2008

season ends on ·positive

ECCC soc A 3-1 victory over Pearl River Community College on October 15 completed season action for East Central Commu– nity College's men's soc– cer team, which fmished 4-11-2 overall and 2-'i-1 in division play under lQ– year head coach Kenneth Thompson. One of the victories includes a for– feit from Copiah-Lincoln Community College. Thompson said he had high hopes for a more successful season. b , said the Warno1 "played too inconsis·er" at times to do better than the results they gar– nered... "The men had an up– and-down season with many competitive gam s and some exciting finish– es," Thompson said. ''They played hard in even match and showro how capable of outstand– ing play they could pro– duce in the final match. Even with the mixed bag of results, the men's sea– son was exciting from beginning to end." Thompson said he was especially pleased with his team's defensive per– formance.

··Part of the key to the more .suooe.ssful pla) this season was th" m·erall lDlJli'O'• t of the team ' , \-e pla~~ \nth particular 1mp \ from soph keeper Mat Turna" r .{ denhall,.. Th m ,atd. "Mat had , e out5~ding gam ili many great sm • :.>1J1 us in the gam Thomi:tsnn has v berun to make the team me::-- s· c– ::e-. ~ m all Cb-p-... ~s of the game m 2009 We t: a good C" .-e of rune t 11 playa::. ret1li1llllg ne."t sea£0:1.. he S3.l and with the addiu - to 12 olid fres:hm . the men ~hould reads to show marked iJ:nProvement in 2009. We will have to go outs1de the d trier to add many of the new players for na-r season as me number of a· .·il able seruors m the !!s– trict tllli '5'eaSOn wL. be insufficient to illpply the needed talent for a suc– cessful campalmt. Due to this fact, we \Vill. be look– ing across the state and out-of-state as \\ell to

good core group of around eight to nine returning players who will be able to help the incoming freshman group to be sucaessful in 2009.'" 'rhompson said he is

fmd the needed players." Thompson said the women's team, which finished 212-1 and 2-8-0 "struggled through a dif– ficult season. findmg wins hard to come, as the two victories were the results of forfeits from Co-Lin. However, they worked hard unt il the last minute of each game and continued to show improvement through– out the entire season... Thompson. who has guided the Lady Soccer Warriors for four years, said the highlight of the women's season was drawing a tie with East Mississippi Community College, who had at the time the state's leading scorer. The two squads battled to a 1-1 deadlock and Thompson said, "was an exciting match for the girls. to say the least." He said efforts are under way to make vast improvements for next season. "We are already work– ing with the returning players to improve skills, physical conditioning and game knowledge." he said. "There will be a

- ··----- note for looking at six to seven in– district players \\ho will likely join the program next year and will be able to contribute ''immediately.·· "We will also be look– ing at out-of-state to add _ .. ____ Warriors two players that can play key roles on the 2009 squad," he stated. "We also plan to recruit across the state for six to seven top players that C3? come in and help thiS program excel."

... =;;~T AGINIAN

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