Game 7 -- FC Idaho 1, Wolverines 4

ahooo!!

With today's win we finished this season with a strong record of 5 wins, 1 tie, 1 loss. Most excellent improvement compared to our first season where we finished second from the bottom. This puts us in 2nd place going into the 3-game tournament! The kids did well in a 4-1 win today--but we lacked a "killer instinct" (maybe a Silent Saturday byproduct?) and were a bit unlucky with a couple shots hitting the crossbar or just going wide. We played a strong passing game against a much weaker team and probably had possession for over 70% of the time. We punished them on an early mistake of a goal kick up the middle that Isaac intercepted and put in. A bit later Jackson Weaver picked up a pass at the top of the box and put a low hard shot past the keeper and through a hole in the net--since it was Silent Saturday and the ball was behind the net I think a number of our fans didn't realize we scored as the kids marched back to our half after this goal! Good job Jackson for his second goal of the season!! We went into half with a modest 2 points and came out strong in the second half, with more fantastic ball movement. Trent almost had his first goal on a break away into the six yard box with a sliding kick into traffic that just went over.  We had a succession of several strong shots, most not directly testing their keeper; however, Dylan put a good ball on frame and the keeper blocked it wide where Kyler had charged the far post and slammed it in for his first career GOOOAAAAALLLL!!! We'll have to move him up from defense more often, but he has to first teach the rest of our kids how to stay put on defense, because shortly after this goal Idaho got in a running match toward our goal and put a shot toward goal that Jackson W blocked wide but the same striker followed and finished. Calling the right fullback, where were you? Tate answered shortly after with a solid strike from the right side to finish the game out. 

We did well this season to score 25 goals and only give up 10 goals. I expected 4 or 5 more goals today and it was a good opportunity to practice some outside shots since Idaho played a recreation defense of leaving two defenders back deep in their half. So please have your players work on good strong kicks before our first tournament game this Thursday! Give your player some rolling balls that they can time and smash back, as well as have them dribble and kick. We tend to put in the fewest goals of all the teams in our league. Now that we have our passing game down, we need to work on finishing when inside the 18. The video below demonstrates how to properly kick the ball with power--the kids need to watch this and show me their technique on practice Tuesday (we'll also do "Fun Monday" at 8am).

Finally--30 push ups for all the kids for two bad throw ins and an intentional hand ball?!  Also help your kids by having them run for a full 25 minutes sometime before our practice on Tuesday. We showed much more stamina than our opponents today and we need to keep this up. Good job! Remember, we'll be playing the next 3 games with only 9 players. First game Thursday.

Cheers!
Coach Dave

http://www.monkeysee.com/play/10385-how-to-kick-a-soccer-ball-with-power

Game 6 -- Wolverines 1, Stingerzz 1

Hello Wolverines fans and players!

I continue to be extremely impressed with the soccer skills our boys are displaying on the field. This was evident in both individual skills and team play. We also had to overcome an early goal, which can definitely change the mindset. Improvements in this game over previous: 1) I saw several left footed shots / passes; 2) we had even more overlapping runs (through balls) with players communicating well; 3) we covered for each other and did not bunch up nearly as much. We also did a nice job on the corner kicks--the defense did not cover our short drop pass to Dylan on the corner, allowing us to move the ball into the box through a series of passes, and on the corner we did cross Gideon made a nice volley that he directed on target. That is a fantastic play requiring great coordination. We had a number of shots on the keeper that didn't have enough power to get across the goal line before the keeper could intercept them, but this will come. It is more important to be where we are now by making opportunities with great passing and dribbling. We also took a couple dangerous shots from outside--the most memorable in the first half was a lob by Jackson W that was dropping fast but still just cleared the crossbar. Dylan also connected on a ball that dropped in on the keeper. The more shots we take from outside the 18 the more the defense will have to spread out to cover this, leaving our strikers better opportunities for runs into the box. We had numerous well-played balls inside their penalty box.

We were generally strong on defense, but gave them an early gift on a goal kick down the middle of the field--our players need to move to the wings and provide the keeper with targets--better to give the other team a throw in vs. a break away 1 v 1 down the middle. The good news is we tied up the game on a nice curving free kick by Jackson H just outside the 18. He's been helping us out significantly this season with Logan sidelined. It was still good seeing Logan on the bench again tonight and he tells me the bones are healing well.

Our second goal came after a series of beautiful passes, starting with Trent controlling and moving the ball from the middle to the right wing, where a blond kid made a great cross to another blond kid who finished the ball low and hard into the net. The latter kid was Ethan, who had informed me before the game that he was going to score today--what I really liked is that his goal came off of such a nice assist (Tate or Dylan?)  Tate also released a rocket across the face of the goal from the same right wing and he just missed the far post. We kept up pressure trying to add onto the lead, while exhibiting great composure on defense--Gideon gave the bench and fans a demonstration of how to stay cool under pressure with a series of 3 or 4 pull backs then winning a throw in by kicking it off the opponent. I really like that our defense does not panic and just boot the ball out of bounds when pressured. Kyler provided us with continued strong, heads up defense and I rotated other players in and out of the other fullback position. Our opponents did well to earn a late tying goal. We got bodies in front of the ball, but that was a powerful kick. We'll need to work on denying our opponents entry into the penalty box.

I think our most memorable moment was the "shared" header between Nick and "Big Hobbs" (aka the brutesquad). There is a soccer drill where two players must balance a ball between their foreheads as they move in a concerted direction--I think Hobbs could have won that battle, but Nick wins the dribbling contest and he definitely put on a display of footwork as we battled out the last minutes trying to find a winning goal. We had a couple opportunities, but had to settle with a hard fought tie. No complaints there, and we have secured ourselves a slot in the upper bracket for our final three games. Last season we finished as "Top of the Bottom" with three strong wins. We'll get a chance at "Top of the Top" this season. We still have one more game against Idaho (directions below) before the three game tournament.

Thanks again to the parents and fans--our bench is great at supporting the kids and filling their emotional tanks without yelling out for the referees to make calls or otherwise complain. Our opponents have a bit of a reputation and I heard a few remarks from their side, but overall they were good (one of their fans even remarked to me afterwards that he was happier with the behavior from their side this game than in previous encounters). I'm very appreciative of our players and fans--its hard not to get excited when watching the kids play so well!

Cheers,

Coach Dave

Game 5 -- Wolverines 1, Infinity Premier 0

Another great soccer match yesterday! The players dedicated the match to Logan before the start and did well to give him a win--hopefully he enjoyed it from the bench--I was tempted to throw him in, sling and all, as the game dragged on scoreless and fresh legs were hard to find.

We really depended on all 10 players to keep up the intensity for a full 50 minutes--we will not have 10 players for the tournament and we will only have 8 during our last game against FC Idaho--so this brings up the homework--have your kids run / jog a full 25 minutes on either Saturday or Sunday. At a good clip they should be close to running 5 kilometers. They will need the stamina and leg strength for three tournament games with only 1 sub.

Game recap:

Our first shut out!! So we must credit some great goal keeping by the Tate-Jackson-Cousinship in the first half, followed by Big-Nick in the second. They tested all three keepers, and luckily we had our tallest keeper in 2nd half to deny a perfect shot to the upper left corner. Super-solid hands Nick! The defense did a good job at not allowing any 1 v 1 breakaways and we doubled up on the dribblers for the most part. We had a couple misplays in our own box where we didn't have clean traps from passes and we ended up deflecting the ball right to an open Infinity player. They were unable to capitalize, but in a tight game, we can't be gifting any goals with perfect set ups. The Aggies got both of their goals against us due to "panic in the box" during the first several minutes--yesterday I challenged the kids to come out strong from the first minute and they responded.

Set plays: We took a nice short corner kick (drop pass) and worked the ball into the box nicely. We had a strong corner cross and free kick just outside the 18, both of which landed on the far side of the goal and over the heads of all our players. The solution is to keep at least one player wide on the far side. This comes down to staying open and using the entire width of the field--both teams bunched up at times, but we often took advantage and put together a series of passes to move the ball to the opposite side. The ball movement was superb! My favorite play was the well orchestrated overlap by Nick and Dylan right at half line in the first half--we spent an hour last practice having all the kids working on overlapping each other and sending through balls to the running player. This caught the defense flat and gave us an open run into enemy territory. We had a number of break away runs (Gideon, Dylan, Nick, Tate, Ethan, etc.!) but just weren't quite able to release the ball on goal or find an open player before the defense caught up. Tate dropped his defender in the dust and managed to get a nice shot right before half but came up unlucky hitting the near post. The ensuing scramble was cleared by the defense--we need to always have players following up on the shots for easy put backs. Still, we sent a strong message to our opponents at half.

The second half had us knocking on the door with several more close opportunities--Dylan made a running effort to the far post to just barely miss a cross from the right wing--you could tell he tasted how close he was to that goal--I love the intensity, drama, and even better, the channeling of the frustration from a close opportunity into continued hard runs. Use that energy positively! We had multiple runs into their 18, but just couldn't get clean shots off. Kids: practice faking a monster shot then slipping the ball to an open teammate! We finally were able to collectively exhale as Isaac pulled the ball from left foot to right, and found the inside of the far post. I think the pull back left the keeper's view somewhat obstructed by the defender, because he didn't make any effort to save the ball--maybe he saw the dried blood on that post from Ethan's nose and decided it wasn't worth saving. Either way, the whole team looked re-energized and we had a couple more close opportunities to add to the lead. Jackson H. demonstrated a textbook header to return a defensive clear right back into their box. Gideon pushed the ball through a couple defenders, and Tate wore out the defense with sprints down the wing. And even with their desire for more goals, the kids remembered their primary duties on defense and we held off a few late attacks to run out the clock! Again, kudos to all 10 (and cheering from Logan on the bench!) to play a full 50 minutes, start to finish. Our fans were great too--your support energizes the kids.

Enjoy the Saturday break--WoverinesJD has their last regular season game against Aggies tomorrow if you want to go cheer them on at 10:30. They've struggled this season, but managed to score in every game but one--yesterday they tied Idaho 1-1, so hopefully they build on that and give the Aggies a workout.

Practices: Monday 8am; Tues 5:30pm.

Game: Thursday 5:30pm again at the mosquito pitch against "Stingerz" (Formerly TFS Lightening)--let's be ready.

Cheers,
Coach Dave

Game 4 -- Aggies 2, Wolverines 0

Hey Team!

By far, my favorite game of the season (not because I'm a masochist and happy we lost!), but because we never gave up--down by two very early we fought the entire time. I was very impressed with every player. I was glad to see a few of the kids use the signal for "sub me out!" when they ran out of steam. With two subs we will rotate kids in and out rapidly on these hot days. The kids left every bit of effort they had on the field. 

We did a great job with passing, a few passes came up short, and the kids learned the hard way that a missed pass means a rapid sprint in the wrong direction (toward our goal) to head off the counter attack--we did a good job slowing this down and getting back on defense. We had some out of this world goal keeping by Jackson H. in the second half to deny several strong shots. On the offensive end we took a number of good shots and forced their keeper to make some saves. Shots that have gone in against weaker teams were denied--but this is what we want in an opponent if we are going to keep improving. We were unlucky with a couple shots going over or wide. Some shots were not terribly strong, but they were on frame, and the strength will come--the hard part is getting open and finding the space to shoot, so we are doing good on that aspect. I thought we matched their level of play (or vice versa?) and hopefully we can finish in the top four to have another shot at this team during the post-season tournament. We need to keep working on endurance since we can't have any development players during the tournament. Unfortunately Logan will still be out with the broken collar bone, so we'll only have 9 eligible players. Let me know if you will miss any of the remaining games so I can make sure we always have at least 9 players by adding a development pass player (I've got Nick down as missing our game against Idaho, and we'll pick up Sergio from FC Bayern for that game). Idaho is struggling, so we should roll through them.

I had a couple favorite plays today on the defensive end (which were balanced by "least favorite plays", also on the defensive end!) First, we never gave any easy, unchallenged one on one break aways: that was a whole team effort and I was really happy to see the kids covering each other. Everyone ran, and when they couldn't, they let me know and we got them a quick rest. We also met the ball and made defensive interceptions--toward the end when Kyler was the last defender on the right side he ran in front of the striker who was lazily awaiting the ball to arrive to him. I'm not sure if Kyler read my email after the game against Sport Logan where I gave a bullet list of options for that situation, but he made an excellent choice and it worked. If he were to miss the ball, then we are counting on other players to sprint to the middle to slow down the attack. Ethan did a good job today helping out in back while still making dangerous attacks into the offense. Least favorite plays were when we tried to make clears and just kicked the ball into awaiting opponents--I'd rather we take Trent's approach of controlling the ball and looking to dribble / pass it out. Just don't make any lazy passes in front of our own goal please!! Another defensive mishap was when we deflected a ball off a knee toward our own goal and Nick thought he'd be penalized if he picked it up. This was a two part problem: do not deflect shots toward our own goal (get your body in front of that ball)--this is what happened when Sport Logan swung and sliced Jackson Weaver's lob shot leading to a goal; Second, we've covered this many times: keepers can pick up balls that are not clear passes. Even if it looks like our player touched the ball last with his foot it is not a pass if he is defending. We are also better off getting called for a hand ball than giving up a goal. So drop passes to the keeper can not be picked up, but a defender who partially deflects a shot toward our goal can be picked up by the keeper. If we head or chest the ball intentionally to the keeper he CAN pick that up. We'll be rotating new kids though this position, so everyone needs to know this rule!

I'm happy we came away with a strong effort and no new injuries--we'll have another fun open practice on Monday, 8am, Mt Side. Tuesday 5:30 practice as usual, then we host the Infinity Premier team on Thursday. Aggies only beat Premier 3:1, so we are in for a tough opponent. We own them a thumping, and I expect the kids will be ready. I'll continue to intermingle "carrot" / "stick" psychology in my coaching, but as parents, let me know if any of the kids are feeling bad about themselves and are in a sensitive mood. This is a solid group of kids and I wouldn't trade a single one. Thanks again for your strong support,

Coach Dave

P.S. Quote from my older kid to me when I was playing in our final game of Kenton's cup 4 vs 4 tournament: "Dad, make a personal goal to keep yourself in this game for a whole two minutes before asking to be subbed out!" (its hard work out there and we all sometimes forget this!)

Game 3 -- Wolverines DB 7, Wolverines JD 1

Hi Team,

I thought silent Thursday worked very well, thank you parents for your participation. It was good to hear the kids talking on the field and working as a team. Even though it was a friendly match the kids all played like it was a championship match. I was pleased to see Gideon get on the scoreboard this season with two excellent shots from inside the box! Yeah Gideon!!--you almost had a third but hit the crossbar from 10 feet out (everyone, remember to lean over the ball and strike it low and hard when in the 6 yard box!) The other area to work on is discovering that you each have two feet, and the left one needs to be employed for some shots! The other usual suspects combined for an addition 5 goals, and we had plenty of additional shots, but the goal keeping by our brother-team looked pretty good and they made some nice saves. Other highlights: Trent maintaining possession of the ball in a dizzying display of footwork, corner kick drops instead of direct shots, and Kyler staying in position on defense when nobody else would! We allowed two breakaways, both leading to goals but one was barely offsides--we have to always have two defenders back plus the goalie. I heard Kyler calling out that he was the only one back--you need to listen. While I want everyone to be offensive minded, this cannot come at the expense of playing solid defense.

We've had a solid first three games--hopefully we'll keep this trend going--I'll see everyone on the pitch in an hour to play a very good Aggie team. Go Wolverines!!

Cheers,

Coach Dave

Game 2 -- Sport Logan 3, Wolverines 5

Hello Players and Fans,

I'm catching up on my homework this Saturday. Hopefully all our players are taking advantage of the day off to work on some iSoccer fundamentals?? Yes, very good. Remember, open practice on Monday, 8am, Mountainside. Maybe send the kids with a small hand towel or dry shirt to wipe down before class starts. Our last session worked really well. Practice on Tuesday, Stake Center, 5:30pm.

As I've thought about our Thursday game against sport Logan I have made several observations / conclusions:

1. We were the better passing and better dribbling team--in game 1 we were only the better passing team.
2. We played hard the entire game. Even when up by 3 points with only seconds remaining Dylan ran down a counterattack from his position as striker. They still scored, but the effort was an "A". We never give up.
3. Regarding counterattacks, we need to communicate more as a team--Ethan had run forward from his defensive position, leaving us vulnerable with only Kyler back. Kyler did a good job holding the back line, but if we fail to score with numbers up and are dispossessed then quick counter-goals often result. Overlapping players making runs into the offense need to communicate this to the midfield so we are not left with only a single defender. Kids, you must talk to each other!
4. If you are the last defender and find yourself facing an attack, you have a couple options:
a. Slow down the attack (i.e. "running interference" to allow help to arrive--get your body in the way!)
b. Anticipate the attack and move yourself up to intercept the ball (dangerous, but effective if the striker is not expecting the last defender to be in such a forward position--use with extreme caution)
c. If in a side by side foot race toward own goal kick the ball to the keeper--our keepers know not to pick it up.
5. Last game we were not very effective at set pieces. We had four direct kicks from the top of the goal box ("the 18") and three different players squandered these opportunities: Isaac chipped it straight to the keeper, Nick sent one wide and soft, Ethan sent one to the near post but again too soft. The best effort was in the first half when Ethan took the kick and passed it to the mid midfielder, who sent it to the far wing for a shot. For Thursday's game I don't want any free kicks to be taken as shots on goal--all kicks must be passes (PKs are the exception). Same for at least half of the corner kicks--the players should look for drop passes.
6. Some of our passes were a bit soft and not on target--work on getting that head up for a millisecond to see the field--likewise, open players must make themselves heard! Let the dribbler know where the defender is and where you are. Thursday's game will be a "Silent Thursday" game. The coaches from both our teams will sit together and watch, the fans will sit together and only cheer after a play is made. No instruction from fans, parents, or coaches will be allowed. Both of our teams need to work on communicating and this game is a great opportunity.
7. Focus on closing out the game. We were up 4-0 and gave them a window. We won the first half 2-0, but only tied the second half 3-3. That was a very good team and a 5-3 win is absolutely fantastic! But when we have an opponent down by 4 we need to continue to play smart and remember our defensive obligations.
8. We played clean and emotionally supported each other with compliments--in contrast the ref had to caution several of the kids on the other team. I like that we are aggressive, but are not pushing (at least not too much!) Keep the elbows in and keep winning those 50:50 balls!!
9. No more jumping in the air and twisting sideways when a ball or player is coming toward you--stay with two feet planted on the ground, with pressure on the back foot, keeping the front foot light and ready to intercept the ball if it is on the ground. If the ball is in the air, keep the arms in and block it with the chest or stomach--do your situps and pushups to prevent this from hurting!

Now for the play by play summary:

We came out very strong, pushing the attack on both wings. The short field gave us plenty of opportunities on offense and kept us busy on defense. We broke through early on the right side as Tate made a run from his position as right wing (aka "right midfield") and took the ball from the half line and ran past two defenders to put a screaming shot over the keeper into the far side of the net! That never gets old--I could watch that every game! Shortly after we struck from the left side as Ethan "never mind the nose" set up a strong shot to his right foot that ripped past a diving goal keeper--GOOOAAALLL!. We had some other scoring opportunities (i.e. free kicks) that we didn't convert leaving the coaches very sad. Nick made several great saves as keeper to bring us into half with a 2-0 lead. With only 9 players we will likely always make one or two goalie substitutions per game to keep legs fresh.

Isaac took over in goal second half and a well rested Nick showed some great footwork in the offensive end of the field--he did appear to lose a little energy toward the end? Just sayin'. Next, with some tight passing on the right side the ball ended up again at Tate's feet and he quickly released the ball and scored his second goal of the match to put us up 3-0! I think the kids sensed that they could keep scoring and Dylan made a great run into the box where he was taken down hard by a defender. Dylan shook it off and confidently put away the ensuing PK into the upper left corner--WOW! 4-0. No keeper is touching that ball. We've not always converted on our PKs, so this is a good start to be 2 for 2 on PKs--and everyone should practice these. The opposition looked a bit deflated but still showed some good ball control and they have a player (shaved head this year) who every game makes several solo runs through our defenders to fire off a shot--this is his trademark and we need to do a better job with primary and secondary defenders to slow him down (1ary) then close in for the steal (2ary). I did enjoy when Isaac ran off his line and grabbed the ball of his head--but he would get his revenge as a subsequent shot went past our keeper to make it 4-1. We struck back when Jackson Weaver found himself in an open midfield position to intercept a defensive clear and send a nice lob ball back on frame where a defender took a swinging kick that sliced the ball into his own net for Jackson's first Wolverine goal!!! Good things happen when you send a dangerous ball on frame. I liked that we answered their goal with a quick goal. With time running down they pushed another ball into our defensive end and again found the back of the net by literally running over our defender and keeper. Time for another keeper training session with Andy Parker!

We kept up the offensive pressure and had a few more scoring opportunities--with a minute left the "shaved head" took advantage of a quick counterattack to give Sport Logan their final goal (again running the ball into the back of the net). I think we did a lot of good things on the pitch and in all four matches against Sport Logan we have showed steady improvement. In our very first game as a new competition team we lost to them 5-0. In the next match it was 2-0, with an unlucky last minute goal. In our third encounter they had to come from behind to tie the match 1-1. So with a solid 5-3 win I really like the direction of this trend!

Next Saturday we have a chance to beat an Aggie team that has two wins and a tie against us. Let me know if you can't make this game--I'd like to have two subs and we invited Jackson Hulse to help us out on a development pass again. Before then we need to use our intraWolverine match on Thursday to work on our "heads up" play and communication on the field.

Go Wolverines!

Game 1 Recap: Wolverines 6 - Infinity Select 1

Hi Team! OK, I've been pressured to continue with the game synopsis and highlights--I understand some of the kids like to read these? Its a 3-day weekend so I've got some time...

I'll put my thoughts together in the form of "criticism sandwich", where critique is sandwiched between two complements. I encourage you to always use this when discussing any aspect of a game with you child. Bring up something positive first, then the critique, then end on a positive. So, along this line, I thought the kids worked well with each other last Thursday--I didn't hear any negative comments among our team. We were definitely the better passing team; however, I thought for the first five minutes of the game we were absent from the field of play minus a couple kids. We watched the ball instead of running to meet it; we allowed Infinity to do pull-back after pull-back to maintain possession in front of our net (we need to double up with a primary and secondary defender to strip the ball immediately away from anyone who dribbles too much); and we allowed an early shot that we were lucky hit the post (although the ref credited Tate with the save and gave a corner kick). We did handle their set plays well and shut down the corner kicks and free kicks. So after an initial five minutes of standing and watching we got everybody going and put together a string of passes that found Isaac open on the left wing for two quick goals. I liked that Isaac scored a goal with each foot--and we now have several players who can release strong shots with either foot. What I also like about these goals is that they originated with strong control and heads up passing by Dylan and Jackson Hulse (center and left mid positions, respectively). We were fortunate to have Jackson join us on a development pass or we would have only played with seven the first half. I was happy to see that the kids could run a full 25 minute half (minus some lethargy the first five!) Before half Nick had a strong throw-in into the box that the Infinity defender intentionally handled, leading to a PK, which Isaac put into the right side netting to give us a 3-0 cushion at half. Assist to Nick! Overall we looked to be the more mature and dominant team after the first half, and we continued this right into the second. Before start of half I suggested that we slow down play a bit and stretch out the opponent, but after a quick rest the kids decided they wanted more goals, which was fine by the coaches. We've had games in the past where we've let a 4-1 lead end in a 4-4 tie, so we always go for points when goals present themselves. For those reasons we also have designated players to take free kicks and corner kicks. We want to convert on these opportunities.

For second half we brought Tate out as striker and put his cousin back as keeper. The switch yielded quick dividends as Tate challenged the defense to keep up with him as he streaked up the right side and put a strong shot past the keeper into the net. It was a very nice finish and a familiar sight to those familiar with Tate's speed. A few later charges were not so fruitful, with some low angle (i.e. low probability) shots going directly to a well-positioned keeper--in these situations we want our players to drop the ball back to a midfielder or cross it out of the keeper's reach. We'll find many more scoring opportunities when we look to set up teammates for higher probability shots. Despite being down by 4, Infinity kept trying, and they were able to get through our defense into the middle for a 1 on 1 shot on our keeper--Jackson Hulse did a great job to come out of his net to cut down the shooter's angle, but the shot was slotted nicely to the far post. Several of us observed that there was a missed offsides call on this play, but that is life in soccer. I always like to tell the kids to not let the game get to a point where bad calls by the refs can change the outcome--in this case we needed to overlap each other to help out on defense--that means once a player is beat, he needs to chase down the dribbler from behind as a goal-side defender works to slow him down. We call this "containment". So if you hear me yell, "containment!", it means we isolate the dribblers where they don't pose a scoring threat. Then, once we've slowed down the attack through containment, we work to "dispossess" them and set up our own counterattack.

The other point to keep in mind is that attacks do not always start with the ball moving toward the opponent's goal--I like to see our defense drop the ball to the keeper and let the keeper switch the ball up the other side of the field. Kyler "club arm" Hugie did a great job as defender and dropped some nice balls back to the keeper. I was really pleased to see that our defense was not panicking and booting the ball out whenever pressured. I don't want to see players "swing and miss" at rolling balls when they are the last one back. I don't recall this happening on defense and generally the back line looked solid. Jackson Weaver helped our defense greatly for his first competition game--and he also looks to be a strong "attacking midfielder" where he showed some dribbling and shooting skill, most notably right after Infinity got their goal when he made a solo effort to earn it back by dribbling through the Infinity defense and forcing the keeper to make a save. We made a mid-half keeper change to keep fresh legs in the field, and we maintained a strong attack. Gideon had a great lob shot from outside that went just wide. Jackson Hulse worked the ball through the middle and took a couple shots on frame, but the keeper was on his line. Nick also let a ball release from inside the 18 that forced another save. And despite being the youngest player on the field, Trent showed some of the bigger kids how to dribble under pressure to draw defenders in and then kick the ball back out to an open teammate. Trent also recovered a blocked shot that his brother sent so hard into the keeper it left him doubled over--Trent fed the ball back to older brother who sent in a solid cross for my favorite goal of the game as Dylan timed his run to the far post perfectly and connected his outstretched foot on the ball to guide it into the open net. We always want at least one player to "crash" the back post to intercept these crosses (note to Ethan: do NOT crash directly into the post--this is just a metaphor). Dylan has a great perspective of the field and was where he needed to be. We closed the game out with a cross from the left wing that Nick smacked with an outstretched foot to redirect the ball back to the near post--the off-balance keeper was helpless as he watched the ball roll in. If it hadn't been such a nice play I would have felt sad for the hapless goalie. Whoever crossed that ball please identify yourself! It was a great assist from the left side. I should videotape these games.

This was a fun game and we expected to come away with the win--still, the outcome could have been different if we had gotten down a couple goals during that early 5 minutes of absenteeism. For next Thursday we need to be strong from the start as we play Sport Logan. We tied them last year and they ended their first match this season in a 3-3 draw against the combined TFS squad, now called "PL-Stingerz". If our boys play to their potential, we can beat any team in this league (we've shown that we can tie any team)--we have a solid group of kids who have really come together as a team. It is nice to see this progress. We'll look forward to having Ethan back with a face-guard to protect the broken nose, and Logan should be healthy too. Thanks for letting us know when a player is sick, injured, or forgot his soccer shoes! We keep an extra pair of shin guards and jersey in the bag--we'll put some old cleats and duct tape in the bag for future mishaps! 

Thanks for supporting your kids in this fantastic sport. Have the kids work on iSoccer skills at home. If you can, go to a field and have them take shots on goal. We have a practice Tuesday evening at the Mendon Stake Center.

Go Wolverines!