Parent Meeting

Notice: The parent meeting will be held this Saturday, June 23rd, at 8:00 pm at Mountainside Elementary.

Championship Game Recap

Hi Team, Thursday's victory marked three consecutive wins for our boys! That is a new first for our team and very well deserved. We discuss personal goals for each match and mine was for us to score within the first few minutes of play to set the tone--I didn't tell the kids this but Nick must have sensed it and took control from the left flank to score at about the 50 second mark! This helped put the opponents on their heels--last meeting you may recall the Infinity girls scored first and we played catch up to tie the match at 2 a piece. A short while later Tate gave us some breathing room with a fantastic sprint up the right flank which he finished with an absolute rocket of a shot over the keeper!! We kept up the pressure and did some amazing passing in front of their net. Logan had a nice left footed cross and Ethan broke free from the right and drilled a hard ball into the keeper's gut, that I thought might knock her into the net! A bit later one of our kids (probably a blonde) slotted a beautiful through ball from the center of the 18 where Ethan gathered the pass, took three touches and placed the ball perfectly in the net--but the linesman's flag was up indicating he was in an offsides position. So no goal, but the orchestration of those passes and the clean finish were fantastic! You don't see that in rec ball. Maybe next year we can have someone capture the games on video so we can review these fantastic plays with the kids--as well as go over situations where we need to improve. I also want to see a replay of the somersault throw-in by the coaches' daughter--those are lovely, and we handled her throws into our goal box nicely--still, keep an eye in the papers for Oakley Rasmussen. They managed a score late in the first half with a cross leading to a one on one against Isaac who told me later that he needed to come off his line next time--yup! He got some revenge playing in the field in the second half and blasted a ball into one of the girl's head, which Nick can attest really hurts (an unannounced shot during practice by the former struck the latter in the side of the head). Second half turned out to be a game of possession and we did a great job keeping hold of the ball--when the girls disposessed us (that's an official soccer term) they moved the ball into dangerous territory but Nick did a clean job as keeper second half and we avoided any overtimes / PK shootouts as time was finally called, signaling the Wolverines as the undisputed champions of our 4-team tournament, or "top of the bottom" as I like to say! ( which is better than "bottom of the top", which happened to Infinity boys with three straight losses by large margins. ) I've pasted the bracket results into this email--we finished with a perfect "9" with 3 points for each win. In fact, no other teams in our U9 league did this because the referees let the Aggie-JL vs. Sport Logan game end in a 2:2 tie, awarding the Aggies one point for a tie for a total of 7 points in their tournament--I'll be sure to let Aggie Coach Justin know that we finished ahead of him ;-) Way to go Wolverines!! Looking forward to watching RSL play FC Dallas in the comfort of the Newman's home on this rainy Saturday--the kids earned this party for all the great drop passes this season. I'm glad we decided not to watch it live on this wet occasion--See you soon!

Tournament Game 2 Synopsis (Wolverines vs. TFS-RG)

Hi Team, Another great effort by our boys and a 3:0 halftime score that remained unchanged in the second half. We started very strong from the first minutes and kept the pressure up all half. Tate kept the goalie busy from the onset and after two close charges on the keeper he got one through to start of us with an early goal. Probably our fastest goooaaal of the season!! A bit later we had a great set piece where Nick launched a beautiful corner across the goal and Gideon rewarded him with an assist by timing the bounce and knocking the ball in the net. Go-Go-Gideon! (Safe travels to Africa next week!) Clearly fired up Nick took care of business a bit later by dribbling through several defenders (through the legs of the last defender! Nutmeg!!) and took a nice outside shot over the keeper's arms. Goooaaaalllll!!!! Way to seize the moment! We were doing some very nice passing and dribbling and generally had control of the ball. We had a couple defensive errors that kept Isaac on his toes, and we were saved by an offsides call on a breakaway that led to their goal being recalled. Good job defense on pulling up the back line! (I'll give them the benefit that they intended to do the offsides trap). Our defenders looked confident and chose to pass or dribble out of trouble instead of booting it into the shins of the opponent. Dylan made a nice clear from in front of our goal when things got scary at one point, Kyler showed everyone how to shield the ball while waiting for help, and Ethan put on some amazing freestyle moves when under pressure in our defensive end and was able to move the ball up the wing leaving two pressuring opponents kicking at empty air. In the second half James made a great defensive challenge that kept the ball from being centered--which was a good thing because our midfielders were just a bit slow getting back on the defensive end to cover the face of the goal where some TFS players were eagerly waiting for that cross. James also took a great header--love that eagerness to win the 50:50 ball! We also had some scoring opportunities and Ben found himself on the 18 with a ball rolling back to him that he struck with his favorite left foot but the keeper picked up the shot. Good positioning leads to good opportunities! Next time find the back of that net and your name is Ben Jonny Steele! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsVtevc9Oh4 We were again up against a team with no subs vs. our 3 subs today and we weren't able to capitalize on this advantage in the second half and were held scoreless. So, we'll have some endurance training on Monday because we are going to need it to beat our next opponents (the Girls!) on Thursday. The Infinity Girls beat this TFS team 5 to 0, so they are showing an ability to finish in front of the net and are hungry for more wins. The girls lost today to the TFS "A" team 2 to 8. So I think we fired up TFS-A after we handed them a defeat on Thursday. The good news for us is that we are leading now in this tournament with six points awarded for the two wins. TFS-A and Infinity Girls each have 3 points, and TFS "B" has zero. So our fate is entirely in our hands (or at our feet?!) if we win on Thursday then we finish first in our bracket. A loss to the girls would mean both teams have six points, but they win the tie breaker--so we'll try to avoid that scenario. News from the top flight bracket: Aggies-JL (1 to 4 against us) beat Aggies-ZZ (4 to 6 against us) 7 to 0 then beat Infinity Boys 8 to 0 (Infinity Boys beat us 1 to 3 this year despite our outshooting them). Not sure how Sport Academy is doing since their scores haven't been posted. I digress to these scores because we've tied all the teams in the top flight and have not had a goal differential of more than -3 this season! We also haven't had a goal differential of more than +3 either, so we continue to be stingy on both ends of the scoring. We'll take it! We have a great group of kids that are starting to play as a team--the passing is fantastic. I love those assists! See you on Monday at 3:30, and remember I need some players to stay after from 5 to 6:30 for our second goalie training session with Coach Andy Parker--the first session was incredibly beneficial for our keepers and also benefited the field players who helped out. Go Wolverines!

Tournament, Game 1, TFS vs. Wolverines

Hello Team, First, don't forget that our game tomorrow is at Elk Ridge Park at 2:30pm--we play the TFS-RG team. Second, we need to discuss pizza party plans for watching the next Real SL game (Sat May 26th, 7pm)--we could look into getting UYSA tickets and take the kids to the game? Third: Our boys played a great game yesterday! We have a very biased field, with all 7 goals being scored on the East end. The posted 5:2 score includes the PK shootout--our new strategy is to take all teams into a shootout--we looked calm and poised on the line! Regulation time was an even match with the ball controlled evenly by both teams--TFS did win more 50:50 balls: we tended to watch the drop kicks come down instead of running to win them; we also have a few players still shying away and turning their back at kicked balls. Would a good game of dodgeball cure or exacerbate this?! Our ball handling is greatly improved, and after we weathered the first 5 minutes of the game where TFS attacked on the uphill, we started some good passing, including confident drops to the keeper and the most awesome assist by Dylan who faked a shot in the center and slid the ball wide to Tate who finished it off. My new favorite play of all times!!! For good measure Tate drove on the goal a few minutes later and it was 2:0 for the green-team! I may have the players wrong--blonde kid-1 to blonde kid-2. We weathered some scares but after our goal-keeping session with coach Andy Parker last Monday our keeper was looking confident--so confident that he gave TFS a free kick by dribbling the ball from outside the box into the box where he handled the ball (same as a pass back to keeper--not allowed). Isaac handled the shot and got the drop kick he was looking for anyways. We want to mix up the drop kicks with rolls and throws to open defenders and midfielders--which reminds me, we are having our second keepers practice on Monday from 5 to 6:30 pm and need a handful of our players to stay around after regular practice to help with these exercises). OK, back to the game--we got more confident as the game progressed and had a couple more challenges on their goal, but the score sat at 2:0. Always great to go into half with a lead, but I told the boys that we wanted to score as many as we could when going downhill because we'd be under attack the second half--and it started immediately with TFS taking the kickoff and passing through for a quick shot that our keeper handled. They had a questionable PK awarded--but this was just warm up for Isaac who handled the re-kick nicely after TFS encroached on the box during the first attempt. We had a few more fouls, and an ensuing free kick just outside the box was not quite cleared by Isaac's outstretched hands, and TFS was ready for the slowed ball and put it in the net. Revitalized they quickly scored an equalizer and it went back and forth, but no scores for either team. We had a couple scares during the two 5 min overtimes, but once it went to PKs I knew we were set! I was impressed with our spot kickers who calmly put the ball in the net, low, hard, but not over-thinking the shots. You had to be there to appreciate it, but Dylan, Gideon, and Ethan took good shots and Isaac made two saves--their final kicker was psyched out and sent the shot wide. That was fun! Alright--get the kids ready for tomorrow! Cheers, Dave

Game 7 recap

That was an exciting finish of the regular season! I could barely fall asleep last night recounting all the plays. Three games ahead of us in the tournament and if we play like we did last night we should rack up a lot of goals. That was quite a shoot out last night and I think our stat keeper said we had 6 to 1 shots on goal the first half. We struck early when Nick picked off a goalie kick at the 18 and put a confident shot past the keeper on the ensuing one on one for his first goal of the Spring season!!! Always nice to see one of my keepers rewarded with a goal on the "other end". A bit later our opponents equalized with a one on zero?! (Not sure how we had nobody in the box, but it was an open net--no keeper, no defenders). I let our midfielders know that they have to play defense as well as offense and we have enough subs that we should always be sprinting in the midfield. We kept up the pressure and on his second corner kick from the left side Zane placed a perfect curving shot into the net at the near post as the keeper found himself a few feet too far out and could not handle the kick. Another first-season-goal! Go Zane!!! A perfect shot like that comes in part from a good feel for the ball on the foot, and Zane holds our juggling record at 21. Remember, the kids get a gold start for their jersey for every 5 juggles. We went into half with the 2 to 1 lead and kept up the offensive pressure in the second half. Our defense continued to put up some good saves, but would also completely disappear at times and we saw a few more one on one and another one on zero goal (they had two very fast strikers). The boys were all clearly hungry for goals and kept up the offensive pressure (a bit at our defense expense) but it paid off as Gideon put on some fine foot work to move the ball up the left wing where he sent a laser of a shot burning the ground into the far post net--another first goal of the season! Go Go Gideon!!! We finished the scoring streak with another set piece by Zane from about 10 feet outside the 18...before the kick I saw him practicing placing his plant foot down at an angle facing the far post, and sure enough the ensuing kick landed perfectly at the far post where the keeper misjudged the curving ball and it slipped into the net! Gooaaallll #2 for a hardworking defender! That was an "inzane" kick and I'm submitting this word to UrbanDictionary.com. We had some more scoring opportunities, including a one on one, but didn't quite get the goals and time ran out with the score sitting at 6 to 4. I think everyone played incredibly hard and this was a great back and forth effort that could have turned either way. Of course my favorite plays were the ball skills and passing--I challenged the kids to complete four drop passes in this game. We had a series of five completed passes (starting with two drops) in the first 15 minutes (Pizza Party!!!) We probably finished with over 5 solid drop passes and an equal number of forward or lateral passes. My other subtle but favorite play was when Tate contained the ball on our side line, shielding the ball from a striker who didn't want to poke it out of bounds but couldn't quite get around a patient defender--when the striker did move to get on the other side of the screen Tate dribbled the ball right up the side line and sent it into the offensive half. I've really been working with the kids to have the confidence to hold onto the ball, even in our defensive end and not panic when under pressure. Every single kid has raised his game a level since start of the season. My other two favorite plays late in the second half where when on separate occasions Avery and Dylan sprinted from offensive positions all the way to our goal line to make key stops. Dylan thwarted the cross. In Avery's case it allowed Isaac to jump on the ball with outstretched hands, but alas, the striker kicked the ball out of the hands and a goal was awarded. Perhaps it shouldn't have been, but my advise to the kids is to politely point out what you considered a foul to the ref, and he will nod and politely ignore you. It goes both ways so it is part of the sport to learn to brush it off and focus on the next play, which we certainly did last night. Keep your players working on fundamental skills at home and we'll see you Monday at 3:30 for practice (please send your kids to school with water bottles!) Thanks

RSL highlight I was referring to in practice

http://www.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2012-04-28-rsl-v-tor/highlights We were giving the kids an opportunity to have a "Johnny Steele" goal at the end of practice yesterday--let them see the beautiful passing and drop pass that lead to this amazing goal.

Wolverines vs. TFS RL

Hi Team, I just got back from watching RSL score a stoppage time goal to beat Toronto 3:2 ! So I'll carry over the energy from the game into our Wolverines recap. We had perfect weather today and fatigue was not a problem. My aim for the match was to not have any more break away one on one situation against our keepers. So we did well to meet that aim. Nick still had to make a bunch of great saves, and their two goals came from too many feet in front of the goal but none kicking it out, so they got a couple short range shots / deflections. Our stat keepers said we had possession of the ball for 13 minutes out of 50. It will be interesting to see how this number varies as we move into the second half of the season. I don't think the other team had possession for more than 13 minutes either, so it meant a lot of 50:50 ball opportunities. We had some great individual play and won a lot of balls, but the team play (i.e. passes) needs to improve. I think we also had zero shots on goal, so that was a bit unusual--I had stacked our defense to prevent any break away goals, but I think we only threatened their goal on two free kicks and two corners. So even with a full team, cool weather, and the downhill slope in the second half we never tested their keeper--which was too bad, because we saw him warming up and it looked promising! With no goals or assists to highlight, I'll nominate Gideon as the player of the game--he's playing with exceptional composure and not panicking when under pressure. Our last game before the "tournament" is against the Aggies ZZ team, which remains undefeated. So it will be up to us to play the spoiler role like we did last season against the Aggies JL team. We have a bit of a break, so I'll try schedule a scrimmage in addition to practices on M, W. Go Wolverine!

Wolverines vs. Infinity Girls

OK team, you all have to buy flowers for the Infinity Girls! That was a very talented team and we matched them well. I didn't have my stat keeper working the line but we clearly had more shots on goal and kept the pressure on them. We got off to a strong start and in the first few minutes we went right into their goal box where they fouled Gideon for a PK. It was a well placed shot: hard and low (but just inches wide)--still, "A" for effort to get into dangerous territory and earn the PK. The girls let us know that they would be playing physically and using their arms a bit more than we like to see. We are still losing too many 50:50 balls and bunching up. Our biggest offensive nemesis remains the inability to finish in front of the goal. Our defensive albatross is allowing one on one situations with our goalie (and the other teams have been able to finish those situations). We need to work on conditioning so that we can play a solid 50 minute game--we get a bit lethargic in the heat, but I love the fact our kids always want to keep playing and our anxious to get back into the fray. The best kids in the league. So the memorable moments! After our early press the girls showed they could fight and had the ball in our end--their ball control allowed them to move through our midfield and push a through ball to the wing where the striker took a good shot that Tate somehow managed to pull out of the air when I was already convinced it was over his head and in the net. Great save! The kicker was offsides, but without an official linesman we had Isaac's Grandpa, Art "Hawkeye" Heers working the line--I muttered my disgust to this poor excuse of a linesman and luckily coach Justin Larsen of the Aggies team was there to take over. He's a secret Wolverines fan and has let me know that we are the most improved team in the league--I couldn't agree more! Right after he was complementing our team our defense let a break away through and she finished with a power shot that slipped into the net :( Down by 1 we went into the half and I started suggesting floral arrangements that the kids might consider for their opponents. We had some good laughs and went into the second half where we again took control of the game and after some rebounding balls in front of their goal, out of nowhere Dylan "birthday boy" McArthur finished with a strong chip into the back of the net for his first goal of the season! Gooaaalll!!!! That kid is one of my top five favorite bleach blond blue-eyed players on the team. Can one of those kids grow a pony tail or something to help me out? Mohawk? OK, back to the game. Fired up after the equalizer we had some great crosses that went across an open goal box (just need a player sprinting to the far post to pick up the freebie goal). Someone had a shot that hit the post?! We were knocking on their door, but they wouldn't let us in. Typical girls. Then, in true spirit of the XX chromosome they lulled us into their half then got a counterattack and pushed past my last defender for a one on one that was played beautifully to the far side of our onrushing keeper--Coach Andy Parker of the Wolverines has offered to help with some goal keeping practice--he's a pro and after the game explained to Isaac how to move out on the striker whenever they push the ball in front of them, then hold ground when they have the ball back at their feet where they could shoot. Essentially the goalie is mirroring the striker. It makes perfect sense, but it helps to have it explained so clearly. Its great to be part of a larger club. The lady Wolverines, by the way, are a blast to watch (U10 playing up at U11). So, down 2 to 1 we were facing the prospect of not only having to buy flowers, but also each player was about to be required to ask for an opponent's phone number for a soccer date. This was clearly unacceptable and we swarmed their goal, and at one point their defender snatched a goal from us by doing a bicycle kick to clear the ball--my jaw dropped--that was beautiful. But beauty aside, Tate had enough and used his chest to deflect a ball back into the net to equalize the score at 2 apiece with seconds to play. Third goal of the season for Tate! Great effort. The whistle blew and we had a rewarding come from behind finish. We were the stronger team as a whole so it was good to have a dramatic finish. As with the boys Infinity team we had more shots and looked stronger, but the beauty of soccer is that a single goal can make all the difference and finesse can win over physical play. I think we are going to be in the position of underdogs the next two games, which seems to be best for us--we tend to play better against the better teams. Overall, we can match any team and with yesterday's game we have now tied every team in our league, stunning a couple of the best teams at the end of last season and start of this season. I love being the spoilers. I'll see the kids at practice today--with the cloud cover we'll do some endurance training. Thanks again to all the parents for the support. Thanks to Michelle, Jill, and Josh for running practice on Monday! Go Wolverines!

Wolverines vs. Aggies JL (1-3)

Hello Team, We got through our first game in the "heat of Spring" and it is clear we need cloud cover next midday game--the kids were exhausted. Nonetheless, our boys played hard against one of the best (the best last year) teams in our league. We were the better team the first 15 minutes as we pressed the ball and used the entire field. We moved the ball from the wings into the center and this paid off early as Ethan "don't feed me no grapes" Wilcox put an exclamation mark on his first goal of the season as he timed his run perfectly and delivered an absolutely unstoppable shot that ripped into the top of the net! Goooaaaalllll!!! To use the vernacular of one of our players at half-time, "that was one 'sick' shot on goal"--yes it was, someone call the doctor. The Aggies looked stunned and they were already wary of us since we ruined their otherwise perfect season in the Fall. But the Aggies held on and got a nice goal off a cross that found an open Isaac Larsen (speedy #15) on the far side of our keeper for an Isaac on Isaac showdown that went the wrong way according to our Isaac--it was a beautiful goal and sometimes you just have to admire these--but only for a second: we need to make sure our defense doesn't let any more strikers slip into the open in the future. I'm not sure all of our kids understand what "goal side" means when I ask them to stay goal side of the striker. We left the half in good shape with the score sitting at 1:1. We played three defenders the first half, with three midfielders and one striker (3:3:1). For second half we switched to a 2:3:2 to keep the pressure on the offense. Unfortunately #10 on the Aggies was able to get free of our defense on the right wing in quick succession to have two perfectly placed shots past Isaac to the far post that took most of the wind out of us. At some point they got a pass into the back of the net as our keeper looked rather "shell shocked" on the back line. The psychological aspect of the game can never be overlooked. They kept our defense busy and we made some good stops and saves that we were able to turn into counterattacks that just didn't lead to goals. We are getting so close to having all the pieces fall into place--and when it does, watch out! Jenn was at another game so I don't have any stats for this game--I think we were quite even in the first half, but the second half plainly got away from us and I let the kids know that the better team won. Still, I think we won about half of the 50:50 balls and I kept reminding the kids as I rotated them off to repeat in their heads, "first to the ball". Winning a 50:50 ball is something every player, regardless of skill, can set as a tenable goal. We've improved dramatically since last year, but so have the other teams and every match is going to be a workout. The kids showed a lot of character during the second half as they never hung it up, but more importantly, I didn't hear any negative comments among the players (one or two were directed at a mom, but I'll let you handle those). It was a very clean game with no pushing or dangerous slides on either side. I think they are all having fun and I feel very confident with about any combination of kids on the field. Keep them practicing at home--this is so important for their confidence and basic skills. We have out next home game on Tuesday against a new team in our league and we have a practice scheduled for Monday at 3:30--I won't be able to get to practice until about 4pm--can someone help out with this practice? No experience necessary! We'll send you the instruction manual. Thanks again for supporting a great bunch of kids, Coach Dave P.S. Deadline to register for the Summer Games is end of the month--so let's plan to have you all discuss this with Jenn and Tuesday's game during half time.

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