Waverly vs. Wheelersburg, Minford

[socman]

Waverly hosts Wheelersburg on 9\18 and then hosts Minford 9\25. Can the Tigers wrap up another title with these 2 wins? Or will the Pirates or Falcons have an answer?

[rxburgfan]

Waverly's ability to score gives them distinct advantage over both. Hard to play defense for 80 min at this level. Wave rely should win both.

[B1OHIO]

waverly will hardly even be challenged by these teams, WB is still playing boom ball and this year they are short the necesary weapons to make that work against a team oriented squad like waverly. Minford will be better practice for the tigers but are just too young and small to be a real threat. The more interesting game will be the upcoming Burg, Minford match. No prize for second place but i bet you won't be able to tell by watching these two play!!!!

[Redcard]

Waverly wins both here. Cruise control against burg, no challenge. Minford might put up a better fight but end result is the same. Too much talent in waverly for other SOC teams to compete. Until others start playing club ball in the off season like the multiple waverly players do, expect this trend to continue.

[FlatBack4REAL]

On the same page with the rest. Waverly should win both games. Minford may test their back line more, but I doubt it will matter. As long as the Tigers avoid mistakes in the back, they should be at ease in both these matches. And for the level of soccer in this area, it needs major improvement. Club would account for some success but coaching also plays a vital part as well. Look at the successful tournament teams of the past, not just how far they went, but look how they lost their final game. This will separate a few from the rest. The SOC is improving though, just not as fast as it should be.

[Jolly P(irate)]

don't count the pirates out so easily. i think this will be a closer game than most think. minford as well could upset the tigers imo. and for successful tourney teams of the past, and SOC soccer... The Pirates have had great runs in the past 2 yrs. Distric title 2010 and a runner-up in 2011.

[vballsoccer178]

These games end up being close every year. Either Waverly tends to peak early or Minford and Burg peak a bit later but traditionally Waverly loses one of these games. This year could be different though. Minford played well their last game and their keeper played well so dont count them out. Burg will be up for the game and coach Boll is good about scouting and adjusting the defense for big games.

Any chance the game will be swiched to the turf at burg if waverlys field is mush?

[GoCats]

Must be hard to travel all over the place to complie with ohsaa rules not having to many players on the same team during offseason activities for the tigers since so many play off season club and what not. Would that be a self reporting violation or does the high school keep track of such matters. I guess being a D II school it allows players to be one sport athletes, two at the most. When is Waverly's next D II matchup since everyone thinks this game is not worth talking about?

[socman]

Waverly had 10 players play club on 4 separate teams this spring. 3 at fcfc and 1 at columbus crew jrs. The clubs are very good at making sure they only have the correct amount of players per school on their rosters. Good question on a change of site to turf. Wonder if they could swap the 2 games to save the field. Waverlys next d2 game is saturday vs. chillicothe.

[Redcard]

Thanks socman for enlightening our benighted friend gocats. I knew the tigers invested in soccer but was unaware the number playing club was 10!! pretty impressive.
I think this rain/field conditions may help the underdogs today

[jazzfingers888]

Wow!!! What juniors at waverly are playing for the Columbus Crew? Is that legal? i'm guessing thats a practice squad or b team.

[Bigbadwolf]

Wow!!! What juniors at waverly are playing for the Columbus Crew? Is that legal? i'm guessing thats a practice squad or b team.

holy cow, now that would explain a few things. hs kids playing with a pro team. thats good for them tho!

[Jolly P(irate)]

Would have to be a practice squad. impressive none the less.

[socman]

The Crew Jrs is a club affliated with MOSSL. They are comparable to FCFC (out of Chillicothe) and the WV Rowdies club. They are based in Columbus and affliated with the Crew. Logan Carter, of Waverly, plays for one of their teams.

The Crew do have 2 academy teams that train year around . I believe they have a U-16 and U-18 team. These teams are very selective and if you are chosen and decide to play for them you must forfeit all high school sports in order to do so. Thse 2 teams travel the country and play the best of the best with all costs paid for. I had the priveldge of watching them this past year in Columbus and it was a treat. Eric Hutton from Zane Trace was selected to one of the teams but declined the invite in order to continue playing HS ball.

the majority of Waverly's players play at First Capital FC, which is run by Zach Breth. They have over 20 teams, boys and girls of all ages that play in the spring and fall. www.FirstCapitalFC.com

[Bigbadwolf]

score for tonights match?

[onthepitch]

Waverly 4-0 goals by White, Purpero , and 2 goals by Andrew Lightle

[sports740]

The Pirates need to play more offense if they plan on actually scoring this season. It seems like at last nights game with Wavery they were just trying to keep the Tigers from racking up more goals than they did. It's good to try to keep the score low but Burg is never going to win a game without having more Pirates down the field. Three Pirates against a whole team is just not getting the job done! PUSH UP is all I can say!!

[B1OHIO]

740 the strategy in this game was the same as it has been for years, deffend agresively put a play maker up front and feed him a long ball when you can. This works well when you have the right man to make big plays.....Lyons, White, Lewis, Jarvis. these are a few from the past as examples. Granted we are unlikely to ever make it to state with this strategy but it's hard to argue with the success we have had in the past.

[socman]

B10 is right. Wheelersburg has had better athletes for a majority of the past 20 years. Faster and stronger players who can defend and win balls. They have also been blessed with some very talented players who can score goals. However, with the more players playing soccer and watching soccer, better coaching from youth to HS, and more players playing, other schools are able to play and beat Wheelersburg even without the better athletes. The style of play of the top teams in southern Ohio has drastically changed from when I began watching (late 90s) until now.
As for last night Waverly played a very solid game and Wheelerburg had trouble matching up across the field. I have Waverly with 39 shots to Wheelersburg's 3. Burg's keeper played a fantastic game to keep the score relatively low. Hopefully Thurmer can heal up and be able to help Burg out for the 2nd half of the season, he is a good kid.
On a side note, there aren't many players in the district who can play at the level Purpero is playing at. Unbelievable some of the things he does on the ball.

[4thgoal]

Keep in mind Burg is very young, with 19 freshmen and sophomores on the varsity roster. There is also a very strong group of 8th graders coming in behind those 2 classes, so I think Burg will be better over the next couple of years. Obviously, without Thurmer on the field right now, they are struggling to put forth much of an offensive attack.