Colin Pugh has a tattoo on his right arm of Japanese origins, meant to contrast light and darkness, which could also aptly describe this weekend and last for Bucs FC.
After two rugby-style contests against Jacksonville and UNF which saw players bloodied, beaten, and bruised (to say nothing of the playing surface), the lads came away with a relatively clean (28 combined fouls plus a pair of Belmont bookings) victory against Belmont tonight, by the same score as the last two games (1-0 to the good). It would also be fitting, then, that Pugh won the Bucs two of their last three games.
The Dubliner pulled out his second goal in as many games when he buried a goal on the back post after a great, incisive run from Woodruff. Ronnie "Hoo-rah!" Hreha stoned Brandon Tarr on a penalty just past the hour mark (which is incredibly difficult: Tarr is one of the best pure scorers in the A-Sun) which proved to be the biggest challenge of the goal on the night for the Bruins.
There is a great deal of significance in this win, not just because it puts the Bucs in a position to clinch a playoff spot on Sunday, but also because it puts them in second place in the conference standings (don't ask me why they're ahead of Stetson, but they are). Astute readers will remember that Florida Gulf Coast is in first, and that the Eagles are ineligible for the conference tournament. What does this mean? It means ETSU is the top seed, which means they host the conference tournament, which means more work for old Maynard G. Krebs here. It could also be a logistical nightmare, since basketball season starts right in the middle of the tournament. That is, of course, assuming the standings hold.
Speak of the devil, basketball season is upon us! Bluenanza was held on Thursday. To be honest, there wasn't much energy in the building with only about 1500 spectators on hand, but a few players stood out to me:
Ashley Benedict: The sophomore center played the position extremely well and did exactly what she needed to do: shut down Latisha Belcher. She played with a lot of hustle and was right on top of every rebound contest, and even though the scrimmage had no real intensity or even significance to the start of the season, it was good to see Benedict on top of things.
Shawn Randall: The freshman guard went 2/5 with 6 points and likes to take long range shots. That's the big thing that stood out to me: often you'll see players who come to this level from high school and are gun-shy because they don't want to screw up and get benched. Once she finds her range, she's going to be a big part of Kemp's offense.
Mike Smith: Of course, he should stand out as a fifth-year senior, but he looked like he was on a completely different level from everyone else on the floor. He was focused, confident, and didn't look like a guy who had missed a full season with knee problems at all. Everybody had flashes of the skill and brilliance we've come to expect from this senior class (minus Tommy Hubbard, who didn't play in the scrimmage), but Smith was clear and away the cream of this crop.
Women's soccer is in Spartanburg for a "win and you're in" contest against USC Upstate tomorrow. It should be on ASun.TV, and I will most definitely be watching.
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