Kings Rue Missed Chances in 2-2 Draw with South Central PA Lions

The Baltimore Kings traveled to Gettysburg, PA yesterday to take on the South Central PA Lions, the same team they defeated 1-0 last week, and drew 2-2 after being down 2-0 at the half. This game, if anything, showed the mental fortitude that these players have to grab something out of a game that looked lost at halftime. However, that was not the full story.

The referee missed several fouls by the South Central PA team that could have turned the tide of the game in the Kings’ favor. For example, Chris White was tripped inside the penalty area by a South Central player and the referee waved play on. The opponents looked tired and lost after the Kings finally got their wits about them and started to tackle the Lions hard toward the 60th minute of play.

Communication, once again, was a key issue. In the Lions’ second goal, one of the centerbacks failed to clear the ball out of the penalty area, which resulted in a goal. However, when he got substituted off, he said that the goalkeeper said “Keeper”, which means that the centerbacks are to drop and allow the keeper to pick the ball up. The keeper failed to do so, and the goal was scored. If the keeper says that and fails to come out, that is a major communication issue and needs to be addressed immediately. Also, on the opponent’s first goal, the centerbacks both went up to attempt to clear the same ball out, and both missed, resulting in an open Lion and a goal. If the centerbacks are not talking to each other, it will cause the team lots of problems in the future, especially in 2017 if those particular two come back for the pro team. Also, on the free kick that was just outside the penalty area, the kick taker had time to do whatever he wanted to do, but everyone told him to shoot, so he did. This requires an amount of soccer IQ that is needed at the pro level.

Finally, the headline speaks the biggest issue at hand, and that is finishing the opportunities created by the crosses put into the penalty area. A striker’s finishing has to be clinical at the professional level, as most pro teams would not be giving the Kings the amount of opportunities this South Central team did in the second half. This game could have easily been 5-2 at least, had the Kings taken care of their chances.

The Kings next game is on July 10th at 6PM ET at Covenant Park in Howard County, MD against SAC Premier.