Field Training - May 17

Trying to get some training in when we can. 

Nice, light, early morning session in Woodbury prior to tomorrow's State Cup semifinal against Northern Lights.  Cook ran the girls through an exercise working on playing out of the back (something we struggled a bit with at times against EP on Thursday).  It stared a bit slow, but the girls got into it, grasped the needed concepts, and were sharp and lively 20 minutes in. 

 We then spent the remaining time on corner kick work and penalty kicks.  Hoping we'd never let it come to that, but better safe than sorry.

The East U12s scheduled training right after us. Kaasa and I had talked early in the week about conducting a shootout contest between the teams, so our training ended and their's began with the match up.  

The fearless little 12s proved up to the task, converting a good share of their shots on Zazu, with AJ (their GK) making a few very good saves.  The 12s were more likely to need PKs in their upcoming State Cup semi or maybe even final, so it was nice to see the girls get into it.   

MRL Game #8 vs Eden Prairie (MN)

Our next to last MRL group match prior to the First Division playoffs in mid-June. 

Nice large field at Miller Park in EP for the game, though the ground had recently been punched (aerated).  Hard chunks of cored dirt scattered the field, and the ball took unpredictable hops constantly.   

Comfortable and confident in our 3-5-2, the girls put on another solid performance.  Even Tom, their coach, commented in the first half that it was a clinic on the field.  With possession heavily skewed in our favor, and more than our fair share of very good looks at goal, we couldn't find the back of the net until around the 30 minute mark. 

After a loss of possession on our throw in deep in EP territory to the left of goal, Macky's (RF) persistence after the loose ball saw it pop out to Millie (LF) about 5 yards from the touchline.  Millie cut back with her left foot towards the middle of the field and drove in a cross to Bidi (RM) at the far post.  Somehow, with the ball flying at her chest-level, Bidi contorted her body and connected with her right foot as she was falling off balance.  The EP GK, moving from her right to her left across the goal to play the cross, couldn't stop and react quick enough as the ball was played back where it came from into the far post's (relative to Bidi) side netting.  Fantastic finish out of nothing, great coaching point for the girls at halftime as there was not a ton of pace on the shot, but it was textbook placement as the GK was moving in the opposite direction. 

Once again at halftime, Cook and I didn't have a lot to say.  No real changes needed, the girls were playing great.  Just simple encouragement to concentrate on finishing technique as we should have been up by at least 3.  We needed to be
able to put team away, not to mention demanding more technical focus as we will not get as many opportunities at goal in the upcoming competitions (Manchester United Premier Cup, MRL First Division Playoffs, and hopefully the Region II Championships).

10 minutes into the second half we doubled our lead.  Ripper (RHM - right holding mid) headed an EP goal kick back into the penalty area and Millie (LF) pounced on the bouncing ball to slot past the onrushing GK.

6 minutes later, Macky (LF) won a 50/50 ball 15 yards in our half and found Gratz (RF) with a great through ball.  Gratz raced to goal on a breakaway and calmly passed the ball into the lower left corner of the net. 

We gave one back two minutes later as some lax passing in the back gifted an EP midfielder with the ball about 20 yards from goal at the top of the "D".  She cut back to her left foot and hit a great shot off the inside of the left post to make it 3-1.  Not much Zazu could do about that one, but we never should have given possession away like we did where we did.  Another good lesson to emphasize after the game about getting too confident with a lead and after a goal, allowing a weaker team a lifeline back into the match.

No real threats on our goal after that, though the same didn't apply for EP's.  We weren't able to capitalize on anything else, so the game ended 3-1 in another really solid performance overall by the girls.

Here's how things stack up with one game left on our end.

 

U15 Premier League Game #2 vs Wayzata-2

Our second game in the 2008 MYSA U15 Premier League against Wayzata-2, a team that had earned Premier status last summer, promoted from the U14C1 league. 

Our first game at Bielenberg in Woodbury.  Decent field - good size for us (large), with a good surface, except in the middle of the field which was a bit hard and bumpy.  

Still without our GK, Zazu (formally known as Tori), Maddie once again stepped in to tend our net.

We continued to work on our 3-5-2 shape, with Becs (CD), Blondie (LD), and Hannah (RD) in our defensive roles.  We'd get Gratz some time back there as well today, though now mainly in a back 3 instead of a back 4, we're looking at using Gratz's speed up top.  

Prior to the game, I took our forwards (Macky, Millie, Jilly, and Gratz) and our two attacking mids (Lily and Getch) to do some shadow play work.  Just some simple movement exercises for our forwards as the ball is played side to side in our midfield.  One showing, one deep.  If a ball is played into a forward, she looks to find the other (non-passing) midfielder with a lay back, and that mid looks to spring the second forward with a dangerous ball over the top into space.  Buzz used to do this all the time with the Thunder forwards and mids, just to try and give attacking players some ideas relative to where the ball is in our midfield.   

The game went well for us.  Another very, very solid performance on our end as we created a number of chances early.  Defenders were solid, though tested by some speedy, strong Wayzata-2 players.

We got on the board twice in the first half.  The first, 7 minutes in, was set up by Millie (LF) as she fought for a loose ball near the endline to the right of goal, won her battle and pulled the ball back for Bidi (RM) who fired a great, low shot hard into the far post side netting. 

Our second came 12 minutes from the end of the half on a corner.  Bidi (RM) drove a near post ball in that Macky (RF) flicked on the dead run towards the back post.  The ball hit the post hard and rebounded across the goal for Gratz (LF) to tap in.  

Numerous chances throughout the remainder of the contest, though we failed to tally another.  Solid defensive work by our back 3 (Becs, Hannah, and Blondie) and no real tough saves needed by Zazu (formally known as Tori) in goal.  

Another really, really good performance by the girls.  On a roll now, with back (EP U15 Prem) to back (Wayzata MRL) to back (today) showings.  Love to see the girls play like this.  Personally, and I'm sure I speak for Cook as well, it's a true pleasure to see concrete results of years of work. 

MRL Game #7 vs Wayzata Wapeka (MN)

With all our MRL game play vs non-Minnesota competition behind us, we have 3 games left against Wayzata, EP, and our White team, in that order. 

I was very much looking forward to the game today.  I see Wayzata, along with our White team, as the other two strongest teams at our age group.  It would be a good test for us, as well as a good opportunity for me to observe the Wayzata girls in action firsthand and against strong competition (us). 

The one drawback of the game today is that we are without our GK, Tori, who is in Arizona with a family commitment.  Her absence would provide a perfect opportunity for our back up GK to see some game time.  The only slight problem was that we didn't have a back-up GK.  

We had looked to call up Katelyn Mallory from our U13 Blue team for this weekend.  She came to training on Wednesday, sat on the bench for our U15 Premier League game vs EP on Thursday, and was all set to play today.  Not perfect for us (perfect would be having Tori here), but not a bad option.  However, we all overlooked the MRL paperwork needed for guest players, and I was informed on my way to the game today that she was not able to play with us.  Uh oh.  

Cook and I talked on the phone about using Bidi, Hannah, or Ripper as a GK today against Wayzata.  Neither of us were that excited about pulling off strong field players to play GK.  I hung up with Cook, telling him I'd think about it more on my drive and we'd chat at the field.

I beat him to Wayzata and saw Maddie in the parking lot.  Maddie has been nusing a back injury and has been out of commission for all our MRL and State Cup games.  She was our main GK during our U11 and U12 years, prior to Tori joining the team, but she didn't really like playing the position much.  I looked at her, tossed her the Gk gloves I brought with me, and said she's in.  She gave me that shut-up-I-know-you're-joking-smile, which then turned into the queasy looking SHUT-UP-I-thought-you-were-joking-but-now-I've-just-peed-my-pants-becuase- I-know-you're-serious half smile.  

I asked Hannah and Millie (girls who had arrived early) to do some shooting on Maddie, and Cook happened to arrive on site just as Maddie made a spectacular palm-over-the-bar deflection.  "There's our keeper," he said.  Yep.  

* * * * *

The field at Oak Park had not been recently mowed and the grass was a little long.  It was a wide field though, something that should suit us well if we continue to look to play across the field.  The girls had had a training session with Cook yesterday morning (I was with our U11s at the Cottage Grove tournament), and he had mentioned that they had continued to work on side to side movement and finding our central midfielders.  I hoped that we'd get another good performance, like we had for a fair share of the game against EP's U15s last Thursday.

For the first 6 or 7 minutes, I wasn't sure what was going on though.  I spent my time sitting there trying to figure out what went wrong between last Thursday and today as we struggled to get a hold of the ball and looked very unsettled.  Wayzata looked way more comfortable and organized than we did.  Could be a long game.

However, the girls managed to find their rhythm quickly, and for the next 60 minutes, we played some of our best soccer to date.  It was an absolute clinic on how to change the point of attack in defense and in midfield.  Our team shape was terrific, and the players were, in most cases, all on the same page when it came to switching the ball to the opposite side of the field.  Our possession was fantastic and we were able to create a number of good scoring opportunities from early and endline crosses, as well as from corner kicks earned from attacking the endline. 

Maddie was forced into one real save as she came out to the edge of her box to smother a long ball that a Wayata forward was racing onto, though Becs (CD) was right there with her and had goal-side position.  Other than that though, no real threat at goal.   

Our defenders did a great job of pressuring the fast Wayzata forwards, and our midfield shape in defense was great.  I've seen Wayzata play against other teams this year and I know they have players who look to keep the ball.  These guys look to play the game rather than play a boot-n-scoot style that most other U14 teams in MN use.  However, Wayzata hasn't played against teams as athletic as us, teams that close down space as quickly, and our pressure knocked most of the usually composed Wayzata players off their game a bit. 

I could hear Dom (their coach and a friend of mine) encouraging them to be confident and not to panic, but that was easier said than done.

Wayzata's GK came up with some fantastic saves on a few shots that I thought for sure would put us on the board, and we messed up on at least 2 clear chances at goal, not to mention missing a handful of other chances, so that half ended 0-0.

Cook and I stepped away from the girls at halftime to chat as we usually do, but we both just looked at each other and laughed.  Not much to be said as the girls were clicking on all cylinders.  Keep encouraging them to continue to play as they are, no need for any tactical changes. 

 Cook talked to the girls about putting this team away, stressing the need for a goal.  We felt one goal would be enough, though the longer it stayed 0-0, the more Wayzata would think that they were in it.

The wind was blowing from right to left across the field as we looked at the goal we would attack in the second half.  The field, as I mentioned, was wide, so I left the girls with one more piece of advice before they re-took the field.  I thought Wayzata was scared of our set piece corners.  We had scored both goals from corners last year in State Cup against them, and I think Dom knew our strength on these.  I'm sure he imparted his knowledge on to the girls in preparation for this match, and during our corners in the first half, Wayzata's penalty box was packed tight in front of goal.  If we got a corner on the left of the goal (which would normally be a right-footed inswinger), I wanted us to run our Sniffer 1-2.  This would entail one of our forwards to release towards the corner kick taker, receive a short pass, then return the ball to our kick taker for a service or shot, now hopefully 10 or 15 yards closer in to the middle of the field. 

Second half was much like the first, even more of a dominant performance as Wayzata struggled to gain long-term possession in our half.  More solid defensive play from Becs (CD), Hannah and Blondie (outside Ds), great possession in the attack and defensive pressure from our central mids, constant attack from our wide players, and good movement from our forwards. 

With 10 minutes left, we were finally rewarded with a goal.  As it happens, it came off a corner, a Sniffer 1-2 actually, from the left side.  Nash (LM) played the ball in to Millie (LF) who was showing for the 1-2.  Millie's technique let her down a bit though as her return pass was bouncy, so Nash's service wasn't the best - too far out away from goal to be dangerous.  Wayzata cleared the ball and it fell to Hannah (LD) near midfield.  Hannah hit the ball back into the penalty box with a high, measured inside of the foot volley, rather than a random smack at the ball.  Millie redeemed herself from her poor touch to Nash to battle for the loose bouncing ball in the Wayata penalty box.  Her pressure saw the ball squirt to Bidi (RM) about 8 yards out from goal on the right, and Bidi fired home what would be the only goal of the match, into the low, far post corner.  

Great game for us.  Though the score line ended only 1-0, I don't think anyone who watched the game had any doubt about how much our girls carried the match. 

With all credit to Wayzata as they have talent and are well coached, they don't have the talent/athletic depth we do.  I do, however, envision a few of their players migrating toward this group next year.   

We seem to be starting to hit our stride a bit.  Good timing as our State Cup finals are approaching, along with the tough Manchester United Nike Premier Cup in Portland over Memorial Day Weekend, then hopefully the 2008 Region II Championships in Rockford. 

* * * * *

With this win, we've already qualified for the MRL First Division play-offs in mid-June.  These play-offs will determine which two of the nearly 40 first division teams earn promotion into the 2009 U15G MRL Premier League.