Athletics Highlights

St. Mark’s returned to Bailey Field on Saturday still recovering from the previous evening’s game, a disappointing one goal loss to Casady. Similarly, their opponent, Holland Hall, was recovering from a three goal loss at the hands of the Greenhill Hornets. A cold morning had given way to another sunny afternoon that saw little wind with temperatures hovering in the fifties. Despite optimal playing conditions and an afternoon kickoff, neither team looked particularly energetic in the opening minutes of the match. Both teams were exerting a respectful effort; however, the grueling matches from the night before seemed to leave little in the players’ legs.

Although Holland Hall was not at full strength, they demonstrated a willingness to be physical. In particular, their defense did a solid job of winning the ball in the air early in the match. After the first quarter hour, both teams seemed to elevate their energy levels as the pace of the match increased. The bulk of the Lions offensive play remained very central in the attacking half, forcing them to play through a solid Dutch defense that simply did not want to concede the center of the field. On those occasions when St. Mark’s did play the ball wide, they found themselves with ample space but did not maintain possession near Holland Hall’s penalty area. In the twenty-fifth minute, Bryan Block collected a ball in the arc at the penalty area, moved slightly left, and buried a low right-footed shot into the lower left corner of the goal. The well struck, well placed shot gave the Dutch’s keeper little chance. A hustling, opportunistic Block made the most of a poor clearance in a congested penalty area after a long solo run up the middle of the field by Alex Gaidarski.

Knowing that the next goal might well determine the winner for either team, both sides returned from halftime committing more energy to offense. As a result, the spaces in midfield began to increase in size as the play became somewhat splintered and fueled by counter attacks in each direction. Steady goalkeeping and solid defense helped the Lions maintain their one goal lead through much of the second half. The depth of the St. Mark’s bench and the perseverance of the players remained on display throughout the second half. Finally, in the sixty-eighth minute, a well positioned Albert Garcia gathered a loose ball in the center of the Holland Hall penalty area and scored from eight yards. The opportunity was created by workhorse Dan Shulman who used his boundless energy to run at the Dutch defense. When challenged, Shulman somehow got the ball behind the Holland Hall defenders to Garcia. Garcia coolly slotted the ball under a sliding Holland Hall goalkeeper who had ventured off his line to close the angle on Shulman’s run.

St. Mark’s played well in earning a split with the Oklahoma schools and remains in the hunt for a place in SPC Division I. The Lions next travel to Ft. Worth to play Trinity Valley School.