The boys soccer team has lost and tied their last two games. During these games, the team has been plagued by small inconsistencies, according to senior forward Za Thang.

(We) make mistakes on the little things,” Thang said. “If we fix the little things, we’ll be fine.”

One of these errors has been poor shooting. During their loss to rival Perry Meridian, the Cards shot the ball 21 times, but only twice did the ball find its way into the back of the net. In their tie against Decatur Central, the Cards took 18 shots but only scored one goal.

The importance of converting shots taken and scoring can be illustrated by comparing the Cards and another rival, Franklin Community. Each team has scored 24 goals during their season. Yet the Cards have taken 153 shots while the Grizzly Cubs from Franklin Community have only taken 137 shots. Each shot missed is a missed opportunity according to coach Josh Brown.

“We struggled to finish in our last game, so if we minimize mistakes, we should be successful,” Brown said.

Even though the Cards struggle to score goals, they don’t struggle with passing. Of their 24 goals so far this season, 15 have come off of assists. The high assist to goal ratio means that the Cards are not relying on a single star player to weave his way through the defense. Instead, they are making smart passes and giving players opportunities to score easy goals.

Shooting is not the only thing the Cards are struggling with this season. According to Brown, defensive turnovers are a persisting problem.

When the ball is turned over on the defensive half of the field, there are less players to defend the counter attack  and there is less space to stop the opponent’s offense. This can lead to teams that aren’t as skilled as the Cards getting easy goals. These easy goals combined with the Cards’ difficulty to score can lead to an even score line instead of a clear win.