Kofa unable to upset 4th ranked Hamilton
Kings losers of two straight
The Kofa boy’s soccer team embraces challenges, and they got one on Friday night at home against No. 4 Hamilton
Jaime Nicewander’s team was looking to bounce back after a loss to San Luis earlier in the week, but was unsuccessful in finding the back of the net in the 1-0 loss to the Huskies.
Hamilton’s Riley Lynch knocked in the night’s only goal in the 30th minute of the game. That’s all the Huskies needed to defeat the Kings.
“We were disappointed after last game,” Nicewander said. “The guys really stepped up tonight and we out played Hamilton. There’s no doubt about that.”
Despite out playing the undefeated Huskies (8-0-2 AIA), the Kings couldn’t generate clean, solid looks at the net. Kofa (4-4-1 AIA) dominated the time of possession, delivered crisp passes, but the Huskies’ defense was too quick and strong to allow any clean shots.
“We had some scoring opportunities and controlled the time of possession,” Nicewander said. “It was nice to see that. The last twenty minutes of the game, they had 10 players within 30 yards of the net. We had a dramatic number of more passes in their defensive third than they did within our defensive third, but we couldn’t connect on that one clear shot goal. We didn’t have too many looks in the box.”
A loss is a loss, there’s no getting around that, but Kofa shouldn’t have its heads down after going toeto-toe with one of the best soccer teams in all of Arizona.
The Kings never backed down, despite letting up the only goal of the game right before halftime.
Nicewander believes that even with the loss, his team continues to improve as the postseason approaches and reminded his team how far they’ve come within the last year after losing to Hamilton 7-0 in 2019.
“It really shows us how good we can play when they put their minds to it,” he said. “We took the loss, but it was a well played game. No team wants to schedule teams like this either. Look at our power rankings. Who wants to schedule Brophy Prep, Corona Del Sol and Hamilton? No one wants to do that. They want to schedule teams where they can pad their stats and gets lots of goals, but that’s not what we want to do.
“I got tired of 11-win seasons then getting knocked out of the first round. If
you’re trying to produce top notch players and really want to compete to win a state championship, then you need to be playing those better teams.”
The level of competition the Kings have faced this season will ultimately help them during the postseason in a few weeks. Despite the 4-4-1 record, the Kings are acquiring the knowledge and experience it takes to defeat some of the 6A powerhouses.
The goal is to just get to the playoffs. Nicewander believes his team will be well equipped to make a run.
The Kings are in the middle of a two-game skid, but are aiming to finish the regular season strong. That begins with their match up next week against the Cibola Raiders.