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Lovett 3 v Fellowship Christian 3, 4/16/07, PK’s
3-4
Lovett
played against Fellowship Christian for the Area Tournament 3rd
place position. The game was played at Walker and afforded spectators the
somewhat surreal spectacle of a ball-boy on crutches.
Lovett had the better of the opening period, with its
attack looking more menacing than in recent games, and deservedly took the
lead when Sam Roberson scored with an excellent left foot shot on the turn,
finishing off a good passing move involving Joe Bailey and Harrison
Dykes. Sam then doubled the advantage when he headed Jack
Hall’s well flighted free kick just over the line. Rather
than pressing home its superiority, Lovett then let FC back into the game,
which was soon tied at 2-2. Lovett’s midfield continued the
good performance shown earlier in the month against St Francis and Walker
with Ryan Salisbury, Eddie Nam, Jack Lally and Harrison Dykes all
controlling and passing the ball well. Jack Hall looked to be
enjoying his new role as sweeper and Chris
Kennedy put in a real captain’s effort, showing the
rest of the team how to be aggressive in the tackle. He will be missed next
season.
In
the second half Andrew Bleke started to give more width to the attack with
some good runs and Lovett again took the lead when Jack Hall’s
well-struck 40 yard free kick was only half-cleared and Ryan Salisbury
turned in the loose ball. The lead did not last long as FC equalized
almost immediately. 10 minutes extra-time brought little action and
Lovett then suffered the disappointment of losing 4-3 in the penalty
shoot-out. The next match will be a State Tournament game
on April 27th.
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Lovett 4 v St. Francis 1, 4/11/07
Lovett played its first game in the
Area Tournament against the 5 A school. St Francis. As has happened
before this season, it required an early goal from the weaker opposition to
invigorate the Lovett team. With the benefit of a bit more time and
space than they usually enjoy, the midfield players controlled the game
well and there were several good passing moves. The energetic Ryan
Salisbury had probably his best game of the season and was at the center of
much of the good plays. Eddie Nam was pivotal in pressurizing the St
Francis midfielders and his distribution was also excellent. Harrison
Dykes had another excellent game, both in defense and also with several
good overlapping runs and crosses while Jack Lally continued to snap at the
heels of any opposition player who came near him. This
attacking pressure soon resulted in Lovett winning a penalty, which was
converted by Jack Hall. Eddie Nam tried two long shots before finally
scoring with a low, left foot shot from 20 yards out.
Lovett dominated the possession in the
second half but struggled to increase the lead until Jack Hall scored with
a well placed free kick from 25 yards. St Francis still had chances
and nearly scored when their best player Matt Nagler beat two defenders but
shot narrowly over the bar. West Barnwell
looked to have scored with a header from a good Harrison Dykes cross but it
went just wide.
Sam Roberson then put the game beyond doubt when he scored a good
poacher’s goal, getting his reward for what had been a very good
all-round performance by him. Lovett faces a
sterner test against #2 ranked Walker
in the Area Semi-Finals.
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Lovett 3 v Holy Innocents 1, 4/5/07
The Varsity Boys soccer team ended the regular season on a
good note as they used all of their players to pull out a solid 3-1 victory
over Holy Innocents. The Lions maintained their strong defensive
efforts and added some much needed offensive punch to showcase an
all-around performance. West Barnwell
and Harrison Dykes joined the team stats with 1st -time goals,
while Ryan Salisbury brought in his 2nd goal of the season.
Also great play from Chris Kennedy, Jack Hall, Eddie Nam, and Goalie
Stephen Joy helped seal the victory. The Lions now prepare for their first
game of the area tournament against St. Francis on Wednesday at St. Francis
at 5:00 pm.
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Lovett – 3 v Whitefield – 1, 3/20/07
After
the Jekyll and Hyde performances of the previous week the crowd was
uncertain which Lovett team would take the field against Whitefield. The
first half was a scrappy affair and an own goal saw Whitefield take the
lead. Lovett gradually regained the ascendancy and deservedly
equalized when Jack Hall cut in from the left side of the box and beat the
keeper at the near post. In the second half Lovett was
fortunate that several promising Whitefield attacks ended with erratic
shooting. Whitefield was also denied by some excellent defending from the
pacey Jack Lally and the ever-reliable Chris
Kennedy. Goalkeeper Stephen Joy had another very solid
game. The breakthrough came after
freshman Teddy Rodts did
very well to keep a ball in play down the left wing and produced a great
cross which Stuart Kenny headed against the post. Stuart’s
perseverance was rewarded when he then forced in the loose ball.
Lovett added to their lead from a free kick on the edge of the penalty
area. Eddie Nam, enjoying another excellent game, touched it to Jack Hall
who scored with a well-placed chip into the top corner.
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Lovett – 4 v Galloway – 0, 2/26/07
Lovett took a commanding 3-0 lead in the
first half. Jack Hall scored from a tight angle following a Christian
Baker throw-in and then converted a penalty which was struck with rather
more conviction than the one against Woodward. Ryan Salisbury then
emerged at the far post to finish off a good move down the left wing involving
Andrew Bleke and Austin Mills (who was thankfully back after his injury
against Woodward). Stephen Joy continued his good run of form by
making an excellent save from the Galloway no. 24. Joe Bailey
then nearly scored when his shot from an Austin Mills cross was cleared off
the line.
The Lovett team looked a little more
subdued in the second half but still created enough chances. Stuart Kenny
had a shot just over the bar and a good move involving Stuart and Austin
Mills saw an Andrew Bleke shot well saved. A nice sequence of passing
then saw Jack Hall put Austin Mills through on goal and Austin scored with
another of his trademark low, hard shots. Galloway had several chances but were denied by a
combination of erratic shooting, more good goalkeeping and a bit of luck
which saw a shot rebound off the post back into the arms of the grateful
Stephen Joy. A late shot from the impressive Christian
Baker was tipped over the bar. There were very good
performances once again by several of the Lovett players, notably Harrison Dykes, Jack Lally and Eddie Nam.
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Lovett – 0 v Woodward – 1, 2/23/07
Lovett did extremely well to hold a very
strong AAAA Woodward team to 0-0 during the first half, largely thanks to
some more excellent goalkeeping from Stephen Joy who made 2 good saves from
consecutive moves by the Woodward attack and also to a timely recovery
tackle by Chris Kennedy. Stephen
then had to come out quickly to intercept two dangerous through
passes. Lovett was restricted to few attacks, one of which saw
Christian Baker pushing forward and attempting a long range shot which was
off target.
There was more action in the second half
and Lovett was let off when Woodward missed an open goal. Woodward finally
took the lead when Lovett looked to have cleared a goal-kick but the ball
rebounded to Steven Kelsey who scored with an unstoppable shot.
Lovett then applied the pressure and nearly scored when a Christian
Baker throw produced a Jack Hall header from 5 yards out which was well
saved . Lovett looked to have scored when the ball crossed the line but the
referee deemed that no one had touched the ball from the throw-in. Chris Kennedy saw his header from an Austin
Mills corner go just wide and at the other end Stephen Joy pushed a good
shot over the bar. In the final minute Jack Hall won a penalty for a
trip in the area but his kick was too close to the goalkeeper who saved to secure
the Woodward 1-0 victory. This however was probably the
best Lovett display of the season thus far and saw a high level of
determination and good defensive work.
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Lovett - 1 V v Grady - 3, 2/20/07
The game against Grady was similar in many ways to last
week’s match against North Atlanta
although it was played in torrential rain rather than freezing cold.
Lovett seemed to be fairly comfortable for the first twenty minutes and
probably edged the better of the possession. The final pass was frequently
missing however and few chances were created. Grady also had few
chances but scored twice through center forward Whitton Ukah and Lovett
could have considered themselves unlucky to go in 2-0 down at the break.
The second half started much more brightly and hopes were high
of a repeat of last Friday’s comeback. Chris
Kennedy charged up for a corner but saw his header
cleared off the line. The ever-dangerous Austin Mills had a cross shot well
saved at the far post. Jack Hall got to the by-line only to see his center
cleared. Meanwhile Chris Kennedy
performed some heroics to stop Grady increasing their lead and Stephen Joy
continued his impressive early season form. Finally the goal came;
Jack Hall won back possession on the half-way line, switched the ball to
Eddie Nam whose deft touch played in Austin Mills and his well placed shot
gave the keeper no chance. Unfortunately Lovett was unable to
complete the recovery not least because of some excellent defending from
Grady’s Matt Marshall and a third goal from Ukah killed off the game.
There were however still lots of positives to be drawn from
this match; Harrison Dykes and Joe Bailey both again looked very
comfortable on the ball and Jack Lally and Stuart Kenny formed a strong and
energetic combination down the right-hand side. Christian Baker gave his
best performance, gaining in confidence throughout the game and showing
good composure. Lovett will need to be on top form to face a strong
Woodward team this Friday.
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Lovett - 4 v North Atlanta - 1, 2/16/07
After a tough opening game against Druid Hills, the
Lions showed great character to come from behind at the half away from
home. This match proved to be completely different to that against Druid
Hills. From the outset, the Lions were aggressive and moved the ball better
in the middle of the park than earlier in the week.
For the most part, the first half was evenly contested
although the Lions seemed to be dictating the rhythm of the play. However
North Atlanta punished the Lions for losing the ball cheaply in midfield
and the defense being caught off guard resulted in a cleanly finished chip
giving North Atlanta a 1-0 lead at half
time.
The Lions not wanting to begin the season with 2
straight losses took immediate heed of the half time advice and began once
more dictating the pace and style of play. The ball handling became more
fluent and effective, the soft touches and precise passes and through balls
meant less turnovers and gradually the North Atlanta
defense began to crumble. It was not long until Austin Mills, a freshman
and recent substitute had slotted one past the keep. Austin
then placed another in the back of the net with the head, after receiving
pin point service from junior Stuart Kenny. This put the Lions ahead mid
way through the half. The team
showed even more character and talent in then shutting down North Atlanta, ensuring they scored no more. To top
this both Eddie Nam and Jack Hall scored goals to put North
Atlanta away.
This 2nd half performance showed what the
2007 Lions are capable of, but there is a long way to go yet.
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Lovett – 1 v Druid Hills - 2, 2/14/07
Lovett started off their 2007 soccer season at home
against tough AAA opponents
Druid Hills. It was a tough opener, the unexpected aggression, speed and
talent of Druid Hills caught the Lions off guard. Druid Hills’
aggression and the uncomfortable conditions ensured the Lions would not
execute passes as clinically as they can and forced uncalled for errors in
the middle of the pitch. This allowed Druid Hills to dictate the play and
resulted in the defense being under more pressure than one would hope in a
season opener. However Joy and the back 3 showed their ability to work well
together; Stephen pulled some instinctive saves out to keep the Lions in
contention, whilst senior Chris Kennedy
interrupted many threatening balls. Unfortunately the pace of Druid Hills
and their aggressive play resulted in a two goal lead that stretched the
Lions.
The second half was unfortunately much the same as the
first with the Lions struggling to maintain the ball, losing it in
dangerous areas. However a well worked solo goal by Andrew Bleke did offer
a glimmer of hope yet it proved too little too late, with the Lions
suffering their first loss of the season and hopefully the last.
Despite the score-line, the performance showed that the
Lions do have the talent and ability to do well this season.
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