Upcoming...

We travel tomorrow to face SCAC newcomer Birmingham-Southern College, flying out of DFW tomorrow afternoon. Birmingham is a quality side that, up to last weekend, has faced only Division I opponents. Since they are in transition going from D1 to D3, their conference games will not count towards the conference championship. It will be our first night game of the season, so the boys are looking forward to the challenge.

We will then move on to Jackson, MS for a game Sunday against Millsaps.

I will try to blog this weekend with more details on both opponents. In addition, I plan to have a few of the players give their thoughts on the games and season thus far, so stay tuned.

I also wanted to let everyone about a few upcoming dates...

Our senior day, alumni day, and parents recognition day will all take place on Sunday October 21 as we face Oglethorpe University. Mark it on your calenders.

In addition, the following weekend we travel to Indiana and Kentucky to face DePauw and Centre. As you know, this will by my first return to Centre's campus since taking the A.C. job in January. The game will take place on Saturday night, which is also Centre's homecoming weekend. As part of the festivities, both programs have decided to play the game for charity. The game will be played in the memory of Sue Crump, who is the mother of a senior on Centre's team that passed away this past August of breast cancer, as well as Elizabeth Walter, a dear family friend of mine that passed away of the same disease this past winter. Both teams will be raising money leading up to the game with all the proceeds going to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. In addition, both teams will wear pink armbands to commemorate the occasion. It should be a special evening. If you would like more information on this, please don't hesitate to be in touch.

Colorado Trip

We flew out to Colorado Friday afternoon and arrived in Colorado Springs around 11:00pm. After a good nights sleep, we got up and had a good breakfast before heading to campus to get a light workout in. Since we had to attend class the day before and arrived so late, we needed to get a quick sweat and attempt to adjust to the altitude the best we could. The boys knocked the ball around a bit and then we did some sprints to open our lungs.

After a catered lunch at the hotel, we returned to CC for a 2:00 kick-off. The boys came to play from the start. Austin College had a better part of the possession in the first period, and some very good opportunities to score. However we lacked that finish and having given up an own goal, go into the break down 1-0.

The second half was much of the same, with Colorado pressing us a bit more then the first, however we continued to do well with possession and opportunities. Things would not fall our way and after we give up a tough second yellow and go down a man, Colorado sneaks one in to finish the game 2-0. Colorado is a very good team. The problem is, so is Austin. Unfortunately we continue to miss that crucial bit of personality, when we need it, to simply get it down.

The game against Nebraska was back to our old habits. Nebraska Wesleyan would score in the first half and the boys couldn't find anything to match, we lost 1-0.

As I told the boys today, we will never stop working. Never quit getting better. That's all we can do. And we will.

Thanks to all the parents that made the trip, the support means more than maybe the boys let on. The coaching staff appreciates it as well.

Austin College 2 - University of Texas - Dallas 3

These are never easy to write. Its funny, if this is all character building, we have plenty of it. A tough result. UT-Dallas is a very capable and quality team that is going to continue winning lots of games this fall. They have already won several good ones, including a 2-0 win over American Southwest Conference favorite UT-Tyler and our next opponent, Colorado College, also 2-0.

We can out swinging in this one with our best start to date. We defended well from the beginning and attacked in numbers to start. Just roughly over 10 minutes in John Martinez beat a couple defenders in the box and was eventually taken down and awarded a penalty...which he immediately stepped up to take. Funny, his rule is if your the one that gets fouled, you don't take the PK...to much emotion to finish properly. But I didn't call him off as I knew he would finish. His desire over the past few games has been phenomenal. AC up 1-0.

Unfortunately, bit of a let down just over 5 minutes later had UTD level the score at 1-1. Regardless, we still continued to play throughout the half and by a piece of Alex Dawson magic, we would go into the break up 2-1. Alex, a very aware striker, found UTD's goalkeeper off his line and found the back of the net from around 40 yards out.

At the break we discussed our options and knew that our best option was to continue to play them straight-up. We did and were on our heels the first part of the second half, however we were countering very well and created some very good opportunities. Unfortunately nearly 20 minutes into the half we gave up a backside goal that leveled the game 2-2. UTD would add their second of the half with around 14 to go and we never recovered. A few small mistakes...

Either way, we know what we are capable of and that things will turn eventually. We have our second season among us with the opening of SCAC play this weekend in Colorado. We fly out on Friday and play CC on Saturday, with the game set for 2:00 MST. We then play our final non-conference match on Sunday against a quality Nebraska Wesleyan team before flying home Sunday evening.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support. The boys and I will keep moving forward. Expect some good things this weekend.

Austin College 1 - Illinois College 2

We move on to play probably the best side we have seen yet, University of Texas - Dallas. This will be a great test for the boys to get things done. We have been, to this point, trying to determine our identity. It must come today...

Austin College 1 - Univ. of Dallas 2 OT

More on this game a bit later, but I will say that the boys played well and did not deserve the result today.

Being a soccer official is not a position I would want to be in, so I respect their willingness to be associated with the game. However, never should an official have such an impact on a game that their decisions decide the outcome. This was the case tonight. A poor and unjust PK call two and a half minutes into the first overtime sealed the win for Dallas.

I give Dallas credit, they are a capable side. However, I have a hard time with the final result due to a referee's poor discretion. The boys certainly deserved more than that.

We will continue to stay the course...

Training for the Weekend

We finish out our week of training with a good walk-through this afternoon heading into our rematch with the University of Dallas tomorrow afternoon, in Dallas. After both teams met to open the season and finished with a 0-0 draw, the teams have gone in opposite directions, at least in the won/loss columns. Dallas went on to beat LeTourneau University 4-1 and Hendrix College 2-1. Obviously we went another direction, dropping two games. Despite the outcomes, I feel we are on the right path and can correct some issues with the game tomorrow.



As of today, all 20 players on the roster will be available, which will be a first for the short season. This should add to our depth, of which Dallas has plenty. If you have been to the last two AC games, expect to see a different team tomorrow.



To close out the week, I thought I'd add a few more photos from training the past few weeks.

Thanks for everyone's support. I hope to see you tomorrow in Dallas and then on Saturday as we return home to face Illinois College.

Technical Trainining

A little chat between technical circuits

Possession

Raif getting in a weight workout

Austin College 1 - LeTourneau Univ. 2

No doubt this is a tough one to write. However, as we discussed after the game, we have to stay the course. This is a tough learning situation for some individuals, which directly affects the team. They will learn and the team will be better in the long run.

Despite not having four players available I felt we played a very capable first half, going into the break up 1-0. Our ball movement was very good and we created opportunities, which had been a bit of a hang-up for us. It could have been more at the half, but all things considered, I was pleased with the effort.

The second period was a complete transformation, as we forgot had made us successful in the first half. Defensively we had some minor break downs; unfortunately, minor break downs the lead to two goals in about an eleven minute span. We never rebounded.

A quite locker room following the game. It's important for them to realize that sometimes you have to take a few steps back to take a step forward. We have a nice break this week until we travel to Dallas Friday afternoon for our second match against the University of Dallas. Then turn around and play Illinois College on Saturday. The boys had Sunday off and will have today off as well. Tuesday we will resume training.

For those that were at the games this weekend, thanks. I promise we will make it worth your while very shortly. Hang in there with us.

Austin College 2 - ETBU 3

This was a tough one. We certainly expected ETBU to be very capable, however I really believe we beat ourselves last night. Give ETBU credit, they were the better team...yesterday. It was a learning experience for some of the boys and something I'm sure we won't need to deal with again.

We move on with a light session this afternoon and then LeTourneau tommorrow. Game time is set for 2:00pm.

Step two...

After a much needed day off on Monday, we were back training on Tuesday and Wednesday in preparation for this evenings game against East Texas Baptist University. ETBU will be another quality test as they like to attack and are very capable of getting forward quickly. They have a couple of players that can certainly burn us if given the opportunity. Our job is to keep those chances to a minimum. I thought we conceded too many shots on Sunday, so that will be a focus defensively tonight.

Our offense is still "learning the ropes" however after the two training sessions this week, I feel we are moving forward. Expect us to be a bit more selfish in our attack. In other words, I don't expect this to be another 0-0 game. We shall see.

Thanks again for all your support,

Coach Hudson

Austin College 0 - University of Dallas 0

We knew that the University of Dallas was going to be a good first test, and they certainly proved to be just that. They are an extremely athletic team and well organized. In addition, they have some kids that can score goals in bunches. I knew this would really test where we are organizationally with our defense.

I felt our back four of Ryan Bielefeldt, Nathan Spradlin, Frank Abene, and Mike Cline did a fantastic job of remaining organized and dealing with their attacks. We are still working some kinks out, but much of that was resolved yesterday. In addition, Nate Noel was superb in goal for us making some great saves, including a game-saver in the final minutes of the first overtime.

Miles Vaughn was solid holding down the midfield with Austin Newman more than holding his own on the flank. Austin was no doubt our most dangerous player on the day. Offensively we are still learning the system and getting our timing down, but overall we still created some very good opportunities. We certainly had our chances to win the game.

Its a work in progress, but overall I thought it was a solid performance from the entire team. Dallas is a quality squad that will win a lot of games this fall. We do see them again in a few weeks, so we'll have another shot.

The boys had the day off and were able to rest their legs. We'll pick training back up tomorrow afternoon and Wednesday before hosting East Texas Baptist University this Thursday. Game time is set for 5:00pm.

Thanks to so many that came out to the game yesterday and to those that participated in helped out with the tailgate party. What a great atmosphere! I would love to see the same this coming week! Thanks to David Norman for getting all that set-up. The support is truly appreciated.

Mark

Here We Go...

After what has been a fantastic two weeks of preseason, things kick-off this afternoon for the 2007 Austin College Soccer season. No doubt we are all ready to get things rolling...

I woke up early this morning and took my dog out to the field for a little walk. I told the boys I wanted them to walk the field this morning, to not have the first time they step on the field be game time. Something we will maintain throughout the season, home and away. This morning I wanted to be the first one on the field, period, and then be off before they got there. As I walked around 7:30am, a host of thoughts went through my head. Despite being here for just over 8 months, this school, this team, has truly endeared me. The opportunities that this school gives to young men is outstanding, and hopefully being a part of AC Soccer is integral in that growth.

We have a special group here. Each with their own contributions, own personalities, that makes AC Soccer what it is. We start this season off today, but continue what was established years ago. If you expect anything this fall, expect us to represent AC Soccer with hard work and pride. And hopefully, a hint of something special.

Thanks to everyone for you support. Here's to a good fall...

Mark

Good Two Weeks...

I apologize for the delay in getting a post up since last weekend. Its been a busy, and productive week. We went through our final paces this morning, and will be ready to go tomorrow.

Our scrimmage against UT-D was extremely beneficial as they are an athletic and very well organized team. Despite the 0-2 game, we took much away from it and have applied that to our work this week.

Its been a work in progress as everyone, not just the freshmen, are having to adjust to the system and expectations. We are very close to where we need to be.

Everyone is healthy heading into tomorrow, and I expect it to be a great test for the boys.

I know we are all ready to get things going.

Some pics from training this past week...



Ray J. running a group through core exercises.



Weight Room Workout.



Technical Training.