Hesmer overcomes equipment issues
Columbus goalkeeper was unable to get comfortable in rainy conditions last week
The last thing a 'keeper wants is to be concerned about the equipment he is using but that was the case for the Columbus Crew's William Hesmer on Saturday against D.C. United. The grass in Crew Stadium was watered before the match to help move the ball long the surface and a few sprinkles kept it wet but underneath it was rock hard.
"I wasn't comfortable with the ground. The studs weren't effective," Hesmer said after the match. "Because the ground was wet, the ball was slipping and I couldn't find a pair of gloves to effectively catch the ball."
Still, he made a career-high 10 saves in the 1-1 tie.
Backup 'keeper Andy Gruenebaum said the flurry of activity presented by D.C. probably helped Hesmer get through the match.
"Will was under duress the entire game," he said. "To not feel comfortable, at least you don't have time to think about it when you're facing 22 shots."
Gruenebaum knew before the match that it was going to be a night of decisions.
"During warmups the first thing I told Will was the field's a rock. It was pretty hard," he said. "We didn't know whether to wear studs, the ones I have are like ice skates, or wear molded or six studs."
Hesmer switched to gloves that handle water better than his normal set.
"I'm not going to make any excuses," he said. "It's the operator, not the gloves, but you want to find one that when it's wet it sticks well. I have great choices from Puma but it was like a film of wetness (on the gloves). It wasn't like I got them soaked. If they were soaked it would probably have been better."
There were myriad challenges: He had problems fielding balls, several took high bounces off the turf and he had trouble with his goal kicks, two of which went out of bounds.
"Our field is almost to the unsafe point when it's that hard and slick on top," he said. "When it's that hard it's like an ice skating rink. I wear studs but they don't take. You're running up to the ball every time worried about not hitting it flush. You're worried about slipping."
Coach Robert Warzycha noticed from the onset that Hesmer was not playing like he did against New York on June 27 when he needed to make only one save for a 1-0 win his first game back from a 10-week layoff due to injuries.
"He wasn't as sharp," said Warzycha. "He was decisive but technically he wasn't the best. He made good decisions. He made a save with his legs in the first half. That was a great decision. The bad things didn't affect the score but maybe it did his kicking ability."
Gruenebaum said the key is to put the negativity aside.
"You can overcome it. I've noticed if my shin guards aren't tied down, a little loose, I feel it. Little things like that. Once that whistle blows you're focused but if the ball goes out of bounds, someone goes down injured, you're adjusting and fidgeting," he said. "Sometimes it's just a feeling. Maybe Will had an uneasy feeling about what was going on. It was only his second game back."
That's exactly how Hesmer felt.
"You go into the game with confidence and you hope your first play is clean; your second play is clean and even if they're not you put it behind you and start again," he said. "It was one of those nights where it didn't make things easy. Let's put it that way. It made things harder on us than they needed to be. It was harder on myself than it needed to be. That was very uncharacteristic of me. Over the years one of my strong points is what I'm able to do I tend to do pretty clean. It wasn't the case Saturday."
He expects to be back in his normal groove Saturday at Chicago in a showdown for the Eastern Conference lead. He is also buoyed by knowing even on an off night against D.C. he helped his team get a valuable point.
"You have to adapt. You can't let it affect you," Hesmer said. "I gave up some rebounds but luckily it didn't cost us."
Craig Merz is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
