Bandits break skid with 3-0 win over Alabama

(Lexington, Ky.)- Bluegrass Bandits Soccer Coach Rob Miller called the last three weeks "…the most frustrating of my coaching career." The team had suffered four consecutive road losses and was 29 points behind division leading Mid Michigan going into last weekend’s games at Alabama.

But, following a split against the Saints, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel yet for the Bandits (2-6). After beating Alabama on Sunday, the Lexington club regained some of the confidence that had been so horribly ripped away during the last few weeks.

Now, the Bandits will hope to ride that rebuilt confidence through the second half of the schedule, which features seven home matches in the team’s last 10 games. The first in a stretch of six consecutive home outings at Lexington Catholic High School will be this Saturday, June 24, against the Indiana Invaders (4-4) at 7:30 p.m.

Chalk it up to injuries, shuffled lineups, or long road trips, but the fact remained that the Bandits were 1-5 going to Alabama (1-2-1) last weekend. Following the seven-hour trip to Birmingham on Saturday, the Bandits just could not get loose during the first half against the Saints. Despite what Coach Miller called "…tons of chances in the second half," the Bandits were held scoreless for only the second time all season by a count of 1-0.

With a night’s rest and no long drive, the Bandits finally broke out of their slump on Sunday with a 3-0 pasting of the Saints. Striker Moises Drumond (Canada) got two goals in the game and very nearly had a hat trick, while Chris Kloth (Wisconsin-Oshkosh) scored his first of the season. Drumond has tallied three goals over the last three matches, and for the first time in a while, the Bandits had a halftime lead of 2-0. Goalkeepers Derek Orf and James Arnold combined for the shutout.

Following Sunday’s win, Coach Miller was, to put it mildly, relieved. He said, "I just told the team ‘it’s about time.’" It’s been a difficult last few weeks. With any luck, we could be .500 right now. There’s no doubt in my mind that the road games really affected our team. At Cumberland, when my team has to make a long trip, I make sure I schedule the game for the next day, so we can rest the night before. It’s hard to sit on a bus for seven hours and then play a soccer match that evening."

Coach Miller and the rest of the Bandits will be happy to know that they won’t have to sit on a bus for any extended amount of time until the next road game at West Michigan on July 21. The club will have an entire month’s worth of home games before another road trip.

BANDITS’ SOCCER CLINICS TO BEGIN PRIOR TO NEXT HOME GAME

This Saturday’s game against Indiana marks the first of five pre-game youth instructional soccer clinics. Children between the ages of 6 and 14 will have the opportunity to get first hand training tips from Bandits’ Coaches Rob Miller and Tim Turney, as well as several players.

All of the pre-game clinics are free to children, and all clinic participants, who are accompanied by a paying adult, will be admitted free to that night’s game.

In addition, June 24^th will also be Woodford Youth Soccer Association Night at Joseph K. Ford Stadium. Any adults indicating they are with WYSA will get into the game for $5, with $1 of that going back to the WYSA organization.