MRL Playoffs vs Michigan Rush Nike (MI)

coming soon

MRL Playoffs vs Ohio Premier Green (OH)

In our second game on Saturday we came up against Ohio Premier Green,  OP had beat Internationals and tied Michigan in their regular season, leaving them with 4 points coming into the weekend. 

We stayed with our 3-5-2 formation, and threatened from the get go.  With the wind at our backs we pressed the attack and created a number of chances in the first part of the half.  We lacked some finishing precision and didn’t get numbers in the box when we attacked the endline wide.

OP played 3 up top, so our only real tactical change was to invert our central midfield triangle to allow Ripper to play the lone defensive mid, floating in front of the OP attackers. 

The half ended 0-0.

OP was not better than us, they just out worked us in the game.  They wanted more than we did.  OP won most every air ball and 50/50 battle and had a talented player in the central midfield position who basically had her way with our central midfield players. 

3 minutes into the second half, we gave up a bad goal.  We knocked the ball out of bounds 10 yards into our own half on the left side, and then proceeded to tune out.  OP took a quick throw in and caught many of our girls by surprise and out of position.  Our panic led to a half clearance that OP won back and sent in a cross to the top of our box.  The ball took a hop past Hannah (RD) and an OP forward raced behind our back three to lob the ball over an on rushing Macky in goal.  Ugh. 

The rest of the half was one to forget.  We just lacked energy, effort, and passion on the field.  OP was decent but not better than us.  We just couldn’t get anything going.  It was very frustrating because I know the level that these girls can play at.  We didn’t get the results today, results that would have likely sent us to the MRL Premier League, but that wasn’t what had me concerned.  I just questioned if we were good enough to fight for a Regional title next weekend.  If we came in with the performances of the last two games, we’d be happy to go 2-1-0 in group play (because we wouldn’t beat Vardar) and make the drive back to MN.

By the way, when I say one to forget, we'll all never forget it.  We want to learn from it and build upon it to maximise future performance and development. 

Cook and I had a come to Jesus talk with the girls at the field after the game.  Everyone we came against this weekend and everyone we could come up against next weekend knows we are Region champs.  This means that our opponents are going to be focused and intense against us, knowing the level of competition they face.  We need to match that focus and intensity.  We need to battle harder for loose balls and in tackles.  We need to play with pride and desire in each and every game - today we didn’t.  We can’t make the girls want to play, make them want to compete.  Coaches can help motivate, but in the end the girls have to find that little extra in themselves if they want to excel at the top level. 

It’s all very frustrating to me as I know the quality of talent we have on this team.  I have to look at myself as well here and re-evaluate if I’ve done what I could to get the girls to the point they need to be to compete next weekend. 

Man, I feel for the Hannah and Macky who stepped in to play GK today.  It couldn't have been easy on either of them and I was proud of their willingness to take one for the team, so to speak.  It would be really nice to have Zazu back next weekend. 

MRL Playoffs vs Internationals (OH)

The bus picked us up at 9:30AM from our hotel.  The White team, staying across the road, was already on board as the bus driver is lodged at their hotel.  We took the 15 minute bus ride to the fields, smack dab in the middle of not very much. 

Cut into corn fields, the Hebron complex is expansive.  The fields are large and grassy, but hard and bumpy in many places.  Might be a tough weekend for us on these big fields with 3 subs to work with.

Game #1 vs Internationals (OH-N)

This is the team we played last year in the Region Finals, as well as the summer before in the U12 US Club Soccer Regon Finals.  They have some skilled players and I was interested to get a glimpse of how we matched up with them after a year of work.  

Things started out extremely poorly for us.  We didn't come to play and found ourselves under intense pressure for the first 10 minutes of the game.  Our right flank kept getting exposed with Bidi (RM) getting caught too far up in the attack, and Gratz (RD) finding herself against 2 attackers at least 3 or 4 times early on.  

We couldn't win a ball in midfield to save our lives and didn't have much drive to find the 50/50 balls.  8 minutes in it cost us.  The Internationals GK punted a ball the we let drop near midfield, though I felt we had at least one or probably two girls who could have made a play to stop the ball from hitting the ground.  The bounce dropped to an Internationals forward who played the ball wide up the right flank.  Their speedy right forward raced onto the ball and I think her quickness deceived Blondie (LD) a bit.  Blondie stepped up to make a challenge on the ball around 25 yards out, but the Internationals forward got their first and nicked the ball past Blondie.  The cross that followed was a good one to the far post, but Bidi was recovering in a good position to make a challenge on the attempted finish.  The ball popped back out to towards the penalty spot, and a trailing Internationals midfielder hit a left-foot volley into the far post.  Good goal in the end but a bit gifted as we made some preventable mistakes. 

Our GK Zazu was with the team but not playing this entire weekend, still with the lingering effects from a hard collision in ODP a few weeks back.  Hannah stepped up to play GK in this game.  Not an easy task against a team that forced Zazu into half a dozen fantastic saves last year.  Not much Hannah could do about this one though.

Two minutes later, again under pressure down our left flank, we gave up a corner.  The Internationals kick taker had great technique and power, and served a high ball the dropped on the head of her teammate completely unmarked in the middle of the 6 yard box.  I think the attacker herself was stunned to find so much space and headed a ball unchallenged into the net for their second.  

We were playing right next to the New United (WI) vs Michigan Rush Nike (MI) game and our benches were back to back.  I overheard the Michigan coach ask the Internationals coach, "Was that your second already?"  The Internationals coach, supremely cocky, said something like, "Yeah, I knew there was something wrong with these divisions.  These guys (Bangu) walked through their division and they're not good." 

Not a very good start, and I remember thinking that this was going to be a terribly long game.  However, the girls settled in after we made some changes and started to take press the attack.  The next 25 minutes were all us.  Finally able to build up and attack out of our own half, it became apparent that the Internationals played a very high offside trap.  We got caught by it a number of times early on, but that was OK.  Please keep playing this, I thought. 

20 minutes into the game we got on the board.  Jilly (RF) received a pass near midfield on the right side.  She turned up field, the Internationals defense stepped up in the trap, and Jilly dribbled past her marking defender and was left clear in space behind the Internationals defense.  Her quick defender caught up with her though, forcing Jilly to turn back, but she cut up field again and served a great early diagonal cross into the danger area towards Madie (LF).  Madie was marked by a defender, but the diagonal cross sailed over the defender's head.  Madie let the ball bounce once, then hit a terrific left-foot volley from the top of the box back to the far post past the diving Internationals GK.  What a goal! 

We continued to press the attack for the next 15 minutes.  Their coach could sense the change as his was the team that now struggled to clear their half.  However, he didn't change tactics defensively and his only instruction yelled out to the team constantly was "Hit the corner flag!".  We broke the trap again and again, and created a number of additional chances.  We couldn't capitalize and the half ended 2-1.  

Though we dug ourselves a hole, we were playing better.  We got the girls out at midfield to illustrate some ideas about breaking the trap and I was confident that based on our assessment of the opposing coach, there was a good chance that we'd see more of the trap in the second half.  We talked about slotting the ball through with measured pace instead of kicking it up field with power to bring their GK into play, we talked about dribbling past the marking defender (like Jilly did), we talked about finding our delayed midfield runners and wide mids with through balls, and we talked about the importance of our forwards working to stay onside even if the ball was back in our defensive third as long balls from our defenders could turn into scoring opportunities. 

Cook talked to the girls about stopping making the game look pretty.  This was a game to play direct and get the ball forward, play ugly, to capitalize on an opposing team's weakness and get a result.  

 Lastly, I talked about the importance of our next goal.  We'd seen this team twice, both times falling behind 0-2.  Both times we'd come back to equalize and take the game into extra time.  I could see the faces of the Internationals players when we scored in the first half.  It was a lot of "Oh boy, here we go again!".  We needed the next goal.

We came out in the second half and continued our dominance.  Much to our pleasure, Internationals kept the trap going.  It was only a matter of time til we'd break it and equalize.   

7 minutes in we did.  Ripper (Def Mid) played a great slotted through pass to Millie who raced onto goal.  The Internationals GK came out to make a play on the ball, but Millie poked the ball past her and was taken down.  Penalty kick.  That's a red card, I thought also, but the ref, after consulting her AR, didn't even issue a yellow card.  Cook questioned the AR and ref about the rec card claiming that the GK was the last man, but to no avail.  Millie clearly would have reached the ball in time and there was no International defender around who would have stopped a chance at goal.  Disappointing as Zazu was issued a red card in Portland for a similar occurrence, but at least we were given the PK. 

I saw Millie step up to take it and I had a distinct thought to call her off the kick.  She wasn't playing up to her normal sharpness and moreover just got fouled.  I scanned the field and thought "Madie" to myself, but since I was distracted with the refs, Millie was already in place and set to take the shot.  I held off my desire to change the shooter, and Millie proceed to miss the goal wide left.  Crap. 

A minute later, almost off the ensuing goal kick, the Internationals countered down our left flank.  We failed to clear a number of chances, and the ball was eventually served in to the far post area and finished by a charging right forward.  Double crap.  From a great chance of equalizing to down two goals again.  

That took a bit of the wind from our sales.  Millie was obviously ruffled by the PK miss, so much so that I had to pull her off the field so she could try and refocus.  The girls continued to try and press forward, but we lacked a bit of the spark we had found in the first half and early in the second.  

5 minutes later, Internationals put the game away.  A ball was played into our box that fell behind Becs (CD).  The ball rolled diagonally in towards goal, and Becs shielded it and thought Hannah would come and get it.  Before either of our players could react,  an Internationals forward snuck in and poked the ball past Hannah.

The girls did what they could to get back in the game.  Millie finished a breakaway at the 25 minute mark from another through ball by Ripper, but it was too little too late.

Disappointing result for sure against a dangerous team that I believe we are better than.   

MRL Playoff Weekend

Heading down to Hebron (IA) this weekend for the MRL First Division playoffs.  Here's the scoop.

There are 4 divisions in the First Division, NW, NE, SW, and SE.  The top three teams from each division are here to battle it out against three from another division, with the reward being the team that wins their group is automatically promoted to MRL Premier next season.  

We are in the NW division and here is how things ended for us -

 
 

So New United, our White team, and us are the top three teams here this weekend.

In the NE division, here is where things stood when all was said and done -

 

Internationals, Michigan Rush Nike, and Ohio Premier Green made it. 

Teams carry into this weekend their results against the other top teams in their division from the spring season, play the other three teams from the other division, and the winner is the team with the most points.  Taking all 6 teams' results into consideration, here is where things are at heading into this weekend's competition -

 

 We open up the weekend tomorrow morning against Internationals, the team we lost to two years ago in the U12 US Club Regional Championship, then beat last year at the U13 Midwest Regional Championships.  It is sure to be a tough contest for us, especially since we're still missing our one and only GK and will be forced to use a field player in net. 

We play Ohio Premier in the afternoon, so will likely have a good chance of knowing where we stand come tomorrow evening.

U15 MRL Premier would be nice, but it's not a huge deal to me if we don't qualify.  It's a goal of ours, for sure, but ultimately we're looking at using this weekend as a final tweak for next weekend in Rockford at Regionals.  

* * * * *

Things didn't start off very well today.  Due to torrential rains and flooding in Wisconsin, traffic was diverted to back roads in Mauston (WI), about 70 miles shy of Madison.  No lie, we probably traveled 8 miles in 2 hours.  The highway was a parking lot, with people leaving their cars to hang out on the side of the road.  

At least we were in a bus; not stressed to be behind the wheel, able to watch movies, and able to use a bathroom.  Could have been worse. 

We eventually rolled into our hotel in Merriville (IA) around 8:30PM, nearly 11 hours after meeting the bus at the Home Depot in Woodbury this morning.  Wow.  

All in all I think the girls had a good time on the bus.  We rode down with our Whtie team and they're staying across the highway from us in a different hotel.

We pre-ordered pizza for the girls, talked about the weekend while we ate, then hustled them off to bed for some needed rest.  

Should be a fun test this weekend. 

MRL Game #9 vs Bangu Tsunami White

Our second match up against our sister second team in 10 days.  Fresh off a very good accounting by the White team in the State Cup final, I knew they'd be coming into the game full of confidence.  BTW, I'm still working on that write up, in case you can't tell :)

 

Even after the State Cup final performance, I still believe we are 3 goals better than the Whites.  However, we have yet to prove that.  I understand I carry some bias with this thought, and I'm not trying to diminish the work the White coaches have done or the improvement this White group has shown in the last year. 

 

We were slated to play tonight at the Rich Valley Athletic Complex in Inver Grove Heights - one of the hidden field gems of the Twin Cities.  Not a lot of use by the small local club, immaculate fields that were flat and wide.  Great for us.

 

However, we are pretty banged up.  Nash out, casted and crutched, Maddie 50% at best with her back, Ripper and a broken wrist that she's been able to play with but not at 100%, Korky coming straight from a doctor's appointment for an ear infection, and Bidi out tonight with a school function.  Again, Ripper was able to play and Maddie could give us a few minutes here and there, but realistically, we had a grand total of 11 fit players on the day.  

 

Somehow, I had managed to double book myself for the evening with my U11s in the Apple Valley tournament with a 6PM game.  Our 14 game was set to kickoff at 5:30PM.  I couldn't find anyone to cover the 11s, so my plan was to get the 14s going and stay for the first 20 minutes of the first half.  Then truck over to Apple Valley to take the 11s.  Not ideal, but the 14s are in very capable hands without me. 

 

We started again in our 3-5-2.  The fantastic surface and large playing area saw us come out and press the attack.  The Whites had one or two forays into our end, but nothing dangerous.  The Blues were much sharper than they were in the State Cup final, knowing that they had something to prove.  

 

I felt confident that I'd hear a favorable result when Cook called me an hour later.  I didn't.  We dropped the game 1-0 on a late goal that Cook said was a bit of a fluke.  A free kick served in, redirected by our team, then spinning and slipping on the wet surface through Zazu's legs. 

I bet the White team was ecstatic about the win.  As they should be.  For me, though I expected the Blues to finish their MRL season undefeated, in the large scheme of things this loss isn't a huge thing for us.  We'll be able to use it to learn from and continue to motivate the kids as we work towards peaking later in June, and we still need to try and run the table at the mid-June MRL playoff weekend against the three teams from the Northeast Division.  More about this later.  It also will help the Whites qualify for the MRL playoffs, which I believe they would with a win in one of their last two games next weekend in Madison.  Good for them, they've worked hard and are playing some good soccer. 

 

So not a great result obviously for us, but not a tremendously negative end either.  

 

Cook may have some tough decisions to make come tryouts for next year's U15 team though as there are at least a handful of current White team players who could make a serious run at next year's Blue team roster spots.