10-24-08: STERLING @ ST. MARY

Kansascity.com, the online site of the "Kansas City Star" newspaper, had a brief summary of the game at St. Mary. I'm not sure of its accuracy since Wes Tom hasn't previously played GK this season, but here it is:

Sterling 3, Saint Mary 0. Sterling (Mladen Bjelica, Justin Martens, Ryan Covey;
shutout by Zach Hallen and Wes Tom).

[KHC: 10/25/08 - Sources report that Jordan Cabrera played a half
at GK, not Wes Tom as reported by the KC Star.]

And here is an article including photographs I found in the online site for the "Leavenworth Times":

SPIRE MEN SHUT OUT BY STERLING IN KCAC CONTEST

By Sara Mettlen -Leavenworth Times - Sat Oct 25, 2008, 12:09 AM CDT -
Leavenworth, Kan.

Although it was the Saint Mary men who started the game with the momentum, it swung Sterling’s way late in the first half and stayed there the rest of Friday’s game as the Spires fell 3-0 to the Warriors.

Nick Stevenson gave the Spires perhaps their best chance of the first half with 22 minutes remaining, crossing the ball to Alex Nowasell for a header just in front of the goal. Nowasell’s shot was tipped over the crossbar by the Sterling goalkeeper though, leaving the game knotted at 0. It wasn’t until there was just over 11 minutes to go in the first half when Sterling finally got on the board, Mladen Bjelica broke past the Saint Mary defense and put his shot into the far corner of the goal. That goal was all that would be scored in the entire first half, but it was enough, said Spire coach Derek Mazeitis, to shake the USM mens’ confidence.

“I felt like we came out for the first 25 or 30 minutes and dominated the game. We really took it to them and created chances and opportunities a lot, had them on their heels a bit,” Mazeitis said. “Then when they scored that goal it seemed like it put us on our heels and kind of changed the face of the game.”

In the second half the Spires were slow to start, but came alive with 20 minutes remaining in the game. In a four-minute span the Saint Mary men unloaded several shots on goal, including three off a corner kick with just under 18 minutes to play.

“The second half we came out a little flat. I think we certainly had two or three real good chances to score, especially on that flurry in front of the goal,” Mazeitis said. “That changes the face of the game if we poke one of those in.”

But the Spires couldn’t and the Warriors were right there to take advantage. Sterling had scored with 30 minutes left in the game on a penalty kick. The penalty was a questionable one and that goal, Mazeitis said, was a blow to his squad’s morale.

“That penalty kick really deflated us. It was not a very good call ... when you have the coach of the other team coming up telling you that was a bogus (you know it’s bad),” Mazeitis said. “That really took the wind out of our sails. If it’s 1-0 going into the second half of the second half, we were playing confident enough that we probably could have created more to get in there.”

Sterling tacked another goal on with nine minutes to play to bring the score to its final 3-0. Despite the loss, Mazeitis said his boys really didn’t play too bad for a large portion of Friday’s game.

“I think that game was much closer than the 3-0 score,” Mazeitis said.

The Spires get just one day’s rest before hitting the field again, playing McPherson on Sunday at 4 p.m.

All photographs by Sara Mettlen.

Saint Mary’s Nolan Bohannon, a sophomore from Lansing, advances the ball for the Spires near midfield in the first half of Friday’s game against Sterling.

Alex Perica heads the ball to gain control for the Spires in the first half of Friday's match up with Sterling. The Spires fell 3-0 in the game.

Lansing native Drew Reynolds moves the ball down the far sideline for Saint Mary in their conference loss to Sterling on Friday afternoon. The game was originally scheduled for Wednesday but was postponed due to rain.

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