It might be a cliché in sports, but the best team doesn’t always win.
That is especially true in the game of soccer, in which most games are decided by only a single goal and there is a large element of “how the ball bounced” involved.
The Camp Verde High School boys soccer team, despite attacking the goal more consistently than the Cougars lost its first round game in the Division IV state playoffs to the Show Low Cougars 1-0 on Thursday, Oct. 31, in Show Low.
The Cowboys [7-4] dominated control of the ball for the first five minutes of the game. But the Cougars [9-3-1] got a transition goal from junior Rasmus Ravnsborg, when the exchange student found a seam in the Cowboy defense and got a shot past goalkeeper Andy Woodard that hit just inside the post.
“It was an excellent shot,” said Cowboys head soccer coach David Miller. “I don’t begrudge our guys for that at all.”
Miller said that it was just unfortunate that the Cowboys couldn’t score for the rest of the game because they pressured Cougars goalkeeper Zac Clonts throughout, peppering him with 25 shots.
“We had our opportunities, but we missed it by that much several times,” Miller said. “It boils down to the same thing that we had trouble with the entire year — finishing the ball in offensive situations. There was no problem with our defense, the defense held them to one goal, that should be a formula for victory.”
In addition to the strong Cowboys defense, Woodard did his part with six saves to turn back every other chance the Cougars had of scoring.
“[Cougars coach Ben Marchant] said he felt very fortunate to win the game,” Miller said. “I shared with him that ‘I’d rather win, but if I have to lose, I’d rather lose to the next state champion, so go out there and win it.’”
For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Nov. 6, issue of the Camp Verde Journal.
