It was a rough last three games for the Becker boys soccer team, as it dropped all three contests.  But the team was able to get a full weeks’ worth practice ahead of its first section game which will come on Monday or Tuesday depending on what seed they receive.

“We knew the last two games were going to be tough,” said coach Nick Crowley.  “We didn’t play well enough, and we didn’t have our full squad.”

Last Friday, the team dropped a close 2-1 contest to Cambridge-Isanti as it hosted the Bluejackets for Senior night.

The first half was scoreless, as both teams played some good defense.  In the second half, the Bulldogs found some tough luck when goalkeeper Kevin Vogl was given what his coach called a “controversial” yellow card as he went for the ball and a C-I forward tripped in the box.  Vogl had to leave the field and was replaced by Max Rositas.

This set up a penalty kick for Cambridge and they converted to take the 1-0 lead.  They scored quickly again to take a 2-0 lead.

With 5 minutes left in the game,  Becker pushed forward and managed to close the gap 2-1.

“We put in our backup keeper Austin Benson and used Kevin as field player,” said Crowley.   “Kevin ended up scoring the goal for us and we pushed in the last 5 minutes but couldn’t convert on a free kick or a corner to tie it up.” 

Magic/Tigers

Becker also lost a lopsided affair to the Monticello magic by a score of 8-0.  Becker had some key injuries in the first half and this caused the score to get a bit out of hand.

“There is a reason they are conference champs, they are solid all around,” said Crowley.

Becker also ran into a tough opponent in the Princeton Tigers, whose only loss this year came to Monticello.  Becker dropped this contest 5-0.

“They’re a good program with solid players and they have the top scorer in the conference,” said Crowley. “Princeton used to be the team you wanted to face to get a W, but not anymore. It’s cool to see where their program is at today.”

Despite the tough losses, Crowley is confident in his charges for a rebound performance as the section tournament begins.

“We had a week of practice so hopefully we can perform better in section play,” said the coach.  Fans are encouraged to check the Mississippi8 website for the game time and opponent of the section game.