“I’m lovin’ it!” Conner girls soccer coach Mike Hughes screamed Wednesday.
The Cougars on Cooper’s pitch surely enjoyed it, too – Ella Folke’s goal in the 42nd minute was the only score they needed to defeat the Jaguars, 1-0.
Besides Conner improving its record to 12-4 (and 3-0 in the 33rd District), there was a second reason for the Cougars to celebrate – they clinched the top seed in next month’s district tournament.
To Mike Hughes (who is no relation to Cooper coach Scott Hughes), Wednesday was the latest example of the balanced offense he seeks.
“I loved the energy,” Conner’s Hughes said. “We talked about not being too high or too low during the match, and if you look at the second half, we’re much more composed, much more simple. We’re winning the balls.”
Folke’s goal was just her second this season, Maya Owen notched her team-high ninth assist this season, and goalkeeper Cara Fay recorded her ninth shutout.
The scoring sequence started with Meredith Vogel’s throw-in to Owen.
“I laid it off to Ella behind me,” Owen said. “I saw there was a defender near her, but I knew she had enough space to take a touch and shoot that.”
Folke was in the right spot – about 20 yards in front of Cooper keeper Amanda Collins.
“I think, even though I only scored two goals this season, it’s about our team building possession and trying to get up the field,” Folke said.
Cooper fell to 8-5-1 overall and 1-1 in the district. What maybe was most discouraging: the Jaguars fell to 0-27 against Conner since 2008.
“Conner is very, very good,” Scott Hughes said. “They controlled the midfield on us, and that was our biggest concern. But what really disappointed me is, I felt that our girls played completely out of character, and in a way didn’t think represented us quite well.”
Scott Hughes also said fouls were a problem.
“Fouls that were just a lack of discipline,” he said. “And it put our defense under a lot of pressure, put my keeper under a lot of pressure unnecessarily. So I think there was a bit of immaturity that was shown tonight by my team, and I find that disappointing.”
Scott Hughes said his team started “a little shaky” early in the first half.
“And then, when we settled in, we started finding our spots where we could attack their back line, and I felt that we were starting to generate some opportunities,” he said.
Cooper’s best scoring chance came in the 14th minute, when Hayden Johnson beat her defender and streaked down the left wing. Fay “made herself big” – she came off her line and cut off any angles Johnson may have had.
“I would probably call it being aggressive,” Fay said. “It’s a very important part of how I play, and it’s a big factor in my game.”
Cooper started with a 4-1-4-1 alignment because it allowed the Jaguars to more easily move defenders to the midfield. Scott Hughes tried switching to a 4-4-2 for the second half – something he said wasn’t comfortable to his players.
“I think that they just felt like weren’t able to control the midfield,” Scott Hughes said. “We were over-running the center of the field a little bit more.”
Mike Hughes said Wednesday’s win did not alleviate any pressure in the 33rd District.
“In our district, nothing relieves pressure until you’re out of district,” he said. “To be honest, our district is absolutely insane. It’s a battle every single game, it’s intense every single game.”