GIRLS SOCCER: Trojans blanked by Underwood

Atlantic shutout in 5-0 home loss, drops record to 0-4 on season

By Drew Herron - AJ/NT Sports / April 21, 2014

ATLANTIC - Underwood proved effective with its ball control and utilized possession and space to pick up a shutout victory over Atlantic 5-0 Monday evening at AHS.
The visiting Eagles broke the stalemate midway through the opening half as senior Allison Waters would net two goals within a 45-second span to drive Underwood ahead for good. Underwood led the Trojans 3-0 at the half before tacking on two more scores in the second half.
The victory improves the Eagles' record to 2-1 on the season while Atlantic drops its record to 0-4.
Despite the shutout loss, first-year head coach Jordan Newberg says he feels like his team took a step forward as the squad begins its third week of the schedule. Now, it's a matter of playing with a bit more nerve and self-assurance.
"I felt like we played better today, but the biggest thing we are lacking is confidence and belief in ourselves," coach Newberg says. "That's something we need to work on."
Underwood moved the ball efficiently as a unit and exploited gaps in the passing lanes to apply heavy pressure on the Trojans at times.
After Waters' two scores (20:00 and 20:45), Underwood sophomore Brooklynn Cooper capitalized on a penalty kick with 7:04 remaining in the half to add to its lead and take a swell of momentum into the break.
Atlantic struggled to move the ball upfield and feed its forwards, which contributed to its defensive woes against an offensively adroit Underwood team.
"We had our chances in the first half against the wind, and in the second (half), we just kind of sat back on our heels a little too much," coach Newberg says. "It's all about belief. We have to believe that we can move the ball, and once that happens we are going to be there."
"At times, we played well and moved the ball. But we relied too much on the through-ball rather than trying our style of play."
Underwood proved to win the bulk of the loose balls, and held the upper hand the majority of the match against a Trojans team consisting of mostly young and inexperienced players. Three freshmen and three sophomores saw extensive action Monday while just two seniors served as outfielders along with senior goalkeeper Maren McNees.
Atlantic began its season with a busy stretch of three matches in seven days, which allowed the team plenty of opportunity to test its mettle, but little practice time to work to rectify its mistakes. With a week to practice leading up to the Underwood match, the Trojans put a strong emphasis on shoring up its defensive presence.
"That first week was difficult for us, but we came back (to practice) and spent a lot of time working on our defense," coach Newberg says. "Today, I felt like we played better defense for the most part."
The team and the defense in particular is generally untested at the varsity level, and looks to make noticeable improvement from week to week. Dating back to this group of seniors' freshman season (2011), the girls program holds a 8-41-1 record, and hasn't won more than three games in a season.
Changing the mindset and expectations could be a formidable process.
"We've never had a lot of success," coach Newberg says. "Every team we go up against may be a team that we've never beaten before in the history of the program. A big part of it is that we don't believe that we can do it until we go out and beat one of these teams that we are not supposed to."