Casey Townsend netted a hat trick against Duquesne. Photo by Matthew Creger/The Diamondback
When you beat a team 7-0, you give the blogging beat reporter a lot of stuff to choose from.
Here’s a sampling:
– With nine minutes to go in the first half and a 4-0 lead in hand, coach Sasho Cirovski had this lineup out on the Ludwig Field pitch:
GK: Will Swaim
D: Alex Lee, Ethan White, Kevin Tangney, Taylor Kemp
MF: Paul Torres, London Woodberry, Widner Saint-Cyr, Kwame Darko
FW: John Stertzer, Matt Oduaran
That’s six true freshmen and only four regular starters at once — something you’ll probably only see against the Duquesne Dukes of the world.
But that’s nothing compared to what we saw after forward Casey Townsend finished his hat trick:
GK: Swaim
D: Tangney, White, Darko, Woodberry
MF: Torres, Tyler Mishalow, Conor O’Leary, Tommy Schaeffler
FW: Oduaran, Jordan Cyrus
That’s only two regular starters and a whole lot of inexperience. Something tells me Cirovski wasn’t unhappy about being able to go 24-deep (yes, 13 total substitutions were made) during yesterday’s blowout.
And when you consider that the roster shows 27 names and Zac MacMath and Doug Rodkey were kept out of Tuesday’s action, there’s only one odd man out: freshman defender Jake Pace. A redshirt for the ex-striker wouldn’t be out of the question.
Finally, some quotes that didn’t make it into today’s paper story:
– Cirovski on footballing integrity: “I think we have very good team honesty and integrity on the field. I think there’s a very good commitment to what we’re asking them to do. As a result, we’re getting good chances to get shots and I think our guys have done a really good job.”
– Kassel on his rapidly accumulating assists total: “It’s just basically guys being in the right spots in the right time. I’m just putting the balls in the box. It’s the other guys doing the hard work, battling in there and putting the ball in the back of the net. I’m just trying to keep my job as simple as possible.”
– Townsend on his early-season slump: “Every forward goes through that. I was getting in my shots, they weren’t falling for me. I can do a lot of other things to help the team win. If I don’t score, that’s fine. Anybody can score, as long as we win.”
Player ratings for last night’s laugher coming momentarily.
Jonas Shaffer is The Diamondback’s men’s soccer beat writer. He can be reached at shaffer@umdbk.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/jonas_shaffer.