Hubbard scores six to down Ursuline in season opener
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HUBBARD -- For Hubbard, Monday's season opener featured a quick start and an immediate slowdown until a perfect flurry to finish off a 6-0 win.
But for the visiting Ursuline, playing in its second game in three days, allowing five goals in the final 16 minutes lopsided defeat was "horrifying" and represented a lack of will to keep fighting, according to head coach Roy Schmidt.
"They just quit," Schmidt said. "I'm not picking on them. It's reality. They quit."
The Irish surrendered the first goal 1:17 into the contest, as Hubbard's Elma Kassem cleaned up on rebound with a go-ahead header.
Then, despite the Eagles largely controlling the action and pressuring the Ursuline defense much more often, the teams remained separated by only one goal for more than 60 minutes.
Hubbard created chances and nearly added to its lead multiple times, but it was not until 16 minutes were left that the Eagles scored again. At that point, Leighton Komlanc fired a shot past Ursuline goalkeeper Markie Hurlbert, who had recently re-entered the game after suffering an injury early in the second half.
Komlanc added three more goals over the next 15 minutes, including one on a penalty kick, and Sophia Rising contributed another in the 6-0 victory.
Hubbard head coach Cory Reinard said after the game that his team played a little slower and not enough in transition to open the season.
"I think sometimes you score too early, and then it gives you the frame of mind, like, 'OK, we got this.' And then they come out, they start pressing, they start moving the ball a little bit more. We gave them a little bit more control than what we wanted to," Reinard said.
"The game opened up [late], so we were able to control a lot more with possession, create a lot more give-and-gos and breaking their defensive line a whole lot more."
Reinard's squad will play four games in six days to start the season, including at Champion today and vs. Poland on Thursday, which fits the coach's expectations of his team.
"Obviously we want to play quick," he said. "We want to create a rhythm for our team with our structure. But at the same time, stay healthy and a lot of recovery in between so we can stay and be ready for each game."
Schmidt and Ursuline assistant coach Andrea Precurato admitted that the Irish's relatively small and inexperienced roster make it difficult to compete with some teams or make necessary adjustments in-game.
And while Schmidt expressed confidence that his team, which visits Niles on Wednesday, would be able to recover from Monday's loss, the veteran coach said they would need to go "back to square one" to do so.
"I mean, this was humiliating. I don't appreciate it. I've been around too long to have that happen," Schmidt said. "It sounds bad, and I'm gonna have parents chew me out for those comments, but it is what it is. If they watch the game, they know exactly what happened."