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Nichols Hoping for Healthy Squad Ahead of Cincinnati Game

December 29, 2010 - Professional Arena Soccer League (PASL)
Louisville Lightning News Release


Louisville Lightning coach Ted Nichols has just over a week until the team's next game, but the squad is short-handed heading into the new year. The Lightning travel to take on the Cincinnati Kings on New Year's Day, but several key members of the team are out with injuries following Friday's loss to the San Diego Sockers.

Nichols spoke after the game about his team's performance in the close loss to San Diego, as well as the direction of the team heading into next week's game against Cincinnati. He said his team came out with renewed energy late in the game against the Sockers, but their early deficit impacted his players' psyche.

"I don't know if anything necessarily changed, but we had a little hard luck and some lapses, and with those lapses, our heads got down," Nichols said after his team got into an early hole against San Diego. "I think we got off to a good start and had the right pressure; we had the right calmness about us, but we just had some lapses that cost us. I think when that happened we just put our heads down. We didn't have any freekicks or any power-ups until the fourth quarter, and that hurt us. That is one of the things I addressed at halftime," he said.

Nichols praised the performance of San Diego, but he was also pleased with how the Lightning finished the game. "Quite frankly, and I don't mean to knock the Eastern Division, but these guys [San Diego] are awesome. With that experience, they are phenomenal. I don't think the Eastern Division will punish us as much as these guys did," he said. "The guys stepped it up a bit, and I'm still looking for an identity with this team. I thought we possessed the ball well for the first time against a good team. I think if we take that into our next game against Cincinnati, the results will come."

Nichols said his team is limping into next weekend's game against Cincinnati, with a number of key players out. "Every day in the PASL is a struggle. I've got Ross Hopkins out, Simon [Bird] is out, OT [Yanez] and Jerry [Chavez] are both out," Nichols said. "We're looking at some options for our lineup and our roster and seeing what we can do. We'll have to mix and match a bit ahead of this upcoming Cincinnati game," he stated.



Professional Arena Soccer League Stories from December 29, 2010


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