The Chronicle

Alvin Sandique
Sports Editor

Even after a 0-3 season start, men’s soccer head coach, Kreig Alm said his 2010 team is the best he has coached in his seven years at the College of Lake County.

The team lost the first game Friday against Kishwaukee, 1-0. Then they lost to Lewis and Clark Saturday in the home opener, 2-1. Then this past Tuesday was 7-0 drubbing against Morton.

“Even the best teams I have ever seen have lost 6-0,” Alm said. “The guys will be fine and will recover.”
There was an issue regarding fatigue during the loss against Lewis and Clark. The Saturday game was the second of back-to-back contests.

“They were tired,” Alm said.

Obviously team play was an issue during the 7–0 blowout.   

“The loss was very frustrating,” Alm said. “It just was not a good game, and our guys did not play very smart.”

Like any other team sport, soccer requires a high level of togetherness to gain victory.

“It’ll take a little while for these guys to gel,” Alm said.

First-year assistant head coach Brian Blanas said continuity and chemistry between teammates would be an issue early in the season.

“These guys have only been playing together for two weeks,” Blanas said August 26. “We’re still working on playing with each other.”

Blanas also expressed his optimism for this soccer team.

“This group has great team speed and attacks well,” Blanas said. “As long as we can do those two things consistently, we can be one of the stronger teams in the conference.”

Alm and Blanas coach a very relaxed team, and although they have gone through a rough start to the season, the team looks loose and upbeat during practice.

In the 2009 season the men’s soccer team went .500 with a 10-10-1 record in the regular season.

“We have a solid team from top to bottom, and this team has lots of depth,” Alm said.

This soccer team may have not had much time to gel so far this season, but the coaching staff sees how well this team can play and how far they can get, once they attain that level.

“It is only a matter of how good do these players want to be,” Alm said. “This team will fully gel before the postseason begins. This team has a great shot at getting to the regional finals.”