Tireless athlete

BELLEVUE, Neb. - Has Bellevue University starting forward Casey Friend's game gone South, the direction of his birthplace in the Teche Area?

The New Iberia Senior High graduate and prep soccer standout for the Yellow Jackets, his own worst critic, isn't happy with the way he's playing or practicing going into the postseason.

"I don't know what's wrong with me. I haven't played that good the last two weeks," Friend said Wednesday morning.

His performance bugs him, he said, because he knows "if I'm playing well, I can affect the game." He has a powerful, accurate shot and skills that make him look like a wizard with the ball.

Friend, 21, had scored five goals and assisted on two goals going into Friday's Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament opener against Oklahoma Wesleyan University. He and other Bruins used the tournament in Parkville, Mo., as a springboard to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Tournament and hope, eventually, for a berth in the NAIA Final Four.

He lost his starting forward role, briefly, a week ago Saturday against MCAC arch-rival Park University in Parkville. Bellevue dropped the conference finale, a showdown between MCAC unbeatens, 2-0, but gained a measure of revenge with a 1-0 overtime win in the MCAC tournament finals to claim the league championship Saturday.

Friend had an assist on the winning goal by Trevor Eastman in the 96th minute, stealing the ball from Park defender Milan Ivanovic at the edge of the 18-yard box before passing to Eastman. Friend also had a goal in the Bruins' 6-2 win over Oklahoma Wesleyan in the tournament opener. Bellevue plays in the NAIA Region IV Tournament beginning Nov. 7.

The Bruins, 10-5-2 overall, 3-1 and second in the MCAC, are a young team with two seniors and 11 freshmen. Friend, who red-shirted as a freshman, is one of two sophomores while there are four juniors on the team.

"I'm in a slump right now. The first part of the season I had three goals in three games and two assists. I don't know what happened," he said.

"The best part of my game right now is when I play one- and two-touch. I'm still really quick. I have pace. When I get rid of the ball and get it again, that's when I'm on my form," he said. "(But) I've been dribbling a lot. It's easy to knock me down and get a free kick."

Friend also said he likes to be loud and to pump up teammates on the pitch but realizes coaches don't always agree with what he says, so he's quieter, trying to lead by example. Trouble is, he isn't playing as well as he would like.

"I work hard. I always work hard. I'm staying at it," he said. "I never give up. If we're down three-nil, that won't stop me from trying to score. I'll never quit. That's my big-time positives."

His work ethic, his never-say-die attitude and his skills are appreciated by Bruins head coach Matt Briggs, a Lincoln, England, native who moved to the States to play collegiate soccer at age 20. He was a Bellevue assistant coach two years before getting the head job for 2007.

"I've been with Casey as long as he's been in the program. I started coaching in the spring of 2004," Briggs said Tuesday. "He's doing very well. There's plenty of energy on this kid, lots of hustle. He scores important goals for us as a forward. I'm sure he will for the rest of the season."

Friend is a tireless athlete who gives his all in the weight room, during sprints and on the field, said Briggs, who went to the NAIA Final Four with Hastings (Neb.) College before finishing his collegiate soccer career with Bellevue.

"He (Friend) wants to improve. That's the big reason he's doing well. He puts a lot of pressure on himself to do better," he said. "I'm not surprised. I don't know if it's the training from down in Louisiana or what … the kid just doesn't stop working. He just trains well and applies it to the game. We're just really happy with him, basically."

"I love 'Briggsy' to death. He's one of the best coaches I've played for," Friend said.

There are rough spots between players and coaches in any sport. As Friend matures, he is accepting the way a coach-player relationship should work.

"I should learn from it. If he's not happy with me, I can guarantee I won't play as much as I want. But he is higher than me," he said. "We have our conference tournament coming up. I'm hoping to get some decent playing time."

About the Park match, Briggs said, "Casey actually didn't start the game for a number of reasons.

"He's back in the starting lineup today for Concordia," the coach said hours before Bellevue outlasted Concordia, 3-2, Tuesday night in a regular-season finale.

Friend had to quit playing "up top" in that match and move to outside midfielder against Concordia because a Bruins player got a red card before the match was 20 minutes old.

Cards, both yellow and red, were flying in Saturday's match, the one Friend didn't start. Two Bruins were red-carded and sent off, which prompted Briggs to send in Friend, who played about 20 minutes.

"He said I run for two players instead of one," Friend said. "I'm still Casey. I'm hard on myself when I don't play good."

"It's unbelievable how hard he works for the team. He has an unbelievable ability to bring the ball under control for the team. That's why he does ever so well," Briggs said.

The Bruins hoped to do "ever so well" against Oklahoma Wesleyan (6-3-3, 2-2) and defend its MCAC Tournament title.

"We should be strong coming into the tournament. We've played every team we'll see and we know what to expect," Friend said.

As for the future, Friend looks at his immediate past. He played soccer this past summer with Sioux Falls (S.D.) Spitfire, getting 15 to 20 minutes in each of the first eight matches before leaving the team that competed in the PDL United Soccer League.

"I scored a goal, even. I can say I scored a goal semi-pro," he said.

He would like to play closer to home next summer, perhaps for the Baton Rouge Capitals Soccer Club.

"I don't want to say I'm homesick," he said, "but I miss home."

Friend, the son of Brian and Cathy Friend, notes he has three years of collegiate soccer eligibility left and he has no plans to leave Bellevue. Later, if a professional team at any level doesn't recruit him, he's considering going overseas to play soccer.

Coaching could be in his future, too, he said.

"When I get that degree and paper, I can do pretty much what I want," he said confidently.

He wishes his alma mater well in 2007-08.

"I hope NISH does well. I just want something good to happen to New Iberia. I'm hoping they are really good and shock everybody," he said.