West Bloomfield

Consistency and rhythm

By Mike Moore
C & G Sports Writer

Photo by Andrew Potter Senior Uriah Polley said he is confident that the West Bloomfield soccer team can find consistency before the year is out.

Lakers soccer squad could be excellent, if some things fall into place

WEST BLOOMFIELD — A bright orange sun hung in the sky directly behind Dennis Darnoi on a perfect Aug. 23 evening at West Bloomfield High.

For the time being, the varsity boys soccer coach was relaxed.

With some 25 minutes remaining in the junior varsity soccer game, he  had some time to just sit, soak in the atmosphere and think.

And, maybe, wonder a bit.

Asked exactly what he expected out of his squad on this evening against Walled Lake Central, he just smiled.

“I wish I knew,” he quipped. “There are times this year where we’ve played absolutely brilliant, and at other times, well, not so brilliant.”

Darnoi’s conundrum is as simple, and difficult, as that.

He knows he has an exceptionally skilled squad that when playing at its best will be tough to beat. But he also knows it’s a group still searching for some consistency.

 Of course, Darnoi takes plenty of solace in knowing the season is only four games old — the Lakers were 2-2 at press time following a 5-2 loss to Central — and that his guys understand things must get more consistent.

“The guys see it,” he said. “When we walked off the field after the (Beverly Hills Detroit) Country Day tournament, you could sense it in the way they acted. I asked them why we played so flat in one game after dominating the first, and they were at a loss as well, which is a good thing. They know we can be much better.”

That tournament, in which the team played its first three games of the season, produced two wins. But the championship game, just hours after a 3-0 victory against Country Day, that the Lakers lost 6-2 to Bloomfield Hills Lahser puzzles Darnoi a bit.

“How we played so well at one point and so poorly later in the same day was what confused me,” Darnoi said.

“We’re still coming together, still figuring things out,” senior forward Uriah Polley explained. “We’re not too concerned at this point. We know we have to get better and play more consistent, but we also know it’s early and we have a lot of time to do just that.”

“When we play together, we play well,” senior defender Luke Hartman said. “We just have to have that chemistry all the time.”

The 2010 Lakers are certainly a group that can be good, as they proved last season. A good portion of this year’s team was part of a 13-4-5 squad that reached the district final.

Equaling that record this year may prove somewhat difficult, though, given the Lakers’ non-conference schedule — against Birmingham Brother Rice, Dearborn High, Lahser and Walled Lake Central, to name a few — along with the reshuffled Oakland Activities Association White Division. But Darnoi said it’s not the number of wins he’s focusing on, but instead the quality of play and the time of year.

“This is by far the most difficult schedule we’ve had in my five years here,” he said. “We could play excellent and still not have as flashy a record as we did last year, but that’s fine as long as we’re playing well, especially as the season winds on.”

“We’re a top-three team in the league and a contender for the district, if we play at our best,” Hartman said. “We’ve got a long way to go yet, but we’ll get there.”

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Mike Moore at mmoore@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1038.