I know I’ve been bad in writing here and keeping this up to date.  I actually wrote something on Tuesday, but my PC froze and I lost it all.  With that said I want to write something about last Sunday’s game so we can all have it as an archive.

First off I don’t even want to think about the first game since it was so long ago and we played like crap.  Maybe that’s why we lost 3-0.  As far as I’m concerned our season started after that game.  Not only do we have 2 excellent trainers now, but the boys have all the indoor crap out of their system and they’re focused on outdoor.

So onto the Vernon game.  I have to tell you I hate driving up there.  I call it G-d’s country.  Anyway, it was a beautiful day to play a soccer game.  Probably the best day so far this spring.  I was concerned before the season how things would be only having 12 players on the roster, but to my credit (and you know I usually don’t take much of that) it really worked out well. I was able to keep the boys fresh and give everyone a breather and a rest without harming the flow of the game.  I think that is because we have kids who are so versatile that I can put them almost anywhere.   

The first half started out slowly, back and forth between midfield and midfield.  I said to the other coach that if the game stayed this way, it was going to come down to a cheap goal by someone.  Well about half way through the half we mounted a nice attack down the left side between Zack, Skylar and Tyler which resulted in a nice shot by Tyler from just outside the penalty box, which sailed over the goalie’s head for our first goal of the season.  Boy did that feel nice to finally get the first one.  The rest of the half continued with us having most of the possession time, but just not being able to put the ball in the back of the net.  The half ended with is ahead 1-0.

At half time I asked the boys to do me just 2 little favors.  I wasn’t going to ask them for much, just 2 things.  First off I begged them to communicate with each other.  Not to just ask for the ball, but to talk as a team.  Warn someone that an opponent was coming, telling them they had time to dribble, and simple things like that.  The other was that I want to write an apology letter to the other coach.  For anyone who doesn’t understand what that is, I would have to write a letter to the other coach if we had won the game with more than a 6 goal difference.  So this would mean we would have to score 6 more goals.  Big task considering we haven’t scored that many goals in a game in years.  Well the boys went out and played the best half of soccer that this team has played in over a year.  They scored 4 goals in about 15 minutes, communicated beautifully and trounced their opponent.  Now is was 5-0 and time to let the big guys in the back have some fun and play offense.  I figured if we were going to scored any more then let if be by our defenders. 

What was so impressive about the win was that we scored 5 goals by 5 different players.  Now that’s what I call balance, unselfish team work. 

Let’s see if we can keep the mojo flowing this Sunday.

I know I know I shouldn’t count my chickens before their hatched, but it is a nice feeling to be in first place all by our selves.  It was nice to see the boys play a game last night knowing that if they won they would be in first all by themselves.  In the past for some reason it always seemed that the pressure of that got to them and they would play poorly.  Not last night.  Once again every kid stepped up and continued to play very well.  The passing on the defense up to the offense and from side to side was beautiful. 

Our new trainer Stuart from Cheshire was there last night to watch the boys and he was inpressed with their skill level and how they played.  His one main comment, which is the same one I have always had along with every referee over the past 2 years is that they do not talk to each other while on the field.  That is a HUGE thing we need to work on as the season progress. 

Now it’s time to set our goals on winning this indoor thing and prepare to kiss some butt outdoors.

OMG what a game.  Ties are a funny thing.  Sometimes you walk away from them and feel like it’s a lose, I’m sure that’s the way Denville felt last Fall when we came back and tied them.  Sometimes they feel like a win, same game but the way we felt.  Last night’s game though I’m not really sure how I feel.  The boys played amazing.  They fought hard, played tough and although Aldo and I lost our composure with the ref, they never did.  We had our chances to win, but on the flip side so is Morris United.  So do we feel like it’s a lose since we had our chances and just couldn’t connect, or feel like a win since we played a great game and didn’t let our opponent score.  I’m not sure, but I can say it sure does feel better than actually losing.  J

Usually I scroll through who played well and so on, but I can’t single out one boy over another.  Ok, maybe Gordon.  Yeah the defense in front of him played fantastic, and that’s not just Mauricio, Ryan, Eric, Skylar and Patrick, but all of them.  The guys who were playing forward also came back to help out.  But the saves that Gordon was making were picture perfect.  He played aggressive and didn’t let anything faze him.  GREAT JOB GORDO!!!!!

I’m sure with another week of hard practice, we will come away with a victory next Wednesday.

I’d really like if all the parents who are reading this could show the boys and also show them how to blog.  I think that as the indoor and outdoor season go along it could be a lot of fun for everyone to blog together.

Anyway, enough about that.  I really thought that last nights game was going to turn out completely different then it did.  Amazing that we could score a goal in the first couple of minutes and then not score again until almost 5 minutes left.  The boys who started the game were swarming all over right from the opening kick-off and good things happen when you do that.  Tyler took a shot that the goalie couldn’t handle and Bruno pounced on the loose ball and pounded it passed him for his first goal this indoor season.  There were times that the boys really played well, hustled all over, and there there were times (4 to be exact) that they let down and let the FP team control the game.  Gee wouldn’t you know it, they scored four goals.  When you don’t play aggressive and make bad passes, hmmmmm bad things happen, like getting scored on 4 times. 

I have to admit I was very impressed with they way the boys didn’t give up though.  Being down 3-1 with just about 8 minutes to go and scoring 2 goals was very impressive.  It was really great to see Kenny and Matt scored their first indoor goals this year as well.  I don’t know but I wonder if that was Kenny’s first goal ever.  Doesn’t matter it was huge.  It started us on a comeback trail.  Just a couple of minutes after, Matt found a loose ball and blasted it past the FP goalie to tie the game.  We really tried everything we could to get the go ahead goal but just couldn’t put it in.  Unfortunately on a counter attack there was a scramble in out box and the ball squirted loose and right onto one of their players foot and BAM, the go ahead and winning goal.

As much of a heart breaker as this game was, I’m hoping that it showed the boys what happens when they play hard and what happens when they let up.

One last thing….. I used spell check this time LeeAnn LOL

I was extremely impressed with the way the boys played last night.  You could tell that playing in the one tournament that we did and the practices on Saturday mornings, have helpded the boys much better then last year.  I can remember last year it took us a fews games to get settled but not this year.  Both the offense and defense played strong.  If it wasn’t for a couple of bad breaks on out part the score could have and should have been more then 2-1.  It was nice to see Tyler get a couple of goals to start the season.  He had a rough outdoor season in the fall.  I know Bruno would have loved to get a few as well, but we all know that will come.  Kevn and Zack were huggling all over the floor like a couple of pesky knats.  The player who I was most impressed with was Matthew.  He started the game a bit slowly, dribbling to much, but when I took him out and had a quick chat with him, he played tremdous after that and got a critical assist on one of Tyler’s goals. 

When you only give up one goal in an indoor game, that means your defense must be doing something right.  Ryan, Mauricio, Skylar, Pat and Kenny were all over the other team so that Gordon only had to make a few critical saves with he did. 

I can’t wait for the next game.

The indoor season will start on March 4th at 8pm.  We will be playing on Wednesdays and not Fridays and the games are all at 8pm.