Premier League Game #10 vs Eden Prairie

Not much to say about this game.  We were flat, Eden Prairie played very well.  Not a good combination for us, but I'm sure that thought is relative.

We came out in our 4-4-2, with the thought of continuing our build up play work seen in the two games earlier this week, but I now encouraged the girls to mix in some more direct play to keep us unpredictable. 

Again we were on the ridiculously wide 110x80 yard field.  I had an inkling that this would work against us as EP was very good at linking across the field, especially around our penalty box.

EP jumped ahead early... very early.  I'm not sure we touched the ball before they took the opening kickoff, knocked the ball around a bit, and sent in a deep cross that floated in behind our defenders to EP's danger player, Taylor (CF).  Tori was caught on her line as the ball dropped in the six yard box, and after a scramble, the EP forward toe poked the ball in the net.  I looked down at my watch... seemed like I just pressed the upper right button to start the game.  Guess I was wrong as the digital readout confirmed that I pushed the start button 47 seconds ago. 

To our girls credit, we rebounded fairly well and I feel carried the play for the next 15 minutes.  Lily (CM) came close to equalizing the match as her quick shot from the top of the box smacked the crossbar in the 9th minute.

The last 20 minutes of the first half was a back and forth battle with neither team capitalizing on their chances.

At halftime, we talked about a couple things that were killing us.  EP would look to change the point of attack deep in our end of the field, and our defenders and midfielders were caught following the ball a number of times, allowing them to be beat with quick, penetrating 1 or 2 touch passes.  Also, many time our angle of approach to a player who was receiving a square ball was too flat, allowing the receiving player to take a touch forward to beat us. 

Though I think we did better at these things in the second half, EP was the better overall team on the day.  They scored their second goal about 10 minutes in as a ball was played over the top of our back four defenders, all of whom were caught off guard.  Tori was caught in no-mans-land as well, and I think she might have been able to exit her box and clear the ball away with her feet before it was reached by the EP forward.  I think EP's danger forward was the one who ran the through ball down and slipped it past Tori at the top of our box.

All in all, not a great performance for us tonight, but the girls have nothing to be ashamed about.  They had a great season and were clearly one of the top teams in this league in almost every category, save for overall athleticism.  We allowed the least number of goals in (7 in 10 games) of any Premier team and there is no question in my mind that the group will be stronger next year as U14s than any current U14 was this year. 

Here are the final results and standings for the 2007 U14 Girls Premier League.

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I have been looking for a coach for this team for next year for some time now.  I believe the list of qualified coaches (in my mind) is short, and I won't pass the team off unless I'm comfortable with the next coach in place.  Arrogant?  Maybe.  But I care about this group and want to make sure that I don't just pass them off just to pass them off.  I approached Stever Bellis (Head Coach St Kates College and ex-DOC of the Wings club) but I think he was uncomfortable taking a position with our club as Wings and Bangu have been rivals for some time, both looking to cater to the higher level players.  I also shot Julie Eibensteiner an email asking if she was planning on staying with the Woodbury Inferno (U15 girls) for another year... she was.  And I approached Jeff Zupfer, current head coach of the St Croix U18 girls who has also done some work with Macalester College, but Jeff's commitments to his current endeavors also prohibited involvement with a new team.  Not many other options out there, but I'm still looking!

Our success at Regionals has actually worked against the placement of another coach as it is easy (right or wrong) for the next coach to be measured by their success at Regionals, not being perceived as having done a good enough job unless the team advances to Nationals in 2008.  Even I know that Regionals are a crap shoot and there is not person who can predict which team will take the title each summer.   

Would it kill me to stay with this team another year?  Not in the slightest.  In fact, I'd greatly enjoy it, I'm sure.  However, I also want to return to the U11 age group this fall where I'm looking forward to the challenge of developing another group of talented girls.  Can I do both?  For sure.  Can I do both well?  I believe so, but we'll see what happens in the coming weeks.