The American River College soccer team faced Santa Rosa in a goalless draw on Nov. 8. This draw extends the Beavers winless run to five now.
A draw for the Beavers may not have been the worst outcome, however as Santa Rosa has been in form this season, winning four out of its last five matches.
The majority of the match was played in a back-and-forth affair. When entering the opponent’s side of the pitch, both teams would often lose the ball immediately and shoot from out of the box, with the ball ending up nowhere near the goal.
In the first half, ARC Head Coach Paul Hansen yelled “keep the high line,” which means he wanted his defense to be higher up the pitch and not cave in. But the team ended up caving into its own hole for large parts of the match or in this case in front of their own goal and being okay with Santa Rosa having the ball.
The Beavers would occasionally get Santa Rosa on the break, but the majority of ARC’s attacks were ineffective long balls to their forwards. Which would give Santa Rosa the ball back due to the long ball being inaccurate or the ARC forward already being occupied by the Santa Rosa center back.
ARC’s off the ball work rate is what earned them this draw. Stopping Santa Rosa’s attacks with crunching tackles or out of the box fouls is what kept ARC alive throughout this match.
The Beavers’ toothlessness and lack of cohesion in possession and attacks is what is keeping their winless streak alive. However, this game can be seen as an improvement because the team did not concede, but the lack-lusterness in attack was the downside for the team.
