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Wharton 2 - Chatham 0

It is such a pleasure to be able to sit down after our first game and be able to really smile.  I have to admit I have been nervous
about this game for a few weeks now.  Not because of who we may have lost or gained, but because we only had one full practice
with all 14 players.  Sure we've had practice with 8 here or 10 there but never had we had all the boys together except for Saturday,
and to be honest they didn't look that great against our U11 team.

My day started out with watching Jacob's first game against Mt Olive and all I could do was think about what we were going to do in
our game.  Unfortunately the U9 Huskies didn't do so well losing their first travel game 3-2.  Then while I was driving to the game we
got stuck on Rt 80 for over 90 minutes trying to get from Mt Olive to Wharton.  Being the pessimist that I am I thought all this was a
bad omen.  Then once I got to the field and found out that all of the Wharton teams had lost today my thinking was... oh shit I don't
want to make it 0-5 for the day.  

This was our 5th time playing against Chatham, and we were 1-1-2 against them.  For those that aren't familiar with the way soccer
does standings, thats 1 win, 1 tie, and 2 loses.  I wanted to beat this team in the worst way.  

Going into the season we had to change our lineup around a bit because of certain circumstances.  Our 2 forwards were Tyler and
Kevin.  The midfield was Zack on the left, Ryan and Kyle in the middle and Matt on the right.  The defense had Mauricio on the right,
Kenny and Eric in the middle and Skylar on the left.  In goal was the person who played every minute last season.... Gordon.  On the
bench to start the game was Sam, Patrick and Casey.  

The first half of the game was very even in the midfield, although we had several good scoring chances that we just couldn't
connect on.  Tyler and Kevin worked very well together and set each other up quite a few times.  Ryan controlled the midfield
beautifully sending both Kevin and Tyler through for more chances.  KT, Zack, Matt, Patrick and Sam did a great job defensively in
the midfield stopping Chatham each time they tried to get any momentum going.  Casey, playing in his first soccer game EVER did a
wonderful job leaning a new sport and also playing a strong game in midfield.  I can't say enough about our defense. Before the
season I thought they were our weakest link.  Mauricio, Eric, Kenny and Skylar played an amazing game.  Chatham didn't have a
shot on goal in the first half.  Weakest link?  Huh, I guess they showed me wrong.  Thanks guys.

A little more than 20 minutes into the first half while we were continuing to keep pressure on the Chatham defense, Ryan
intercepted a pass and beat one defender to the left and took a hard shot that the goalie was not able to handle.  First goal of the
season, Wharton 1 - Chatham 0.   And the half ended this way.

The second half  continued the way the first half ended.  Chatham could not get any momentum at all, and we kept the pressure on
their defense the entire half.  Patrick started the second half for Zack who was not feeling great, and so not on his game today.  
Patrick played an extremely good game today.  His defense in the midfield was outstanding, and when called upon to make the right
pass, did so almost every time.

Before the season started, I toyed with the idea of switching Zack to the right and Matt to the left side of the midfield.  I'm glad that I
came to my senses before today's game and kept things the same way.  I have not seen Matt play a better game then I saw him
today.  His speed had the Chatham defenders on their heels each time he had the ball.  Way to go Matt.  

About 10 minutes into the second half while we continued to pressure the Chatham defense, Tyler broke in on the right and got off
a very hard shot that the goalie was only able to block and not stop.  Breaking in the on left, Kevin aggressively beat the goalie to
the ball and blasted it past him for a 2-0 lead.

Only having 3 bench players gives me a chance to give our starters a rest from time to time and also lets the bench players get
some quality time.  I like being able to turn to my bench and no matter who is there, I have confidence to put them almost anywhere
on the field.  It's nice to see Sam finally getting back to his game after having taken a season off to try his hand at football.  His
passes today were on the mark, and his tenacious play was exactly what was needed.  Like I said earlier, when called upon Casey
did a marvelous job, being that today was his first real soccer game.

Lastly, I want to again commend the defense for making me look bad in thinking they were the weakest link on the team.  I am not
saying that they're bad, on the contrary, they are very strong.  It's just that I think our midfield and forwards are the strongest that
we've ever had.  Today the defense proved to me that they are as good or even BETTER then any defense that we've had in the
past.  Come on, a SHUTOUT.... need I say more???