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 On one hand, Andreas Davi has reason to be concerned.
His Milwaukee Bavarians had plenty of possession and opportunities to put away their two National Premier Soccer League home matches over the weekend, but failed to do so and suffered their first loss in the process.
But on the other hand, the Bavarians did enough to get one win and continue to sit atop the division standings holding a six-point lead with three matches left as they seek their first Midwest Division title.
"This year, the league is crazy – everybody can beat everybody," Davi said after his team beat the St. Paul Twin Stars 1-0 on Sunday afternoon following a surprising 2-1 loss to Minnesota Kings FC 2-1 on Saturday night. "And to be six points ahead, I think it's a big deal."
The Bavarians (6-1-2) close the season at home against Eau Claire Aris FC on July 9 and at the Madison 56ers (4-3-2) on July 16.
Depending on what happens in those games and matches involving the Quad City Eagles (3-1-5) and St. Paul (4-4-1), Milwaukee also could have to play at Kings FC in St. Michael, Minn., to make up a game postponed because of unplayable field conditions last month.
Saturday
Two mistakes in their own half of the field ended up being costly to the Bavarians.
"Both goals were really bad individual mistakes," Davi said.
In the 32nd minute, a giveaway 35 yards out set the stage for a Minnesota player to chip Marquette goalkeeper David Check (Mequon Homestead), who was racing back toward his goal but couldn't get there quick enough.
Milwaukee equalized just before halftime as UW-Milwaukee defender Ryan Whitehead converted a penalty kick drawn by college teammate Robbie Boyd (Milwaukee Marquette), who ran onto a long ball from Marquette midfielder Charlie Hoover (Whitefish Bay) and was taken down in the box.
But early in the second half, an attempted clearance by the Bavarians was knocked down by a Kings forward, who promptly finished past Check to restore Minnesota's lead. Much like their 1-1 draw against Aris on June 5, the Bavarians had chances aplenty but couldn't score from open play.
"Same thing like Eau Claire," Davi said. "You know you're the way better team, you have 80 percent possession – and seriously, I'm not kidding, 80 percent possession – and you can't finish. Our biggest problem is sometimes we look like we want to run with the ball into the goal instead of taking shots."
MILWAUKEE BAVARIANS: David Check; Kinkade Lo (Mark Ciszewski), James Ashcroft (Collin Monahan), Ryan Whitehead, Andrew Krenzien; Sebastian Jansson, Charlie Hoover (Tim Stadler), Tim Lencina, Niklas Boedts; Cyril Simmons (Peter Sanger), Chris Madsen (Shay Douglas).
Sunday
Another day and more chances for the Bavarians.
This time, though, they only needed one.
Marquette midfielder Amilcar Herrera (Milwaukee Riverside) scored his fourth goal of the season in the 60th minute and Check came up with one huge save in the clean sheet as Milwaukee got past the 10-man Twin Stars.
"It was 1-0, but could easily have been 4-0 or 5-0," said Davi, whose team had a man advantage for nearly 60 minutes after a St. Paul player drew two early yellow cards. "We had some counter attacks that we really poorly finished. I don't know how many free kicks we had, how many corner kicks we had."
Herrera, who didn't play Saturday and has trained only sparingly as he deals with plantar fasciitis in his foot, came up with the crucial finish off a cross from Peter Sanger (Wauwatosa East/UW-Milwaukee).
Davi said the Twin Stars appeared to be tired after their 3-2 win over the 56ers on Saturday night in Madison. Still, they had a great chance to equalize in the final 5 minutes, as their forward got past a Bavarians defender deep in the box and fired a shot from about 5 yards out.
"I thought it was in," Davi said, "but somehow Check got a hand on it, or his foot, and it went behind the goal."
MILWAUKEE BAVARIANS: David Check; Luke Davey, Ryan Whitehead, Andrew Krenzien, Riley Monahan (Kinkade Lo); Charlie Hoover (Sol Caceres), James Ashcroft (Shay Douglas); Robbie Boyd (Tim Lencina), Amilcar Herrera (Niklas Boedts), Sebastian Jansson (Peter Sanger); Cyril Simmons (Mark Ciszewski).
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