| The Carbon Dinos soccer team has kicked off the season. For the first time this year, the Dinos competed at home on March 15, but failed to walk away with a victory. The Dinos offense scored their first goal of the year in the game. |
The Carbon High soccer team officially kicked off the season at home last Friday. Although the team currently does not have a field of their own, the team has adopted the college playing field for the season. The field was the site of the Dinos first home game this season, however the team fell short of victory.
The Dinos hosted the Union High Cougars in what turned out to be a great day for soccer. The two teams battled for control of the ball while striving to score goals. Unfortunatly for the Dinos, the Cougars completed the most goals with a final score of 5-1.
According to coach Ted Bianco, “we are a young team, so we’re still learning as we go.” This was evident at the game this past week. The team failed to maintain possesion of the ball for long periods at a time. Most of the possesions were turned over before ever nearing the Dinos goal. The weak ball handling is a factor that Bianco feels needs to be worked on.
“We struggle with ball control. This will come about with experience however. Although our ball control is not where it should be, we have made improvements since starting the season. We will continue to work on these skills and when they come around, we will be an excellent team,” explained Bianco.
The Dinos also need to improve on defensive skills. During the game Friday, the Dinos struggled to take the ball away from the Cougars. The Dinos also failed to prevent several goals, leaving at many times, the Cougars wide open to score a goal.
The Dinos defense also needs to improve on pressuring the offense. Several Cougars offensive series found the Dinos allowing the opponant to move the ball safely down the field, without any interference from the Dino defense.
Despite struggling against the Cougars, the Dinos did work hard. “I think they did a great job out there. The worked hard and competed with all they had. You can’t ask for more,” stated Bianco.
The team has several factors to work on before being a strong competitor in the 3A division this season. The team seems to be working well together. This factor alone gives the Dinos an advantage over any other team that relies on primarily one or two players. In a team sport such as soccer, working well together is the main ingredient to success.
“We’ll continue to work on ball control along with improving our defensive skills. I feel that even though we are struggling, the kids are all doing quite well,” Bianco explained.
The Dinos played Monday in a make up game against South Summit, a game which was origanlly canceled due to weather conditions that prohibited the travel of the South Summit team on March 8. The Dinos will then move on to compete against Rowland Hall in Salt Lake on Wednesday. The team hopes to not only win, but to gain valuable experience.