It’s been a tough week for Panther men’s soccer.
Having blown out Highlands and Blue Ridge Early College their last two weeks, Franklin’s schedule turned much more difficult after Labor Day, with matches against Rabun Gap-Nacoochee and Asheville. Despite a loss to Rabun Gap and a rain-out against Asheville, Matt Kolodzik’s team earned valuable experience against top-notch opponents.
“Rabun Gap was a juggernaut, which, we knew they would be,” said head coach Matt Kolodzik of the Sept. 6 match. “I was actually pleased with our first half. We were down 1-0 [after] they got that early goal, roughly 30 seconds in. Of course that was was a shock to the system; that was not fun. But, I thought our guys responded well in that first half, and we actually had some opportunities. I think we had nine or ten shots on goal and I think they ended up with 18.”
After giving up just one first-half goal, Franklin couldn’t keep pace in the second, falling 5-0 to an excellent Eagle team. Despite the loss however, the team accomplished its main goal for the match – testing their skills against the area’s top opponent.
“There’s always disappointment in a loss. None of us like to lose, but we also look at games like that as a measuring stick,” said Kolodzik. “That’s a two-years-in-a-row-now state champion in their division, and highly ranked. I told the guys that is more than likely the best team we’re gonna play all year, so you want to play those types of teams, and we learned a lot from it, without a doubt.”
After falling to Rabun Gap at home, the next day the team traveled to Asheville for a meeting with the Cougars. There, they encountered another talented foe, but inclement weather brought the match to a premature end.
“[Thursday] we went over to Asheville and got part of a match in, but it got canceled by some thunderstorms,” said Kolodzik. “They were up 3-0 on us, and we had some similar issues that we saw with Rabun Gap. Asheville is a really good team, but it doesn’t really count against us because we never finished the half. … In a way I guess you could say the lightning was a bit of a blessing in that we were down, but on the other hand you still want to get a match in. For us, we like to play quality opponents because the more of those quality opponents that you play, it actually helps your ranking.”
Because the state playoff ranking system deals partially with strength of schedule, Kolodzik has made an effort in recent years to plan matches with other top teams. In addition to boosting their score in the statewide Ratings Percentage Index, tough early-season matches help Franklin prepare for their Mountain Seven Conference schedule, in which they kicked off their conference title defense Sept. 11 versus East Henderson.
“I trust our guys if they’re one-on-one defensively to make the play the majority of the time, but when you go up against guys that are so high-level, that makes it more difficult,” said Kolodzik. “You have to make sure you have a chain [of Panthers] behind defensively, and that’s something we didn’t have as well as we’d like to see in that match. It’s things that are very fixable – making sure that you’re maintaining the integrity of the alignment, not overextending yourself … and making sure you slow the game down enough to play our style of soccer.”