USA Cup Championship vs Snohomish United Fury (WA)

I had seen the Snohomish United Fury (WA) team play in the quaterfinals against Dakota Rev’s team.  The Fury had control of the great majority of that game, with a few dangerous attacking athletes.  They had a #7 who could throw the ball in 25 – 30 yards and a couple of girls who could strike a ball well on set pieces.  Their #3 was also a dangerous attacking player around the box.  I did not think they were as strong in the back and played with a very deep sweeper.  It would be a decent match up, but again I came into the game giving us the overall edge.

We were dangerous from the onset, creating a number of solid goal scoring opportunities.  Again, we were just a little unsharp on some of our finishing technique.

We came out in our 4-1-2-3 formation that had served us so well in the event.  At Regionals, we found more success with the more standard 4-4-2 formation, but somehow in this event we just couldn’t find a good rhythm in that shape as of late.

We had the advantage of the wind behind our backs in the first half, but the girls were struggling to serve a decent ball, be it on corner kicks, free kicks, or longer passes from the back or across the field.  It was weird.

As the game went on, I also noticed that our midfielders were not going after the opposing GK punts with their heads, instead allowing the ball to drop in front of them and trying to control the ball with their bodies.  That was weird as well as Macky and Lily, two of our most proficient headers of the ball in the center of midfield, appeared hesitant to attack the ball with their heads.

After one of the substitutions, I asked Macky about it and she commented that the ball was too hard.  Huh?!?!  This coming from a girl who would likely have no fear of heading a coconut if it came at her.  I made a comment to the ref about it and he dismissed my complaint with a wave.  I can’t stand arrogant refs who think their word is law about every single aspect of the game and who won’t even give an appearance of listening to a coach’s comments.

So the half went on, and we continued to press the attack but were unable to find the back of the net.

Once when the ball went out of play near our bench, I scooped the ball up and tried to push my hands against it to see how hard it was.  Usually, even with very inflated soccer balls you can still get some give in the outer panels.  This one was an absolute rock.  I made another comment to the ref while I was holding the ball, and now the AR started to get on me to sit down and get the ball back in play.  "Here.  You head it!" I told the AR somewhat jokingly.  I don't think he appreciated the comment.

At halftime, I told the girls I was proud of the effort and the level of play on the field.  We needed to try and play quicker from the back to take advantage of our midfield players and the space that was being given to them.  I had asked our central forward to stay deep on the Snohomish sweeper, forcing the Fury central defender to mark our forward, effectively having two of their girls mark one of ours.  The idea was to find this central forward in space in the corners to draw our the central defenders, or to make use of the gap left by the central defender as she was forced to mark our pushed-deep forward.

We also talked about changing the rhythm of our play, sometimes choosing to hold the ball and dribble or keep possession to slow the game up, while at other times trying to link up the field in quick, one or two touch passing.  Lull them to sleep, then pounce forward.

Lastly, I challenged the girls to still try and raise the level of our intensity in the second half.  We had come out well in the first 35 minutes (the final had 35 minute halves), something we hadn’t done in the previous two games, and I wanted the girls to play the second half like we had in our previous two games.  "How do you want to end your season?"  I asked them.  "No regrets, leave everything on the field."

I feel that our overall team strength has been a key factor in our success this summer.  When many other teams we face have 8 or 9 really solid players, the drop off when substitutions are made is noticeable.  I don’t feel that we drop much at all when we make changes, and I believe we wear teams down.  We’ve scored a lot of important goals in the final 15 – 20 minutes of many games this year, and it comes down to fitness, focus, constant pressure, and heart… all of which I think we have a lot of.

I asked our captains, Hannah and Lily, to talk to the refs about the ball when they came to the field to start the second half.  Again, the ref dismissed their concerns with a wave, telling them that both teams were playing with the same ball.

Um… duh?  I know that.  But just because both teams were playing with a bowling ball doesn’t mean it’s a soccer game.  These weren’t 19 year old guys, these were 13 year old girls.  Neither team could kick the ball and I heard both teams complaining about heading it.  But what the ref says, we have to do.

The second half was not much different from the first as I believe we were well in control of the game.  The Snohomish defenders, after absorbing wave upon wave of attacks, slowly started to hang back more and more when the ball was cleared up field.  This gave our midfielders a ton of space to work with when they received the ball from our defenders.

With about 20 minutes left, and after watching our girls struggle to serve a long ball or cross, I finally had enough.  Once again I made a comment to the center ref about the ball when it went out of play near our benches.  He waved me off again and made the same comment that it was the same ball for both teams.  This time, the AR had enough and began yelling at me to sit down or I’d be asked to leave.  I think I was pretty amicable, stating my case simply and asking the center ref to take a look at the ball.  The AR, who hadn’t probably even come in contact with the ball got fed up with my commentary and continued to threaten that I would be asked to leave if I didn’t sit down.

Luckily, the ball went out of play immediately after that right next to the AR.  I saw him pick up the ball and test it’s hardness, then I saw enlightenment dawn on his face.  Ah, this is what the crazy coach was complaining about.  The AR motioned the center ref over and must have said something.  The ref tested the ball, apparently for the first time that day, and motioned to the opposing coach for a needle.  No lie, they probably let a full 15 seconds of air out of the ball before allowing play to resume.  Thank you.

Five minutes later, and all because the ball was finally at playable hardness (just kidding) we scored one of our best goals of the year.  Sophie (LD) received a ball from the center of the field on the left flank, about 20 yards in our own half.  She hit a bending ball down the line to Maddie (LF).  Sophie and Maddie have been linking up well this tournament, connecting to score the game winner versus Tony Glavin in the quarterfinals yesterday.  Maddie came to the ball with a defender tight on her back (about 40 yards from goal), laid a one-touch pass the way she was facing to Getch (CM) and spun away down the line with an encouraging “Play and move!” from me since she was right in front of our bench.  Getch played a one-touch pass through and Maddie was off to the races. Maddie took a couple touches then served in a great bending cross into the area.  Bidi (RF) came streaking in, controlled the ball with her body, and volleyed home from about 10 yards out.  I turned around to look at Mark Cook (BTFC Girls Coaching Director) who was sitting behind me and we both smiled.  It was a great goal, worthy of about 7 seconds of goose bumps.

Six minutes later we put the game away thanks to a terrific individual effort by Maddie at left forward.  The move started with either Millie (CM) or Jilly (CF) receiving a ball in the middle of the field n a break from the back, about 50 yards from goal.  The ball was played wide to Maddie who had found some space down the left flank.  Without hesitation, she took on the defender in front of her, turned the corner nearing the endline, danced by an incoming supporting defender and ripped a right footed (weak foot for her) shot that the Snohomish GK made a great save on.  The GK was only able to parry the hard shot and the ball dropped in the danger area. Maddie fought off the third defender who had come to challenge her initial shot, and finished the rebound, again with her right foot.

Again, late goals to give us the win, one of them a fantastic group combination effort, the other a terrific individual effort.  The game ended 2-0 and we were off to the sports hall to hoist the Cup!

It was a perfect ending to a memorable season.

USA Cup Semifinals vs NSSA (MN)

Our semifinal match up saw us come up against the NSSA group.  The north suburban team had run away with the U13 girls North district league, thus qualifying for a U14 Premier spot for the 2008 summer MYSA season.  NSSA beat the Unionville team from Canada in the other quarterfinal game in PKs.

I was looking forward to the game.  We had seen every other semi-decent to decent team at our age group except for these guys.  I felt confident that if we played well we would get the result, and I was more interested in seeing if they had anyone in their group that might be considered an impact player for either our Blue or White teams.  A couple of the NSSA girls had come to our tryouts two years ago, and there was one hard working forward for them that I had seen play in last year's summer State Tournament and this past year's State Cup.  I was interested to see how these players would match up against the competition I was sure our girls could present.

I knew the game would be a tough one.  The NSSA team surely knew about our group and it would be easy for them to get up for the game mentally.  I think our girls were excited about the match up as well, energized by the good second half performance of the earlier game that day.

The only little disappointment I had was that we were scheduled on one of the "F" fields.  These fields were in decent shape, but were not as large as some of the other ones on the complex.  I had scouted the NSSA team in State Cup in May and noted that they liked to pull an offisdes trap.  It was very effective against some of the lesser tuned-in teams, but I thought that we would break the trap for a number of goals if they pulled it against us.  They also liked to push up and trap opponents off free kicks from the midfield area.  I educated the Goo Girls about these things prior to the game, asking the girls to remember how we wanted to break the offsides trap against Javanon at Regionals. 

The game started out OK for us.  We missed two breakaways and two good chances inside the six yard box off crosses.  The NSSA GK played well, their defense caught us a couple times on the trap, and they managed to attack down the field a couple times.  Tori (GK) wasn't forced into anything too difficult, but we could not seem to finish any of the chances we created. 

The half ended 0-0 and it was neat to see how excited their parent group was at the tied score.  They knew what level of competition they were up against and I'm sure wanted to praise the efforts of their team to keep the game deadlocked.  "It was only a matter of time." I thought. 

I said as much to the girls at halftime.  I knew our overall team strength and believed that the NSSA group could not keep us off the scoreboard for much longer.  I told the girls we would likely score 3 goals in the second half, and just needed to concentrate on doing some of the little things correctly. 

We were getting a ton of crosses from the right side, but many of these were played directly into the GK's hands.  I wanted our wide players to either pull the ball back away from the GK, or drive the ball lower and harder into the box.

NSSA had a dangerous forward and we were caught diving in on her a few times.  Patience, delay with pressure, communicate with your teammate so they know when they have cover and can safely go in for a tackle without the risk of being the last defender. 

Keep up the intensity.  They can't match us technically, but they can out work us.  Match their work rate and effort and our skill and game intelligence will see us through.

It took us 17 minutes to finally break through and score a goal, then the flood gates opened.

17th minute we go up 1-0 as Sting (RF) drove in a low, hard crot (cross shot) that squeaked under the NSSA GK.  Lucky goal, but the all count.

19th minute, GK punted a ball from the top of the box and didn't get a hold of it all.  It fell to Brownie (LF) about 30 yards out.  Brownie controlled the ball nicely, took a touch, the hit an intelligent, early shot that sailed over the retreating GK into the net for our second goal. 

90 seconds later, Ripper (CF) found Brownie (LF) down the left flank.  Brownie crossed the ball too deep and Jilly (RF) ran it down at the far side of the box.  She spun her body around the ball and sent in a floating cross back to the far post area that Blondie (CF) headed home.

90 seconds after that, Jilly (RF) broke the offsides trap, ran down a through ball, and drove in a low, hard cross the Blondie (CF) tapped home.

All in all, I'd say that was a pretty effective shift for those girls.

4-0 in a good, but not great, performance. 

* * * * *

A U14 boys team from Mexico City had befriended some of the girls earlier in the day and had come out to watch.  It was neat for the girls to see the Mexican group go wild in celebration after we scored our goals.  The would all dance around, sing and chant, and waive their shirts over their heads in pure glee. 

After the game, the girls were more interested in posing for a picture with their new found loves instead of listen to my post-game spiel.  Oh well, I didn't mind.  The girls will likely remember the dancing Mexicans 10 years from now, not the result of the game we just played.  It's all about positive experiences with soccer, and one of the reasons that I love this event so much. 

USA Cup Quaterfinals vs Tony Glavin Green (MO)

For this match up, we were assigned to play on U1, the stadium field at the Sports Center. It would be a fun experience for the girls to get on the well kept surface.

I had seen the Tony Glavin team play NSSA earlier in the week. They didn’t over impress me and again I came into the game confident.

We started in our 4-4-2 formation with my thought to make use of our flank midfielders on the wide field. The games were behind schedule, so we were forced to warm up on the track, with kick off planned immediately after the U17 girls game was done on the field before us.

We came out flat and Tony Glavin pressed the attack well. They were athletic and quick, and just wanted it more than our girls did from the onset. The first half was all theirs. We struggled to possess the ball, with our two central midfielders overwhelmed whenever they received the ball. Our defending was poor lacking both intensity and sharpness. Tony Glavin was able to create some decent chances, mainly off dangerous corner kicks; two or three of which dropped in our six yard box. We were a bit fortunate that no opponents were able to get on the end of these services.

Our attack was dull and lifeless, and there was very little build up play. We had a couple chances, but they came off hopeful long balls that we tried to chase down. I got on Sophie (LD) and Maddie (LM) a lot, mainly because as left-sided players, they were right in front of our bench for the first half, and their lackluster performance was symbolic of that of the entire team. They just bore the brunt of my vocalness due to their proximity to my observation point. Overall, a not-so-great 30 minutes of soccer for our group.

I got on the girls at halftime, more demanding than I can remember being in a long time. I stated simply that we were being out worked. We needed to step up our intensity all over the pitch and, if we could match the intensity and desire of the Missouri team, I felt our skill would carry us through the day. Our defenders and midfielders, unaccustomed to the faster, more athletic opposition (a downfall of not playing extremely tough teams in group play), were one step too slow on almost everything. I challenged them to step up and not exist the tournament without a fight.

We shifted to a 4-1-2-3, primarily to get numbers back into the center of the field while hopefully pressing the attack with the third forward.

The second half was all us. The girls responded well to the halftime tongue lashing and I breathed a sigh of relief to see them come out and play. There was the risk of them going in the opposite direction with that not-that-positive halftime talk, but to their credit they buckled down and came out on fire.

I think that this type of verbal motivation is needed at this age group from time to time. And, I feel I can do this every now and again because the girls know that I respect them and care for them. If they didn’t perceive this, or even if they did perceive this but I did it all the time, the results would not be as noticeable nor as effective.

18 minutes into the second half (we were playing 2 x 30 minute halves until the final which would be our normal 2 x 35 minute periods), we got the go ahead goal. Sophie (LD) who had been struggling to find her form in the game but had come out and done better in the second half, finally had a great first touch on a ball played wide to her from midfield. About 10 yards in our own half, she prepped the ball and found Maddie (LF) on a fantastic through ball. Maddie chased the ball down, outran the pursuing defender and angled into to goal.

I had talked to the girls all tournament about finishing breakaways. I wanted the girls to have the composure to slot (pass) the ball on the groun past the GK on 1v1s like this, as the accuracy became more important close to goal than the power. However, I told the girls that if they were ever in doubt, to put their head down and rip the ball on target.

The Tony Glavin GK stayed on her line as Maddie neared goal, and I think this gave Maddie pause as she expected the GK to close her down. I saw Maddie take a final peek at goal then, from about 10 yards out she absolutely laced the ball near post to give us the lead. It was great to see these to girls combine for the needed goal, especially as they were probably not too happy with me getting on them in the first half.

Ten minutes later we put the game away with our second. Nash (CM) fought hard for a loose ball about 30 yards out from the Tony Glavin goal, and we were awarded a free kick when she was taken down. Hannah (CD) stepped up and served a great ball into the far post area. Sting (LF) rose to challenge for the ball, forcing a Tony Glavin defender to try and challenge as well in order to not give Sting a free header. This challenge by Sting was important and courageous, especially as she does not like to head the ball. The ball squirted between the two challenging players and fell to Mille (CF) who was left unmarked at the far post. Millie took a touch and finished with her second touch.

It was a game of two halves (aren’t they all), but a solid performance in the final 30 minutes gave us the victory.  On to the semifinals!

USA Cup Game #3 vs Tonka United (MN)

Our third group game pitted us against a Tonka United team from Minnetonka. I had seen the Tonka girls play earlier in the week vs Fondy, and was confident that we would find a result with a decent performance.

We came out a little slow, and allowed Tonka a few forays into our half.  Nothing too dangerous, but more attacking play for our opponents than I would have liked to see.  We'd given up a soft goal to FC Barrington on Tuesday, and I wanted the girls to take some pride in our defending, like we've done all year.

We settled in around the 15 minute mark and began to play some good soccer. 

In the 17th minute, Mackie (LF) played a low cross into to the box that Millie (CF) finished to give us the lead.

5 minutes later, the ball popped out to the top of the box from a volleyed clearance by a Tonka defender.  Nash (CM) tired to smartly controlled the ball with her head, then sprang forward to challenge for the loose ball in our opponents box.  The ball ricocheted out to the left and dropped to Maddie (LF) who took a touch and finished.

Within another 3 minutes we got our third.  The Tonka GK didn't get everything into a punt and the ball went straight to Maddie (now at RF) about 20 yards from goal.  Maddie controlled it well and rocketed a shot into the top of the net.

Our fourth came 10 minutes into the second half when Brownie's (LF) cross found Scratch (RF) in space, and Scratch buried a shot for her first goal of the tournament. 

We played well this game and I'm looking forward to some tougher competition heading into the playoff rounds tomorrow.

USA Cup Game #2 vs Fondy Vipers

Our second game of the tournament saw us matched up against the Fondy Vipers, a team from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Fondy had beaten Tonka United (Minnetonka, MN) in their opening game 2-0. I watched both teams play prior to our first game and knew if we played our game that we should be in good shape.

A 10:40AM kickoff and it was already steamy. We were informed that there would be a 2-minute water break in the middle of each half, but the halves would not be shortened – something that would happen if the temperature was hot enough.

We came out in our 4-1-2-3 formation, looking to press the attack early. When I went over to shake hands with the Fondy coaches just before kickoff, I found out that they had been following our team website and knew about us. They congratulated me and the girls for our run at regionals and commented about how they found the website interesting/useful. That was really cool.

The first 10 minutes set the tone for the game. I think Fondy came out to defend, playing what looked like a 4-5-1. Their GK was a beast and very good in the air. She didn’t punt the ball, but could launch a throw to midfield. My bet is that she’ll soon be the Fond du Lac HS starting QB.

We were dangerous on the attack, creating a number of VERY good chances, but we were a bit off on our finishing touches. Actually, that’s an understatement. Our finishing was unbelievably horrendous. It was just one of those games in which we were clearly the dominant team, but we hit posts, miss hit very good chances, and completely missed or whiffed on open nets… from inside the six yard box. Many of our shots were lofted, making the Fondy GK look very good. She was good, don’t get me wrong, but we made her look better. It was comical, to a point.

The Fondy girls battled hard, but with all due respect, they were outmatched physically and technically by the Goo Girls.

The half ended 0-0, much to the disappointment of our team. At halftime, I told the girls that I had absolutely no issue with how we were playing. We were sharp, knocking the ball around well, getting down the flanks, and defending tenaciously. I was looking for a little more concentration on finishing, as well as looking for the girls to focus on hitting low, hard shots to force the big GK to the ground.

We continued to press forward in the second half, and again missed chance after chance. We hit another post and missed two other open nets, another one from inside the six. And when I say open nets, I mean open nets – the GK down on the ground and one of our players under no pressure with the ball at her feet and the whole goal to shoot at.

With a few minutes left on the clock, Getch, who had just came off the field from a defensive position, commented from her bench position that she felt good, wanted to be put up front, and knew she could score. I paused for a second. Isn’t this the same girl who didn’t feel confident enough to start the overtime period in the Region Championship game when I was going to put her in? Getch had just returned from the 94 ODP camp where she apparently led her 8v8 team in scoring. I didn’t want to make a late substitution, but something about her desire and confidence made me change my mind. I pulled Millie (CF) out who had been extremely dangerous though unable to convert her chances.

With two minutes left, on her first touch since entering the game, Getch received a pass with her back to goal about 12 yards out. She controlled the ball and roofed a shot into the upper right corner on the turn for the game winner. Amazing!