Sat, May 17 2008
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Published May 08, 2008 12:59 am - When Kalen Ryden bounced a header into the net 97 minutes and 30 seconds into Tuesday night’s Class 6A boys soccer semifinal between Norman North and Tulsa Union he ended one whale of a game but that was hardly all. North learns lesson For first time, T-Wolves had to handle adversity By Clay Horning The Norman Transcript When Kalen Ryden bounced a header into the net 97 minutes and 30 seconds into Tuesday night’s Class 6A boys soccer semifinal between Norman North and Tulsa Union he ended one whale of a game but that was hardly all.
The North defender’s fourth goal of the season handed the Timberwolves a 1-0 victory and a spot in Friday night’s state championship game against Edmond Memorial at the Yukon Soccer Complex. The spot in the semifinal was North’s sixth straight trip into the round, yet that’s where the season had ended four year’s running following the T-Wolves 2003 state title. So that’s one story Ryden changed. Not only did he win the game, with crossing help from Jack Coleman, whose corner kick set up the header, but he ended a streak of horrible disappointment for North in the state playoffs. But there’s more. Basically, he allowed North to learn one of its greatest lessons in victory, rather than defeat. Of course, any other way, it’s meaningless. What good is this year’s lesson next season, when the T-Wolves will sport at least a slightly different team? For 40 minutes Tuesday, if North wasn’t dominated, it was nonetheless behind in all ways but the score. “Edmond Memorial will be very good, but I was impressed with Tulsa Union,” North coach Don Rother said. “That was a great soccer team. Edmond will be good, but I don’t think it will be a more difficult game.” North was not ready for Union’s speed. And the response by the T-Wolves was to give up space, keeping themselves between their man and the net, but giving the Redskins too much respect in the process. “We still have young players, but it wasn’t just them. I felt like we were really nervous,” Rother said. “Our midfielders and defenders were dropping off and that was allowing them to just start teeing off on us. So I had to tell them, ‘OK, get tight, get it under control.’” It wasn’t just a question of how North would respond to a certain tactic or style of play brought by an opponent, but how the T-Wolves would handle adversity for the very first time. “We’d never been behind,” Rother said. “Pretty much, we score early and then that’s it.” North didn’t fall behind against Union either. However, at least partially, it had fate to thank, or perhaps the goalpost Reggie Hardy clanged 21 minutes before the half. The T-Wolves responded well. “From the beginning, they really took it to us,” Rother said. “It would have been easy for us to go into the locker room and say, ‘Well, they’re just better than us,’ but they didn’t do that. They listened to what we asked them to do and they really responded.” 
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