What an outstanding achievement in Coach Watson's first year and considering losing so many talented players this last year.  Our seniors really stepped up to lead a young group to a heroic effort in our final district game against the much improved Airline Vikings to capture second place outright.

Recaps from other games..following our big win over Magnet we had to step up to take on the #8 ranked (and district undefeated) Parkway Panthers.. We played an awesome game only allowing 1 goal to the Panthers on a free kick in the first half.  In the second we have several great chances that came close even hitting the bar but to no avail and we lose 0-1

The week of January 23rd we had 3 district games with a midweek game against Airline to determine if we could take 2nd place all by ourselves.  On 1/23 we faced a decimated and hobbled Byrd team that simply couldn't keep up with us as we beat them handily 8-2 with Sr. Caden Smith getting his first career hat trick.  The Wednesday game with Airline was postponed due to rain (and pushed back to Friday at Lee Hedges) so we took on Haughton and once again the struggling new soccer program had no chance as we cruised to an 8-0 victory.

 Finally, on Friday night the big matchup with Airline took place and what a battle it was, the final score was 3-1 Shreve but Airline missed a couple of easy ones that would have made this game much tighter especially since Shreve which played amazing in the second half generated over a dozen scoring opportunities but could only find the net once.  Fortunately our freshman boys had a great game as Chad Usry (2) and Nick Hammond (1) had all 3 goals for the Gators but this was a great all around team effort, Defenders Gray, Cassel, Grigsby and Schimberg bent but rarely broke against the MUCH improved Airline attack. Sr. transfer Charles Gooch was instrumental in getting behind the Airline defense to open it up for the other attackers and Midfielders Chisma and Doughty ran a mararthon from box to box to lead our attack and shut down their penetrations..

on a cold windy night, the 2011-2012 Gators put together their best effort of the season against rival Caddo Magnet at Lee Hedges last night.  We got out early with lost of great runs down the flanks and some chances on some crosses.  at the 10 minute mark Chad Usry turned and lofted a ball to Charles Gooch and the senior defender (turned striker) put it away to take a 1-0 lead which we held into halftime.  Magnet in the second half was able to capitalize early on from a corner we failed to clear properly, the ball fell to the feet of the districts leading scorer and he put it away to tie the game up.  With about 15 minutes left to play, Ken Chism hits a dangerous corner that forces a Magnet defender off balance trying to cover and it strikes him in the hand for an obvious handball in the box and a PK chance for Shreve.  Chad Usry finished the PK off to give the Gators back the lead.  Just two minutes later Sr. Gooch spies Hong Cho on the opposite flank and plays him a beautiful ball which Hong cuts around a defender and makes a great goal to give us the 3-1 lead and some breathing room with 10 minutes or so left to play.  Shreve tried to freeze out the game and did a  great job in the back holding of Magnet attacks but with about 3 minutes left Magnet converts another corner kick after it is not cleared.  Fortunatey we take home the victory and leave open a slim chance to share a piece of the district title. 

This was a total team effort best hustle all year

in the second district matchup of the year, Captain Shreve went out to a 3-0 halftime lead and was able to get everyone some valuable minutes in the second half.  Shreve had numerous opportunities to add to the goal total but played classy selfless ball and moved it around and used this game as some good training for the rematch with Magnet the week after mid terms

Sorry for the delay in getting the site updated but .....(insert excuse here)

In any event the Boys have had a challenging holiday season.

It started with a rain soaked easy district victory over Haughton on December 15th 6-0 (goals and assists to be added later) and then a 4 hour bus ride the next day for the LA Showcase down in Lake Charles where we ran into a very good Acadiana team that thumped is pretty good 3-1. Able to rest that night we came back strong agains Teurlings Cathlolic winning 1-0 but a combination of sickness and injury left us practically defenseless against the host team St. Louis Cathloic and as might be expected it wasn't pretty as the Gators were blown out 6-0

After a short Christmas break, the boys traveled down to Covington for the State's Premier High School Tournament--The St. Paul's Showcase.  Shreve given the difficult task of facing the host and returning State Champions at 8 AM after a 6 hour bus ride the day before managed to keep this one closer only down 1-0 at half before losing 2-0. In the second game, Shreve outmanned D3 St. Martin but gave up an early goal and a pesky St. Martin goalie kept making save after save.  It appeared the Gators might give this game away but in the final minutes, Shreve was able to get some penetration and a combination of fouls in the box and a late handball in the box lead to 2 Shreve PK's which we converted to win a nail biter 2-1.  In the final game Shreve got the better of Baton Rouge but was only able to manage a draw 2-2

Varsity Boys return to their winning ways with a hard fought 3-0 win over the Byrd Yellow Jackets before a great crowd Monday night at Lee Hedges.  In the first half our boys seemed a little flat but great defense from our back four kept many Byrd attacks out of the box.  Fielding Matkins with his first career start for the Gators had an excellent save of a dangerous cross to shut down another Byrd possession. In the second half, Shreve started getting more chances and I think we hit the post 3 or 4 times trying to break the score sheet and grab a lead. Byrd seemed in no rush to win the game in regulation.  In the 68th minute So. Andrew Doughty collects a ball at midfield dribbles into the attacking half and plays a beautiful ball up and over the Byrd defenders, Fr. Chad Usry gets it takes a touch and pops one past the onrushing keeper to get the first goal (assist Andrew Doughty).  Just a few minutes later, (32nd) we give up a dangerous free kick down deep outside the left side of the 18 yard box.  Our wall does the job and during the ensuing scramble, Jr. Gaylon Grigsby fires a long low clearance way out that surprises the Byrd defenders who were all forward for the free kick. It goes right to Usry in space who turns and collides with a Byrd defender who goes down leaving Usry with a clean lane to goal.  Usry takes a couple of touches and fires one low and back post for his brace. (assist Gaylon Grigsby).  From there, we finish out the scoring on a corner kick that is headed out by Byrd and is intercepted by Sr. Dylan Cassel who fires a perfect pass to Andrew Doughty is poaching on the six yard box, a quick touch a quick strick and Shreve wins 3-0. (assist Dylan "Red" Cassel). Great second half guys, no keep focused for Thursday's Haughton match.  It is imperative we take care of business early get everyone into the match since we travel to Lake Charles on Friday and play the nightcap against a very good Acadiana side

just a few seconds separated the Gators and Mustangs from an overtime thriller Monday evening at the Hedge.  On a cold drizzly night, the Gators came from behind once and actually went ahead in the second half only to give up the lead and a game winner just as stoppage time was set to expire.

After giving up a goal in the 23rd minute, We put together a beautiful combination of possession with Nick Hammond playing the ball into Hong Cho who one touches out wide left to Ken Chism who pushes the ball down the left flank and plays in a beautiful curving cross that goes around 2 Magnet defenders.  Chad Usry plays the pass on the short bounce (half volley) and guides it just inside the post and just like that we tie the score.

 In the second half , lots of back and forth and and about 15 minutes into the half Hong Cho takes a speculative shot long range that takes a wicked dip into the slick plastic grass in front of the Magnet goalie, the ball skips violently up and over the goalies desperate attempt to stop it and it skids into the net for a great goal and a 2-1 lead.

 Unfortunately, Magnet is able to equalize fairly soon.   From then one it is a frantic back and forth with good chances by both sides.  Andrew Doughty dribbles several defenders and fires a hard blast that forces a great save by the Magnet goalie, Also great work by our goalie Jacob Carruth for getting back on a richochet clearance that was headed for goal had he not scrambled and dove clearing the ball with a swipe of his hand as it reached the goal line..good stuff.

It was a very exciting game and with just seconds left we give up a goal on a counter attack and we drop our first district game.  Still no time to hang our heads, the districts highest rated team Parkway is scheduled for later this week..  Our boys gave it a very valiant effort in horrible conditions, hold your head high and prepare for Panthers..

 11/28/2011

After coming out flat in the first 10 minutes or so (no doubt due to tired legs from the weekend's tournament) It took an absolute  30 yard GOLAZO from Andrew Doughty aroung the 12 minute mark to wake up the Gators (assist Chad Usry).  Shreve dominating possession for most of the half but unable to extend their lead until Andrew won a ball in our defensive half and dribble it all the way deep into the Viking defense and unleashed another GOLAZO low and away that caught the keeper napping and we go into the half up 2-0 (unassisted).  In the third period Gabe Gray ranges forward from his Centerback position and spys Chad Usry out on the flank.  Usry cuts in and drives a low hard shot near post and puts the Gators up 3-0 (assist Gabe Gray).  Finally Ken Chism and Andrew Doughty team up for two long range balls served in by Ken.  On the first one Andrew gets a touch (off his back) and the ball heads for goal but is stopped (or was it ?) by the goalie at the absolute last second.  Scoring closes out when an almost identical long ball is played over the top (by Ken Chism) to a streaking Doughty who gets the Hat trick by beating the goalie to the ball and volleying the service right between the pipes (assist Ken Chism).. All in all our boys played hard.  Seniors Gooch and Cassel  Gray and Junior Chris Schimberg shut down a much improved Airline team.. Jacob with another district shutout and had several nice stops and was always quick off his line to gobble up any balls played through.  The boys get a nice break this week to heal up rest up and get ready for a real challenge next Monday 5 December as Gator Nation hosts and squares off with District Foe Caddo Magnet..going to be a good one

Admin Note:  Congratulations to the Varsity Boys as they crack the Coaches Poll at the # 10 position.

also thanks to Jill Lucero for her great pics she took at Dutchtown, they are now on the Flickr site

http://www.flickr.com/photos/captainshrevesoccer/sets/72157628207064117/

Shreve 1 Dutchtown 0

Shreve 0 St. Paul's 4

Shreve 1 East Ascension 1

Shreve-Mandeville --cancelled due to inclement weather

Captain Shreve struck early in the 0800 game with a good effort by Ken Chism to take a 1-0 lead against the hometown Dutchtown Griffins.  From there we played stubborn in the second half to keep them scoreless and secure the 3 points

In the afternoon game Shreve ran into a buzz saw from the defending State Champions.  Their first goal was questionable (missed handball call from ref) but the next 2 weren't and we finally ran out of gas in the second half.  Still there was a 15-20 minute stretch in the second period where the 2011-2012 Gators played even with one of the top 2 or 3 teams in the state and was able to generate chances.

Saturday's opponent was East Ascension (another Hometown team) and usually when we play EA its on a wet and rainy pitch.  This year's contest was no exception and after beautiful weather on Friday, we awoke Saturday to a steady downpour.  In fact the rain would cancel out all games after ours. EA and Shreve played a relatively even affair but in the second half our boys started to run out of steam and EA was able to slip a ball through our backline and finish it with about 4 minutes left.  Gators refused to give up getting the ball into scoring position several times and just after regulation, Andrew Doughty crossed the ball into the box where it was handled by an EA player.  Shreve awarded the PK which Doughty cooly slotted low and away for the equalizer and the last minute Draw.

All in all some good play this weekend as we continue to improve.  This week we have two district matches so patch up our bruised and battered troops for this week's campaign

many thanks to our former coach Matt Smith who braved the heat and rain to take these action photos of the boys down in Baton Rouge

http://www.flickr.com/photos/captainshrevesoccer/collections/

First District Game was no contest as the 2011-2012 Gators came roaring out of the gate with a 7 goal performance against the Southwood Cowboys.  Junior Ken Chism and Sophmore Andrew Doughty ruled the midfield with Ken getting 2 goals and Andrew getting 2 assists. Chism kicked off the scoring on a darting run up the middle on an a great through ball by Junior Hong Cho and calmly one touch finished inside the left post Freshman Chad Usry got his first high school goal on an unselfish cross from Doughty as he penetrated deep down in the 18.  Chism tacked on another goal in the first half to take a 3-0 lead at halftime.  Shreve scored at will in the second half with Freshman Nick Hammond getting his first high school goal on some nifty cuts inside the left 18 and coolly finishing.Gabe Gray played him the long through ball for the assist. Usry gets a scrappy second goal on a defender-goalie passback error.  Seniors Dylan Cassel and Gabe Gray anchored a stingy defense that only allowed a very few opportunities in our defensive third and Seniors Charles Gooch and Caden Smith tacked on a couple of insurance goals making the final scoreline 7-0 for the Gators.  A needed confidence boost as we head into Monday's holiday afternoon game with the 5th ranked Dutchtown Griffins. 

Goals 

Chism-2; Usry-2, Hammond-1, Gooch-1; Smith-1

Assists

Doughty-2; Hammond 1 ; Cho-1 ; Gray-1

admin-note:  thanks to Lance Hammond for keeping the stats and as a general note to all parents, we will miss some goals and assists from time to time so PLEASE email (dusry1@comcast.net) me when I forget.  I will edit the game summary to reflect the proper information.  Its always easy to keep up with your son's contributions but when you try and track 20 kids sometimes things fall through the cracks.  Also we are still in the market for a photographer to take stills during our games.  If no parents can (or will) I might suggest we hire a kid from Shreve (yearbook staff or something similar) and throw a few bucks in the pots for the games he/she covers and have them post to Flikr --just an idea.

go to Shreve Team Sites on left menu then select Boys Varsity..both rosters can be cut and pasted to Word or Excel.  My suggestion is to print both out place them back to back and laminate for a great quick reference card..

See you at Field 13 tonight at Cargill for our first game and victory of the Season

GO GATORS

Great work from the Varsity boys in their first full sided scrimmage as they struck for a goal in the 12th minute against Caddo Magnet in a 20 minute jamboree scrimmage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8etJiCQQGc

Nazmi Mansour gets off a great shot in traffic and beats the Magnet keeper to the right post.  

In the second game Shreve dominates possession with the Flyers and gets 3 great chances from some breakaways and a sitter but just cant find the net.  Game ends 0-0 

FIRST DISTRICT GAME TOMORROW AGAINST SOUTHWOOD..ITS TIME!!!!!

I will be updating the schedule link as time permits but for the time being I am posting this quick link to the Northwest LA High School Soccer website which is an excellent site to keep track of schedules for all our boys and girls teams and to see other teams schedules as well 

This weekends Jamboree

http://www.nwlsra.com/highschool/Jamboree.aspx

Boys and Girls (Varsity and JV)

http://www.nwlsra.com/highschool/Schedule.aspx  

just select the team you want from the drop down menu box

Coach Watson has released the Varsity and JV rosters (some late additions from football are anticipated).  Congratulations to the boys.  Now its time to focus on training and getting ready for the season.  With the expansion of the district we will be playing 12 district games (instead of the 8 we played last year) so other than the Jamboree there is no time "to warm up".  Our first regular season game is a DISTRICT game.                                                       

Parents and Players,Tryouts begin Monday (10/24) and last till Wednesday.  The teams will be posted on the website Thursday and that’s when players will begin practicing with their V or JV teams.  Players need to bring cleats, shin guards, and water to practice.  The colors for tryouts/practice are as follows:

Monday – White t shirt, green shorts, green socks

Tuesday – White t shirt, blue shorts, blue socks

Wednesday – White t shirt, red shorts, red socks

Thursday – White t shirt, white shorts, white socks

Also, some players have not turned in a copy of their birth certificate with their paperwork.  This needs to be turned in to Ms. Cassel ASAP.See you all on Monday.

Reposted from the email most parents received:

Recently graduated Seniors Christopher Lawrence and Connor Randel already making their impact felt at the College Level

Christopher Lawrence

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUohr1LwZq8&feature=related

Connor Randel

 http://www.barry.edu/athletics/news/article.html?id=19482

Gator Nation is proud of their former players and hopes they come back to visit and inspire and encourage the players to reach their potential

Recent graduates Christopher Lawrence and Will Terraciano will represent Shreve and the West 1/2 of Louisiana this weekend in the Boys All Star Game scheduled for 7 PM at the ULL Soccer Stadium in Lafayette.  Former Coach Matt Smith will be also be on the touchlines for the West.  Anyone near to Laffy this weekend should drop in to support our Gators in their final high school soccer game.  All of Gator Nation is proud of Will and Christopher and best of luck to them.  Go WEST!!! 

http://www.lhsaa.org/images/db_sports/629.pdf

Former JV Coach Ryan Watson gets the green light from Dr. McCalla to take over the Boys Varsity Soccer Team from the retiring Matt Smith:

from the Coach himself:

To help him he has added Justin Barnes as an assistant coach.  Here is some background on Justin..from Justin

Apologies for getting these posted so late.  We had some fantastic post season honors for our Boy's Varsity

Divison 1 All State

First Team

Connor Randel, Christopher Lawrence

All Divisions Freshman All State Team

Andrew Doughty

Shreveport/Bossier City All City Team

Connor Randel, Christopher Lawrence

District 1 All District Team

Overall MVP--Connor Randel

First Team

Christopher Hammond, Hayden Price, Christopher Lawrence, Will Terracciano, Neal Usry

Second Team

Kenny Chism, Hong Cho

Honorable Mention

Zack Kahre, Gabe Gray

Congratulations to all these deserving players. 

Feb 10, 2011

Gonzales, LA

on a wet cramped muddy football field the Captain Shreve Gators ended their playoff run against a scrappy opportunisitic St. Amant team that capitalized on a series of mental and physical mistakes that gave them a lead that was just too large to overcome. The Final score was 7-3 but we had our chances and only down 2-1 at half we were still in until St. Amant scored a couple within the first 10 minutes to make it 4-1.  From there, someone let the wind out of our sail although we did manage to pull a couple back late to make it 6-3 and then a last second goal in stoppage by STA to make it 7-3. Without the services of holding midfielder Gabe Gray and with Senior Defender Christopher Lawrence on a weak knee and heavily braced we found ourselves time and time again undermanned and overwhelmed in the back against the 3 forward direct kickball attack that was tailor made for the narrow confines of the horrendous natural surface known statewide as the "PIT".  The season is over so its best to let it go but for the younger players returning to the squad lots of lessons can be learned from the game.  To our departing seniors..I Know it wasn't the way you wanted to end your high school careers but all in all we achieved a great deal considering the youth and inexperience of the entire roster..It time to celebrate our many accomplishments this season like our 3rd straight district chamipionship (shared this year).  To the returning players...and our rising JV players...we are losing 9 talented seniors most of whom have known great success during their varsity tenure..we start almost fresh again next year..it will require one of the greatest efforts and lots of hard work year around if we are to continue the Proud winning tradition that is Captain Shreve Gator Futbol

Goals:

Christopher Hammond 1 (Assist --- )  Ken Chism 1 (Assist--- ) Neal Usry (Assist---Christopher Lawrence)

Played 1/31/2011

Shreve and Parkway both top 10 teams in their respective divisions came to Lee Hedges this evening with something to prove but still needing to keep focused on the playoffs later this week.  Connor Randel absorbing lots of defensive pressure to give space to Neal who he found twice (once in the first half, once in the second) for goals.  Parkway ties the game in the 30th minute of the first half on a long free kick that finds the ground and bounces perfectly to a Parkway player who gets a good one time touch to put it in.  In the second half Shreve falls behind in the 8th minute when a very weak challenge in the box results in a PK that they convert to go up 2-1, from there the Gators came to life and scored the equalizer (Randel to Usry..their second link up) in the 16th minute.  In the 28th minute. Ken Chism with another perfect corner (getting to be a regular thing with him) picks out Neal and Neal redirects it back post and the Gators regain the lead.  We had several other good scoring opportunities including a goal by Hayden Price called back for offsides (it was very close) but finally  in the 39th minute, Senior defender Will Terracciano puts the game out of reach with a fantastic run from his own half blowing through 2 defenders and somehow fighting off a defender"SHOVING" him off the ball collides with the keeper and still puts it in the back of the net..fantastic effort and that is how we closed the books on the regular season...WOW..now Covington comes to town on Monday February 7th and its PLAYOFF TIME...everything on the line so leave everything you have on the field..GO GATORS

highlights from game available later today (Saturday 2/5/11)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LqgjZfZ19c

Goals  Neal (3)  Will T. (1)

Assists Connor (2) Hong Cho (1) Ken Chism (1)

Great game tonight between Caddo Magnet and Captain Shreve to wrap up district 1. My Shreve girls played their hearts out and were 12 minutes away from a 1-0 victory but couldn't hold off the Mustangs. Caydence Leber scored about 10 minutes into the second half to make it 1-0 Shreve. Taylor Garten scores with 12 left on a 25yd free kick to take it to OT. Stayed scoreless through the first 10 minutes with both teams having some good opportunities. Magnet scores 3 minutes into the second OT so I pushed numbers up to try and tie and gave up one more to end it. I believe M.E. Breithaupt scored both the Magnet goals in OT but I'm not 100%.

Magnet is a quality team and is dangerous if you give them space. My Shreve girls continued their run of good form at the right time of the year, and although this was a loss, it was exactly what we needed going into the playoffs. We played without two starters and all the girls stepped up and we didn't miss a beat and it had no impact on the result.

Thanks Coach Mark!  They couldn't have done it without you!

First road trip since the holidays against a young but improving Ruston.  Missing Lawrence and Gray and hoping the boys would not fool around with a team that on paper was outclassed.  Shreve came out quick in the 11th minute Connor over the top to Neal and Neal remembered again that his right foot works too and slotted it home.  Chris Hammond moved to Center Mid this evening and owned it.. In the 18th minute Chris finds Neal who in turn plays one over the top to Connor who rounds the keeper and puts it home...Shreve 2-0.  In the 19th minute Hammond heads it to Connor who dribbles the defense only to be denied by the keeper, rebound falls to Hammond who is blocked by a defender on his first attempt and the post on his second, finally Hayden Price puts it away for our 3rd...Shreve 3-0. In the 25th minute Hammond plays a great ball through which Connor takes in stride and just like that it is 4-0 and we start to move the pieces around and go deep into our reserves (everybody) for the rest of the match.  In the 35th minute Ruston pulls one back on a cross and header (which is initally saved by Zac) but bounces off the bar to a Ruston player (having conveniently shoved Gaylon away) Shreve 4-1.  Finally in the 40th minute, Will plays a nice ball over the top to Connor and he finishes with his left foot for the hat trick by halftime..Shreve 5-1  HALFTIME

  Great effort from the reserves in the second half, White, Grigsby and Cassel worked well together up top keeping possession and generating chances. In the 6th minute Connor plays a nice ball into the Ruston backline, Neal fishes it out of the crowd gets one on one with the keeper and puts it away..Shreve 6-1.  In the 38th minute Hong Cho penetrates into the box and is tripped up by the goalie, Michael White gets first crack at the rebound but is denied by another defender and finally Gaylon Grigsby cracks the rebound into the back of the net...Shreve 7-1  In the 40th minute we close out the scoring with a nice free kick from Neal  FINAL 8-1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzR2hScReD0

Stats (courtesy of David Randel)

                                                Goals                     Assists

Neal Usry                                      3                              1

Hayden Price                                 1

Connor Randel                               3                             2

Gaylon Grigsby                              1

Chris Hammond                                                            2

Michael White                                                               1

Hong Cho                                                                       1

Will Terracciano                                                             1

Week 9 gave us one hard and one easy opponent.  The Wednesday (1/19/2011) game against Southwood went as expected.  Thoroughly outclassed, the Cowboys tried to make a game of it but Shreve had it won within the first 5 minutes.  The second half was mainly spent giving Senior Goalie (and first year soccer player) Travis Elkins a chance to score (which sadly he did not despite being give a solid dozen or so chances plus a PK) scores and assists went as follows:

                                          Goals                               Assists

Chris Hammond                       2                                       1

Michael White                          1

Neal Usry                                 1

Connor Randel                         2                                      2

Dylan Cassel                                                                    1

Hayden Price                                                                   

The Monday game against Caddo Magnet (1/17/2011) had all the hallmarks of a great one going in.  Shreve with their back against the wall if they wanted any part of another district championship and Magnet simply needing the win to put district away.  To put it concisely..best game we played all year.  Our guys were flying around making plays getting stuck in and not letting the talented Magnet squad to turn and fire when they had the ball down deep.  Ken Chism and Gabe Gray threw themselves around in the midfield winning balls our wingers.  Cho was instrumental in getting midfield balls down the side and up to Connor and Neal.  Hammond and Price both with great efforts getting down the wings and tracking back to help shut down Magnet penetrations.  Defenders Terraciano, Lawrence and Doughty shut down the dangerous duo of Linder and Johnson. Finally Zac Kahre came up huge in the second half with two great saves almost back to back and was solid throughout.

First goal was when an alert Connor challenged a bad clearance from a Magnet defender and was able to steal the ball, make a great move right and shoot hard back post to beat the goalie in the 5th minute...lots of action box to box but that closed out the scoring for the half.  Second half at the 20 minute mark, Terracciano challenges a ball rolled out by the Magnet goalie steals it makes a couple of touches and curls in a brilliant cross that finds Neal on the head and Shreve is up 2-0.  Just one minute later, Gabe Grey wins a ball in our defensive third hits Hammond with a beautiful outlet.  Chris takes a couple of touches and launches one deep behind the line and finds Neal with a step on two Magnet defenders, and as he is trying to control the bouncing ball, shins it past the rushing keeper and now its Shreve 3-0..game over right..not quite.  In the 33rd minute a dubious foul give Magnet and indirect free kick which they send curling into the goal untouched (or was it??) Center ref says we touched it so now its 3-1.  In the 38th minute Magnet junior forward Ric Linder gets a good ball down the left line and cuts back against a slipping Shreve defender and hits a great shot near post that the keeper had no chance on.  So with 2 minutes left Shreve fights hard to kill the clock and succeeds..final Shreve 3-2...Great game lots of heart, Chris Lawrence played valiantly in the second half after suffering a knee dislocation and led the backline to a great performance....

                                     Goals                          Assists

Connor Randel                   1

Neal Usry                           2

Will Terracciano                                                    1

Chris Hammond                                                     1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kg-Ht46o-o

***footnote  following these two victories and with the Byrd 1-0 victory of Magnet on 1/20/2011---Captain Shreve has claimed a share (3-way tie) of the 2010-2011 District 1 Championship

Shreve starting to get into playoff shape (we will see for sure on Monday 1/17) but solid efforts this week against Airline (played 1/13) and Loyola (played 1/15)

First Airline:

Lots (and I mean lots) of missed opportunities to start the game and it took a speculative shot by Ken Chism (on a assist by Connor Randel) and a goalie mishandled to crack open the scoreline..once done then it rained Gator goals.  2 more goals in the first half, the first (2nd overall) from a nice throughball from Hong Cho to Connor Randel who rounded the keeper and slotted it home.  The final (3rd) of the half came when an alert Connor pounced on a goalie miscue (bad goal kick) collected the wayward kick and shot it into a group of Airline defenders..great work to follow his own rebound and put it away just before half

In the second Neal and Connor combined for the first two goals with Neal chipping the defenders and Connor hitting the half volley for the 4th goal early in the second half, a few moments later, connor streaking down the right side plays a perfect ground cross curling it in front of two defenders, neal simply runs onto it and puts it away for the 5th goal, quickly followed by a pinpoint cross from Hayden to Connor's head who headed it back post..Shreve 6-0 (Connor's 4th goal of the night..and earned him a well deserved rest).  The 7th goal was technically an own goal on Airline defender when Neal took a Gaylon Grigsby throwin penetrated down the left byline and fired a cross that went into the defenders leg and into the net..but we'll give Gaylon the assist anyway.  Goal # 8 was a great ball played over the top by Mat Edwardes to Neal making a diagonal run who remembered that he can shoot with his right foot and put it back post past the Airline goalie.  Finally in what could be considered irony?  Michael White plays a great ball to Christopher Lawrence who has a deft one touch chip over the defender to Zac Kahre who collects it and gets just enough on it to get it past the rushing goalie for Goal number 9..very solid effort by the entire team and lots of great passing and runs off the ball hopefully we can continue that when the opponent is a little tougher (say like Monday night!!)

here is a clip of the goals along with some of our yips and shanks that went along with them

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4dizQgom7s

Now Saturday's game against Loyola was a wet cold drizzly day but fortunately our boys came out fast and put the game away early and were able to get everyone involved so we could be on fresh legs for Monday night

Connor Randel with his second consecutive hat trick (although Airline was Hat + 1).  Goal 1 was a nice cross from Hammond and Connor hits the post follows the bouncing ball off defenders and puts it away. Then Hayden finds Connor on a run and Randel slips between a couple of defenders and gets a toe on it before the charging goalie can smother it.  Goal 3 was a nice through ball by Hong Cho which Connor collects down the right side glides into the box and calmly finishes back post.  Goal 4 was a belated Christmas gift for Neal as Hong finds Neal down the left side, Neal shoots on frame but the goalie mishandleds the wet ball and it rolls up and over his body for #4.  Still in the first half Chris Hammond makes a nice cross from the right and Hayden Price is able to get his head on it and redirect it right inside the right post for a great goal # 5 and this closed out the scoring in the first half..at the 22nd minute mark. 

In the second half, Michael White plays a great ball over the top to defender (turned forward) Will Terracciano who muscles past two defenders and turns on the jets as he leaves every one behind on a great run and perfectly times his chip over a rushing goalie for a spectacular goal # 6 and another good win for the boys. 

here are the goals from the game

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAs7-IN5_mA

Hopefully these games have given us the confidence to move forward with our great challenge to knock off district leader Caddo Magnet.  good effort this week lets keep it going

Captain Shreve looked much better this time around controlling the pace and possession to open the game.  Around the 8 minute mark, Ken Chism delivers a pin point corner kick to Christopher Hammond who Heads the ball down and away to the back post beating the goalie by a good margin and giving Shreve the early 1-0 lead.  Around the 15 minute mark, Shreve draws a free kick from around 30 yards out.  Hayden Price making himself part of the wall draws a Byrd defender from their position as Hayden jumps out of the way just prior to Neal's kick.  Neal finds the gap just created and hits a nice curving shot that beats the goalie to the near post and just like that Shreve was up 2-0 and went that way going into halftime.  Shreve seemed sluggish to start and allowed Byrd to tie on one long range set piece that we failed to clear and an unfortunate mistiming of a routine shot.  With about 7 minutes left, Connor Randel from 35-40 out cuts through the Byrd defense and forces a mi*** clearance from another that he races to beat the goalie for and draws the foul in the box.  Usry steps up to take it and Shreve goes up by 1 (3-2)  with a couple of minutes left in the game Usry finds Connor with a nice pass and the senior striker takes it down makes a nifty move and blasts a left footed strike into the roof of the net..Final score Shreve 4-2

sort clip of the goals, except the PK shot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_dUW_5RpZI

Shreve quickly outclassed Southwood forcing the referees to implement shortened 30 minute halves..still Shreve put away 6 goals before time expired. Scoring/assist recap below:

The girls tried to hang tough, but fell to Byrd 6-1 on Wednesday night.  The score was only 2-0 at the half, but 2 more goals early in the second half seemed to rob the girls of their fighting spirit.  Late in the second half, Reid Rogers laid a beautiful pass off to Caydence, resulting in Shreve's only goal of the night.  Stay confident, Lady Gators.  Continue to fight to the very end!

Monday night saw the girls win over Southwood 9-0.  Goals earned (in order) by:

1. Caydence
2. Hannah  Giddens
3. Emily Watson
4. Caitlyn Abney (end of first half)
5. Caydence
6. Caydence
7. Heather Dixon
8. Reid Rogers
9. Heather Dixon

Good job ladies!

Game # 1 12/27 (Monday) 8 AM Hunter Stadium versus Northlake Christian:

Tourney organizers not doing Shreve any favors scheduling the first game for the team that had the longest way to go against a local Covington team that happened to be the # 1 team in Divison 3.  Northlake Christain,sporting a roster much larger than our own, gave Shreve all they wanted in the first half as we were slow to get going.  Finally in the second half we started to break them down with Randel and Usry both narrowly missing some good chances.  We should have been up 1-0 on a blown call when Usry interepted a defensive miscue drove into the box and was shoved down which the Center Ref declined to call or card.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pv25bnY1gI 

  Finally with about 5 minutes remaining, Randel in position for the cross has the goalie so concerned that he prematurely steps away from his line to cover Connor and Neal seized the miscue and lofted the ball back post for the score and the 1-0 win over a very good NLC team. 

Game # 2 1 PM Hunter Stadium versus Ben Franklin

our second consecutive game against a top 10 D-3 opponent, There was never any doubt how this game was going to turn out.  Ben Franklin missing its star player Vanya Popovic simply could not match up with Shreve's relentless attack.  early on Connor lays a beautiful ball off to a streaking Hayden Price and Price cooly beats the keeper and Shreve is up 1-0, a few minutes later in what I think is the best combination team goal this season, Senior Chris Hammond makes a great move on his mark and plays a soft perfect pass to Neal who one touches it to Connor who one touches it back to Neal who takes the shot outside the box and beats the goalie near post.  Shreve up 2-0.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mtk3xX-YcX8

  Also in the first half, Hayden drives down the left side beats his defender into the box and drives a shot that the goalie cannot handle and Hong Cho drills the rebound into the back of the net Shreve 3-0 at the half.

Second half more of the same.  Gabe gray wins a long ball at midfield and heads it to Will Terracciano who dribbles down beats the last defender and calmly shoots it back post into the side net for the 4th goal, Shreve 4-0.  Finally, Freshman Andrew Doughty intercepts a pass in Ben Franklin's defensive third takes it down into the box and lays off a great pass to Chris Hammond who hits it on the hop back post for a beautiful goal to close out the Shreve scoring with 5.

Here are all 5 goals

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5m-UfY8UVg

  A great win and leaves the Gators at 2-0 in bracket play for the day with tomorrow morning's final bracket game against D-1 #5 (also 2-0) Brother Martin of New Orleans. 

Game # 3 (12/28 Tuesday) Hunter Stadium versus Brother Martin

What can I say except this was the best team effort all season, tired and probably slightly outclassed by the big NO school, Shreve fought for every ball and was able to finally start getting some decent chances in the second half.  Defense played superbly with Lawrence and Terracciano squelching lots of BM attacks.  with about 15 minutes left Shreve's pressure led to shots and deflections (Cho or Neal ?)that fell to Connor's feet and the Senior striker made a great move to get open and gets his first goal of the season by drilling it into the net. Now we had to keep BM out of the goal for the remainder of the game and this is when I think this team found its character and FOUGHT like lions  to keep the final score at 1-0.  Shreve had shocked the tournament and the pundits to make it to the final 4.  Prior to the tournament some pundits had Shreve ranked 14 out the 16 teams that had entered.  Nice to make them eat crow.

Semi Final's (12/28 Tuesday) 4 PM Hunter Stadium versus St. Paul's Academy

facing the current #1 team in D-1 and the host team was just too much to ask our squad. 4th game in 30 hours... Battered, tired, some sick with the flu, others coughing up blood from fouls, our rag tag 16 man army gave it their best effort but there was simply nothing left in the tank for the talented and 30 deep St. Paul Wolves. Christopher Lawrence on an assist from Kenny Chism gave the faithful a little shot late in the game with a beautiful left footed rocket low and near post to thwart the shut out.

All in all, you guys made your supporters proud with such an effort so far from home.  Now we have to regroup and try to win out district and get ready for the playoffs.

Happy New Year to the Gator Soccer Family, players, coaches, fans and family..

Boys Varsity silenced many critics who had written off Captain Shreve as a top program for this season. I will update goals and assists as I get them.  In the meantime take a look at the wonderful 5 goal performance by Shreve against Ben Franklin, with 5 different players scoring 1 goal each

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5m-UfY8UVg

More to follow....Don

The Boys Varsity had a mixed weekend in Lake Charles at the Louisiana Showcase.  In the Friday game the Gators on less than 24 hours rest from the Magnet debacle came out crisp against DII #2 Alexandria Senior High (ASH).  Shreve had numerous chances to get out in front in the first half and it also marked the season's first appearance of our returning first team all state striker Mr. Connor Randel. A defensive lapse early in the second half led to an ASH goal but the boys kept fighting back and getting good looks and some quality chances but nothing seemed to drop.  We hit the bar twice, once on a Neal free kick and finally with about 4 minutes to play, Gabe Gray strikes on that just hits high enough on the bar to bounce back out instead of going in.  Neal collects the rebound just outside the 6 and heads it back in for the equalizer--Goal for Usry, Assist for Gabe.  All in all a good effort following the Magnet game, should have chalked up the W.  The next morning we faced DI # 3 Lafayette and it was not our best effort.  We were never a factor in the game.  I think the closest we came to a  goal was a free kick that hit the bar in the first half.  In the immortal words of Forrest Gump.."and that's all I have to say bout that" After the Lafayette loss it was obvious there would be no 3 peat at the showcase and the guys could have mailed it in for game 3 but they came out against a quality Kelly High School (Beaumont, TX) and gave them a good game. Once again we had lots of chances to take an early lead but we were just a little off on our finishing and went into half 0-0.  Then a little magic to start the second half when Connor and Neal teamed up for a wind aided rocket from midfield when they noticed the goalie was way off his line for the start of the half.  Connor gave it to Neal in stride and he got all of it and it landed in the net 1-0 with 5 seconds gone in the half.  Connor had several shots and headers off the bar and finally Chris Hammond laid a perfect cross from deep right along the ground about 3 yards out from goal and Hong Cho ran on to it and put it away for the 2-0 victory.  Solid effort to end the weekend.  Now we have St. Paul's showcase to get ready for.  Sorry for the Delay in posting the update Merry Christmas

The Lady Gators had a great weekend of competition this weekend in Lake Charles.  They started off on Friday night against Sulphur.  It was cold and windy and no score in the first half.  We seem to be having a tough time adjusting to the help provided by the wind, but got it just right in the second half.  Emily Watson put us on the board first, followed by 2 more from Caydence.  Lady Gators take the game 3-0.

After a memorable Aucion's dinner, a little Cajun music (featuring Joe, the bus driver), and a night’s rest, the girls were ready to go on Saturday morning.  The Lady Gators faced DeRidder.  With goals from Caydence and Hannah Giddens (way to go, Hannah!), we took our second win 2-1.

The tournament ended for us in a rematch with St. Thomas More.  We lost that game 8-0, but finished second in our bracket with 19 points.  Much of the credit this weekend goes to Heather Dixon in the goal.  She made some great saves! 

Way to go ----Heather, Tara, Natalie, Lari, Spencer, Vanessa, Emily, Caitlin, Ashley, Caydence, Hannah, Kendall, Read, Kaitie, Jessica, Andrea, Mallori, and Katelyn!

(To see Ken Harris' photos, click on the Lady Gator photo link above.)

The Lady Gators won their first district game last night against Airline.  Shreve scored first, but Airline quickly came back with a goal.  A series of quick passes between Emily and Caydence, earned Shreve their second goal of the night and a halftime score of 2-1.  The defense hung tight and kept Airline scoreless in the second half.  It was nice to see Spencer Tindle back in that lineup!  Late in the second half, Shreve scored 3 more goals, two from Caydence and one from Emily "Tenacity" Watson.

The Lady Gators travel to Lake Charles for tournament play on Friday.

Captain Shreve's streak of undefeated district games spanning back over two seasons came to an end on the cold plastic turf of Lee Hedges Stadium Monday night.  In the 21st minute of the first half, Hong Cho pressuring the Byrd defense deep in their own area forces a wayward clearance that the goalie barely saves from an own goal and Cho pounces on the rebound to give Captain Shreve the lead 1-0.  Shreve dominating possession in the first half just couldn't generate quality chances to expand the lead, a fact we would regret after the break.  Byrd comes out in the 2nd half and immediately starts finding space to attack and plays a good ball through 3 minutes into the half to get the equalizer.  Lots of back and forth with Byrd getting the better chances Zach Kahre made a great save to preserve the tie until the last couple of minutes of play when a Byrd attacker got wide and was able to get a good shot off to beat the defender and goalie to get the winning goal. Frankly it wasn't our most insprired effort but we can either wallow in despair or get back to work train hard everyday and win out our district matches including the rematch with Byrd on January 6 and still take our third straight district championship. 

The Lady Gators hosted the Gator Cup on December 2-4 and had a great run.  Thursday night’s game against Loyola was lost by a head.  Well, two headers to be exact!  Caydence managed to sneak in goal to make the game 2-1 Loyola.  Kendall Blount did a great job in goal, filling in for Spencer Tindal recovering from an injury. 

Friday's game against West Ouachita was a 4-3 win for Shreve.  Caydence scored all four of the goals with a lot of help from the girls behind her!  The defense and midfield worked hard to get those balls up to her.  Not sure who had the assists, but believe two came from Caitlyn Abney and one from Lari Leber.  The real story of the game was the "Saga of the Keepers".  With Spencer recovering (and hopefully, back on the field by Monday), the Lady Gators were looking to Kendall to be back in the goal, but an allergic reaction to medication put her on the sidelines.  Who to put in the goal?  Heather Dixon stepped up and took the gloves. Heather was doing an amazing job until a West Ouachita player took a kick at Heather's face.  With a split lip, and I am sure a headache, Heather was out. (Ref should have called that one!)  So Spencer, Kendall, and Heather are on the bench and we need a goalie.  Time for Emily Watson to put her goalie gloves back on!  Emily finished out the game as a showman.  She entertained the Shreve fans and frustrated the West Ouachita forwards. "Sure, I am going to pick up this ball, just as soon as you run over here.”

Saturday was a beautiful day and the Lady Gators took on Alexandria.  Knowing that they had to win the game and score three goals to break bracket, the Ladies took the game 4-0.  Caydence took on the first three goals and Emily scored the fourth to seal the deal.  The best play of the game was the third goal. It came from a great combination between Emily and Caydence.  It was great to see those two girls work so well together.  Great job by the defense!  Natalie Driscoll's speed was a real asset.

The Lady Gators broke to Semi's in 3rd.  A coin toss had them playing Neville. The girls did a great job holding back Neville, but in the end lost 3-1.  Shreve's one goal came after a handball in the box.  Caydence took the kick.  Shreve fans were caught off guard when an obvious foul, in the box, on Caydence was not called.  Caydence took a hard fall on her shoulder.  X-rays did not show a break, but we are waiting to see how fast she will recover.

Great Job this weekend Lady Gators! Thanks to Mark for doing such a great job with the girls. We appreciate you. And thanks to Ray Tindal for all the hard work---Gator Cup was a huge success. 

Parents Note—please feel free to drop me a line after a game to let me know about a particular highlight or If I miss one on a recap.  I do this from memory and my senior moments seem to be getting more frequent—Thx   Don

Now on to a very interesting weekend in Baton Rouge that left us with two losses in sub par performances versus East Ascension and Dutchtown and then a complete turnaround in our final match and win against Catholic BR

Game # 1 versus #8 East Ascension

In a game that looked more like Water Polo than soccer, Shreve gets out first on a good ball played through the backline by Hayden Price to Hong Cho who takes it in stride somehow avoids the multitude of standing ponds between him and the goal and beats the goalie back post—Shreve 1-0.  Cho narrowly missed another breakaway just minutes later. Shreve’s attackers were frustrated by EA’s high defensive back line that worked lots of offside traps to stymie Shreve attacks (I know the AR missed some of those calls!!)   Just before half we give up a goal on an unfortunate error when we upend our own keeper when he is collecting a routine free kick  (on frame but not a threat) he falls in the pond under his feet ball gets loose and EA wins the scramble and pokes it home for the equalizer.  In the second half Shreve gets lots of penetrations but half are stopped by standing water before EA defense even gets to us.  Shreve is moving the ball around but is losing the hustle and aggression battle.  As the clock winds down, EA gets a decent shot that in the wet conditions is mishandled and EA beats our defenders to the rebound and they put it in to get the winner.  Cho gets tripped in the box near the end of the game but we don’t get the call and we lose 2-1 to a good EA team but to anyone there it was obvious we could move the ball against them fairly well absent a lake to play on.  Our second game for Friday is pushed to Saturday as even tournament officials realize the folly of playing anymore games that day

Game # 2 versus #9 Dutchtown

Saturday starts with blue skies and a strong North wind (that we would grow to dislike later) We start off better against a big fast and strong Dutchtown team with several good chances from Hammond and Usry forcing good saves from the Dutchtown goalie. The Griffins (Head and wings of an Eagle Body of a Lion for anyone interested) put constant pressure on our back four as they tended to play direct and bypass our midfield with long balls played in to their talented striker who forced Travis Elkins to make some great saves to keep the game scoreless.  In the first half DT got their first goal on a corner kick that due to the strong wind went directly into the goal (or not ) it was controversial but these things happened so DT goes up 1-0 at half.  In the second half the game is basically even with both teams getting chances but Shreve once again seems to be losing the hustle battle.  Finally at the end of the second half DT gets a bizarre goal when Lawrence and DT player kick the ball simultaneously and the resulting deflection which initially looks like it will sail harmlessly over the crossbar gets caught in the strong wind and drops just behind Travis and trickles into the goal to give them their 2-0 final margin.  Neither of DT’s goals could be considered quality and they are a good team that we played basically even so that something we can hang our hat on. Still we seemed to stop working hard in the second half and that led to fewer scoring opportunities for us.

Game # 3 versus # 5 Catholic BR

Worried Gator supporters filed in for our last game.  Frustrated, tired --playing their 3rd game in 30 hours and with only 2 field substitutes and facing the strongest,highest ranked team in the bracket who was also looking for payback after knocking them out of the playoffs last year at this same complex, we had reason to be concerned but WOW you guys put it all together and delivered  a true TEAM effort that gives us a glimpse of the potential this team has as it goes deeper in the season.   Coach Matt mixing up the lineup switched some guys around and it seemed to work well as we scored FOUR high quality goals all from the run of play and held  high powered Catholic to a PK and a bizarre goal from a throw in.  Guys playing out of their normal positions stepped up and shut Catholic down.  Price and Hammond stopped many Catholic attacks up the middle; Mat Edwardes and Dylan Cassel manned the back flanks and shut down lots of trips down the touchline. Zac Kahre had several great saves and some timely punch outs on dangerous corners and free kicks.  Chris Schimberg and Gaylon Grigsby turned in good performance in relief and kept the pressure up. Ken Chism worked the middle tirelessly and Gabe Gray and Hong Cho not only controlled the outside midfield but made good runs into the attacking third to open up space for Christopher Lawrence and Andrew Doughty who found themselves up top for the match and given the task to score they delivered a great performance.  Shreve opens the scoring early in the first half when Andrew works down into the right corner and delivers a blind cross into the danger area, Lawrence on a full sprint splits two defenders and heads a rocket into the back netting to give Shreve a 1-0 lead.  Several minutes later Lawrence sends a long crossing ball to the back post and Andrew runs full tilt just getting a toe on it to put it past the goalie in a great effort.  Up 2 we give up another strange one when the Catholic player on a THROW In clears our defense and unmarked a Catholic attacker gets a touch (or was it too late and already over the line which would have negated the goal and given Shreve a goal kick) to give them a goal and we go into halftime 2-1.  In the second half Lawrence gets the ball in our own half (who played him this ball so you  can get credit for the assist???) and proceeds to dribble 40-50 yards pulls up outside the box and cracks a rocket back post for his 2^nd goal and a Shreve 3-1 lead.  Moments later, Usry with space at midfield spies Lawrence who time his run perfectly and Usry plays a good through ball that Lawrence takes into the box and beats the goalie back post for his 3^rd goal, Shreve’s first hat trick of the season and a 4-1 lead.  With time running down, we get a little over zealous on defense and give up a late PK which they convert to narrow the final margin to 4-2.

Thoughts—still lots of room to improve but we hustled and pressured played unselfish TEAM ball and got a great result out of it.  Finally saw the HEART that separates good talented teams from GREAT teams.  District Play starts next week and we have a HISTORY , TRADITION and REPUTATION that must be fought for.  Not unexpectedly our State ranking took a hit with our performance this weekend dropping from # 4 in LA PREP and Coaches Poll to #9 (LA PREP) and #7 (Coaches).  Still without the HISTORY, TRADITION and REPUTATION that was built by our recent teams these last few years we would have been dropped completely from the top 10.  Keep that in mind as your prepare each day in training and as you put on the Gator uniform to add another rich chapter to this Program’s LEGACY.

The Lady Gators are getting ready to meet Benton tonight at 6pm at Lee Hedges.  It was just one week ago when they met up with Parkway in a game with little fire and little action.  The game ended 1-1 with goals for both teams coming in the second half.  Shreve's goal came from Caydence on a breakaway. 

Last Thursday, the Ladies met up with St. Thomas More losing 1-10. The score of our game was obviously lopsided but a great opportunity to play a great team and continue to learn and improve. And after 30 minutes of play, it was 2-1.  Caydence scored on a free kick after being fouled. 

Gator Cup is this weekend.  If you have not volunteered to work, please refer to your emails from Ray about how to sign up.

 # 4 Ranked Captain Shreve starts strong scoring at 9:52 of the first half on a Price penetration around the left defender into the box and lays it off for Hammond who has a nice chip into the upper left corner. at 20:03 first half Price beats his mark and is tripped in the box, he converts the Pk and Shreve goes up 2-0. From there Shreve's offense fizzled.  Sr. Zack Kahre makes a good save on a wicked bouncing ball that he pushes over the bar. In the 36th minute a rare defensive mistake leads to a Parkway goal. That was Parkway's only shot from the run of play the entire game although they had several close calls in the second half from good balls played through and new goalie Sr.Travis Elkins JUST beating them to the ball. Senior centerbacks Lawrence and Terracciano squelched lots of Parkway penetrations in the final third. In the 66th minute Christopher Lawrence executes a beautiful slide tackle to end a dangerous Parkway breakaway. Shreve offense sputtered in second half getting a half dozen or so average chances . Parkway played hard in second half and we looked like the flu bug hasn't quite run its course--we looked tired. Still a win to bring Gators to 2-0 First game for Hong Cho--Gentlemen East Ascension, Dutchtown and Catholic BR are NOT Parkway and they are waiting for you this Friday and Saturday at the Bayou Classic in Baton Rouge.  Whatever kinks we have left to iron out we need to do it quick. 

Goals Hammond 10' (Assist Price); Price 20' PK

Cautions:  Lawrence (Yellow) Price (Yellow)

(printout handout which has the coupon on it)  Please use the coupon to ensure the Team gets credit for the 20% of ALL purchases made (not gift cards) for dine in or carry-out.  Lets get the word out and get GATOR NATION eating Chicken Wings on December 15th.

Drama!  I feel confident that Lady Jackets felt their pulse race and their hearts skip a beat during Thursday night’s game!  I bet some of them couldn’t believe their eyes, when in the 5^th minute of the game, a pass from Emily Watson to the feet of Caydence Leber led to Shreve’s first goal of the night. Caydence outran the defender and placed the ball in net. 1-0 Shreve.  Byrd was able to come back with their first goal after a scramble in front of the goal. 

Byrd’s second goal came after a foul just outside the box.  It was the first of many fouls called against Shreve.  And this one, like several others, seemed questionable. Soccer is a physical game (yes, even when girls play) and sometimes players bump and fall down. 1-2 Bryd.

Shreve created the equalizer when Caydence’s corner kick met up with Lauren Folsom.  Lauren’s header brought the score to 2-2, and I think some Byrd fans called for heart medication! Byrd ended the half by scoring 2 more goals.

Emily and Caydence meet up again in the 63^rd minute, when Watson once again puts the ball at Caydence’s feet, bringing the score to 3-4.  That's when Shreve started to run out of gas, Watson collected a yellow card, and Byrd’s conditioning paid off.  Byrd finished the game with 2 more goals.  Final score 3-6 Byrd.

But what a game!  Natalie Driscoll and Lari Leber led the defense with confidence, and we saw some great effort by our outside mids, Lauren Folsom and Kendall Blount. Lady Gators we are so proud of you.  Stay strong, fight hard!

Nov 16th 2010 started out eerily like Nov 16th 2009 and the final scoreline was exactly the same 2-0 over Loyola at Messmer Stadium.  Lots of missed shots (20+) kept the game in doubt until the 73rd minute when Sr. Hayden Price passed the ball to Gabe Gray who took it down into the left corner spun his defender around penetrated into the box and passed it off to Price who one touched it to a streaking  Sr. Chris Hammond who put it away to put us up 2-0.  The 2010-2011 season scoring opened in the 20th minute with  pinpoint service from Fr. Andrew Doughty who found  So. Neal Usry making a run behind the back line and Neal headed it in for a goal.  Sr.'s Chris Lawrence and Will Terracciano anchored the back line and made many good runs to get distribution into the final third and also frustrated Loyola's key striker from getting off a clean shot all night.  Midfielders So. Ken Chism and Jr. Gabe Gray kept good possession and found Sr.'s Price and Mat Edwardes for many darting outside runs that led to good crosses, sometimes we had guys making the runs sometimes not.  Still this game could have been 6-0 but Loyola had a couple of chances to make it 1-1.  All in all a win is a win and a shutout to boot.  This years Gator's will find their stride soon--extra shooting practice this week Guys!!  I score the second goal as a double assist Gray to Price to Hammond

20th Minute--Goal (Usry) Assist (Doughty) 

73rd Minute--Goal (Hammond) Assist--Price,Gray

Cautions--Price (Yellow); Terracciano (Yellow)

revised after reviewing the game film

November 13, 2010 Cargill Park

On a cold chilly Saturday, the Varsity Boys looked sharp with a 1-0 victory over Loyola Prep in a 20 minute mini-game.  Senior Mat Edwardes scored the only goal when he took a wayward goalie clearance just outside the right 18 yard box and hit a curling left footed strike that beat the goalie easily in the back upper 90.  It was a beautiful shot.

In the second 20 minute mini-game, Gators were matched with Northwood who simply were not capable of containing anything the Gators did.  Senior Michael White scored a "brace" on two nice shots inside the box.  Freshmen Andrew Doughty and Gaylon Grigsby also scored their first high school goals.  Many starters never saw the field.  Final score Gators 4 Northwood 0 

Season Opener--Loyola Tuesday Night (Nov 16th) at Messmer Stadium Gametime 6:00PM JV to follow at 7:45 PM

The Lady Gators, both Varsity and JV Green, traveled to Ruston on Thursday to take on Ruston.  It was great to see parents and Shreve students make the trip to support the girls.  The night started with the Varsity game.

The first goal of the night came from Ruston on a free kick after a handball.  Shreve's equalizer came when Caitlyn Abney carried the ball forward, passing to Caydence Leber down the left side.  Caydence took on two defenders, and  shot right over the keepers hands into the upper corner from about 20 yards out.

Emily Watson's pass set up Caydence's second goal of the night,  Caydence took on the goalie 1v1 and came out with the goal.  Shreve's lead was challenged by a goal from Ruston, which after discussion with the sideline ref, was called back on an offside ruling.  But the Lady Gators wanted it clear that they deserved the win!

Caitlin Fitgerald scored the third Shreve goal of the night, off a corner kick delivered from Caydence.  But why stop there! 

Reid Rogers supplied the assist that  finished off Caydence's night with a hat trick.  Final score---Shreve 4 Ruston 1.  Congratulations Lady Gators!

The JV Green played a solid game.  It was obvious that they had been working hard in practice.  They looked strong on the field.  The final score may have been 2-0 Ruston, but the girls played like winners and fought hard.  Good Job JV Green!

The team welcomed back Senior Christopher Lawrence who along with Senior Will Terracciano anchored the back line well against a Parkway team that had some speedy threats to deal with.  Freshman Andrew Doughty almost scored his first High School goal when he hit the bar on his header off of a pinpoint cross from Hayden Price from deep left. Shreve dominated possession but just couldn't find the back of the net.  In the second half Michael White also hit the crossbar on a header.  Still lots of work to do to get ready for the Jamboree this weekend.

Senior Hayden Price led the Gators to a 2-0 win over Loyola at Messmer Stadium in the season's first scrimmage.  With only 1 field substitute the 2010-11 Gators came out a little rusty  after only two practice sessions but seemed to find more rhythm in the second half.  In the 68th minute Price found the ball at his feet inside the box and cracked a left footed strike that beat the Keeper near post.  5 minutes later he dribbled between two defenders at the 18  and beat the goalie again.  Lots of new players getting their first taste of Varsity action.  

One more time – with the rain a football game has been rescheduled at Lee Hedges making the field unavailable.

11/4/10    Thur    6:00 PM    Messmer    BV    Capt Shreve Boys              Loyola Boys
11/4/10    Thur    7:45 PM    Messmer   BJV    Capt Shreve Boys JV       Loyola Boys JV

11/9/10    Tue    6:00 PM    Cargill 3    BV    Capt Shreve Boys    Parkway Boys
11/9/10    Tue    7:45 PM    Cargill 3    BJV    Capt Shreve Boys JV    Parkway Boys JV