The Kings opened their home season with a 1-0 win and that was one of the only a few things that was worth seeing. Head coach Jon Pickup described the fist half as “boring and disappointing.” His honesty represents the entire organization because they will not sugar-coat poor play. The first half was a yawn and I wish not to bore you to sleep before you can finish this article.
After an intense ‘conversation’ the Kings showed why they are new team compared to last year. Their intensity leads to a goal in the 46th minute by Jeff Hughes. Hughes now has 3 goals in the past two games. Attention league: that equates to two game winning goals in two games. Hughes’ work ethic has lead to 6 points for the first place Kings.
After the goal, the Kings intensity remained for the next 20 minutes limiting the Pioneers to hopeful counter attacks. Derek Smith and the defense were able to quickly double team the forwards, which resulted in turnovers and allowed the Kings to set up their offense while remaining in the Pioneers’ defensive zone. After 20 minutes of playing the way the coaching staff wants, the Kings resembled princes who aren’t ready for a professional match.
“That’s a game we would have lost last year,” Pickup said. He’s right, last year that would have been a 1-1 tie and that result would have caused the Kings to miss out on the 2 extra points for the league and for US Open Cup qualifying.
The Kings this season have only lost one game by a score line of 1-0 to the defending champs in Charlotte, and now have a victory over last years runners-up in the Pioneers.
The Kings are being noticed now on the field to go with positive off the field relations. Veteran player Wes Schulte describes the Kings as “organized, professional and the players are happy.” Happy players are coming through win 3 points in each of the last 3 games resulting in 9 points and first place in the league. This is the first 3-game winning streak in the Kings two-year history. The Kings next home match will be Saturday May 13th at Xavier University.
Dan Cheeseman
