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Wednesday, February 5, 2025 at 2:48 AM

Cardinals grounded by El Campo

Cardinals grounded by El Campo
Ethan Hovis settles the ball down before clearing it out front in front of their net. Citizen | Evan Hale

The Columbus Cardinals soccer team welcomed El Campo to Memorial Stadium on Friday night and were defeated 3-0.

It was a tough loss to swallow, and Matthew Eder said the team still has some work to do if they want to be successful this season.

“We have to play better defense, have to clear the ball and we have to communicate better,” Eder said. “When we have great communication, we play great ball. When we don’t have great communication, we make mistakes, we give up goals and when you give up one then it leads to two. So, we have to communicate better.”

In addition to trying to get his team to communicate better, Eder also had to do some coaching on the fly. With the football team winning the State Championship it pushed back the Cards and their soccer schedule.

Before Christmas other schools had already played three or four scrimmages and were getting ready for tournament play. Meanwhile, the Cards were not doing any of those things because they were tied up with football.

With Eder coaching on the fly, he was seen pulling players aside during the El Campo game after they made a mistake. Eder said it is important to do that because it helps the players recognize the mistake and not make it again in the future.

“This is only our seventh game, we did not have those scrimmages or tournaments, and our first game actually got canceled,” Eder said. “So, we are behind the eight ball, but every moment is a teachable moment. We are going to make mistakes we just have to make sure we are not repeating mistakes.”

One mistake that was a big one was the Cards scoring an own goal in the final minutes of the game. Freshman Alvaro Gonzalez was devastated after it bounced off of him into the net, it can be a gut punch to any player in any grade but a freshman playing on varsity it can shake up his confidence.

Luckily, several of his teammates and his coach came and gave him a hug with some words of encouragement.

“I just grabbed him and told him that everything is ok. It was a 2-0 ball game before it happened and it did not change the outcome and I just did not want him to beat himself up too bad about it,” Eder said.

The Cards will be back in action on Monday, Feb. 3, when they take on Bay City, which will be another tough test to start the year.

Cesar Sanchez fighting through contact to move the ball up the field.


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