State Cup Game #3 vs TC Fire

Another beautiful night for soccer.

I arrived up in Coon Rapids around 5:30PM to watch the Group A third round pool games, NSSA vs Wings and MapleBrook vs St Croix.  Wings led the group with 4 points, NSSA and MapleBrook each had 3.  If Wings won, they'd advance to the semifinals against us on Saturday.  If NSSA won and MapleBrook lost, NSSA would advance as group champion.  If Wings and NSSA tied and MapleBrook won, MapleBrook would advance.  Got it?

So, with three out of the four possible teams a possible opponent for us tomorrow, I perched up on the electrical box between the fields to try and scout out 3 teams.  Not really that easy, but it helped that I'd been able to watch them all over the last few weeks as most of the Group A games were played at earlier times to the other U13 games.  All I could hope for were some early goals to help narrow down exactly who I was watching.  Surprisingly, St Croix scored two on MapleBrook to kick them out of the hunt.  The Wings NSSA game was decent.  Both teams tried to knock the ball around a bit, and bother teams missed some clear chances at goal.  Both teams appeared to be slow in the back, and I didn't see anyone who I thought could match our speed up top. 

Wings looked to be playing a 4-5-1, content that a tie would send them through to the next round.

Wings played a flat back four while NSSA played with what looked liked a sweeper/stopper or at times 3 in the back with a defensive central midfielder.  NSSA also pulled an offisdes trap and I was looking forward to breaking that... often. 

I had seen a number of chances squandered by each side, with NSSA missing a PK on a dubious shoulder to shoulder foul in the box, then proceeding to miss a 1v1 breakaway on the GK a minute later. 

Wouldn't you know it, at around the 60 minute mark I took my eyes off the game to chat with Dom and Clint (the Wayzata coaches) and boom, the sidelines erupted with cheers behind me. Wings scored to go up 1-0, against the run of play I thought, and held on from there to set up the Wings/Bangu matchup tomorrow afternoon. 

I went over to gather up my girls who were watching the U13 Bangu boys play, and we headed over to our field to get ready for the TC Fire game.

Right before we took the field to warm up, I sat the girls down for a little chat.  I apologized to them for letting my frustration show last night during the end of the Coon Rapids game, and talked to them about why I didn't challenge the ref's decision regarding our apparent goal.  I told them that at that particular point in the game, I thought the ref went over to the AR and she called the ball out (I would later find out that the AR claimed not to have told the ref anything as she could not tell exactly what happened).  Ripper and some other girls who were on the field then informed me that I wasn't right about the AR and that the ref asked the Coon Rapids girls if the ball was out.  Wow.  Regardless, it's behind us and we now needed to focus on this weekend. 

I also told them that I take the blame for making a decision to push a defender up without giving her clear instruction, and used this example to remind the girls about the importance of communication.   

Lastly, I told the girls that I'm very proud of their efforts and their competitiveness.  They've worked very, very hard this past 10 months and they should all be looking forward to a fun and exciting summer.

In an additional effort to put the negativity of last night behind us, and also knowing that we had already advanced into the semis tomorrow, I ran through a couple fun warm-up exercises with the girls before the game: 8v8 Walking Soccer and 4v4 Linked Soccer (see Training - April 28).  Check that, I haven't updated that session yet.  Basically, for 8v8 Walking Soccer, I set up a 60x44 yard field (extend the lines of the penalty box to midfield) and add a cone goal at midfield.  Girls play 8v8 but cannot run.  The idea I'm trying to get across here is that the mind is quicker than the body will ever be.  Moreover, it's a ton of fun for the girls.

4v4 Linked Soccer uses the same field set up, but now the girls hold hands with a teammate, making 4 groups of 2 on each team.  The groups can run.  Another very fun exercise. 

Knowing that we faced a less skilled opponent tonight, I was able to prep the girls prior to the game what changes/restrictions we would impose once we got up by 3 goals.  My instructions to them were to play "normally" and look to put the game away early.  If we hit three goals, immediate restrictions would be 1) 2-touch in the attacking half of the field except if on a breakaway, 2) no beating a player 1v1 anywhere on the field, and 3) no passes in the air except on corners. 

I told the girls if the broke the rules I'd sub them out, and I didn't care if they were only on the field for 30 seconds. 

To TC Fire's credit, their girls battled hard all game against a team they knew was much better than them. 

In the 9th minute Ripper (LF) received the ball near the top of the Fire's penalty box.  She dribbled into the area, cut back on a Fire defender, and was fouled.  The girls looked at me for direction on who would take the kick, and I told them that they could sort it out.  Jilly (RM) stepped up and buried a low, hard shot into the bottom left (as she was facing it) corner of the net.  As one of our more quite and unassuming players, she works hard and has come a long way since joining us last fall.  She has undoubtedly been our most consistent PK taker in the last week when we've been focusing on the spot kicks, and I was proud of her when she stepped up to take it.

Two minutes later, Millie (CM) beat a few Fire defenders on the right flank and played a square pass into the box.  Maddie (LF) had made a cutting run into the box and finished with a low, right-footed (her weak foot) shot past a diving Fire GK. 

We scored our third goal at the 30 minute mark as Soph (CM) hit a left foot bomb from 30 yards out.

In the second half, with the restrictions in place, the girls played very well.  The new #3 restriction of no aerial passes was genius.  Not only did it severely blunt our strong over-the-top attack, but it forced the girls to look for passes to feet instead of long through balls, and passes to feet instead of long clearances from the back.  Couple this with the two touch restriction in the attacking half, and the girls were forced to work harder to generate positive attacks even though the game was already in hand.

Andy, the Fire coach who also coaches our U12 Academy group, made a change in the second half as his defenders now looked to step up quickly and compact the field in a semi-offsides trap mentality.  It worked as within the first 5 minutes of the half, Millie (LF) was caught offsides 6 or 7 times. 

In the 44th minute, we scored our best goal of the night with sweet 1 and 2 touch combination passing between Maddie (CM), Becs (LF), and Jilly (RF) that saw Maddie finish with a rocket.  I tired to illustrate it below, but it doesn't do the goal justice. 

In the 51st minute, Jilly (RF) played a slot ball across to Millie (LF) at the far post.  Millie's first touch was too close to her feet, her second touch set up her shot (which she curled in the lower right corner)... and I subbed her off for taking 3 touches.

In the 64th minute, Jilly (RF) capped off a great game with a fantastic far post, side netting shot off a nice slot ball from Blondie.

Our final tally came in the 66th, when Hannah (LF) played a ball back to Ripper (CM) on the left side of the goal.  Ripper took one touch inside the field and hit a good shot from about 18 yards away.

After the game, I asked the girls if they understood why the restrictions were in place.  They did.  The idea was to continually find ways to keep them challenged on the field against weaker competition.  The first 15 minutes, girls were coming off the field saying the game was boring.  When asked if the enjoyed the second half better, it was an overwhelming "Yes!".  That's what it's all about.

* * * * *

Our White team was also already through to the semis, and they beat Lakeville 2-0.  Our Green team beat Cottage Grove 1-0 and Blaine was beat 2-1 by EP, so our Green team advanced to the semis to face our White team tomorrow.