Thanks to Karen LeFevre for some fantastic photos of the Wolverines vs. Aggies JL game. Wow!
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Wolverines vs. Aggies ZZ (0 - 0)
Hi Team,
It was definitely a tale of two halves tonight! Isaac only picked up the ball once the first half, and Nick had to make a number of great saves in the second. Strong defense and gravity worked in our favor the first half. Nick made the plays of the game by keeping a clean score sheet when the ball was in our 8 yard box more times than I care to recount. Everyone did a great job of preventing their offense from having any easy looks at goal. The kids demonstrated good ball control and made some nice passes. Daniel showed the most composure and left the other team kicking at air as he made great pull backs and kept the ball in tight possession. I think if all our kids can relax a bit more and look up before passing or shooting we will log a few goals on Saturday. I appreciated how the kids kept playing strong even after taking some hard hits--Dylan took the blow of the game after receiving a high kick to the hand and chest. Isaac and Zane dished out a couple to the other team as well (we need to work on sliding the ball and not the legs). But overall it was a clean game without much (any) grabbing of jerseys or pushing. I think Saturday's game should be a good match.
We have practice tomorrow (5:30 Mountainside). The weather looks perfect. Thanks again to the parents and our #1 fan (Logan!) for cheering the kids on tonight. I'll start looking into having indoor practices immediately following school once a week to keep the kids in tune through the fall and winter. I'm not sure if we want to look into indoor leagues or not. With 13 players we can have a lot of fun scrimmaging 6 on 6 indoors.
Go Team!
It was definitely a tale of two halves tonight! Isaac only picked up the ball once the first half, and Nick had to make a number of great saves in the second. Strong defense and gravity worked in our favor the first half. Nick made the plays of the game by keeping a clean score sheet when the ball was in our 8 yard box more times than I care to recount. Everyone did a great job of preventing their offense from having any easy looks at goal. The kids demonstrated good ball control and made some nice passes. Daniel showed the most composure and left the other team kicking at air as he made great pull backs and kept the ball in tight possession. I think if all our kids can relax a bit more and look up before passing or shooting we will log a few goals on Saturday. I appreciated how the kids kept playing strong even after taking some hard hits--Dylan took the blow of the game after receiving a high kick to the hand and chest. Isaac and Zane dished out a couple to the other team as well (we need to work on sliding the ball and not the legs). But overall it was a clean game without much (any) grabbing of jerseys or pushing. I think Saturday's game should be a good match.
We have practice tomorrow (5:30 Mountainside). The weather looks perfect. Thanks again to the parents and our #1 fan (Logan!) for cheering the kids on tonight. I'll start looking into having indoor practices immediately following school once a week to keep the kids in tune through the fall and winter. I'm not sure if we want to look into indoor leagues or not. With 13 players we can have a lot of fun scrimmaging 6 on 6 indoors.
Go Team!
Oct 8 -- Wolverines vs. TFS Lightning RG (7-0)
Hi Players and Fans,
We were overdue for a dominating game!--I lost count of the goals so I looked online and the refs recorded a 6 to 0 win. Isaac counted 7 goals (let me know what you counted), either way, it was strong from start to finish. Everyone played strong competition soccer and it led to great passes and probably 20 shots on goal. I think Tate only had to pick up the ball twice as keeper in the first half, and Nick didn't touch the ball the entire second half. Good job everyone on keeping the keeper bored--especially Zane who is holding great position and composure as our last defender.
So the play of the game was a great first goal (of the game and season) by Dylan "the energizer bunny" McArthur playing midfielder who picked up a loose ball down the middle of the box and finished with a rocket off the right foot into the right corner of the goal--absolutely unstoppable. Gooaaaalll!!! Nick and the "Brothers Newman" maintained great ball possession as our front line during the first half and all had shots on goal, and kept the ball in the enemy territory with great heads up dribbling and passing. We think goal #2 was either Gideon or Isaac toe poking the ball in from a few yards out. Probably a Gideon shot (goal) and Isaac toe tapped it in as it crossed the goal line.
Second half we continued the aggressive play with Dylan making a number of runs up the right wing outpacing all defenders and putting strong balls across the face of the goal (alas, nobody on the back post to capitalize!) Early on Isaac blasted one in and it was 3 goals. At some point Tate and Gideon put in a couple goals that involved great ball work into the penalty box where strong low shots slipped past the goalie (I think Isaac tried to "steal" one of these by running it into the back of the net--we encourage follow ups on all shots but Isaac had dinner at "Happy Sushi" on the line if he logged 3 goals). Sometime before one of these goals Isaac had a goal from the right wing that hit the far post and bounced in, then as the clock ticked down Isaac took a free kick at the top of the box that found the back of the net. Time was called and the fans went wild! (Best fans in the league)
ALL of the goals resulted from strong team play. Kyler took a great ball to the chest to prevent a counter attack as we had all of our players up. Daniel was fantastic at backing up the primary defender / dribbler and picking up loose balls. This is not the same kid that started the season. James had a beautiful one touch wall pass to the wing in the second half that led to another Dylan / Isaac combination run down the right wing. And Ben continues to be an unstoppable wall that shall not be passed.
An area for improvement (that is causing the coaches heartburn) is our inability to meet the ball on corner kicks and crosses to pick up "free goals" by deflecting the ball toward the goal from 10 feet out. Something parents can assist with is to throw or roll a ball about 15 feet in front of your player and help them learn how to time their runs and judge the trajectory of the crossed ball. I think the only goal we've scored off of a corner kick this season is when the defense put it in by accident. We'll need all the goals we can get against our next opponents.
OK, now to complete the "criticism sandwich" with a complement to the fan of the game, which goes to Logan who is sidelined with a knee injury for another game or two. We miss your ball control out there, Logan! We have just two more games and the weather looks great for the week. The hair is on the line again against the two Aggie teams (a win against either or two ties and the scissors come out). If this does not happen, the team has to buy me a container of my favorite conditioner--and maybe a few hair ties.
Cheers,
Coach Dave
We were overdue for a dominating game!--I lost count of the goals so I looked online and the refs recorded a 6 to 0 win. Isaac counted 7 goals (let me know what you counted), either way, it was strong from start to finish. Everyone played strong competition soccer and it led to great passes and probably 20 shots on goal. I think Tate only had to pick up the ball twice as keeper in the first half, and Nick didn't touch the ball the entire second half. Good job everyone on keeping the keeper bored--especially Zane who is holding great position and composure as our last defender.
So the play of the game was a great first goal (of the game and season) by Dylan "the energizer bunny" McArthur playing midfielder who picked up a loose ball down the middle of the box and finished with a rocket off the right foot into the right corner of the goal--absolutely unstoppable. Gooaaaalll!!! Nick and the "Brothers Newman" maintained great ball possession as our front line during the first half and all had shots on goal, and kept the ball in the enemy territory with great heads up dribbling and passing. We think goal #2 was either Gideon or Isaac toe poking the ball in from a few yards out. Probably a Gideon shot (goal) and Isaac toe tapped it in as it crossed the goal line.
Second half we continued the aggressive play with Dylan making a number of runs up the right wing outpacing all defenders and putting strong balls across the face of the goal (alas, nobody on the back post to capitalize!) Early on Isaac blasted one in and it was 3 goals. At some point Tate and Gideon put in a couple goals that involved great ball work into the penalty box where strong low shots slipped past the goalie (I think Isaac tried to "steal" one of these by running it into the back of the net--we encourage follow ups on all shots but Isaac had dinner at "Happy Sushi" on the line if he logged 3 goals). Sometime before one of these goals Isaac had a goal from the right wing that hit the far post and bounced in, then as the clock ticked down Isaac took a free kick at the top of the box that found the back of the net. Time was called and the fans went wild! (Best fans in the league)
ALL of the goals resulted from strong team play. Kyler took a great ball to the chest to prevent a counter attack as we had all of our players up. Daniel was fantastic at backing up the primary defender / dribbler and picking up loose balls. This is not the same kid that started the season. James had a beautiful one touch wall pass to the wing in the second half that led to another Dylan / Isaac combination run down the right wing. And Ben continues to be an unstoppable wall that shall not be passed.
An area for improvement (that is causing the coaches heartburn) is our inability to meet the ball on corner kicks and crosses to pick up "free goals" by deflecting the ball toward the goal from 10 feet out. Something parents can assist with is to throw or roll a ball about 15 feet in front of your player and help them learn how to time their runs and judge the trajectory of the crossed ball. I think the only goal we've scored off of a corner kick this season is when the defense put it in by accident. We'll need all the goals we can get against our next opponents.
OK, now to complete the "criticism sandwich" with a complement to the fan of the game, which goes to Logan who is sidelined with a knee injury for another game or two. We miss your ball control out there, Logan! We have just two more games and the weather looks great for the week. The hair is on the line again against the two Aggie teams (a win against either or two ties and the scissors come out). If this does not happen, the team has to buy me a container of my favorite conditioner--and maybe a few hair ties.
Cheers,
Coach Dave
Oct 5 -- Wolverines vs. Infinity (1-1)
Hi Team,
I'm still hoping to have a practice today, but if it is raining hard then Jenn will send a text to cancel the practice. But I think we are a wet-weather team because we played extremely well yesterday! We need to work on some endurance and sprinting too, so we'll stay warm today even in the rain!
We had a slight advantage over Infinity with more shots on goal, solid passing, and tough defense. Isaac didn't have a single drop kick the first half, meaning he didn't have to make a single save. My favorite play (a bit mundane perhaps) was when Zane dropped the ball to Isaac in goal and Isaac cleared the ball back to Zane who was free to receive the kick and then move the ball up the field. This type of play demonstrates the confidence of competition soccer where our last defender feels comfortable passing to the keeper. Zane did a fantastic job on defense--the last defender position is often thankless and I liked how the kids decided to have Zane take the first penalty kick. Nice goal Zane!!! The second penalty kick was well earned by Dylan who was our most energetic player of the game. Again, the kids decided who was to take the kick and it was a good hard shot that would have been impossible to stop but just went wide. Dylan also had a beautiful run down the right wing, outpacing the last defender and taking a well placed shot to the far post. The keeper made a great stop on a perfectly placed shot. Nick also worked their keeper with a great volley shot and Daniel was right in the thick during the first half dribbling circles in their goal box and punching the ball through just wide of the post. Everyone played solid soccer and worked to overlap when a defender was beaten--soccer is about timing your runs and conserving energy for those bursts--Isaac confided in me that he was feeling tired during the game but I liked how he found the energy to sprint back to our goal and slide tackle the ball cleanly in our penalty box--he said he was assisted by the wet conditions!
Fan of the game goes to Logan, who is working through a knee injury--thanks for showing up and cheering with us, Logan!! And our parents and grandparents are still the best fans in the league. There were definitely a couple of plays by the blue team that could have been called as dangerous or unsporting, but we maintained our composure as players and fans.
Great game! Remember to dress the kids warmly for practices and games (a warm, tight hat is most important)--it is snowing in Summit County today, but soccer is played in all conditions except thunderstorms!
Coach Dave
I'm still hoping to have a practice today, but if it is raining hard then Jenn will send a text to cancel the practice. But I think we are a wet-weather team because we played extremely well yesterday! We need to work on some endurance and sprinting too, so we'll stay warm today even in the rain!
We had a slight advantage over Infinity with more shots on goal, solid passing, and tough defense. Isaac didn't have a single drop kick the first half, meaning he didn't have to make a single save. My favorite play (a bit mundane perhaps) was when Zane dropped the ball to Isaac in goal and Isaac cleared the ball back to Zane who was free to receive the kick and then move the ball up the field. This type of play demonstrates the confidence of competition soccer where our last defender feels comfortable passing to the keeper. Zane did a fantastic job on defense--the last defender position is often thankless and I liked how the kids decided to have Zane take the first penalty kick. Nice goal Zane!!! The second penalty kick was well earned by Dylan who was our most energetic player of the game. Again, the kids decided who was to take the kick and it was a good hard shot that would have been impossible to stop but just went wide. Dylan also had a beautiful run down the right wing, outpacing the last defender and taking a well placed shot to the far post. The keeper made a great stop on a perfectly placed shot. Nick also worked their keeper with a great volley shot and Daniel was right in the thick during the first half dribbling circles in their goal box and punching the ball through just wide of the post. Everyone played solid soccer and worked to overlap when a defender was beaten--soccer is about timing your runs and conserving energy for those bursts--Isaac confided in me that he was feeling tired during the game but I liked how he found the energy to sprint back to our goal and slide tackle the ball cleanly in our penalty box--he said he was assisted by the wet conditions!
Fan of the game goes to Logan, who is working through a knee injury--thanks for showing up and cheering with us, Logan!! And our parents and grandparents are still the best fans in the league. There were definitely a couple of plays by the blue team that could have been called as dangerous or unsporting, but we maintained our composure as players and fans.
Great game! Remember to dress the kids warmly for practices and games (a warm, tight hat is most important)--it is snowing in Summit County today, but soccer is played in all conditions except thunderstorms!
Coach Dave
Oct 1 -- Wolverines 0 TFS Lightning rl 4
Hey Team,
I thought we continued with a high level of play, but just looked a bit sluggish. I'm very happy that we never gave up--this team always plays hard to the final minute and we did so again today. I moved players around trying to give the kids a chance at new positions (and seeing if we could get someone who really wanted to score--I think the desire was there, but we just didn't quite finish). Our players have been eschewing playing goalie, and James stepped up to play when nobody wanted to go in as keeper second half. He made a great final stop and followed with a solid drop kick. Other solid plays came off the heads of Kyler and Zane. Isaac took a kick to the stomach and kept going, and Logan was running so hard his feet left the ground! (then he fell--but the grin never left his face :-)
At any rate, I'd like to hold practice again on Tuesday (5:30, Mt Side) to continue working on fundamentals--we need to score! 1-0 or 4-0 is still a shutout against us, so we need to work on placing shots on target this Tuesday.
Thanks,
Dave
I thought we continued with a high level of play, but just looked a bit sluggish. I'm very happy that we never gave up--this team always plays hard to the final minute and we did so again today. I moved players around trying to give the kids a chance at new positions (and seeing if we could get someone who really wanted to score--I think the desire was there, but we just didn't quite finish). Our players have been eschewing playing goalie, and James stepped up to play when nobody wanted to go in as keeper second half. He made a great final stop and followed with a solid drop kick. Other solid plays came off the heads of Kyler and Zane. Isaac took a kick to the stomach and kept going, and Logan was running so hard his feet left the ground! (then he fell--but the grin never left his face :-)
At any rate, I'd like to hold practice again on Tuesday (5:30, Mt Side) to continue working on fundamentals--we need to score! 1-0 or 4-0 is still a shutout against us, so we need to work on placing shots on target this Tuesday.
Thanks,
Dave
Sept 28 -- Wolverines 0 Soccer Academy 2
Hi Parents and Players,
This was a great team effort tonight--everybody stepped up against a team that has only lost one game this season. Our kids played well, and completely matched the level of play of our opponents. I offered to cut my hair if we won--I admit, I was rather nervous the entire game, but alas, the pony tail lives to see another match (this Saturday!)
I think we have to recognize a "fan of the game" today. Zane showed up despite leaving school early today because of a stomach flu. The enthusiasm your kids show for the sport and the team is contagious--I hope Zane's flu is not... (Get well, Zane!!)
Some memorable moments of the match for me: After a couple of plays where we didn't charge down the ball in their goal box I turned to our subs and asked, "Who wants to go in there and win that ball?" James shot his arm straight up and yelled that he did. And he followed through with hard runs and our first "backward" header of the season! That wins the "outrageous" play of the game. The runner up for outrageous plays was Dylan's volley kick while streaking down the right wing--this is where the juggling practice pays off! Everyone is playing with much more confidence and we are making more passes and "heads up" plays. I really enjoyed how our defenders did not resort to "boot ball" and were quite confident to dribble out of danger and push the ball through in a controlled fashion. Wow. They also pulled a couple nice offside traps.
For those of you who don't speak Spanish, their coach was not confident with just a 1-0 lead. And whoever "Tito" is on their team gets a lot of "joystick" coaching--I'll try to remind players of where they should position themselves and suggest better options after certain plays, but I try not to tell them to dribble forward 5 yards, turn right, pass to Tito, etc. As fans you are doing great at cheering without yelling directions as well. Watching the individual and collective decision making of our kids on the field is fantastic.
See you at practice Thursday (5:30) then a home game on Saturday.
Thanks,
Coach Dave
This was a great team effort tonight--everybody stepped up against a team that has only lost one game this season. Our kids played well, and completely matched the level of play of our opponents. I offered to cut my hair if we won--I admit, I was rather nervous the entire game, but alas, the pony tail lives to see another match (this Saturday!)
I think we have to recognize a "fan of the game" today. Zane showed up despite leaving school early today because of a stomach flu. The enthusiasm your kids show for the sport and the team is contagious--I hope Zane's flu is not... (Get well, Zane!!)
Some memorable moments of the match for me: After a couple of plays where we didn't charge down the ball in their goal box I turned to our subs and asked, "Who wants to go in there and win that ball?" James shot his arm straight up and yelled that he did. And he followed through with hard runs and our first "backward" header of the season! That wins the "outrageous" play of the game. The runner up for outrageous plays was Dylan's volley kick while streaking down the right wing--this is where the juggling practice pays off! Everyone is playing with much more confidence and we are making more passes and "heads up" plays. I really enjoyed how our defenders did not resort to "boot ball" and were quite confident to dribble out of danger and push the ball through in a controlled fashion. Wow. They also pulled a couple nice offside traps.
For those of you who don't speak Spanish, their coach was not confident with just a 1-0 lead. And whoever "Tito" is on their team gets a lot of "joystick" coaching--I'll try to remind players of where they should position themselves and suggest better options after certain plays, but I try not to tell them to dribble forward 5 yards, turn right, pass to Tito, etc. As fans you are doing great at cheering without yelling directions as well. Watching the individual and collective decision making of our kids on the field is fantastic.
See you at practice Thursday (5:30) then a home game on Saturday.
Thanks,
Coach Dave
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