Furman v. App State Did anyone see the Furman/App State match last night? (Furman win 3-2 in OT) I am a Furman supporter, but i have to admit we were terrible. The "favoured" players who seem to stay on the pitch with impunity were completely ineffective (an increasingly habitual quality...) Even the normally solid Gray Griffin (Fr.) got SHREDDED for App's 2nd goal. Drew Moor (Fr.) was fantastic again in the back. St. Louis should be a good match this weekend. -King Eric
King Eric...I need to hear more about this match. I have friends playing for both Furman and App State. Any other details/analysis would be great. Thanks!
LuvDaBears-- Who are your friends at Furman (and App St.)? Be glad to give you some additional scoop... King Eric
App St I'd appreciate any info on App St. I think they will be a program to keep an eye on over the next 3-4 years...
Fixxxer...have to agree with you about App State. I hear Dave Golan is a good coach, but, they have to get a real grass field, or at least one of those new turf fields. I think they still play on an old astroturf field, which of course is brutal. King Eric...check your PM's.
From what I have been able to gather, Golan is a great guy, coach, and recruiter. It's gotta be misreable tyring to get kids to go play on turf. Berson has had some quality assistants: Adair, Allison, Golan...any others???
Well... Furman started out the match in high gear, and looked headed for a comfortable win. However, Furman's midfield talent was too undisciplined (e.g., dribbling TOO MUCH, attacking space too little) to produce any good looks at the goal. Meanwhile, App State were playing with determination, and they soon felt a shift of momentum in their favor. Furman had resorted to dribbling in circles and passing back, which doesn't build positive momentum. The only advantage to this was that Gray Griffin is very proficient at sweeper--cool on the ball and able with both feet under pressure; also plays excellent long balls into the attack. Drew Moor is also consistently excellent, a very tough marking back (having shifted from midfield for Furman's purposes), able to make threatening runs out of the back. For my money, Griffin and Moor were the best players on the field, even as freshmen, and even with Ricardo Clark, Clint Dempsey, and Chefik Simo getting most of the limelight. (This may sound like I'm Griffin and Moor's dad or something, but clearly that is not possible.) Anyway, things began to unravel for Furman. Simo dribbled into the box, lost the ball, then failed to get back while his mark (Trini Keon McPherson)received a throw from the keeper and dribbled to Furman's goal before passing off to Henriksen[?] amid a tangle of Furman defenders. The ball was slotted under Furman's soph. keeper Alex Maslo to put App St. ahead. Only last week, Furman had eclipsed App State's 20-year-old SOCON unbeaten streak record, and this was App's chance for revenge. They had Furman down at halftime for the first time this season. The second half started with 10 minutes of renewed Furman dominance, and after a scramble in the App State box, the ball squirted out to Clint Dempsey, who blasted it in to equalize. Clint is extremely talented, skillful on the ball, and is most dangerous when he is frugal with his touches. A one-touch shot was the only appropriate action, and he took it well. App State went ahead again in just 3 minutes, as Brian Fowler cut past the otherwise dependable Griffin with a mind-bending dribble before lashing his shot inside the far post. Furman went level through Scott Hoch (who started the season on fire, but has since cooled a bit), after he collected a loose ball and shot quickly to the far post. The first OT period passed without event, and near the end of the second, Drew Moor got up for a header on Sergei Raad's lofted cross, and the ball appeared to cross the goal line, but was slapped out by an App State hand (not the keeper's). The referee instantly awarded a penalty, and Anthony Esquivel buried it for his 3rd PK this year. ------------- Josh Villalobos entered the game about 20 minutes into the first half as part of a 5-player mass substitution, and did pretty well. He's very, very tricky on the dribble, but seems to value megging a player as well as anything. He is tenacious, and good at going forawrd instead of goofing around in the middle of the park. In fact, soon after going in he knifed through a couple guys into the box, and appeared to be chopped down, but the ref carded him for diving. From my view it could have gone either way... As for Carter and Morrow, of ASU, they didn't figure in much, if at all (to my recollection). App State's Keon McPherson was fast and played simply, but he spent a lot of time rolling and whining on the ground. App also had another Trini, Naeem Frederick, who dribbled like a maniac--very quick, but with little effect. I'll add some more (to the best of my recollection) if anyone has any questions... -King Eric