MRL Game #5 vs New United (WI)

Busy week so far with 93 ODP on Monday, State Cup Game #1 vs EP on Tuesday, 93 ODP on Wednesday (because of which we canceled scheduled training), State Cup Game #2 vs Eagan on Thursday, travel to Madison on Friday, and two games today (Saturday) for MRL.  Oh, then we travel back late tonight, play our State Cup Game #2 vs NSSA tomorrow to decide our group, and play our rescheduled MRL Game #7 vs Wayzata (MN) on Monday. 

Our game this morning vs New United (WI) was likely to be our toughest game of the day.  It was brisk outside, with the strong hint of coming rain, but the game started under decent conditions.  

 During our warm-up, we saw the field was bumpy and would make for some sloppy play in the midfield by both teams.

We started out in a 4-4-2.  New United has some skillful dribblers of the ball and some very athletic girls.  We pressed early winning some corner kicks that we failed to capitalize on, but New United settled in quickly and found their rhythm.  We could not get our central midfielders in good defensive positions as we struggled to adjust to New United attack.  New United managed to hit a couple long range shots on goal that Tori had to concentrate on due to the wet turf and bumpy field, but nothing really tested her.  

Midway through the half, trying to get control of the midfield, we pushed a central defender up a bit into a 3-5-2 formation that had served us well in our last two State Cup games back in Minnesota.  We've played enough different systems of play for the girls to understand them, but it's still tough to transition in the middle of the run of play.  

The half ended 0-0.

Bad field conditions, slight rain now and cold weather, both skill-negating factors that worked against us.  The girls were in a battle and we needed to dig deep, be strong on tackles, fight for loose balls, press as a group, and basically gut the rest of the game out if we wanted to leave with a W.  

We altered the shape of our central 3 mids in our 3-5-2 to two holding mids and one attacking mid (as opposed to one holding mid and two attacking mids).  That, along with the girls' fight and heart, saw us completely dominate the second half.  And I mean completely. 

The girls fought the field, the cold, the early-in-the-second-half-10-minute-rain-and-wind, and New United found it tough going to clear the ball from their half of the field for a great majority of the second half. 

We must have had close to 10 corner kicks in the second half, most of which (except one kicked out of bounds) caused some real panic for the New United defenders. 

We finally got on the board 15 minutes from time as Bidi (RM) served in a far post corner that Macky (LF) headed back across the goal for Becs (CD) to kick home. 

5 minutes later we put the game away, again from a corner kick, with Getch (Att Mid) finishing from a scrum in the goal mouth. 

Tough game, good result, great battle from the girls.

Back to the hotel to de-thaw and eat, then back out for a 3:30PM game vs Chicago Fire Jrs (IL).

State Cup Game #2 vs Eagan

Eagan has lost their first game to NSSA 4-1 on Tuesday, so I knew they'd be looking to come out hard against us.  I know a lot of the girls on this team from my Footskills camps 3 or 4 years ago, and a number of the Eagan players had guested with us at one point or another over the last few years. 

Again, like the EP team, the Eagan girls did their best.   

It took us a while to settle into the game, but we played well.  We got our first 22 minutes in as Soph (LM in relatively new 3-5-2) at midfield, sent a volley over the top of the Eagan backline for Jilly (RF) to run onto and lob over the onrushing Eagan GK's head. 

That took some of the pressure off, like most first goals do, and we put the game away in the next five minutes with two great goals.

The first, at the 25 minute mark, was a thing of beauty.  Ripper (Holding Mid) won the ball about 10 yards from midfield in our half and found Bidi racing up the right flank with a great through pass that split Eagan's center back and left defender.  Bidi got to the ball, took a few touches, the fired a low, hard cross back from the endline into the box.  Nash (LM) worked hard with a nearly 50 yard weakside (away from the ball) run to make it into the box and I could see her concentrate hard to keep her first time shot low.  She did, hitting the ball back where it came from (towards her far post, Bidi's near post).  The Eagan GK, moving to her right, was forced into an unbelievable save, diving back to her left.  I was amazed she even got a hand to it but it would have been nearly impossible for her to hang on to it.  She parried the ball and Millie (who had also followed the play up the field) was in the right place at the right time to finish the rebound.  A lot of little things came together to make this one of our best goals to date this year.  A coach's dream. 

Three minutes later we got our third, this time with Bidi (RM) playing the ball over the top to Blondie (RF) who was making a diagonal run to the right corner.  Blondie fought off her marking defender and crossed a low ball to Macky (RF) who finished first time.  

Not much to say at halftime, just praising the girls' effort and performance.  Second half saw us rotate some girls into different positions, creating more chances, but only finishing on a Ripper PF after Nash was taken down in the box.  Looked like a soft PK call, I probably would not have called it, but on the flip side I would have called one earlier in the game for a worse take down.  

Another decent performance.  MRL this weekend in Madison, then our final group game vs NSSA (who just tied EP 1-1) to decide our group.  I hope our legs hold out.   

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.   

MRL #4 vs FC Milwaukee (WI)

Our last game of the weekend, likely to be against our toughest opponent. 

Still a bit breezy, but warm and sunny.  The girls legs were going to be heavy and their bodies tired.  We had talked about trying to come in with sharp minds, regardless of their physical fatigue.  

We also wanted to loosen the girls up a bit prior to the game, so we warmed up with some Cat and Mouse tag, walking and linked soccer (one of the team's favorites), and some four corners shooting (another favorite).  

It turned out that the coach of the FC team was a friend of a friend when I played with the Milwaukee Wave.  Small world. 

The more relaxed pre-game idea almost seemed to backfire as FC Milwaukee came at us straight from the kick off and scored a goal 60 seconds in that was called back for offside.   The girls shook off the shakey start and proceeded to put together one of the best performances I've seen to date. 

We played in the 4-1-4-1 formation that had served us well this morning.  We got on the board in the 4th minute when Ripper (Att Mid) received the ball near midfield on the right flank.  She beat her mark, battled the second defender 1v1 for about 20 yards, eventually beat her into the penalty box, and HAMMERED a ball into the far post side netting.  It was Ripper's 3rd or 4th nearly half field run of the weekend and a terrific finish. 

FC Milwaukee had some skilled players and tried to play the game rather than the boot and scoot style that some teams in this league have adopted, but we were too good on the day.  The Goo Girls knocked the ball around, had a number of 5, 6, 7 or more passing string combinations, and created chance after chance at goal.  

Nearing the end of a completely dominant half of soccer, FC Milwaukee was awarded a direct free kick right at the top of our box.  Their player hit a hard, head-high shot at our wall and Madie (LM) reflexively put her hand in front of her face to protect herself.  Tweeeet!  Great.  

Not the best timing in the world.  We'd played so well yet only had one goal to show for it.  Now, a probable goal just prior to halftime could give Milwaukee some needed life and momentum heading into the second half.  

However, the PK God's were behind us and the Milwaukee shooter's shot rolled right to Tori.  

No real changes at halftime as the team was playing fantastic soccer.

Second half saw more of the same.  More good chances at net (including a smack of the post from Getch) and solid individual and team defending.

About 6 minutes from time, Getch (Att Mid) won a tough 50/50 tackle near the top of our penalty box.  She counter-attacked up the field and sent a through ball over the top to Millie (Point).  The defender beat Millie to the ball and half cleared the ball wide to Bidi (LM) on the left flank.  Bidi controlled the ball and found Millie just inside the Milwaukee penalty box.  Some nice skill work to turn her marking defender and a low hard shot to the near post saw us double our lead.  It finished like this.  

* * * * *

All in all, a good weekend for the girls.  Split into 3 vans for the trip down with our White team, staying girls 4 to a room for the first time at a tournament we've traveled to, team meals with parent chaperones helping along the way... it was an enjoyable time for them all.

Game #1 vs Homer Hawks (IL)    W 3-0

Game #2 vs Madison 56ers (WI)   W 3-0

Game #3 vs Mequon Red (WI)    W 4-1

Game #4 vs FC Milwaukee (WI)    W 2-0

12 goals for (3 from set pieces, 5 from crosses, 2 from through balls or balls played over the top, and 2 from individual efforts), 1 against.   

I feel we're starting to get our game sharp, and it comes at the right time with State Cup right around the corner.  We'll train Wed, Fri, and Sat, then open up our State Cup on Sunday vs NSSA. 

MRL Game #3 vs Mequon Red (WI)

Another beautiful day in Appleton.  A little cool at the start, but the sun was shining with the promise of warmth later in the day.

 We had seen Mequon last year at Regionals.  They had a danger girl up top and some hard battling mids and defenders, but I was confident that if we could match their effort our skill would carry us through.

Warm-up was sharp and the girls looked ready to go.

Mequon came out in a 5-3-2 formation.  Don't know if this was their normal shape, but they obviously knew the caliber of team they were up against.  

It was difficult for us at first.  We player too direct, forcing quick passes into our forwards when they were usually outnumbered 5 to 2, and we lacked the support up the field when our forwards managed to hold the ball up under pressure.  Cook and I tried to get the girls on the bench to see the space that our wide backs had as Mequon's shape allowed a ton of room for these defenders to play in.  Yet even after making changes it was still a struggle for the team to totally grasp the concept. 

At the 17 minute mark, the wide Mequon wide right mid hoofed a long diagonal ball behind our back line.  Bidi (RD) tracked the ball down but her clearance under pressure wasn't wide or far enough up the field.  To make matters worse for us, the ball fell to Mequon's danger player about 35 yards out from our goal.  The girl took a few touches, our defenders didn't organize enough to provide, and she smacked a high, powerful shot that Tori couldn't get a hand too and it hit the back of the net just under the crossbar.

Crap.  Now they're probably going to a 7-2-1 and we're in for a long game against a packed defense.

To the Goo Girls credit, they managed to begin to grasp the attacking concepts we needed them to.  One minute from the halftime break, We swung the ball around the back to Bidi (still at the right back position).  Jilly (RF) made a great diagonal run across the field as the ball was being switched, and Bidi found her wide down the right flank with a good pass.  Jilly beat her defender and crossed in a low hard service that found Ripper unmarked about 8 yards from goal at the far post.  Rippers controlled the ball and finished to bring us back into the game.  Good goal, great timing.  

After getting the girls on the same page during halftime, the girls really took it to Mequon in the second half.  Mequon's only real chance on goal came about 15 minutes into the half from a 40 yard freekick that took an amazingly bad hop as it dropped about 4 yards in front of Tori.  Tori, thinking to simply take the ball on the hop, made a fantastic relax save as the ball shot off to her left to palm the ball over the top of the net.

18 minutes in we took the lead as Lily (LM) received a pass on the left flank, cut inside, and hit a great diagonal ball behind the Mequon defenders for Jilly (RF) to run onto.  The Mequon GK made an aggressive on-rushing play for the ball but Jilly got their first and toe poked it past her to roll into the goal.

Two minutes later we're awarded a free kick at midfield on the right flank.  I'm yelling across for Bidi (RM) to relax and let one of the defenders serve it, but she opted to play a quick pass 20 yards up field to Jilly (RF).   Jilly turned and found Millie (LF) at the top of the box to the right of the goal.  Millie played a quick Give & Go with Lily (LF), took a shot that hit the far post, ended up playing a Give & Go with the post around the GK, and finished into the empty net.  Funny finish, but great build up.

One minute from time we got our 4th.  Nash (RD) served a free kick in from the right side of the field about 40 yards out.  As we've worked with her in training, the free kick was perfect.  Flighted high behind the defensive holding line to the far post area.  Macky (LF) tried to get a head on the ball but I think it hit her shoulder.  It dropped right in the path of Getch (RF) who was following in and Getch hammered home the last goal of the game.

 Good battle-back performance for the girls.  Toughest game ahead this afternoon with FC Milwaukee.