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Home  Articles 99/00 Season Drillers hit the road still sporting a perfect record
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Drillers hit the road still sporting a perfect record |
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Written by Norm Cowley
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Friday, 26 November 1999 |
So far, so good.
Five games into the new season, the Edmonton Drillers are sporting a perfect record of 5-0.
But all five wins came at home and now the Drillers face a new challenge - - winning on the road.
Edmonton plays the 1-4 Ambush in St. Louis tonight and then buses to Milwaukee for their third game in 12 days with the 4-3 Wave on Sunday.
"We're composed and confident at home," said Joe Petrone, the Drillers director of soccer operations. "Are we going to be the same on the road? I think we are but then it's tough to win on the road in this league."
Home teams have won 78.4 per cent of the games this year in the National Professional Soccer League.
"To be a top-five team in this league, you've got to win eight to 10 games on the road," said Edmonton head coach Ross Ongaro. "Last year, we won eight.
"We need to have a great performance in St. Louis," he continued. "That's not a gimme. They're a wounded animal right now and they've picked up two new players -- a defender (former All-American defender Kevin Kalish) and a goal-scorer (Marcelo Carrera) who has been in the league for many years."
St. Louis has allowed an average of 18 points per game this season, with Edmonton having outscored the Ambush 27-17 when the teams met at Skyreach Centre earlier this month.
"If we can continue with the momentum and the level we left off playing against Milwaukee, we're going to do very well against St. Louis," said Drillers captain Kevin Holness. "We just have to do the same things that we do well at home. We're very confident right now."
Visiting teams seldom win in Milwaukee but the Drillers have a chance for the rare opportunity because the Wave will be missing head coach Keith Tozer, all- star goalkeeper Victor Nogueira, forward Michael King and defender Mike Richardson for the upcoming Futsol campaign.
Ongaro insists that the Drillers haven't played as well as they're capable of "and we're still winning games, which is a good sign.
"Fitness-wise, we weren't 100 per cent at the start of the season," he said. "Not even close.
"The biggest thing is the experience we have and there's been a lot of changes in the league. A lot of teams have gone to younger and faster players and a different style of game. The rule change -- the fact you can't give the ball back to the goalie and stop the pressure -- was definitely beneficial to us. It forces teams to play out of the back."
Petrone said the Drillers' experience and composure stood out in the recent wins over the Wave.
"Against Milwaukee, it could have easily gone the other way," he said. "The first year or two, we might have lost those games because we would have panicked.
"This year, we have a team which doesn't panic as much."
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