Game #1 vs CISCO (AZ)

Most of the girls arrived into the Phoenix area on Friday afternoon.  We met up at the hotel at 6PM for a light jog and stretch to get our legs loose and talk about the weekend.  I reiterated to the girls that I was not focused on results here and I wanted the girls to enjoy the weather, relish in the competition, and have fun on the field.  The more pressure to perform I can take off their shoulders, the better they will play. 

I spoke about my interest in playing everyone and rotating the starting line up for each game.  One of our biggest advantages last year at Regionals was the fact that we had more depth than every other team in the competition.  I had initially toyed with the idea of naming a starting 11 for this tournament, going with that line up and formation in the first game, and start subsequent games with the top 11 in my mind, some of whom may have earned a starting spot based on performance in previous games.  I eventually bagged on this idea as the 14 year old psychy is fragile to say the least and I could already tell in the friendlies in recent weeks that girls who didn't start were affected (or is it effected?  I get these mixed up all the time).

I had given the girls handouts of possible and probably playing positions in the different team formations we would likely use this weekend.  So we spent some time talking about these as well as reviewing our set plays. 

We closed the evening with talk about proper hydration, nutrition this weekend, and hotel/field behaviors, then settled in, excited for the morning.

* * * * * 

We opened up the event against the CISCO Black Cobras from Arizona.  I'm the first to say that rankings don't mean much in the grand scheme of things.  However, I do my research on the teams we are slated to come up against in National Soccer Rankings and in their own state leagues.  I also look for results in recent tournaments, trying to get an idea of the level we will see.  CICSO wasn't even in the top 5 in Arizona's state rankings, giving me the confidence that we'd likely be the more talented team on the field.  I've been around long enough to know that more talent doesn't mean jack squat when the whistle blows on any given day, but I believed we would get a favorable result if we performed at the level I knew the girls could perform. 

I started in our 4-3-3 formation, with two holding mids and one attacking mid in the center of the field.  So more specifically, we began in a 4-2-1-3.  The spacious fields (120x75) were far from plush and green - more like concrete covered in straw/hay.  Not sure what they measured on the old Stimp Meter, but the ball ran like a bowling ball on a well oiled lane. 

Four minutes in, Maddie (LF) received a ball on the left side and served a ball into the box where Macky (CF) finished with a good first time effort. CISCO battled hard and had a few skilled players, but we were more athletic all around the field as well as more skilled.  You could tell that they had experience with this surface though.  The weight of the majority of our passes was poor for the conditions and we couldn't settle in and play.  There were WAY too many unforced passing errors on our part and we turned out to be our worst enemy in the first 35 minutes.  We were scrappy and tenacious though and clawed through the rest of the half, stringing together some nice sequences every now and again.  We failed to capitalize on our chances when created though, and the half ended 1-0.

It was nice to have Mark Cook there for this event.  Though he was with us at Regionals last year, not having a set role with the team at that point, he likely felt uncomfortable jumping in and asserting himself.  Now as a co-coach and having been working with the girls for some months, the benefit of having someone like him involved is more and more apparent.

For me, I really didn't know how I would take to a co-coach.  I like to do things my own way and wasn't sure how it would affect the girls if the two coaches had differing viewpoints on certain issues (playing time, formation, real time game strategies, etc).  However, though Cook has proved an asset to the team during the winter training, his addition on the sidelines in competition is a tremendous advantage.  

It's good for me to have someone to bounce ideas off of.  Moreover, though I think I'm pretty good and analyzing the entire field during the game, regardless of where the ball is, it's nice to have another set of knowledgeable eyes watching the team.  Also, Cook can focus on one part of the girls play and I can have confidence that that aspect is in good hands and thus focus my energies on other areas that may not have been able to have that level of focus due to my desire to watch every single thing on the field.  This event was a good introduction for me to working with another high level coach and I think we'll continue to develop our partnership in future events, figuring out the most effective way to make use of both minds.   

So Cook was focused most of the first half on keeping our two holding mids linked together.  We hadn't coached this concept at all with the girls in training and it was evident that it needed addressing.  We talked about this at halftime, along with the idea of really taking care of the ball on the field - concentrating more on our passing technique, direction, and weight.  We talked about the desire to get the next goal.  We were knocking on the door plenty, but one breakdown and a CISCO goal to make it 1-1 would change the dynamic of the game.  Solid on defense, more percise in possession and on attack - that was our focus going into the final 35 minutes.

For the first 20 minutes of the second half we were all over them.  We finally doubled our lead eight minutes from time when Korte (Holding Mid) picked up a loose ball about 25 yards out from our own net, turned, and volleyed a long ball up to Macky (CF).  Macky, with her back to goal about 10 yards into the CISCO half, flicked the ball to her left to Jilly (RF).  Jilly took a touch to beat her defender and was off to the races to goal.  Just inside the 18, she ripped a low, far post shot into the back of the net.  Great finish at speed and under pressure.  

With a 4 goal max counted towards the points, I wanted to press for more goals.  If we were to tie or lose to what I knew would be a tough Colorado Rush team that afternoon, we would need goals to vie for one of the two wildcard places.  I moved Ripper from Holding Mid up top to give us a little more firepower up front.  Two minutes from time, Nash (RD) played a ball up to Bidi (RF) about 30 yards from goal.  Bidi sent in a cross towards Ripper.  It bounced in front of her, Ripper chested it on the turn, and absolutely hammered a right foot volley into the crossbar.  Close.  

One minute from time we got our 3rd as Bidi sent in a near-post driven corner and Ripper, while running near post, jumped, swiveled, and hit a right foot volley into the top corner from about 6 yards out.  Fantastic goal, good start for the Goo Girls.