Fox Hollow Brigade Wins 4-2 and Remains Perfect in Match-ups Against the Thirsty Dogs

The Thirsty Dogs finished third in the Second Division standings of the Utah Soccer Association last year. They are a big, experienced team that relies on rough play and possession to win games. We knew going into the game that the Thirsty Dogs would tackle and push a lot. In each of our two previous games against them we ultimately prevailed, but started slow because we weren’t prepared for their very physical style. This time, we prepared ourselves before kickoff and immediately took control of the game once the whistle blew.

The scoring started with Sean Hetherington giving the Thirsty Dogs’ back line fits, just as he has in each of our match-ups with the Dogs. Sean is basically a white, long-haired Jozy Altidore. He knows how to use his big frame really well, is able to push the ball past defenders with impeccable timing and long strides and, finally, he strikes the ball with great power. The Thirsty Dogs’ back line simply cannot match up with Sean and the result is that he creates a lot of scoring opportunities for his teammates.

In this game, Sean was able to muscle his way down the left side of the box where he made a perfect pass across the face of the goal. Jeremy Johnson hustled to the pass and only had to tap the ball home for the first score, which he did this time (he knocked a similar ball off the crossbar against the Dogs earlier this season).

The next goal came pretty quickly after that from Michael Emmett who scored in the fashion we have become accustomed: he turned the ball (and the defenders) back and forth with a couple of deft touches outside the 18 until he had an opening and drilled home a perfectly placed ball in the left corner out of the keeper’s reach. Michael seems to capitalize on nearly every scoring opportunity he gets. Even when he misses, his placement is impressive and those shots are usually just a bit wide.

Jeremy scored again in the first half, accidentally this time. He received a well-placed ball about 25 yards out and saw Sean making a run for the goal. Trying to catch Sean in stride with the Cross, Jeremy sent the ball to the far post, but pushed it too far forward. The wind carried the cross the rest of the way just over the keeper’s head and inside the side netting. Jeremy celebrated the shot enthusiastically for the sake of the Thirsty Dog’s mouthy keeper, but admitted to his teammates that it was intended as a pass. We get unlucky enough to feel good about a fortunate touch or two when they come our way.

Sam Brown who has shown to have good touch shooting on goal in practice and scrimmages got his first goal of the season. Sam placed himself right in the thick of a frantic battle and put back a deflection to cement our domination of the game.

Almost the entire first half was kept on the Dogs’ defensive side. Indeed, at one point we kept the ball around their 18 for at least four minutes with a succession of corners, good shots and solid crosses. The credit for this domination of the possession goes resoundingly to the defense and midfielders. Although the Thirsty Dogs try to play a possession type game typically, every loose ball and even many passes on-target were won by Chris Wade, Ben Wheeler, Michael Emmet and Alex Zamora. As soon as the Thirsty Dogs tried to counter after a missed Fox Hollow shot, Ben and Chris would snatch up possession and Michael and Alex would start orchestrating another high-pressured attack.

Fairly quickly, the Thirsty Dogs gave up trying to work the ball through our midfield and began sending balls over the top. This tactic did not work either. The Fox Hollow Defense is usually left all alone because coach Artigas draws up a very aggressive attack and often only plays with only two true defenders. Nevertheless, our defense is incredibly strong. Any time a ball is sent over the middle, it is nearly a foregone conclusion that Aaron Tucker or Kris Klingensmith will win the ball and feed it back to our mids. By way of example, Kris won one of the Dog’s better balls through near the 18 even after he stumbled while in pursuit.

Jon Boyer and John Grant were just as strong on the outside. The dogs more or less gave up going to Grant’s side after he kept clearing it and so they put their best striker over on the FHB right side, but Boyer cleared ball after ball out of danger. One time in particular, Boyer simply picked the forward’s pocket as he tried to make a move to goal.

In the second half, play was less inspired, but Tyler Capson used his speed to repeatedly beat everyone to the ball and start pushes downfield. His persistent attacks quickly began to wear down the defense and he had a streaking run down the middle of the Dogs’ 18 that had the Dogs holding their breath before it was disrupted 10 yards out. Aaron Morgan also had a run where he sent a beautiful cross perfectly in front of the goal that was headed just wide.

There were not a lot of other highlights in the second half. Indeed, lowlights might be a better word. As has often been noted, our level of play declines seriously when we get worried about calls and talk. Based on the first half we should have set a team record for goals scored, but our attention wandered elsewhere. Still, it was a strong win against a good team and hopefully it will help us recommit ourselves to avoid trash talk.