Last Saturday, the Scorpions opened the 2015 season with a staggering loss to the Tampa Bay Rowdies, a team that has a pretty consistent record against San Antonio in the home arena. Out of several key San Antonio scoring attempts, the sole goal made by Omar Cummings was built off of a bar shot by Rafael Castillo. A common opening night theme, as it seemed the Scorpions were better at posting the ball than they were netting it.
“It’s part of the game. Those two big opportunities off the bar and there was other opportunities as well. Despite us losing I see a lot of positives. Like I said, we have to do a better job of putting them in the back of the net. That will come with time because we have the players to do so.”
– Alen Marcina, Coach of the San Antonio Scorpions
While soccer matches always see a larger number of missed opportunities than goals, taking poorly lined up shots are a quick way to find yourself behind. Post shots are not exactly a terrible thing, especially when you’re winning, but it’ll take quite a bit more focus from the Scorpions to ensure that those missed opportunities don’t continue to generate goals for the opposition.
The season opener provides a great source of study for the team and such a loss is bound to force the coaching staff to make changes to the general strategy of the team. It could be chalked up to a slow preseason, with the Scorpions logging only three matches, as the reason why the squad wasn’t quite in the right spot yet. The Scorpions are a solid team, but the glue between players isn’t fully set yet. The strength of their playing is flimsy and uninspired However, based on Marcina’s comments, it’s obvious that the Scorpions will be spending quite a bit of time syncing up their player dynamic in an attempt to foster the necessary chemistry between players for improved, consistent performances.
