State Cup Game #1 vs Eden Prairie

Due to our fantabulous spring weather thus far, our first scheduled State Cup game vs NSSA, initially set to be played on Sunday, Apr 27, was postponed until Sunday, May 4.  That was a huge disappointment, to have a State Cup reschedule slotted on top of the Minnesota Thunder home opener. 

Regardless, rain and cold and field cancellations by city parks and rec boards saw us have a grand total of zero training sessions in the 9 days leading up to Tuesday's State Cup match up against Eden Prairie.  Well, the girls will either be REALLY rusty or they'll come out on fire.  I was hoping for the latter obviously, but got the former. 

Prior to the game, I gave the girls three goals.  1) Set the tone early, 2) Take care of the ball, and 3) Prove you're the best.  

Set the Tone Early
Communicate, intimidate, fight for the ball, make tough tackles, pressure at pace, press the attack.  I know we are the heavy favorites this year.  All our work last year guarantees us of one thing only - we'll get the best our opponent's have as it will be easy for them to get up for the game, knowing the quality of opponent they face.  We can use this to our advantage by coming out strong.  The more our opponents see our team as the normal giddy 13 and 14 year old girls we are, the more they think they can play with us.  On the other hand, if the other team continues to see us as the big, bag, regional champs, we'll have an advantage. 

Take Care of the Ball
Though we didn't have a field training session since our MRL weekend in Appleton, we did get the girls together for a video session.  We analyzed our Vegas game vs the Utah Avalanche Premier, a game that we were disappointed to drop to a team that we all knew we were better than. 

I asked the girls to watch themsleves (not a tough task) and track their touches - completed passes vs missed passes, and give aways on the dribble or due to a poor touch on the ball.  The results were eye-opening for them. 

Of the 16 girls there, only two had more positive passes than giveaways (poor passes or poor touches).  In total, we gave the ball away over 120 times during the 70 minute game, completing less than 80 passes.  That's not very good.  The data doesn't lie though, and the girls needed to see it like this so things sunk in better.  

If the other team doesn't have the ball, they can't hurt us.  We also want to keep better possession as we rest WITH THE BALL (on the attack), not when we don't have the ball and are defending.  No wonder we didn't look very fit or athletic.  We were always chasing the ball after our giveaways.  

Prove You're the Best
I have absolutely no doubt that we have the most skilled and competitive group at our age in Minnesota.  Paper facts mean nothing though if there is no result at the end of the day in this competition.  I want the girls to come into each game and walk the walk, so to speak.  If we're having an "off" day, they have to dig deep to get the result.  It won't be pretty all the time, but championship teams find ways to win when they need to.

* * * * * 

We started in a 4-5-1 formation, hoping to use our wide play strength to cause EP defenders trouble.  To EP's credit, or to their demise, they didn't come out in a defensive shell.  However, though the EP girls seemed to give it all they had, they were simply not at our technical/tactical level.  They did cause some trouble with their two fast forwards and managed to catch us on a counter attack and hit the post very early on, but Tori (GK) was not tested the rest of the game.

We had a gap behind our mids and in front of our defenders that EP forwards were able to exploit, receive the ball under little to no pressure, turn, and run at our defenders.  As our weakness became clear, we pushed Gratz (CD) up to a more defensive mid role, effectively shifting to a 3-6-1, then pushed a mid up top taking us to a 3-5-2.  Tough for the girls to shift in the middle of the half, but they're learning how to adjust as we've looked to make formation changes in the run of play more often as of late.  In part as we look for good systems for the group of girls we have this year, and in part to the varying strengths and weaknesses of the opponents we've faced thus far in 2008.

I was still looking forward to halftime to sort it out better.   

We got on the scoreboard in the 14th minute as our attacking pressure led to a series of corner kicks.  Blondie (RF) served in a great ball that Becs (CD) got her head to to finish. 

The half ended like that, though EP was under severe pressure for most of it.  

At half, Cook and I took some time to explain the dynamics of the 3-5-2 formation we suddenly found oursleves in.  We also talked about settling into our strength, which is working the ball across the field, attacking the flanks, and getting on the end of accurate services. 

11 minutes into the second half we doubled our lead, again of a fantastic corner kick service from Blondi, this time with Bidi (RM) heading the ball home.  

At the 20th minute, we put the game away with a great cross from Bidi (RM) that found Getch (LF) in the box for the finish.  

Our 4th came with 5 minutes left as Becs (CD) took a quick free kick from just side our half.  Her 40 yard long ball found Ripper (RF) who flicked the ball first-time forward to Blondi (LF) who was making the diagonal second run in behind.  Blondie took a couple touches at speed then fired a low, far-post shot past the diving EP GK.  

4-0 in a decent performance.  

Up next, Eagan on Thursday.