Coach Matt Dennis said he saw a lot of good things out of his Seymour boys soccer team during Saturday’s 1-1 tie against Jasper on the Owls’ field.
“My thoughts are that that was Game 1,” he said. “Our biggest focus here was to learn about our team. We’ve got a couple guys out, and we had to rely on a couple younger guys to step in.”
It was the first day of the fall sports season for several sports across the region and the Owls opened at home.
Seymour got its lone goal from junior Tsubasa Kato on a penalty kick.
“We were trying some new things today,” Dennis said. “We really emphasized some tactical things in the days leading up to this match that I thought in this match we did really, really well.
“That penalty that we scored was the result of some fantastic wide play, which is something we emphasized all week and we talked about it again at halftime. The first opportunity we get the ball wide and we put the ball in the box and we score a penalty. It was just fantastic to see that.”
The score was 0-0 at the half with the Wildcats getting six shots in the first 40 minutes to just one from the Owls. Jasper attempted four shots in the first 23 minutes of the match, and Sam Chandler attempted the Owls’ only shot at 23:45.
Jasper attempted the first shot of the second half, and it was stopped by Owls goalie Will Smith.
The scoring play Dennis was talking about came on the Owls’ next possession and resulted in the score by Kato. Jasper goalie Geo De La Rosa was in the middle of the goal, and Kato kicked the ball to the left corner to score easily.
However, the Wildcats quickly moved the ball to their end of the field and Sam Leonard tied the score at 37:47.
“The defensive lapse that happened 12 seconds later that allowed them to have a goal, that happens,” Dennis said.
He had some new people on the field in the second half.
“We had to make late substitutions that we were a little bit out of sorts in our back line to start the second half, but overall, I thought the guys competed really well,” he said. “It was a hot day that the turf made it even hotter. The opponent is big, tough and strong, and we came out here and our guys competed, and I thought that was fantastic to see.”
The Owls attempted five shots to 11 for the Wildcats. Smith was credited with two saves.
The Wildcats had an excellent chance to score the first goal of the match when a shot by Leonard hit the crossbar and bounced away.
Luke Reasoner had a good crack at providing a winning shot for the Owls in front of the goal, but the ball sailed over the net.
Dennis said his team needs to work on its angle of attacks.
“I think Jasper outshot us in the first half,” Dennis said, “but if I’m honest, I think we had the better of the opportunities. It was just like that final ball at a slightly wrong angle or it was at a guy’s feet instead of at his face.”
Dennis believes the Owls will improve with more action.
“(The offense) is coming,” he said. “We saw the movement of the players that we want to see the entire year. We’re going to go out there against East Central (away) on Tuesday and look to be a little bit sharper and a little bit better than we were today, and then we’re going to go out against Brown County (home) Thursday and try to get a little better that day, too.”
At Seymour
Seymour 1, Jasper 1
Seymour goal: Tsubasa Kato
Shots: Seymour 5, Jasper 11
Seymour goal saves: Will Smith 2
Record: Seymour 0-0-1
Junior varsity
Jasper 3, Seymour 0