With the achievements of last year’s team, the Tiger boys came into the 2016 season with high expectations. The first two games of the season the young team showed potential to be a dangerous contender later on in the season. After a stunning shut out win against Holdrege 5-0 and the tough loss against Norfolk 1-0, Head Coach Daniel Hawker was pleased with the team’s results.
“We kept possession of the ball and were able to dictate the tempo of the first two games. We were able to keep the error count low and didn’t make many unforced errors. We made Norfolk work hard for the goal that won them the game. I was very proud of our performance that day,” Hawker said.
In the following games multiple key players were out with injuries and out for red cards. Hawker feels this could have determined the team’s success early on.
“Losing your top players really changes your ability to consistently play the game at
the speed and tempo required to make life difficult for other teams. The momentum
generated from a few good results early in the season can make all the difference,
but losing top players and some key fixtures early on in the season made this year
feel like an uphill battle,” Hawker said.
A wise person once said, “what is life without a little adversity?”. This quote leads into how Coach Hawker and the team handled the adversity this year.
“The moments where we faced adversity revealed the type of team that we would
become. The defeats showed us that we were going to have to fight for every win
and be willing to take ownership of our record and work hard to turn things around,” Hawker said.
Given the team’s individual talent and ability, the Tiger boys were hopeful for a return to the state tournament, but a couple of limiting factors were level of play and attitude. Coach Hawker expresses his thoughts before that district games begin on Monday, May 2, 2016.
“There were moments where I saw things that filled me with the belief that we could compete at the State Tournament if we could get on a run of good results. However, my fear is that our lack of maturity, focus and attitude will keep us from achieving our goals on the field this year. I hope that I am wrong and that we can showcase some of our many talented players, but only time will tell,” Hawker said.
With the young players maturing, and the upper classmen becoming profound leaders the Tigers boys should have the mental toughness, discipline, and attitude they were missing this year to compete at a high intensity play in the spring of 2017.
