A Weekend in Virginia - Day 3

I got up at around 7:00AM this morning, packed up my room, and headed out to catch the two semifinal games at 8:00AM.  FC Pennsylvania (PA) was playing Charlotte SC (NC) in one game, and Bethesda (MD) was matched up against Carolina Elite (SC) in the other.

Having not seen FC Pennsylvania play yet, I set up my folding chair at that game first.  My plan was to watch half this game then mosey over across the parking lot to catch the second half of the other game.

FC Pennsylvania was solid.  Very solid.  Two real dangerous, athletic, and skilled forwards, creative and quick mids, and an awesome center back.  Field #4 negated some of their passing combinations, but I could tell the idea was there.  Charlotte played tough, but after FC Pennsylvania scored in the first 15 minutes, I knew it would be difficult for Charlotte to come back.  I left with the score 1-0 in favor of FC Pennsylvania, and headed to the other game.

Bethesda and CESA battled in a hard fought contest.  I have never seen a team like Bethesda play at this age level.  I doubt they hit more than a handful of passes over 15 yards, yet tore CESA apart sometimes with quick, short, pinpoint passing combinations.  It was really fun to watch.  CESA was more direct and the two team's styles were clearly at odds with each other.  The game ended 0-0 and headed into overtime.

Maybe another east coast thing, but overtime meant both teams pulled off two players and played 2 x 5 minute periods 9v9.  Though the game opened up a bit, neither team broke through and the game went to PKs.  Again, I watched and was impressed by the coolness of the players who stepped up to take the kicks.  It was 4-4 after the first 5 players from each team went, with the GKs for each team coming up with one save a piece.  The game was eventually decided on the 8th shooter in favor of Bethesda.

I should have had the girls come out to watch these games.  They would have learned a lot.

I left the complex to grab a bite to eat, then returned to meet the girls for our final game.  South Charlotte had lost both games so far 4-0 and 5-0, and I was confident that we would leave with a good result to send us home.

Lily was back from injury but Becs was sidelined still for this game.  I moved some players around to give the girls some different experiences in tournament situations and the girls played fairly well.  Not great, but not Hockessin-bad.  Alas, we let up a soft goal in the first part of the first half and could not find a way to battle back for an equalizer, let alone for a game winner. 

South Charlotte was decent, better than Hockessin but no where near Charlotte SC.  Once again I thought we were the better team, and once again we couldn't get a result even though we created more attacking play and held our opponents to a limited number of quality scoring chances.  Tough way to end the weekend from a results perspective.

My ego was bruised for sure, though I could not let on to the girls about this.  In our final team talk after the game, I once again focused on the girls effort and all around attitude over the weekend.  I spoke to them about the benefit of making a trip like this to find top level competition (see You're Planning On Taking This Team Where?!?!) and that I was proud of them regardless of the win/loss records.  We talked about this being a good building block for State Cup in a few months and I think most of the girls left the field with a positive feeling.  I say most because I know a few were clearly disappointed with their performance over the weekend, and a few were too focused on winning to see the other success the weekend brought our team.  I can understand this as no one is more competitive than I am.  This weekend is going to sting for a while, but I know that it will help make this team stronger in the long run. 

I had a ticket out of Dulles on Monday morning, so my plan was to stay in DC near the airport tonight.  Before heading back up I-95 though, I made my way over to Striker Park to watch the final between FC Pennsylvania and Bethesda.  I almost fainted when I got out of my car and saw the field conditions over at the main park!  Check this out!

OK, maybe this comparison isn't quite fair as this was one of the Field Turf fields at the complex, but look at these shots another field at the park.  Most looked like this next one below... nice grass, flat, surrounded by sponsorship info, pro.

Here is the field the U13 Girls final was played on.

Man, did we draw the short straw or what?