The girls were
tired. Coming into our fifth game in three days, with 11 year old legs
on a large field early in the season, and hot weather. No excuses though as
Carmel was in a similar situation, compounded a bit more for them with
two girls going down with broken arms this weekend. Probably wouldn't
be pretty soccer but I'm sure girls on both teams would give it
everything they had left.
Carmel was a solid team. They had
some very technical players and some terrific athletes as well. A few
of them had guessed with Andy's U12 team last summer as U11s and had
more than held their own.
The first half was a
fairly even contest. Both teams were tired that much was certain.
Both teams created a few chances on goal with neither team able to
create a really dangerous opportunity.
Carmel looked a bit
unsettled, I think in part due to our athleticism and the pressure we
were able to apply. Their coach seemed frustrated a bit
that her girls seemed unable to keep possession of the ball and string
passes together as they must have been able to do earlier in the
weekend.
The first half ended 0-0. Fairly even, fairly uneventful.
Not much tactical
talk at halftime. The girls were giving all they had. Their physical
tanks were near empty so I thought it best to fill their emotional
tanks. I sat them down and told them how proud I was of how far they'd
come this weekend, of their effort, and of their successes in each
game. We laughed a bit about some of the funny stuff that happened at
last night's team dinner, I poked fun at a few girls, and then it was
time to take the field again.
We came out relatively sharp, finally creating a chance at goal after a quick passing combination from Wiki (LM) to Chels (LF) to Babes (Point).
A minute later we countered quickly after some good possession by Carmel in our defensive third. Dogg's outlet pass to B-Money and her subsequent heads up one-time pass to spring Babes on a breakaway was whistled for offside. Good call actually by the linesman as it was very, very close (I was right there to see it as well).
Carmel created the best chance of the game thus far 7 minutes into the half. We tuned out on a throw in near midfield and allowed the ball to be thrown in over our outside defender's head. A low cross and some good dribbling skill by the Carmel left forward saw her clear at the top of the box. Her shot went high.
We took the goal kick and stormed down field to win a corner. B-Money's corner kick was headed (a really, really good jumping header) for another corner. Her second well struck dead ball dropped in the Carmel six yard box but we didn't have anyone close enough to pounce on it. Dogg ran down the panicked clearance to the left side of the box, found some space with a fantastic Step Over Turn, and sent in a cross that Quicksy tried to put away. Tough defending by Carmel's central defender saw her able to clear danger.
The chances seemed to revitalize us a bit and the girls began to find passes. A good combination between Vivi (RM), B-Money (Point), and Quicksy (RF) saw us break up the right side, only to be run down by the speedy Carmel defenders.
Two minutes later, a nice change of field ball by Dogg (CM) found Chels on the left side of the field. Tough work by her to keep the ball alive and Kait (LM) picked up the loose ball. A good touch into the Carmel box, but her shot was too high.
10 minutes from time Carmel got another great chance at goal. A series of mistakes through defense and midfield allowed Carmel to eventually penetrate into our box and pull a cross back towards our PK spot. Dogg tried to clear the area but miss hit the ball. I thought for sure we were down 1-0 but the rocket of a shot just missed the far post.
Carmel got the game winner with a
minute left on the clock. Tired legs and minds saw us, after a series
of mistakes by different players, clear the ball towards the middle of
the field and fail to pressure the Carmel midfielder in clear
possession of the ball at the top of the box. The high shot sailed
over Normy in goal to give Carmel the championship.
Hard fought game between two very good teams. I was extremely proud of the girls and their performance. TONS of stuff to work on that's for sure, but a terrific way to start out this year!
As it turned out, our potential match up against Carmel was delayed as the wildcard winner was St Louis Scott Gallagher out of Group C.
Ohio Elite won Group C with 7 points and Carmel won Group B with 9. Those two teams along with us (the Group A winner) advanced into the semifinals. The fourth team in was the wildcard that came down to PDA and SLSG. Both ended with 6 points but SLGS smacked a local U11 team that was solicited at the last minute to fill out Group C due to a cancellation (I think). I'm sure PDA was pissed as an easy group game for SLSG helped decide PDA's playoff fate.
As the Group A winner we were supposed to play the Group B winner (Carmel) in the Sunday morning semis, and the Group C winner was slated to play the wildcard. But since the wildcard team came out of Group C, the wildcard winner got matched up against the Group A winner, us. So MTA vs SLSG and Ohio Elite vs Carmel. Good company to be in.
Bargsy had had
to leave Libertyville last night in order to get back to MN for another
commitment today so we had 4 subs to work with.
I was absolutely sure that SLSG would be a talented team. After the huge merger in St Louis last summer, bringing together Region II powerhouses St Louis Soccer Club and Scott Gallagher along with Missouri Premier and Metro United from southern Illinois, there was a large talent pool to draw from. Apparently the team we faced today was the top team of the 6 teams SLSG has at the age group.
Talking with Andy yesterday I
decided to switch our midfield shape a bit for today to more of a
standard 4-3-3 rather than at 4-2-1-3. We obviously have a lot of work
to do on team shape and involving our midfield in both our defense and
attack, so the idea today was to try and simplify things as much as
possible. With the two holding mids and the attacking mid formation we
weren't getting what we needed. Worked out well this morning and we'll
see what happens with it today. There was the thought of even starting
in a 4-5-1 against what I thought was going to be a superior team, but
after prepping the girls about how to adjust to this change if/when
needed, I opted to look to attack first this afternoon and gauge our
defensive needs early on.
Beautiful morning for a game, and I set up the Hi-Pod in the Olympic Record time of 11 minutes, 54.3 seconds. Beat that.
We were awarded the kick off and tried to spring B-Money down the right flank with a long ball. SLSG proceeded to win possession and string nearly 14 passes together. It was instantly apparent that the SLSG girls were organized, technical, and had a collective idea of how to move the ball around the field. Yep, I had the "Uh oh, could be a long morning!" thought again.
We settled in though quickly. The emphasis of today was confidence and composure (I had to explain what the latter meant to the girls). Though we were coming into a semifinal and potentially a final later today, "important" games, I challenged the girls to try and look to play a bit more rather than the frantic, direct style that had been a great majority of our game the last two days. We showed some good signs of this early on as we looked to actually play the ball out of the back at times.
5 minutes into the game we got on the scoreboard. Meggy (RD) played a one time ball forward under pressure at the right back spot. Babes (Point) pressured and won the ball off a SLSG's defenders first touch, showed great strength and balance on the ball to retain possession for us, drew in three defenders, and found B-Money (RF) with a calm outlet pass to the space on the right flank. B-Money, with the attitude of a goal scorer, didn't hesitate to pull the trigger from just outside the corner of the penalty box, and her high shot caugh the SLSG GK off guard and sailed over her head across the line.
10 minutes later we doubled our lead. Some snappy and tenacious midfield defending from Cal (RM), Kait (LF), and Maddog (CM), with a final 50/50 tackle by Payt (CD) won the ball for us. Payt picked her head up and found Babes (Point) with a 20 yard long ball to the top of the circle in the SLSG's half. Babes let the ball run by her, knicked it past the challenging SLSG defender, took a great touch in towards goal up the left side of the penalty box, and hit a low, near post shot for the tally.
With about 5 minutes left in the half we nearly put the game out of reach. A good step to pressure and tackle by Cal (now at CD) in 15 yards in our half and a quick slotted through ball to Chels (Point) sliced the SLSG defense apart. Chels out-raced the SLSG last defender and flicked the ball past her on her way to goal. Another touch took her to the top of the box just to the right of the goal, but her hard shot was batted down by a good save from a GK who was in a fantastic position.
2-0 at halftime. The most dangerous lead in soccer and against a quality team.
Halftime speech was fairly simple. Praise for the effort on the field, the highlighting some good moments, and the reminder that this game was not done. We knew SLSG would come out firing in the second half and we needed to be prepared for that. My words to the girls - Could we keep our compusure under the pressure? Could we continue to look to connect passes? Could we continue to find ways to attack? Could we enjoy the challenge that SLSG gave us and recognize that they were a terrific possession team?
5 minutes into the half, some good combination passing from SLSG and some ball watching from us saw SLSG play out of our right side to the middle of the field about 25 yards from goal. We closed fairly quickly from our center defense (an aspect of our game that was not at the level we needed to be at yet). The SLSG midfielder under pressure touched the ball back to another SLSG midfielder who took the opportunity of a slowly rolling ball back to her to fire a shot off. No problem as the ball looked to be about chest high for Normy (GK) who was standing just inside our 6-yard box. However, very uncharacteristically, sure-handed-Normy bobbled the ball backwards. She attempted to bat the ball away but in the panic of the moment it looked like she batted it into her own legs and it trickled into the goal. Extremely inopportune moment for something that is atypical from our best GK and I felt bad for her as I knew she felt she should have done better with the shot.
The momentum had shifted for sure but the Thunder girls responded well. I guess I expected a little more panicked play, but we got some of our best build up yet. 6 passes in midfield saw us change the point of attack and spring Quicksy (RF) up the right sideline. A great first touch from her and a fantastic early cross across the 6-yard box caught the SLSG GK in no-man's land. Phi Phi (LF) who had been instrumental in the midfield build up in our half of the field, had followed the play up the field, sneaking into a good position at the far post. Her shot attempt on the low bouncing cross from Quicksy just missed the goal.
From the ensuing goal kick, SLSG pushed up the field, once again combined up our right side. A panicked clearance by Payt (CM) into the ref's shins saw the ball rebound back into our defensive third. The SLSG left forward received a 2v1 Lead Pass from her midfielder and sent a low cross into our box. Our central defenders weren't quick enough to step to the ball before a SLSG attacker, and another panicked clearance attempt by Maddog (CD) saw the ball drop to the powerful SLSG forward who ripped a shot near post past Normy. Crap. Could have easily been up again by two goals and less than a minute later we're all tied up. That's soccer.
The rest of the second half was an even contest with neither team able to find the net again, so we headed into extra time.
A few minutes into the first OT period we were disected by some good passing from SLSG and a lot o ball watching by us. B-Money (RD), Cal (RM), Payt (CM), and Fense (CD) were all guilty of it as the SLSG left forward made a great run calling for the ball behind three of them. Gizmo (RD) was also then caught ball watching a bit as her mark, the SLSG right forward, ran by her to received a slotted pass in our box. Normy saved the low, first time shot to keep us tied. Great play by SLSG, lots of coaching points for us when we watch the video this winter.
The first OT period ended with the teams still dead-locked at 1 goal a piece.
Now the mind dance began. Who was on the field? Who had been subbed in? Who hasn't seen the field yet in OT? Who do I want taking PKs at the end if needed (who had to be on the field)? How to I get all the players involved while still having the shooters on the field? Do I need to get everyone involved? Man, that Hi-Pod over there looks cool.
We created the two best chances on goal in the 2nd OT period. B-Money's brave header attempt nearly gave us the winner.
Some compusure by Payt (CM) and a good long ball to B- Money (RF) saw the SLSG GK have to make a decent save.
No break though though for either team, so on to PKs.
I instructed the captains to choose to shoot first if we won the toss. They questioned the instructions asking if it wouldn't be better to shoot second. We had been in at least 2 PK shootouts in championship games this last year and I had confidence in our shooters and in Normy in goal. I wanted to try and put pressure on the SLSG players if we could.
We lost the coin flip and SLSG opted to shoot first. Their shooter shot high and wide.
Babes stepped up and buried her shot into the left side netting.
SLSG #2 hit a high shot that Normy, who got a good jump on the shot, got some fingertips to but couldn't stop.
B-Money hit a low hard shot to the left that snuck by the SLSG GK to give us the lead 2-1.
SLSG #3 missed the goal wide left, Fense roofed her shot in the upper left and after the third round we still had the advantage 3-2.
SLSG #4's shot hit the left post and bounced away from goal, and we were off to the championship.
Very good result against the best soccer playing team I've seen play at this age group. Though some of the parents might not have liked me saying it, I told the girls that SLSG was a better team than us in terms of grasping soccer concepts, movement, and overall techcical ability. Our goal was to develop this passing ability into our team's game. I don't want to replace our attacking style but I do want to add another dimension to it. We're not lacking this possession dimension completely, but we need to be able to keep the ball under pressure better against competition at this level. More on this later.
Later that afternoon we came up against the Novi Jaguars from Michigan. The title of Group A winner was still up in the air as CIS and us were 1-1-0, Novi was 1-0-1, Sting was 0-1-1. If Novi beat us they would win the group. CIS would win the group if they beat Sting and we beat or tied Novi. We would win the group with a win against Novi and a Sting victory over CIS. All to play for!
We came out of the gates fast. Within 5 minutes of the kickoff, a one-touch ball over the top from Payt (CD) to Babes (Point) sprung Babes up the right flank. Maddog (LF) made a great run into the penalty box, trailed closely by Bargsy (LM), Wiki (Att Mid), and Cal (RM). Great to see the girls work hard to get into danger areas. Babes dribbled by her marking defender, neared the endline, and pulled a great ball back away from goal to 8 yards out. The closer you are to the endline, the more the cross has to come backwards away from goal. Maddog pounced on the end of the cross, took a good first touch into space, and slid home the volley to give us the early goal.
Three minutes later, another good one-touch, this time from Kait (LF), split two Novi defenders and found Babes in on goal. The Novi GK came out and made a challenge about 10 yards from goal that took Babes out at the ankles. Space time continum visual warp? Nope. Whistle and PK. Good call. Babes stepped up and hammered the spot kick home to double our lead.
The Novi coach was livid at his players. He benched a couple of them for the entire remainder of the half.
Five minutes later and we almost put the game out of reach. Mal (CD) provided a fantastic service into the box off a set piece about 35 yards from goal. Payt (CM) got a flick on it that popped the ball up into the air, and Maddog, with terrific reaction speed and athletisicm, almost full volleyed home what would have been one of the best finishes sicne I've been with the team. But the Novi GK handled the hard low stike well to keep her team within 2 goals.
We had control of most of the rest of the game. The girls were fatigued for sure but managed to continue to battle on.
With about 5 minutes left in the second half, we got the third goal. Babes (Point) dispossed a Novi defender at the top of the Novi box and found B-Money (RF) with a great diagonal ball over the top. B-Money's first time cross from the edge of the penalty box floated over the Novi GK at the near post and settled in the back of the net.
After the game we found out Sting had beaten CIS 3-0, giving us the #1 seed in Group A. We were on course for a match up in the semifinals against the Group B (group of death) terror Carmel (IN) who had waltzed by PDA (NJ), Michigan Hawks (MI), and Eclipse (IL) 2-0, 4-1, and 2-0 respectively.
Off to the fields at 8:30AM for a 10:30AM game. Nice front row parking though games were already going on, and thus another relatively easy transport of the Hi-Pod equipment to the field. Lots of weird stares though from parents watching the games in progress. What? Hasn't anyone ever seen an 80 lbs suitcase and 8 ft tall skinny cylinder being wheeled out to a soccer game before?
Hi-Pod set up took about 20 minutes. Slowly getting the hang of it.
CIS, our morning opponents, was a good team. I had told the girls that same thing even after we beat them 7-3 in April. They played good soccer, with good ball movement and ideas, and were tough and athletic. I did my best to get the girls ready for the challenge this morning, the challenge of playing a team who knew they got beat by us, who knew we were a stong team, and whose knowledge of all this would help them come out focused and sharp. I was confident though that if we were able to match their intensity and desire we come out on top.
I stayed with the 4-2-1-3 formation. Though Normy was our strongest option in goal, I wanted to give her some field experience at this event as well. I found out Novi, the third team in our group, had beaten CIS yesterday 2-1. With what I thought would be a tougher game this afternoon, and likely only tougher games ahead tomorrow, this seemed like the best opportunity to get her on the field. Mal and Phi Phi would split time today. There was the danger of condeding goals on high shots since both girls maybe stand 5 ft nothing in heels, but that's OK. Both are quick and have good reactions. They just look so small in the big net!
The first part of the game was a fairly even contest. We played in their end more than they played in ours, but neither team could create anything dangerous.
With about 7 minutes to go in the first half though, CIS got the go ahead goal. A throw in to a CIS attacker and a quick ball into our penalty box saw us unbalanced. Babes (Sweeper) tried to one time the ball out of danger on her week foot, but the half clearance went straight to another CIS attacker. A great controlling touch and a percise left-footed pass back into the central area found the initial CIS attacked (the one who received the throw in) wide open in space with 4 of our girls unaware of her presence due to ball watching (following the ball with their eyes). That attacker hit a one time shot with her left foot that sailed over Mal. Lots of mistakes on our part before the ball found the net. Will be a good one to go over in Video Analysis later.
A minute before the halftime whistle, I feel we should have been awarded a PK off a great solo run by Chels down the left flank and into the CIS box. Was I wrong?
At halftime we talked again about coming out in the second half and matching the CIS workrate and desire, battling harder for loose balls and 50/50 challenges, and looking to move the ball with quicker passing. Phi Phi relieved Mal in between the posts and I pushed Babes up the field to give us more power in the attack.
That move paid dividends early in the second half as her power gave us the equalizer.
A few minutes later we had a good chance to take the lead and Babes found Wiki on a cross. Wiki's shot was somehow saved by the CIS GK's heel as she jumped up and turned away from the shot at the near post.
We spent the next 10 minutes in their end but couldn't create anything dangerous.
CIS then got some momentum back and pressed their attack, creating a dangerous scoring opportunity on us with some very good passing and movement at the top of our box. The final shot just didn't pack the needed punch, but pretty good soccer to watch.
The MTA girls stepped up the intensity and after a great flick from Chels and some strong physical play from Babes, we should have done better with a little more composure on this 4 on 1 opportunity.
But in the end, CIS would get the game winner with about 5 minutes left on the clock. Again, from a throw in, CIS got down our right flank and into our box. Maddog made a play to clear the ball then got completely steamrolled over by the CIS attacker. I heard a whistle and looked at the ref, fully expecting a call to go our way, but he didn't have the whistle anywhere near his mouth. Nothing. What the heck? Was the space time continum creating a visual warp field in this particular penalty box that prevented and ref from seeing infractions that occered here? This was almost the exact same place that I felt we were fouled in the first half that he missed. And where did that whistle come from? Maybe I was hearing things.
I turned back to the field to see the CIS bulldozer hurdled Maddog and pounce on the loose ball. I saw our defenders hesitate, also hearing the whistle, then pick up the defense again seeing the CIS player still playing. The ensuing high shot over Phi Phi found the far post side netting to give CIS the result.
Crap. I was fuming at what I thought was a clear foul that went ignored. I yelled out to the ref, "Holy crap! Didn't you just see that? How can you not call that? You just gave them the game!!!!!!"
Actually, I yelled that out in my head. I harp on the girls to focus on controlling what they can control, and controlling the refs is not one of those things. I can't preach something I think it super important to the girls and then demonstrate the exact opposite. It's not like the ref is all of a sudden going to change his call. It doesn't mean I can't think of making a case to the ref. So we move on...
The CIS girls were obviously excited to come away with the win. It was a tough battle though again I didn't think we played very sharp. We'll see this team many times down the road I'm sure.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 09:33AM 
The girls were
tired. Coming into our fifth game in three days, with 11 year old legs
on a large field early in the season, and hot weather. No excuses though as
Carmel was in a similar situation, compounded a bit more for them with
two girls going down with broken arms this weekend. Probably wouldn't
be pretty soccer but I'm sure girls on both teams would give it
everything they had left. 
