Game 2 Recap -- Aggies vs. Infinity Boys

We had another strong performance yesterday. I was really pleased with the level of play and I think the stats reflect this: First half (Wolverines vs. Infinity) Drop passes: 2 vs. 0 Shots: 2 vs 3 Shots on goal: 3 vs 3 (Tate hit the post and Nick forced the keeper to make a great save. In fact, after Tate beat the entire team and hit the post their keeper had a nervous breakdown and they switched keepers: For Infinity #7 put on a dribbling clinic and scored the first goal, the next goal came off a counter attack when we had pushed everyone up looking for an equalizer, leading to #10's breakaway goal just before half--we'll work on having the keepers charge out of the goal to cut of the shooter's angle on those 1 on 1 situations. Second half Drop passes: 2 vs. 1 Shots: 5 vs. 0 Shots on goal: 9 vs. 5 (Isaac made a shot from the right side that deflected in off the far post; #4 dribbled L to R across our goal then put a well placed ball back to the left--before this Nick made four great saves, keeping us in the game! Zane had six shots, 3 on goal; Isaac had 4 shots, 2 on goal (one goal), Tate and Dylan each had a shot on goal the second half. Total shots for the game: 19 vs. 11 On goal shots for the game: 12 vs. 8 We had a number of memorable plays and the kids generally played hard. At one point the linesman near me muttered a low "wow" when Ethan was working the ball on the left wing during the first half, keeping 2 to 3 defenders busy then dropping the ball back to the open midfielder--he definitely put on a show and helped us keep possession of the ball in the attacking half of the field. He looked determined to be first to every 50:50 ball and went head to head with an unlucky opponent (luckily both players walked away from that midair collision). I think in a low scoring sport like soccer it is important for players and parents to have tenable goals for every game, such as completing a drop pass, winning a 50:50 ball, and even simple things like making other players feel good about their level of play. We have a great group of kids that are fun to coach. Please keep working on fundamental skills at home. We have three players (Gideon, Nick, and Zane) who have two stars each for completing 10 or more juggles at practice. Just as important are pendulums, scissors, and toe taps. As we saw on Saturday, your kid doesn't have to have a very strong shot to score if he can dribble into the back of the net! We play the TFS "B" team on Thursday--we can't overlook any team so we'll practice hard on Monday and Wednesday to get ready for another good home match this week. Thanks, Coach Dave