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Herndon Hornets Focusing on Smart Soccer in 2012

Coach Lanigan's soccer team taking it one game at a time

An undefeated 2012 season would not mean anything to Coach Sean Lanigan and his squad of committed, focused soccer players. The varsity team accomplished that feat last year and was shockingly knocked out of the northern regional tourney.

Lanigan said he and his Hornets (4-1-2) have all learned a hard lesson and have switched focus to playing smart, fundamentally-sound soccer this year—one game at a time. Most recently the Hornets have shutout Stone Bridge, 2-0, and lost to Oakton, 4-3. 

“Until the game, every ball we’ve given up has been defending a long ball,” said Lanigan of goals given up by Herndon so far. “A lot of it is clearing a long throw, versus trying to get a hold of it or waiting for the ball to come down, and they did a fantastic job of it. Stone Bridge didn’t even have a look at us the entire game. That was our best game defensively so far.”

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Before facing the Bulldogs however, Lanigan’s patience was wearing thin. The Hornets consistently lost focus and were giving up goals they normally would not. Lanigan said knew his team was better than it was showing on the field.

“I can understand one or two misses, but when you have two out of 10, there’s a problem there,” Lanigan said regarding shots on goal. “That changed the day before we played Stone Bridge. At the end of practice, the finishing was phenomenal.”

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After pulling his guys together for a lecture and drilling fundamentals over and over, the players understood what they had been doing wrong. The Stone Bridge game proved that, and now the coach feels more confident now his team can accomplish the three goals it set in the preseason: Win the regular season, win the district title, and reach the regional final.

It will take the entire team to get there led by a few stellar standouts, including strikers Patrick McLaughlin and EK Korvah, goalkeeper Jack Clarke and senior midfielder Bryant Fernandez.

“Jack has been stellar,” Lanigan said. “He stopped a penalty kick in the South Lakes game, and he stopped a PK in the Madison game. He’s made the finish when he’s had to, he’s quick off his line, takes away all the through balls, and is off to the great start.”

Perhaps the most improved player for the Hornets this season is Fernandez. Towards the end of 2011, Fernandez showed tremendous energy and skill at midfield. Lanigan said he has even improved from that point.

“I would say he’s is the number-one player outside of Patrick,” Lanigan said of Fernandez. “He’s got to be the best midfielder in the whole region. He’s such an unsung midfielder—he’s such a distributor and he’s leading in assists, with seven or eight. He should be playing in college.”

While the team looks strong, scoring has been down this year compared to seasons past. Lanigan has taken notice and said his guys should be “scoring four, five or six goals a game.” But since their seven-goal performance against Broad Run in the opener, Lanigan said McLaughlin has been a “marked man” and goal production has decreased, when it should not have. *A correction to this paragraph is at the end of this article.

Herndon played rival Oakton Tuesday night on its home turf. Lanigan said Oakton is a young team with a lot of creativity at midfield. Vice President of CONMEBOL (South American Soccer program) Eugenio Figueredo was in attendance at Herndon High for the game. Figueredo is in town to discuss ideas with Herndon Youth Soccer and Herndon High on possible ways to help the sport in America.

The Hornet team is back at full strength after some injuries and commitments to the national club tournament. Meanwhile, his boys have shown growth in both skill and maturity, Lanigan said. Whether it is accepting they might not play as many minutes as usual, or “tinkering” with new ideas and techniques during practice, the coach believes his boys will do whatever it takes to reach their goals this year.

The Hornets' next game is at Washington-Lee High at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 12. 


* Correction:
The Hornets played Broad Run in the season opener, winning 7-1. The Hornets played Thomas Jefferson second, which resulted in a tie. 

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