Sereno Soccer Classic - Day 4

Beautiful morning for a semifinal game.

The girls began arriving at the field about 7:30AM for the 8:30AM kick off.  Still feeling the excitement of last night's game, ready for the challenge today would bring.

I opted to stay in our 4-2-1-3 formation from last night.  Solar played a 4-4-2 with a central defender that liked to push up the field a lot.  I hoped our 3 front runners would force then to keep this central defender more at home, allowing our 3 central mids to match up against two central Solar mids.  Solar would have some advantage attacking the space in wide midfield, but with 4 MTA defenders marking 2 forwards, our wide backs should be able to step when needed. 

We talked prior to the game about their danger player #26.  I asked our players to recognize when #26 had the ball and to work to get goal side as (hopefully) one of our players would pressure and delay her movement forward.  Wide backs needed to leave their wide players and recover back and central to provide cover for our central defenders defending against #26 and to provide numbers behind the ball.

The Solar team was physical and we needed to match this physical play to negate any advantage their hard play could bring. 

Lastly, I wanted the girls to play with confidence.  I challenged them to show me skill on the ball against a top Region III team.  Could we keep possession?  Could the girls finish earning all their skillzys?  Could we look to be creative on the attack and tough in defense?  All their friends were back in MN in snow and cold.  These girls were basking in the sun and playing a game they love.  Regardless of the result today it has already been a successful event for the team in my mind and I was proud of their efforts.  Relax, be confident, compete, and enjoy playing the game.

Here's how we started:

We came out on fire.  The girls looked very sharp, strung passes together, and created some decent chances at goal.  The first 10 minutes was all us, all played in the Solar half.  It was fun to watch and I'll be honest in saying that I really believed it would be our day. 

Then, as it usually does, the game of soccer happened.  One team could be dominating play, then in 10 seconds the game can change for the worse. 

We were in the Solar attacking end and the ref blew his whistle for a rough tackle on our part, just inside the Solar penalty box on our left side.  Our entire team turned their backs to the ball and began retreating back towards our goal.  A Solar defender quickly grabbed the ball and played a short pass up the field to the Solar right midfielder.  The quickly taken 10 yard pass beat Phi Phi (LF), Babes (Point), and Dog (Attacking Mid).  Caught off guard they tried to recover but could not hope to be a factor in the play.  Bargsy, our left central mid, also not looking at the ball when the free kick was taken, was slow to react and could not pressure the ball as the Solar right mid dribbled forward, now nearly to midfield.  Our defenders, also caught off guard by the unexpected quickly taken short free kick lost their shape.  More importantly, they lost their marks.  The Solar midfielder hit a long 20 yard ball over the top, beating both Quicksy (LD) and Normy (CD) and finding, you guessed it, dangerous #26 on a diagonal run.  #26 collected the ball, now 1v1 with Em (CD).  Em's angle of approach to the dribbling Solar forward did not account well for #26's super-sonic speed, and #26 danced by Em and on to goal.  Em made a good recovery, but could not stop #26 from taking a powerful shot from the top of the right side of our penalty box.  The high shot sailed over Vivi's outstretched arms and into the far side netting.  All that happened in about 10 seconds, and because we ALL tuned out when the whistle blew.  Real bummer as we were really pressing and playing well. 

The goal deflated us a bit but the girls played on.  No other real quality chances for either team in the first half, though after the goal Solar settled in well in the game and we were no longer the dominant team.  In fact, I think they had the edge a bit for the remaining 20 minutes of first half play.

At halftime, as I like to do when first half issues are still fresh in the girls' minds, we talked about the goal against us and broke down our breakdowns.  The need, especially against quality teams, to remain tuned in and focused even after the ref's whistle blew.  I've used the saying when the ball goes out, we tune in before with the girls, trying to make sure that we organize in the attack and on defense on throw in, goal kicks, and corner kicks.  I'll need to come up with something else to encourage continued focus when the refs whistle blows.  I also need to work with this team on taking certain set pieces quickly, and I'm glad I'll have this example to draw on in the coming years. 

Other than addressing this issue, we were playing well.  No tactical changes.  I reminded the girls that they were in similar position on this very field less than 12 hours ago and our plan would be no different.  Play our game and work to pull back a goal.  If we weren't able to do so in the first 15 minutes of the second half, we'd make changes, as we talked about last night.

3 minutes after the second half kick off, we evened up the match.  Some good team defense saw the ball pop to Mickey (CM) about 10 yards in our own half.  Mickey took a touch and found Babes (Point) on a diagonal run from the center of the field to our left.  Babes received the ball about 40 yards from the Solar goal, executed a Maradona move on her first touch, cut to the middle of the field with the outside of her right foot, then hit an absolute BOMB from 35 yards into the upper right corner of the net.  It was the best individual goal I think I've ever seen at this age group.  The shot was from the left side of the field, not dead center of the goal, and directly into a headwind blowing diagonally across the field, and still the Solar GK had no chance.  And the Maradona on her first touch?!?!  Sick...  All I could do was smile, listen to the players and parents screaming, look at their coach clapping. 

1-1, all to play for. 

8 minutes later we conceded a free kick at the right corner of our penalty box.  I think one of our players yelled at a Solar player as she was about to take a shot or a cross, and the ref called unsportsmanlike conduct.  The indirect free kick was blocked by the mass of MTA defenders in the box, and bounced out towards the initial free kick taker.  She hit the ball first time, I think trying to cross it back in to the danger area, and the ball floated over Phi Phi, again like the first goal but no where near as hard, into the far side netting.  Nothing Phi Phi could have done about that, unless she was on stilts or happened to have Go-Go Gadget arms. 

There coach then made a good adjustment, assigning their #26 to shadow Babes.  I would have done the same thing in his place, or with Babes on their #26 if we went up a goal.

Once again though our team responded well.  4 minutes after falling behind, we had a great chance to pull level for the second time in the match.  B-Money (RF) received a ball back to goal about 35 yards from the Solar goal and about 10 yards in from the right sideline.  She spun towards the outside of the field and played a long diagonal blind ball (without looking) to the far post area.  The ball split two Solar defenders and Mal (LF) came running on to meet the early cross about 12 yards from goal.  The Solar GK came rushing out to close the ball, forcing Mal into a hurried first time shot that flew over the crossbar. 

Another 4 minutes later at Solar effectively put the game away.  A cross into our box was partially cleared and bounced out to the Solar center back about 25 yards from goal.  The center back hit a first time volley that should have brought rain, even from the cloudless Phoenix sky.  However, I knew the second after she hit it we were in trouble.  Again, lacking the Go-Go Gadget extenda-arms, Phi Phi could do nothing as the wet ball came down, just under the crossbar and nearly hitting Phi Phi's heels on the goal line.  OK, I exaggerate a bit here... but just a bit.

The last 14 minutes or so went by quickly, even though the opposing coach began subbing a sinlge player seemingly each time the ball went out of bounds.  We could not create another quality chance on goal and exited the tournament with a 3-1 loss.

Solar would go on to defeat LAFC in the 2-1 finals later that afternoon.