On March 19, College of DuPage played host to the Herkimer County Community College Generals (1-2), for the Chaparrals’ first home game of the season.
In the first quarter, the two teams were neck-in-neck with the Chaps having a slight edge. That changed once the second quarter started, as DuPage started to gain momentum and frequently scored to take a 9-5 lead going into halftime.
Once halftime ended, the Chaparrals didn’t let their foot off the brakes. They ran up the score board, only letting Herkimer County score four times the entire second half of the game. DuPage won 18-9, putting their record at 2-1.
After the game, head coach Bill Sanford said the team performed well under the pressure.
“We were a little sloppier than I was expecting but I give our opponent credit for forcing us to make some mistakes” Sanford said. “Herkimer was really gritty [today and they] pushed us really hard. I thought our guys did a good job handling some of the chaos. But we [have] to get healthy and be better next game.”
Sanford then talked about what change to make the team so dominated from the second quarter onward.
“We don’t play a lot of home games,” he said. “Our guys kind of [came] out with some jitters and they just settled in. Some of our sophomores did a really good job of settling the guys in on the field. [During] some of our timeouts, we had consistent messaging and just made sure they played a smarter game than our opponent. They ultimately did. We just got to be a little bit more disciplined standing out of the standing box, because that’s a big problem for us.”
Sanford talks about how the team is going to get ready for the next set of games, starting next Thursday on March 26.
“We’re gonna give our guys the weekend [to] rest and then get back to working on our fundamentals,” Sanford said, “Making sure that our grades are good and that we are prepared for a long road trip out [to] Maryland and New York.”
Number three, Tanner Polep talked a bit about how he feels after the win and how they are preparing for their next game.
“I feel great, this is a big win,” Polep said. “We needed to win this or we would have gone home, so I’m glad we all came together and won as a team. We’re just gonna work hard as a team, show up every day, and get better by the hour.”
The Chaps next set of games will take them on the road as they first head to Batavia, New York on March 26 to play the Genesee Community College Cougars (5-9). This will be followed by a stop on March 27 at Troy, New York for a match against the Hudson Valley Community College Vikings (1-3). To top off the week, the Chaps go to Columbia, Maryland on March 29 to play against the Howard Community College Dragons (4-1).
Number 55, Brady Menne defender against a General player.
