Team leader hoping for more goals from retooled lineup in 2022 season, which begins Saturday
The job could’ve flattened Landon Donovan, like a soccer ball to the chin. The skeptics would’ve pounced, saying he didn’t pay his dues, that he was arrogant to think he could pull it off.
This big test looms across a season that won’t end until early October: Can SD Loyal meet the twin standard — score a lot of goals, win the USL title — Donovan set upon taking the two jobs? SD Loyal was shut out, 2-0, in its playoff defeat. That game and a regular season that produced a 14-12-6 record informed an offseason in which Donovan added six players to a core headed by 13 holdovers.Evan Conway, 24, arrived from Nebraska, where the lefty’s goal-scoring led the Omaha-based club to the USL’s second-division title. “He’s very talented,” said Donovan.
“Our biggest takeaway is that we just needed to get more athletic and get more pace on the field,” the coach said. “So, we needed to be able to really hurt teams athletically.” What fans won’t see is a constant embrace of defense-first soccer. Donovan isn’t keen on turtling. He said his DNA remains offense-first. Shame on us, he has said, if fans are bored.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Column: All should boycott events in Russia or involve Russian athletesFIFA and IOC need to get on board
Read more »
Column: San Diego Enforcers football connects first responders and charitiesTeam is part of national 'brotherhood' reaching from coast to coast
Read more »
Column: As bad as the war in Ukraine is now, it's likely to get worseAs Russia has escalated its invasion, the U.S. and its allies have escalated sanctions. The sanctions, however, won't stop Russian tanks.
Read more »
Column: MLB playing dangerous game by canceling gamesPadres may have positioned themselves better than most teams to thrive after lockout, whenever it ends
Read more »
Column: Loyola ready to ‘run it back’ in the NCAA Tournament under 1st-year coach Drew Valentine after winning the MVC titleUnder first-year coach Drew Valentine, Loyola earned their second straight NCAA Tournament invitation with a 64-58 win over Drake in the Missouri Valley Conference title game Sunday in St. Louis.
Read more »
Column: World War II refugees, married for 70 years, know what displaced Ukrainians are facing as enemy troops advanceMartin Schmidt, his birth name, grew up speaking three languages — Transylvanian Saxon, Romanian and German — a trilingual skill set that would later save his life as German troops — Nazis — stormed across Europe during World War II.
Read more »