WDM Premier Games Game #2 vs JUSC (IA)

The wind had picked up considerably during the day and the wind played a huge factor in the U12 White's second game.  The first half was dominated by us scoring 3 goals and not letting the Blue Valley team out of their half.  The second half was controlled by them with us struggling to get out of our half, but they only managed to finish one of their chances.  I wondered if the wind would have an effect on our game.

Right after the game I took the scenic route through Des Moines to get to the Cownie Soccer Complex.  I arrived at the field just as the 12 Blues were kicking off on the field that we would be playing on.  It was really nice of the Tournament Director to set up Mark's 12's and my 13's with back to back game times on the same field.  

As the 12's began to dominate I made my way one field over to watch the Gladiator team from Nebraska playing Dakota Rev.  Whoever won this game would be the team who we would be playing tomorrow providing we played up to our potential in our 2nd game.  As soon as I arrived at the sideline Gladiator's CM cracked a 25 yard shot into the top part of the net to take a 1-0 lead.  1 minute later the same center mid played a through ball to set up a 2nd goal.  They scored another goal and missed a PK all in the first half.  

Gladiators were playing either a 3-5-2 or a 4-3-3 but the key to their team was the 3 center midfielders.  I was really looking forward to playing against a team with 3 center mids because we have not played against a team with 3 center mids besides our 14's back when they were playing a 4-3-3.  With how well our center mids had played defensively in the first game I wanted to see how they could handle playing against a midfield trio.

Onto our game.  We started the game really well.  We were spread out and moved the ball all over the field.  We were very composed on the ball and the girls were seeing the benefit of proper spacing on the field and they were recognizing when to make certain runs.  Our only small issue was our forwards runs.  We haven't worked on them yet so I wasn't too worried, but we continued to talk to the girls on the sidelines about the different types of runs they could make.

We had numerous chances but the JUSC goalie continued to make good save after good save.  14 minutes in their goalie pushed a shot just wide of the post for a corner.  Becks swung the corner in and Sizzle ran onto it and flicked it to the penalty spot.  Jordy got a touch on the ball and it found it's way to Kari who hammered home the ball for our first goal.

Four minutes later we had a good passing movement that found Blitz (fwd) making a great diagonal through run towards the left corner, (Yes!  A run into space!) and after a controlling touch she found Kari running in from the right mid who took a touch and finished off her second goal in 4 minutes.  It was a great team goal.

After this goal we were really rolling and the girls were very fun to watch.

At the 26th minute we were fouled just inside our attacking half.  As everyone was running with their back to the ball to get set up for the free kick, LK found Sizzle making a quick run on the far side of the field and played her the ball.  Sizzle took a touch and crushed the ball past the diving keeper and into the net.  

This goal is one of the favorite goals that we've scored this year.  The fact that both LK and Sizzle were tuned in and were looking to be dangerous the second the foul was called shows another level of player.

Nothing to say at half time but to continue playing like we were in the first half and challenge the girls to not allow Johnston a single shot on goal.  Take pride in the shutout.  We continually talk about the idea that when we get up on a team and are playing well, we never ever want to give up a goal.

Second half was very similar to the first half as we continued to play really, really well.  We were finding a great balance of passing to feet and to space.  About 75% feet and 25% space.  I was happy to see that the wind was not having an effect on our game because we really like to keep the ball on the ground.  We had a handful of really good chances but their goalie continued to play well and we missed the net on a couple of other chances.

15 minutes into the half we were on the board again through some quick midfield passing that sprang Gaffer through on a break away and our 4th goal.

The girls didn't let up the rest of the game and we were able to keep the ball in Johnston's half until the final whistle.

After the game we talked about how our defenders and our defensive effort were what allowed us to play so well offensively.  It is crucial for the girls to stay focussed on defense.  We gave our defenders Brownie, Lydia, Jazzy, LK, Taz, and our goalie, AJ, the recognition they deserved for keeping 2 consecutive clean sheets and 3 in our last 3 games.

* * *
Just after we scored our first goal I received the news that this would be our last game of the tournament due to the weather.  I was a little disappointed that we wouldn't be able to play Gladiators and KC tomorrow.  This was the tournament that we had really been prepping for the entire spring and winter.  It was the culmination of our last month of games and how I was going to really judge what we needed to work on before State Cup and hopefully Regionals.  

Because we have to play our first State Cup games the last weekend in April we are not going to be able to play against any of the other top Regional teams that we would have been able to play at the Eclipse tournament that weekend.  So now the challenge will be to try and find local competition that will be able to prep us.

Right after I received the word that the rest of the tournament was cancelled a JUSC player went down injured after being hit with the ball.  It's incredible how much the ball stings when it is cold out.  This injury left the Johnston team with only 10 players.  

I thought about withdrawing one of our players but I decided that I wasn't going to short our kids playing time because they did not bring enough players to the tournament.  Especially after hearing that we were not going to be playing tomorrow.  

I decided that this would be a good training session for us on how to move the ball and keep our spacing with limited pressure.

I had watched part of their first game and they had 12 players.  I didn't ask their coach what the deal was with bringing so few players to a tournament but I had wished that I would have asked to change our schedule on Friday night to play the other top seeds.  I guess we can only play the teams put in front of us and this turned out to be a really good training session for us.

I made the decision that I wasn't going to drive home into the Storm of the Century.  I'd much rather go back to the hotel and watch the best team and college basketball, UNC, to see if they could continue their journey to the National Championship that everyone had said that they would win one year ago.  I love that they have been able to perform with the target on their back the entire year.  

WDM Premier Games Game #1 vs Mequon

Amid speculations of the tournament being cancelled due to poor weather conditions we were informed that Saturday's games would be played for sure, but Sunday's games were in doubt.  The way Mark phrased it when we heard the news was that "We will for sure play 2 games and anything beyond that is bonus."

We were the #1 seeded team in the tournament so our group games were going to be against solid teams, but not the other top teams in the tournament.  I had thought about asking if we could switch the schedules and pick our opponents, but I knew this was not a possibility at this stage of the tournament and I held out hope that we would be able to play our games on Sunday.

The weather conditions for our games today were going to be high 40's to mid 50's with lots of wind.  

We started the game with the ball and I told the girls I wanted us to keep possession of the kick while going forward.  The whistle blew and we passed the ball to our center mid, who played the ball to our outside back, into our center back, to our outside mid and we lost possession 10 yards into our half.  I shook my head and made a mental note that we need to spend time working on kick offs.  Being able to read what the other team is giving us off a kick will be something valuable for us to learn.

Our center mids really struggled at the start of the game because there was no depth between the two of them.  They both would go forward together and they would go back together leaving a huge gap in the center of the field.  I addressed this on the side line with Becks and Stoker and kept pointing out the need for balance between the two of them.  It was great to see them fix that issue with our shape the second they were subbed on.  It worked perfectly for me to show Sizzle and Jazzy how much of a difference the spacing made and they were able to do a great job with it the rest of the game.  This actually was the best game defensively that our center mids have played in terms of tackling, heading, and forcing Mequon to one side.

With Mark on the bench with me he kept pointing out to the girls how we needed to play the ball into space more.  The more I watched the game, the more clear it was.  We would only pass the ball to feet.  We have tremendous speed, but we were unable to use it because everything was to feet.  

Mark also pointed out that it looked like we were playing a 2-6-2 and our outside defenders were killing our spacing by pressing up too early.  We were in Mequon's half almost the entire time, so the closer our outside defenders played to our outside mids the less time and space their was for everyone.  They needed to stay back so they would spread out the other team and it would in turn allow them time and space to receive the ball and run at the other team or put in an early service.

Besides those 2 issues, Jordy was causing all kinds of problems when she received the ball and was beating defenders left and right.  

In the 27th minute we had the ball on the right side and we played Blitz into space down the wing.  Blitz beat her defender and shot the ball to the far corner of the net over the goalie.  Mequon's goalie was able to get a hand on the ball slowing it down.  As the ball was bouncing towards the goal line Carly came sprinting in and finished off the goal just before a defender was about to clear the ball.

A minute after we scored Mequoan was awarded a penalty when the ball was cleared into one of our player's hands.  It was completely unintentional and the ref had let a similar play like this go with a "play on" call when it happened to Mequon.  Inconsistency is frustrating.  But these refs were a ton better than San Diego.

Their girl stepped up to take the penalty and AJ waited in anticipation.  It would have been really cruel to let Mequon tie the game up with how the balance of play was.  The ref blew the whistle.  The Mequon girl struck the ball hard and AJ dove and saved the penalty.  Just like San Diego.  

It is a really nice to have so much confidence in your goalie that you are not worried when other team's are awarded penalties.

The half time whistle blew and we brought the girls in to make adjustments.  We talked about the spacing of the defenders and center mids and stressed the importance of playing the ball into space.

When the second half began the girls made all the adjustments and looked really good.  4 minutes into the half we played a couple of passes to feet in the midfield before playing Gaffer into space for a 1v1 with their central defender.  Gaffer beat her but as she was going to shoot the defender was able to get a foot in to block the shot and the ball went out for a corner.

On the ensuing corner Becks curled in a perfect ball to the top of the 6 yard box where Blitz met it with a powerful header into the back of the net.

We played really well the rest of the half and the girls were able to notice how much it helped to have our defenders keep their spacing when we were in the attacking half.  Mequon was able to get one chance in the second half where AJ made the first save and the ball bounced behind her.  They had a forward running in to finish it but AJ was able to reach back and palm the ball against the ground with one hand and stop the girl from scoring.  It was a really cool save.

Despite our good play and numerous second half chances we were unable to finish any other chances in the game.  The final score was 2-0.

The second half was another big step forward for the girls as they really recognized how to play when we are in the attacking half.  I really hope that we will be able to get in another couple of games today.

WDM Premier Games

The schedules have been out for a while now.  This tournament is really on top of things.  It is probably the most organized tournament that I've been involved with.  The forecast is mid 40's to mid 50's with a good chance of rain the weekend.  We've had good luck with the weather at this event in the past and I'm hoping that we will luck out again and be able to play the games in decent weather conditions . . . Especially since I will be at the fields all day as I am coaching our U12 Whites and helping out with the U12 Blues.

Do you think it will prepare me if I go stand outside for a couple hours today and tomorrow?  I might need to find some boots to wear to keep my feet warm.

WDM Schedule

Our schedule sees us facing off against Mequon (WI) at 9:25 AM in our first game.  I'm pretty excited for this game because I think we have improved a ton since we played them in St Cloud.  

Our second game is not until 5:55 PM that night vs Johnston (IA).  I'm not sure what to think about the long layoff between games.  Johnston plays Mequon at 1:40 PM so we will have more rest than they will, but it also means that we will have 3 games in 22 hours with our 2 games on Sunday.

The tournament is set up in a unique way where the 4 group winners are guaranteed to play their final 2 games against other group winners in the Semi Finals, Finals or the 3rd Place game.  Last year we were in the 3rd place game.  

We will play the winner of Group D should we win our group. 
Group D

• NSA Preminer (IL) #26 RII
• Gladiator Les Blues (NE) #30 RII
• Dakota Rev (MN)

I'm hoping our 4th game will be against either Strikers FV (IL) #14 RII or KC Comets Select (KS) #25 RII

As long as the weather holds out it should be a fun tournament.

3/30 Training: Crossing and Finishing

Eric Singer called me this afternoon saying he was going to be in a meeting and unable to get to the U15 White team's training until 6:45 so I was going to run both the U13's and U15's together.  Normally this wouldn't be a problem but Holy Angles HS Lax was in the dome right up until our start time of 6:30 so I wasn't able to prep the kids with what I wanted to do, plus I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with both groups.  I had wanted to continue to work on our crossing and finishing so I set up the Ajax drill, but the mixing of the 2 groups did not go well for some reason.  In hindsight, I should have put the 13's together and the 15's together but instead I just mixed them up at 2 different goals.

When Eric arrived we divided the group up into 3 teams and we were going to have 2 teams playing while one team went to the far 1/4 of the dome and worked on crossing and finishing.  During the first game the soccer wasn't looking too good so we decided to split off into our teams.

We spent the next 25 minutes on crossing and finishing.  3-4 kids went out wide with all the balls and worked on serving it in the air to 2 runners who were trying to head the ball into the net.  It's amazing how quickly the girls improve when they spend a little bit of time working on something.  Our crosses are a lot better than they were a week ago and we began to score a couple really nice header goals.  We still have a couple of girls ducking away from the ball so I might have to mandate the Full 90 Headgear until they start to attack the ball.

We finished with 10 minutes of scrimmaging.

3/29 Training: Ajax Finishing and Scrimmage With Gopher Players

With 13 players at training tonight we were getting closer to having everyone at training.

We revisited the Ajax crossing and finishing exercise from our Friday session.  Our crosses were a lot better today.

Mikki Denny and some of the Gopher players were at the dome tonight to run the U15 Blues session that was after ours.  When we started playing Mikki asked if we needed any extra players so 3 of the Gophers jumped in and played with the girls.  I think this kind of thing is very cool for the girls and they seem to really enjoy it.  Mackenzie played very well in this scrimmage and stuffed one of the Gophers in a 1v1 and had some great dribbling moves.