Young Analy boys team doesn't look like a pushover
Published: Friday, August 27, 2010 at 5:47 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, August 27, 2010 at 5:47 p.m.
HEALDSBURG — For a team that was hard hit by graduation and thought to be in rebuilding mode, Analy’s soccer team showed on Friday it will be no pushover during the Sonoma County League season.
The Tigers began their campaign with a 3-0 victory over Rancho Cotate at Rec Park and while not predicting his team will once again go deep into the NCS playoffs, coach Pete Meechan is seeing plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
“This was a pretty good overall effort,” Meechan said after defeating Rancho. “We’re definitely a work in progress with all these underclassmen, but I’m liking what I’m seeing. It’s going to take us awhile, but playing in an Invitational like we are this weekend will help us come together.”
Meechan will find more out about his team today as the Tigers have a 10:15 a.m. showdown with Arcata at Healdsburg High and then meet Cardinal Newman at 12:45 p.m. at Rec Park. Depending on the results of those two games, Analy could play a third game today, either in the 4 p.m. consolation or 7 p.m. championship. The last two games are at Rec Park.
In other Friday games, Cardinal Newman defeated Arcata, 2-0, Fort Bragg and Mission played to a scoreless tie and Elsie Allen defeated Healdsburg, 2-0. Games were shortened to 30 minutes per half.
The Analy faithful didn’t know what to expect this season. Last year’s team advanced to the NCS quarterfinals where it lost 2-1 in overtime to eventual Div. I winner Marin Catholic. The Tigers finished 15-6-2 and were second in the SCL.
If Friday’s game was an indicator of what’s to come, Armando Cornell is ready to carry the scoring load for Analy. The junior had two goals against Rancho, even though he was forced to play out of position.
Usually a midfielder, Cornell moved to striker because Analy was missing several starters.
He got his first goal on a penalty kick after being tripped. And a penalty shot was also key to his second score.
“The second one, I got another penalty shot, but the goalkeeper blocked it and it rolled right back to me,” Cornell said. “I was lucky, there was no one in front and I had an open shot.”
Cornell played on last year’s team and thinks the current edition has the ability to win a lot of games.
“We have to be more aggressive on defense, but that will come as we work together more as a team,” Cornell said. “We have a lot of new players.”
Friday’s game was also a contrast in bench strength. Analy had 11 players ready to fill in, Rancho’s bench was bare until midway through the second half when a player that was expected to be a few minutes late, finally arrived.
“We were missing all our starting defensemen,” coach Eamon Kelly said. “Two are out with injuries and the other two had to work. No question we missed them.” The two players with injuries will be back within two weeks.
Kelly is back after a five-year hiatus. The last time he coached Rancho, the team went to NCS. Last year, they were 0-16.
The Cougars began this season with a win, beating Petaluma, 2-0. The next evening they lost 5-1 to Sonoma Valley.
Kelly explained he needed time away from the game as the reason for walking away.
“I didn’t go to many games and didn’t follow the team because I needed to step away and pay more attention to business,” Kelly said. “When the job opened after last season, I applied and was hired.”
Kelly said he liked the fact that his starters didn’t give up against Analy.
“We didn’t play our game which is short ball offense,” he said. “We were forced to scramble a lot and it seemed like we were always chasing the ball. We’ll do better with more practice and more playing together as a team.”
At 9 a.m. today, Rancho plays Newman at Rec Park and then goes to Healdsburg High for a 2 p.m. match-up with Arcata.
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