low 30's.  Frostburg would come out hot and begin pressuring Wesley from the opening whistle.  We had several good chances saved by the Wesley keeper, but would out shoot Wesley 12-5 for the half.

I was real pleased with our play both offensively and defensively.  In the first game I thought we allowed them to dictate the play too much and today I thought we did a much better job of controlling the tempo.  The second half was much of the same as we out shot them 10-3, but this time we would get the early goal to take the lead.  In the 52nd minute Bryan Whitmore would slip a nice through ball into Ryan Russell who would beat the keeper low and to the left for his conference leading 16th goal of the season.  Wesley was the only CAC team to shut Russell out during conference play so he was really looking to put one away against them.  Shawn Baker who has now scored in three of the last five games put the game away as Wesley was pushing forward in the 87th minute.

I thought Wesley was a very good team the first time we played them and tied, so I was very pleased with our play on the day and the 2-0 outcome.

The team will be back at training today and we will hit the road tomorrow to travel to #1 seed Salisbury.  The game is scheduled for 2:30pm on Wednesday 11/2/11.

Stadium at 11:00am Sunday

Bobcats Earn Home Playoff Game



On Wednesday evening in Alexandria, VA the Frostburg State men's soccer team completed its 2011 regular season with a 3-0 win over Marymount University.
The game started out a little shaky I thought. I don't know if it was the long bus ride or the pressure of needing a win to claim the #4 seed in the playoffs, but we did not get off ot the start we were hopoing for. Marymount was out possessing us and we were turning the ball over to easily. Fortunately, Ryan Russell did what he's done all year and made the most of his early chances.

Six minutes into the game Ryan found the net off a nice feed from Shawn Baker on our first shot of the match. Seven minutes later Ryan would strike a free kick that would beat the wall and the goalkeeper from about 25 yds. out.

We switched formations in the second half and played much better. We were able to posses the ball and limit the chances that Marymount was generating in the first half. Shawn Baker would score his second goal of the season off a feed from Russell 15 minutes into the half to put the game away.

With the win we clinched the #4 seed and a home playoff game on Saturday afternoon. The game is scheduled for 2pm and the opponent will be either Wesley or Stevenson. The winner will advance to face Salisbury on Tuesday.

It feels to good to finish the season 10-2-4 and the #4 seed in the CAC playoffs. We accomplished a lot of the goals we set for this team at the beginning of the year. If we can limit our mistakes and take care of the ball in the attacking third I think we can compete with any of the top seeds in the conference and make a run towards the CAC championship game.

York Spoils Senior Day

Seniors: Cisco Diaz, Jamie Flewellyn, Mike Hurst, and Anthony Tossounian

Saturday afternoon was Homecoming and Senior Day for the Bobcats.  Three seniors; Jamie Flewellyn, Cisco Diaz, and Anthony Tossounian would play their final regualr season home game while fellow senior Michael Hurst would accompany his teammates onto the field for introductions, but would be unable to particiapte due to a season ending injury.

York College would spoil senior day by defeating us 3-1.  I don't think we played our best soccer, but I do the think the better team won the game.  We did not take care of the ball and we made some mistakes that a good team like York will make you pay for.

York got on the board early off a nice cross from the left that beat two defenders and found an oncoming York player who one-timed it by the keeper.  One minute later, Ryan Russell would tie the score up off a feed from Jared Fohs on a simialr style goal.  York would take the 2-1 halftime lead off a nicely hit shot from about 30 yds. out that beat the keeper.

The second half was tightly contested, but York would get the insurance goal when it kicked home the rebound off a missed clearance from a long free kick.  The York keeper was called on to keep the game in check when he stopperd a Ryan Russell break away late in the game and made a point blank save off a well hit header by Shawn Baker.

The loss drops us ot 9-2-4 on the season.  We have clinched a playoff berth, but need to win on Tuesday against Marymount to get the #4 seed and a home playoff game on Saturday.

York goal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MPhGHOGWSc

Bobcats Slip by Stevenson

Junior Yacob Kahsai

Sophomore Bryan Whitmore

Last Wednesday on another rain filled afternoon the Bobcats defeated Stevenson by a score of 2-1. This one was important for the guys because last year we ended our season at Stevenson with a dismal performance and got embarrassed by a score of 4-1.


We started the game off strong and put immediate pressure on Stevenson’s backline. Sophomore Bryan Whitmore hit a hard shot at the keeper that was dipping and with the rainy conditions couldn't hold on and we would take the 1-0 lead.

The second half started off strong as well and after Scott Wasser controlled a long throw in inside the box he found Yacob Kahsai for an easy tap in at the back post to go up 2-0. Stevenson would respond shortly after and would make it a pretty hectic final 20 minutes. I thought we sat in too much and defended instead of trying to attack and maintain possession and we gave them too many opportunities to launch balls into our box. The defense would hold up and we would be happy with the 2-1 win at home against a good Stevenson team.

Next up is Homecoming Weekend where we will take on defending CAC champion, York College. York has been on a bit if a roll lately and if we can knock them off we should put ourselves in very good position heading into the playoffs.

Offense Continues to get Back on Track

Junior Shawn Baker

Three different players scored on the road Saturday against CAC opponent Hood College in a 3-1 victory. Junior Shawn Baker registered his first goal of the season and Chris Jones and Ryan Russell would finish out the scoring.

I was really happy for Shawn to finally get on track, especially since he was playing in his hometown and had lot of family and friends at the game. Shawn was one of our leading scorers last season, but has been asked to play a different role this year and has adapted very well to doing what the team needs from him.

The defense played strong again, but did surrender an own goal in the beginning of the second half to help put Hood on the board. We will need to get back to playing solid defense for 90 minutes and not let teams take advantage of our mental mistakes if we are going to make a late run here for the playoffs.

The injury bug may have started to catch up with us as we went into the Hood game with five players not suiting up and lost two more starters during the game. We are hopeful to get one or two back for the Stevenson game on Wednesday, but Ryan Russell and Damian Ramos will definitely be out at least until Saturday.

With three games left all nine teams still have a mathematical shot at making the playoffs, so these next couple of games will go a long way to start sorting out the seeding. We are home on Wednesday at 3:30pm against Stevenson and on Saturday for Homecoming against York at 5:00pm.

Bobcats Finish Non-Conference Schedule Undefeated

In our final non-conference game of the year we defeated the Presidents of Washington and Jefferson College 3-1. It was a bit of redemption as we lost to the Presidents last year 1-0.

Junior Brian Kukucka

Freshman Ed Flynn

Being that it was our last non-conference game we took the opportunity to tweak the formation a little and get some reserve players some more playing time. Junior transfer (HCC) Brian Kukucka earned his first start in goal and kept the clean sheet for the first half. Freshman keeper Ed Flynn logged his first minutes of the season in the second half and was 5 minutes away from keeping W&J off the board and earning a shutout for his half.

The offense got back on track as forwards Ryan Russell and Yacob Kahsai caused some matchup problems for the President defense. Russell recorded his 10th and 11th goals of the season to secure the win and sophomore Michael Norman registered his first goal of the season to complete the scoring. The first goal came off of a great penetrating pass from Yacob to Ryan. Ryan would beat the W&J defense and would beat the keeper with a terrific shot. Ryan's marksmanship was on display again as he scored on his 4th free kick in the last 5 games. Norman would make it 3-0 off a great through ball from sophomore Raphael Adejoda.  The Presidents would get on the board in the 85th minute to round out the scoring.

W&J Goals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsM3PpWtlBE

The win concludes an undefeated non-conference schedule with a 6-0-2 record including 3 victories coming over teams that defeated us the season before. The season will conclude with 4 CAC games with everything at stake. Playoff seedings are still wide open and several teams have the opportunity to advance their position over the next two weeks. Saturday we will be on the road at Hood College who has only given up 3 goals in conference play.

Road Trip Ends in Two Draws

Junior Keeper Abiye Jack

Last week we were on the road for a pair of games at McDaniel College and Wesley College. Both games would end up in 1-1 draws and we would have to come from behind again to tie each match.

I don't think we played particularly well against McDaniel and even though we outshot them 10-4 in the first half we found ourselves down 1-0 at halftime. I never thought we were that dangerous in the attacking third and a lot of our shots were from long distance and never really threatened the keeper. In fact, of our 25 shots for the match only 4 were on frame.

Ryan Russell, who was off his game a little today, would salvage the tie with another free kick late in the second half. The goal was Ryan's only shot on frame, but he made it count as he registered his team leading ninth goal of the season.

On Saturday we would travel to Wesley College for an important CAC match up. Wesley would enter the match undefeated in conference play with a 1-0-3 record. The game was very competitive and played at pretty frenettic pace. Wesley would take the lead late in the first half when we failed to clear a corner kick in the back of the box and a Wesley player would pick up the rebound and place a nice shot on frame for the 1-0 lead.

The boys came out flying to start the second half and put Wesley under pressure immediately. One minute into the second half Chris Jones would get his head on the ball off a corner kick and directed it back on frame. The keeper who was at full stretch was unable to tip the ball over and helped direct the ball into the back of the net.

Goalkeeper Abiye Jack had his best performance yet as he recorded 8 saves and had 2 huge saves that kept us in the game.  Next up is a our last non-conference game agaist Washington and Jefferson College on Wednesday at 7:00pm.

Bobcats Come From Behind to Tie Mary Washington

Sophomore Chris Jones

On a cold, rainy day in Frostburg the Bobcats would have to come from behind against CAC opponent Mary Washington to earn the draw.

The game started out fairly even and would go to the half tied up 0-0. Neither team produced many scoring opportunities and it seemed to be a battle in the midfield. In the second half I thought we did a much better job of pressuring and creating opportunities off of our defense. We continued to attack the Mary Washington goal, but could not find the back of the net. We outshot them 13-2 in the 2nd half, but a few nice saves by the goalkeeper and a few missed opportunities would keep us off the scoreboard. We would even miss a penalty kick midway through and would pay for it when a Mary Washington player kicked home a poor clearance off a long free kick to give them the 1-0 advantage.

Late in the game Ryan Russell would get the equalizer when he sent a free kick of his own over the wall and into the back of the net. We had a few more chances in overtime, but again the Mary Washington keeper was up to the challenge. He would finish the game with 11 saves.

I think we let one get away from us as we had the opportunities to score some goals, but just couldn't get it down today. I thought midfielders Chris Jones, Bryan Whitmore, and Yacob Kahsai had an excellent game especially in the second half. Their pressure and ball winning in the middle of the field created several counter attack opportunities for us and really turned the game in our advantage in the second half.

Sophomore Bryan Whitmore

Next week we will be on the road for two games as we travel for a non-conference match up against McDaniel College on Wednesday and on Saturday we are off to currently undefeated CAC play Wesley College.

Mary Washington Goal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6ll7DQrzfU