First game of Spring 2012! Wolverines vs. Sports Academy (1-1)

Thanks everyone for coming out and supporting the team today--I think we play better without half time treats!

The quick recap: The kids all played very hard and with confidence. The passes are starting to come together nicely, including a number of drop passes. We will work on not jumping at opposing players, since once we are off our feet they pull the ball to the side and dribble or pass through us. Overall we did a good job at slowing them down and not overcommitting until a secondary defender could back up the primary defender. Your kids are working very hard at practice and implementing what we learn in the game.

Jenn kept some stats for us. In the first half we had 5 shots. Nick had the first two from the top right side of the box (one on goal); Zane had a direct free kick from outside of the box (just wide); Tate had a breakaway on the right side with a quick shot that the keeper held on to, and then a few minutes later Tate had another breakaway down the middle that he buried at the left post as the keeper sat frozen and muttered "oh no, not again!"--first goal of the season and our first goal against this team! So our first half summary was 5 shots (three on goal) with one goal. We probably maintained possession a little more than they did the first half. We didn't keep track of their shots, but they had a couple good deliveries that we saved through a combination of defenders getting in the way and solid goalkeeping. Their second half goal resulted from some problems clearing the ball and we got lucky with a couple other "dead balls" that we left sitting in front of our net. I'd like to see us gain the confidence to pass the ball back to the keeper to prevent these situations from arising. (so practice passes at home!) The gravity of Mountainside field worked against in the second half and we only had one shot on goal by Zane from afar. However, even with the incline against us we showed some great footwork moving the ball up the sides and into their territory. It was fun to watch two evenly matched teams, each playing very well. We should have another good match on Saturday against Infinity!

Thanks,
Coach Dave