State Cup Final . . . Oh Wow

*All photos are courtesy of Stapf Photography
We entered State Cup for the experience this year to be ready for next year and with the girls making it all the way to the finals they were able to get about as much experience out of the event as we could have hoped.  Tonight we played our U13 team and I had coached many of the girls on that team over the last couple of years so before and after the game I had conflicting emotions because I care so much about both groups of girls. 

During warm ups we made sure everyone had the right mindset going into the game.  The mindset that they should enjoy every moment of today because it was a very special moment for the girls.  We talked about the fact that they should not spend any time being nervous about a soccer game, but instead they should be excited about the game and enjoy it.

Over the past 7 months we have continually talked about the fact that things are not always going to go your way and you are going to face adversity at times.  We've spent a lot of time in training talking about the fact that you are going to have days where you struggle on offense and you need to still find a way to contribute to the team.  You can always work hard defensively, communicate, and keep putting yourself in the right situations and chances are that eventually things will go your way. 

We were put to the test of how we would deal with adversity when Kari started warming up and she found out that her leg was hurt too bad to be able to play in the game today.  It was a very tough blow for her as she was so excited to play in the game today, but instead of sulking about not being able to play she brought a great energy to the sideline and warm up.

Before the game I reminded the girls that there were going to be times today when we were going to be stuck in our end for 5-10 minutes at a time because the 13's are a good team.  How we reacted to these stretches of adversity would determine whether or not we would be in this game.

As the game started I kept thinking about the movie Friday Night Lights and how we were like the undersized Permian Panthers who played with a ton of heart and just battle and found ways to win.  It was going to be an exciting game.

We came out in our 4-2-1-3 formation and for the first 8 minutes the game was back and forth with our girls working extremely hard to keep up with the 13's.  Since we have unlimited subs I usually like to get 3-4 of the girls into the game at about the 12-15 minute mark and make a couple more changes at about the 20 minute mark.  But as I looked out on the field one by one our girls kept dropping from exhaustion and I had to make many changes early in the game that I had not planned on making at various times.  I was becoming nervous that we may be in for a long game.

But about 20 minutes in the girls seemed to adjust to the pace and the hard work that they would have to put in during the game and we were able to sub at more consistent intervals.

Jordy had a couple of long flip throw ins that created some half chances for us and at times we moved the ball quickly but the 13's did such a good job of getting numbers around the ball and putting us under pressure that we struggled to string together the passes that we needed.  Our best attacks came from one or two passes followed by one of the girls taking on 2 or 3 of their players.

With us being under such pressure we had to work extremely hard defensively and we asked a lot of our outside defenders Taz and LP to get up and down the sideline to cut off their runs with Bella and Hannah in the center cleaning up anything that got through.  They all did a great job and we were able to limit the 13's to a number of outside shots and crosses that the girls battled hard to clear or saw AJ hold onto anything that got through.

We take a lot of pride in blocking shots as a team and we had one exciting stretch where we had 3 girls block shots in a row.  It was great to see their commitment to their team.

Half time came and the score was 0-0 and as the girls came to the bench they were getting on each other a little bit about what they could do better.  It was great to hear this because it meant that they really believed they could do better and they were expecting it from each other but we needed to keep things positive.  We were doing what we needed to do to give ourselves a chance.

At half time we talked about the need for communication.  We needed to constantly tell each other where we were going to be so when we had the ball we could find each other and make passes. 

We also talked about how to defend the 13's switching the field on us.  They were doing a good job of swinging the ball and the we were getting too anxious to cut off the pass to their outside mid and we were beginning to leave a gap between our center defender and outside defender that needed to be closed.  We reminded each other that as long as the ball stays in front of us we can defend it and make it predictable.  If we let them get behind us then we are in trouble.

Besides that we made sure everyone was having a good time and we were going to enjoy the second half no matter what happened.

The half started and we were under immediate pressure but we were holding.  About 10 minutes in Sprout had the ball on the left side of the field and cut the ball into the middle of the field to Jordy who turned and found Erika just inside the far right side of the box.  Erika trapped the ball with the inside of her right foot and faked a touch to the middle of the field and took a quick touch to the outside of her defender and as she went to go by the defender she got clipped and the ref blew the whistle for a penalty.

It was great that Erika had taken her defender on 1v1.  For the past 5 months we've been talking with her to take more players on, but over the last two weeks I have been constantly talking with her about being confident on the ball and showing her skill.  Hopefully she will keep doing it now:)

As the ref pointed to the spot our confidence on PK's was at an all time high as at least five different girls all wanted to take the penalty.  In fact I may have seen everyone's hand go up to take the penalty except for AJ's. 

Sprout grabbed the ball initially but LK went over to her and they had a chat about who should take it.  I decided to let the girls sort it out themselves because if I am going to stay true to my word that I am confident in all of them taking a kick I needed to trust them and let them handle this.

LK had wanted to shoot in the Tonka shoot out but did not get the chance, thankfully because we won in five shots, as I had her as the 6th shooter.  I loved her confidence but I had no idea where she was going to shoot the ball since she was injured and did not partake in our practice shootouts over the last week. 

The ref's steps seemed to be huge as it looked like the PK spot was about 15 yards away from the goal so I hoped that LK would hit the ball hard enough to go in.  She did that and then some as she had both power and accuracy lacing the ball into the lower left corner to give us the 1-0 lead.

After we scored the 13's really stepped up their attack and hemmed us in our end firing in crosses and dribbling at us.  Because of the pressure our center mids kept dropping back in line with our center defenders and their center mids kept finding the ball at the top of the box with open looks for shots.  We kept talking with the center mids to stay up and trust our defenders but the 13's made it very tough on us and AJ was called upon to make a couple of saves and Bella cleared one off the line as a cross got by AJ and one of the 13's hit a one time shot on goal. 

As they put on more and more pressure with about 15 minutes left we switched to a 4-4-2 to defend their wide players.  We have not played in this system but the kids knew it was just about making plays. 

With 8 minutes left one of their forwards got around our right side and passed the ball diagonal back to the top of the six and the 13's slotted home the much deserved tying goal. 

The last 8 minutes were going to be crazy.  Tired and under pressure the girls battled through the last 8 minutes of regulation and as the ref blew his whistle to end regulation the girls cheered because they love playing overtime.  The idea of going into overtime seemed to give us some much needed energy.

Before overtime we talked about the fact that everyone was going to play in overtime and they should keep working hard.  We were going to play the first 10 minute overtime in the 4-4-2 and then we were going to attack in the second overtime with our 4-1-2-3.  We were going to play for the win.  The girls were all excited and we reminded each other that if we score we should try and score another.  If the 13's score we would push forward and go for the tying goal.  Either way it was going to be fun.

The first overtime saw the 13's in our half a bit more but the girls continued to fight and block shots and crosses.

Despite the 13's pressure we still went with our plan to attack in the second overtime and the girls pushed for the winner.  Gaffer had a shot and we had a couple of deep throw ins but we were unable to get the winning goal.  With one minute left in the game a dangerous cross came into AJ's 6 yard box and she jumped up in a crowd of players and punched the ball away.  As she did this she had the wind knocked out of her and she went down.

After a minute or two she was able to catch her breath and she was excited to hold out for the last minute and get to another shoot out.

The last minute of the game finished up and as the ref blew his whistle the girls jumped up and celebrated as if they had won the game.  They love shootouts.

As I called the girls in from the field to get a drink one of the linesman was yelling at the girls to stay in the center circle.  The girls froze and I told them to come over and grab a drink again.  But again the linesman yelled at them to stay.  So I  said back to him that first it is ok for professionals to get a drink before a shoot out so we can as well, plus I reminded him that these are 12 and 13 year old kids.  He didn't need to be yelling at them.

When the girls came over I asked them who was confident in taking a penalty and all of their hands went up with screams of "I want one!"  It was great.

Unlike the semi final shootout they were not going to allow the coaches to be in the center circle with the kids so I told the kids the order: Bella, Gaffer, Sprout, Blitz, LK and I told Mack that she would be the 6th shooter if we got that far.

Before they went out there we talked about the fact that there are only two possibilities that can happen when you shoot a penalty.  You either make it or you miss.  That's it.  The world does not stop.  We talked about the fact that it was so important that if you miss a penalty you come back to the center circle with a good attitude because we are a team and we all need a good attitude so we can be confident in our shots.

The penalty spot was not marked and it looked like the ref marked the PK spot about 15 yards away from the goal.  Shoot hard please:)

Bella was our first shooter and she struck the ball off the cross bar.  Tough break but she turned around, smiled, shrugged her shoulders and we all moved on confident in AJ to make us a save.

Their first shooter stepped up and put the ball into the lower right corner.  Good shot.

Gaffer was up next and she hammered the ball into the lower left corner to tie the score at 1-1.

Their second shooter stepped up and AJ came up with the save we needed as she dove to her right to stop the shot.

Sprout was up next for us and she hit a solid shot to the left hand side of the goal but the 13's goalie made a great diving save to deny her.  It was a really good save.  After seeing her shot saved Sprout turned around and jogged back to the center circle and cheered on her teammates.

Their 3rd shooter hit the ball down the middle at AJ and she made the save.

Blitz was our fourth shooter and she hammered the ball just under the crossbar in the middle of the net.  It was a rocket.

Their fourth shooter slotted the ball calmly into the corner to tie it at 2-2.

LK went up as our fifth shooter.  She was full of confidence as she hit the ball but it went off the crossbar just like Bella's. 

Their fifth shooter stepped up with us needing AJ to make the save and she missed just wide right so we went to extra shooters tied at 2-2.

Boy was I glad I had already talked with Mack about taking the shot if we went to 6 shooters.  As soon as the ball went wide she was walking toward the spot to take her shot.  She stepped up and laced the ball into the lower left corner for us to take the lead.

Their 6th shooter came up and struck the ball and AJ came up with another huge save to win our second shootout in a row!

State Cup Champs!  The girls went and mobbed AJ again and jumped up and down with excitement.

After the girls shook hands we talked about making sure the girls were respectful of the 13's and how they felt because they had put up such a great fight.  They had controlled the game and we could have been the team on the losing end.  The girls needed to be gracious winners.

Then we went to the pavilion and the girls were awarded their State Cup Champions T Shirts and we took pictures with our team and then we had a group picture with the U14 Blue team who had also just won in a 6 player shootout over our 14 White team. 

Tom Grunnick in the movie Broadcast News once asked "What do you do when your real life exceeds your dreams?"  And I kept wondering if these girls had realized what they had accomplished. 

But then I was brought back to reality when Blitz yelled out "Are we done yet?!  I'm Hungry!"  Followed by the rest of the girls chiming in with the fact that they had other things to get to as well.  Ahh kids are funny.