(August 22, 2024) Hot Springs, Arkansas - After a long off-season in the spring, Bucks soccer was back in action to begin the 2024 regular season. Last season, the Bucks failed to make the Region II Tournament and finished with an overall record of 1-12-2. The men began their season at National Park College.
With so many new players starting the season, it was always going to be a challenge for the team to put a strong performance together on day one. The team overcame this obstacle and delivered. For the most part, due to the efforts of the returning players who carried the team on their shoulders for the first part of the game. Their play was rewarded with a goal midway through the first half when Taylor Marange (Nuneaton, England) cut in from the right and finished low across the goalkeeper to give UARM the 1-0 lead in the 17th minute of the contest. Unfortunately, a mistake from goalkeeper Oliver Bewell (Toulouse, France) misjudging a bouncing ball in front of him led to NPC scoring the equalizer as the ball bounced over his head as he came forward to collect it. The team was shaken but managed to keep the score to a 1-1 as the half came to a close.
Today was about trying new things and putting as many players as possible on the field to give them a chance to show what they can contribute. As a result, the team shape had a more disjointed look to it, and NPC took advantage of this scoring 3 goals in the second half to win 4-1. UARM had their own chances to score but struggled to put that final touch to some very promising openings.
After the loss, Coach Sherry stated, "Overall, it was disappointing to lose, but to be fair to the team, we were experimenting a lot. At the end of the day, we learned a lot about our players and how we now need to move forward. I hope by the end of the season, we can look back on this and see it as a great learning experience which was the foundation of a successful season."
The men are back in action on Tuesday, August 27th, at UA Cossatot in DeQueen. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 pm.
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