10/23, vs. Brookville, 0-1, 12-3-2, Tourney Loss
Everyone loses their last game, save one team. Unfortunately our loss came one game earlier than I really wanted. I wanted a chance to see how good Middletown Fenwick (the best team in the state) really was. Hopefully, we will get that chance soon enough.
About 15-20 minutes in to the 1st half against Brookville, Brookville took an uncontested shot from 25 yards out and buried in the side of the net. This was really the one focus that I was concerned about. Word is that Brookville's forwards do a pretty good job of dropping support passes back into the midfield especially after they get stood up (contained) in a counter attack. One of the hardest things for midfielders to do is work the entire field. One part of our game plan was to make a mental effort to stay staggered in the middle of the field so we could cover open shots coming out of the middle. Unfortunately for us, we dropped the ball two times all night long in this regards, and one of those times, Brookville beat us with a well placed shot in the side netting. It turns out that that was the only goal scored all night.
As far as the first half went, we played exactly like I was afraid we might. We went to a ball, Brookville went through a ball. Our first touches were very poor in the first half (which is partly due to Brookville pressure and partly due to the fact this was our first time on turf this year). Since we couldn't make traps, it was nearly impossible for us to string together any sort of build-up attack in the first half. At halftime the focus was three fold. First, win our share of 50/50's. Second, trap better. Third, simply relax. The third point sort of explained why we failed at the first two in the first half. I think a big difference is that Brookville is used to competitive games - they play about 13 of them a year. Because of our schedule, we have about half that. We were not used to playing in big games and responding the way we need to in order to beat good teams. That really showed in the first half.
In the second half, we played harder, and only a little smarter. I thought Brookville dominated the first half and Shawnee dominated the second half. We were a little more physical and a little smarter in half two compared to half one. We developed more chances and our defense played better (both midfielders and the back five). It certainly wasn't our best soccer all year, but at least the effort and desire were unquestioned in half two.
With seven minutes remaining, Makayla Lindon scored on a volley after Cassie Crawford sent a cross in. Shortly after, the line judge raised an offside flag, and from my point of view, it was painfully clear she was not offside. It happened to be that Brookville was stepping out after the ball was played and Lindon was moving forward, so Makayla did strike the ball a yard or two offsides but at the time the ball was played she was a good 2-3 yards onsides. Initially, the center official called a goal, recognized the side judge flag, raised an arm and motioned to her as is he were waving the flag off and he started to retreat to midfield. I was relieved that the center official saw what I thought I saw. At this point in the game the momentum had swung to favor Shawnee and I was excited about the prospect of winning either in regulation, OT, or in penalty kicks. After we had resigned toward midfield, the center official then blew his whistle and motioned for an offside restart for Brookville in front of their goal. The situation was unfortunate for Shawnee and after the game was over we were quick to fault a questionable refereeing crew, but I nipped that in the bud quickly in post game. Sure, we felt slighted by some of the calls that night, but the bottom line is, all we needed to do was play a good 80 minutes of soccer and we would have won regardless of anything else that might have been happening.
Brookville behaved EXACTLY as many coaches had told me. They played hard and played direct. They deserved to move on to face Fenwick on Saturday. It's just that I feel like we deserved that chance, too.
I would like to thank the parents for their support, especially the Lovely's and the Woodard's for putting together the much appreciated gifts for pre-game. I'd like to thank the ball girls who not only worked the entire game for our sideline and a half on the other sideline. I'd like to thank our coaching staff for an incredibly dedicated season.
Most importantly, I'd like to thank the group of seniors for their dedication to a program that continues to get better every year. Soon our mentality will change here at Shawnee. We will continue to get better. We will win league. We will win sectionals and hopefully beyond. These soon to be met goals of our program would have been impossible dreams without this group of seniors. Words cannot express how much we appreciate the foundation that you have created, the expectations, dedication, and the work ethic that you have forged on that foundation, and the promise of a future pinnacle for the home of Preble Shawnee Girls Soccer. Thank you.
About 15-20 minutes in to the 1st half against Brookville, Brookville took an uncontested shot from 25 yards out and buried in the side of the net. This was really the one focus that I was concerned about. Word is that Brookville's forwards do a pretty good job of dropping support passes back into the midfield especially after they get stood up (contained) in a counter attack. One of the hardest things for midfielders to do is work the entire field. One part of our game plan was to make a mental effort to stay staggered in the middle of the field so we could cover open shots coming out of the middle. Unfortunately for us, we dropped the ball two times all night long in this regards, and one of those times, Brookville beat us with a well placed shot in the side netting. It turns out that that was the only goal scored all night.
As far as the first half went, we played exactly like I was afraid we might. We went to a ball, Brookville went through a ball. Our first touches were very poor in the first half (which is partly due to Brookville pressure and partly due to the fact this was our first time on turf this year). Since we couldn't make traps, it was nearly impossible for us to string together any sort of build-up attack in the first half. At halftime the focus was three fold. First, win our share of 50/50's. Second, trap better. Third, simply relax. The third point sort of explained why we failed at the first two in the first half. I think a big difference is that Brookville is used to competitive games - they play about 13 of them a year. Because of our schedule, we have about half that. We were not used to playing in big games and responding the way we need to in order to beat good teams. That really showed in the first half.
In the second half, we played harder, and only a little smarter. I thought Brookville dominated the first half and Shawnee dominated the second half. We were a little more physical and a little smarter in half two compared to half one. We developed more chances and our defense played better (both midfielders and the back five). It certainly wasn't our best soccer all year, but at least the effort and desire were unquestioned in half two.
With seven minutes remaining, Makayla Lindon scored on a volley after Cassie Crawford sent a cross in. Shortly after, the line judge raised an offside flag, and from my point of view, it was painfully clear she was not offside. It happened to be that Brookville was stepping out after the ball was played and Lindon was moving forward, so Makayla did strike the ball a yard or two offsides but at the time the ball was played she was a good 2-3 yards onsides. Initially, the center official called a goal, recognized the side judge flag, raised an arm and motioned to her as is he were waving the flag off and he started to retreat to midfield. I was relieved that the center official saw what I thought I saw. At this point in the game the momentum had swung to favor Shawnee and I was excited about the prospect of winning either in regulation, OT, or in penalty kicks. After we had resigned toward midfield, the center official then blew his whistle and motioned for an offside restart for Brookville in front of their goal. The situation was unfortunate for Shawnee and after the game was over we were quick to fault a questionable refereeing crew, but I nipped that in the bud quickly in post game. Sure, we felt slighted by some of the calls that night, but the bottom line is, all we needed to do was play a good 80 minutes of soccer and we would have won regardless of anything else that might have been happening.
Brookville behaved EXACTLY as many coaches had told me. They played hard and played direct. They deserved to move on to face Fenwick on Saturday. It's just that I feel like we deserved that chance, too.
I would like to thank the parents for their support, especially the Lovely's and the Woodard's for putting together the much appreciated gifts for pre-game. I'd like to thank the ball girls who not only worked the entire game for our sideline and a half on the other sideline. I'd like to thank our coaching staff for an incredibly dedicated season.
Most importantly, I'd like to thank the group of seniors for their dedication to a program that continues to get better every year. Soon our mentality will change here at Shawnee. We will continue to get better. We will win league. We will win sectionals and hopefully beyond. These soon to be met goals of our program would have been impossible dreams without this group of seniors. Words cannot express how much we appreciate the foundation that you have created, the expectations, dedication, and the work ethic that you have forged on that foundation, and the promise of a future pinnacle for the home of Preble Shawnee Girls Soccer. Thank you.
10/20, vs. TVS, 7-0, 12-2-2, Tourney Win
After a first round bye, we hosted TVS in round two of the tournament. Again, unfortunately, I write this well after the game was played and I apologize. Better late than never...
I knew going in that we should be in control of this game from start to finish because we were more experienced and a little more athletic. The fear that I had was the fact that TVS would come into the game with unwavering confidence because of their most successful season in nearly a decade. Their players are very young and are fairly athletic. If we let them hang around their confidence would grow and we may find ourselves in a bit of a tough situation.
Even though we gave up the first shot of the contest and didn't score until about 25 minutes remaining in the first half, we thoroughly dominated the play and because of that, I think TVS quickly saw their chances of an upset come to a screeching halt. As a result of our dominance, we were fortunate enough to get a lot of girls valuable playing time. Part way through the first half, I tried to finish the half with what I thought might be a starting line up for next season. In the last 15-20 minutes of each half, I think the most seniors I had on the field at a time was 1, maybe two. This experience for the underclassmen is extremely valuable and I think it will pay off for next year. I was lucky to have this chance because in round 3 of the tournament I figured getting experience for underclassmen would have to take a back seat to the best personnel available to win the game.
At games end, we ended up putting seven goals in the net. Makayla Lindon and Maddie Woodard each scored two and Stephanie Fogt, Hannah Hurd, and Courtney Lakes each added one. Mackenzie Steele picked up two assists in the win.
I knew going in that we should be in control of this game from start to finish because we were more experienced and a little more athletic. The fear that I had was the fact that TVS would come into the game with unwavering confidence because of their most successful season in nearly a decade. Their players are very young and are fairly athletic. If we let them hang around their confidence would grow and we may find ourselves in a bit of a tough situation.
Even though we gave up the first shot of the contest and didn't score until about 25 minutes remaining in the first half, we thoroughly dominated the play and because of that, I think TVS quickly saw their chances of an upset come to a screeching halt. As a result of our dominance, we were fortunate enough to get a lot of girls valuable playing time. Part way through the first half, I tried to finish the half with what I thought might be a starting line up for next season. In the last 15-20 minutes of each half, I think the most seniors I had on the field at a time was 1, maybe two. This experience for the underclassmen is extremely valuable and I think it will pay off for next year. I was lucky to have this chance because in round 3 of the tournament I figured getting experience for underclassmen would have to take a back seat to the best personnel available to win the game.
At games end, we ended up putting seven goals in the net. Makayla Lindon and Maddie Woodard each scored two and Stephanie Fogt, Hannah Hurd, and Courtney Lakes each added one. Mackenzie Steele picked up two assists in the win.
10/11, vs. Madison, 0-3 Loss, 11-2-2
Well, I'm commenting on this game well after the fact partly due to my crankiness and partly due to my busy schedule. We had our shot to win league tonight, but we came up short. The simple fact of the matter is that we did not go to a ball all night long and our defensive midfielders did not transition well from offense to defense. When you combine these two things, you would be extremely luck to win any ball game, let alone one against a team that is physical and talented like Madison. Our defense and our keeper, especially, were tested more than normal tonight. It wasn't because the back five played poorly, but more so our midfielders were not moving as well as normal. I honestly don't mean to bash our midfield because it is the most demanding job on the field, but quite often I felt like it was 6 or 7 Madison players vs 4 or 5 Shawnee players. For the most part, our midfielders, although not perfect, have been effective due to their work ethic and conditioning. I couldn't begin to give a guess as to what happened vs. Madison this night. The only thing I can imagine is that the mentality at Shawnee has not quite made the leap from competing to winning. I think our soccer program has changed a losing mentality into a competing one, but maybe we haven't made the leap to a winning one yet. It sounds strange, but we know how to win, we work to win, but expecting to win is a different animal all together. Changing this mentality may be the toughest transition yet. Self-confidence without apathetic arrogance is a tough riddle to solve... After saying that, I probably should footnote that with a *look that up, Sid. =) If we still play games against lesser opponents on our schedule and don't show up and dominate with good soccer, that is a red flag that we haven't made that leap yet. We certainly did that a few times this year. And, once we play a decent team like Madison, if we don't start a game with the right mentality it is almost impossible to just 'flip a switch' midgame and play well. I think this was definitely the case tonight.
10/9, vs. Milton Union, 4-0 Win, 11-1-2
It's the last week of the regular season and we are in the position to achieve one of the most recent elusive goals in program history - to win league. Going into this game, I was expecting a physical game but one that we should win pretty easily based on the last meeting with Milton. In the first game, we beat Milton 2-0 and we played our worst game to date. We did not go hard to a ball all night and we certainly did not pass at all. We managed to outwork Milton and managed to come out on top only due to our work rate in the second half. I figured that if we play as we have the last couple games, we should have no problem cruising to a 4 or 5-0 win. We did get that, but it was not at all how I invisioned the game.
Milton was MUCH quicker and more athletic than I remembered from the first meeting. In the first game, I think Abbie only needed to make a save or two. In this game, thankfully Abbie came to play. She made 3 or 4 really nice saves and a few others. In the first half, we scored pretty quickly on a pass from Hayley Hall to Maddie Woodard. Maddie nearly took the Milton keeper's head off on a blast at the near post. Over the second half of the season, Maddie has really started powering up on her shots. She's a player that legitimately can score from just about anywhere on the field. We scored once again on a cross that Makayla Lindon eventually finished. Here is another player who recently decided that she can score. She has scored almost all of her 8 goals in the last half of the year. Makayla has a lovely, strong shot that she now has started pulling the trigger on.
At halftime, the stress was put on getting the ball wide and moving their solid sweeper out of the middle of the field. We also wanted to keep better shape in the back. We spent a lot of time running side by side with Milton forwards. We normally don't do this. In the second half, Courtney, Cheyanne, Jordan, and Sam really improved in this area. We kept Milton in front of us all second half and thier chances were dramatically limited. Our passing was great in the second half, but that was partly due to the field conditions. Early in half two, we were awarded an 'iffy' penalty kick on a hand ball. Maddie Woodard stepped up and cooly knocked the PK into the back of the net for a 3-0 lead. Late in the second half, Courtney Lakes pushed up and scored the fourth goal of the match. Courtney now has 8 goals which is tied for second on our team. Before this, the most goals a pure defender had scored was 2. Courtney has also scored against every league school this year except for Madison and Carlisle. Perhaps that will change this Thursday?
On Thursday, we play for everything. We travel to Madison for the last game of the season on their senior night. Sometimes senior nights can be a funny thing. I've had teams where we have played inspired and well on senior night and I've seen my team play terrible on senior night. We are assuming Madison will be inspired. As much as this game means and as emotional as this game's outcome will be and how stressful the days leading to it will be... the bottom line is this: I would want this no other way. The two best teams in our league and two of the better teams in our area will square off in a big, meaningful game. I only hope we play like we can. We will play like it is any other game. Early in the season, I told our girls that we will not measure our successes until October 11th. I anticipate and expect success. 80+
Milton was MUCH quicker and more athletic than I remembered from the first meeting. In the first game, I think Abbie only needed to make a save or two. In this game, thankfully Abbie came to play. She made 3 or 4 really nice saves and a few others. In the first half, we scored pretty quickly on a pass from Hayley Hall to Maddie Woodard. Maddie nearly took the Milton keeper's head off on a blast at the near post. Over the second half of the season, Maddie has really started powering up on her shots. She's a player that legitimately can score from just about anywhere on the field. We scored once again on a cross that Makayla Lindon eventually finished. Here is another player who recently decided that she can score. She has scored almost all of her 8 goals in the last half of the year. Makayla has a lovely, strong shot that she now has started pulling the trigger on.
At halftime, the stress was put on getting the ball wide and moving their solid sweeper out of the middle of the field. We also wanted to keep better shape in the back. We spent a lot of time running side by side with Milton forwards. We normally don't do this. In the second half, Courtney, Cheyanne, Jordan, and Sam really improved in this area. We kept Milton in front of us all second half and thier chances were dramatically limited. Our passing was great in the second half, but that was partly due to the field conditions. Early in half two, we were awarded an 'iffy' penalty kick on a hand ball. Maddie Woodard stepped up and cooly knocked the PK into the back of the net for a 3-0 lead. Late in the second half, Courtney Lakes pushed up and scored the fourth goal of the match. Courtney now has 8 goals which is tied for second on our team. Before this, the most goals a pure defender had scored was 2. Courtney has also scored against every league school this year except for Madison and Carlisle. Perhaps that will change this Thursday?
On Thursday, we play for everything. We travel to Madison for the last game of the season on their senior night. Sometimes senior nights can be a funny thing. I've had teams where we have played inspired and well on senior night and I've seen my team play terrible on senior night. We are assuming Madison will be inspired. As much as this game means and as emotional as this game's outcome will be and how stressful the days leading to it will be... the bottom line is this: I would want this no other way. The two best teams in our league and two of the better teams in our area will square off in a big, meaningful game. I only hope we play like we can. We will play like it is any other game. Early in the season, I told our girls that we will not measure our successes until October 11th. I anticipate and expect success. 80+
10/4, vs. Northridge, 6-0 Win, 10-1-2
Well, at least we played the game...
Northridge warned us that they would show up, but only with 9 players. My initial response to their coach was that I was okay with that and we would play 9 v 9 after the first ten minutes of each half. But, once we started playing, I wondered why I even considered that. Playing with 9 on a soccer field is not much different than playing with 3 or 4 on a basketball or volleyball court. By removing players, we might have been helping Northridge out but we would also be hurting our play. When a girl has a ball at her feet, she needs to know exactly where the other 11 players are on the field. If we took two off the field, we would see holes that normally wouldn't be there. So, instead of playing with 9, I played with 11. We placed restrictions on our players to force us to do things to get better. For example, we encouraged the use of the back four to change the field, we employed a support pass and clearance pass back to our keeper, and we wanted to chose when we attacked instead of constantly attacking. Our goal against Northridge was to spread the field out as much as possible and to focus on the fundamentals - trapping, passing, and spacing. I also told my girls that we were to only get 5 goals per half if it came to that. So, what do our girls do in the first half? They score 5 goals in about 15 minutes. The remaining 25 we essentially played a big game of keep away. We shot the ball one time in the last 25 minutes of the half, and we only did that to give Northridge a goal kick so we could get some subs in the ball game.
At halftime, we placed more restrictions on, but when we broke from the halftime huddle, the official told me that the Northridge girls chose to play a twenty minute half instead of all 40. They were also given the option to go home after half (at half, the game is considered official). We played a second half much like we did the first. I started a lot of girls that I want to see work together next season and this also gave us the chance to keep our players healthy. The 60-minute game ended 6-0.
Maddie Woodard scored twice, and Hayley Hall, Carlee Jones (1st career goal), Courtney Lakes, and Makayla Lindon each scored once. Cassie Craford and Hayley Hall each played well, picking up two assists each.
Northridge warned us that they would show up, but only with 9 players. My initial response to their coach was that I was okay with that and we would play 9 v 9 after the first ten minutes of each half. But, once we started playing, I wondered why I even considered that. Playing with 9 on a soccer field is not much different than playing with 3 or 4 on a basketball or volleyball court. By removing players, we might have been helping Northridge out but we would also be hurting our play. When a girl has a ball at her feet, she needs to know exactly where the other 11 players are on the field. If we took two off the field, we would see holes that normally wouldn't be there. So, instead of playing with 9, I played with 11. We placed restrictions on our players to force us to do things to get better. For example, we encouraged the use of the back four to change the field, we employed a support pass and clearance pass back to our keeper, and we wanted to chose when we attacked instead of constantly attacking. Our goal against Northridge was to spread the field out as much as possible and to focus on the fundamentals - trapping, passing, and spacing. I also told my girls that we were to only get 5 goals per half if it came to that. So, what do our girls do in the first half? They score 5 goals in about 15 minutes. The remaining 25 we essentially played a big game of keep away. We shot the ball one time in the last 25 minutes of the half, and we only did that to give Northridge a goal kick so we could get some subs in the ball game.
At halftime, we placed more restrictions on, but when we broke from the halftime huddle, the official told me that the Northridge girls chose to play a twenty minute half instead of all 40. They were also given the option to go home after half (at half, the game is considered official). We played a second half much like we did the first. I started a lot of girls that I want to see work together next season and this also gave us the chance to keep our players healthy. The 60-minute game ended 6-0.
Maddie Woodard scored twice, and Hayley Hall, Carlee Jones (1st career goal), Courtney Lakes, and Makayla Lindon each scored once. Cassie Craford and Hayley Hall each played well, picking up two assists each.
10/2, vs. Waynesville, 5-1 Win, 9-1-2
Big game today and I was thrilled to see the result. We have never looked so good as we did in the first half of today's game. Waynesville is done from last year, but they do have athletes and they are putting up decent results. Madison just played them and beat the 4-1, which worried me a bit because of how lopsided the score was. In the first half, we did everything well. We went to the ball, which recently we have done, but on top of that, our passing was phenomenal. We were very accurate with our passes, we spread the field out wide when we needed and we attacked directly when we needed as well. Our first half was so dominant, that a thought crossed my mind - perhaps a thought that I will choke on later, but a real, legitimate thought. If we play an entire game of soccer like we did for this half, I would like to know what team in division three could beat us. I don't care if you are Badin, Fenwick, Summit Country Day School, or Madeira. Like I said, we might, hopefully, get our chances to play one of these schools and we can see if we can show our worth against the best in the state. I have wanted to know how good we could be and how far away we are from being as good as the best for thirteen years. This season, we may get that shot, and hopefully we will find out that we are competitive with the best around.
At the end of half number one, Preble Shawnee was ahead 5-1 - at half. I never would have imagined that we were going to be up this much at half against a team that, before this year, we had never beat before. In the second half, we still dominated the game, but we kind of lost that sense of urgency. We passed well and defended well, but didn't have that killer instinct. Waynesville did not have but a chance or two in the second half and we coasted to a 5-1 win. Again, which is paramount to our success, we got scoring threats and opportunities from our midfielders. This takes a huge amount of pressure off of our forwards, who now know that we don't have to get goals from them alone. This also makes us much harder to defend as a team. both of our forwards are excellent passers, so once our midfielders have proven themselves dangerous, our offensive chances can really come from anywhere on the field. Maddie Woodard was the only forward to score tonight and she punched the ticket one time. The other four goals came from four midfielders - Stephanie Fogt and Sidney Brown each scored once and Cassie Crawford scored twice. Our forwards (Hayley - 2 and Maddie - 1) assisted three times and Crawford capped off a good night with an assist as well.
We have now put the 13-year dream of winning league in our own hands. With just 3 league matches remaining, there is no hoping that some team will help us out by beating another team. All we do is win from here on out and we will win league. We can't ask for anything else at this point. Our fate is in our own hands.
80+
At the end of half number one, Preble Shawnee was ahead 5-1 - at half. I never would have imagined that we were going to be up this much at half against a team that, before this year, we had never beat before. In the second half, we still dominated the game, but we kind of lost that sense of urgency. We passed well and defended well, but didn't have that killer instinct. Waynesville did not have but a chance or two in the second half and we coasted to a 5-1 win. Again, which is paramount to our success, we got scoring threats and opportunities from our midfielders. This takes a huge amount of pressure off of our forwards, who now know that we don't have to get goals from them alone. This also makes us much harder to defend as a team. both of our forwards are excellent passers, so once our midfielders have proven themselves dangerous, our offensive chances can really come from anywhere on the field. Maddie Woodard was the only forward to score tonight and she punched the ticket one time. The other four goals came from four midfielders - Stephanie Fogt and Sidney Brown each scored once and Cassie Crawford scored twice. Our forwards (Hayley - 2 and Maddie - 1) assisted three times and Crawford capped off a good night with an assist as well.
We have now put the 13-year dream of winning league in our own hands. With just 3 league matches remaining, there is no hoping that some team will help us out by beating another team. All we do is win from here on out and we will win league. We can't ask for anything else at this point. Our fate is in our own hands.
80+
9/26, vs. Dixie, 9-0 Win, 8-1-2
We are certainly playing some good soccer now and this is when good soccer is the most important. We realize that Dixie is a team we are probably supposed to beat, but our history has proven that sometimes these are the games where we have let downs and either lose a game we shouldn't or win a game but feel like we didn't play well. At this point in the season, either one of these outcomes is pretty unacceptable. This game in particular was cause for concern going in because we knew we are set up for league contention with big league game the last two weeks of the season. On top of that, the weather was new to us this year as well. It rained most of the evening and there was a 30 minute lightning delay.
Fortunately, none of these concerns were a problem. We came out and played well from whistle to whistle. Again, we shut down an excellent goal scorer. Abbie Lynch did make two very nice saves to keep them scoreless. It's nice seeing her come up with some big saves, especially when, over the last couple games, she really hasn't been tested much. The most impressive thing about tonight was that our scoring came larger out of our midfielders. All year, we have kind of relied on Maddie and Hayley to make our offense go, but tonight we had some great runs and scoring opportunities out of the middle. Of our 9 goals, 7 came from midfielders and defenders. Makayla Lindon finally started firing away when she had opportunities and her shots looked very nice. This should give her confidence going forward that she can score goals. For us to be successful against the Waynesvilles and Madisons and in tourney play, we must have our midfielders be scoring threats. Tonight, Dixie didn't have to worry about two players, they had to worry about 7, 8, 9, or 10 threats. This makes playing defense against us VERY difficult and I'd like to think that we can create opportunities from anywhere on the field.
Makayala Lindon scored three times and Sidney Brown, Cassie Crawford, Hayley Hall, Courtney Lakes, Mackenzie Steele, and Maddie Woodard each scored once. Maddie Woodard also tied a school record (one held by our current assistant coach Amy Hughes (Werts) with 5 assists in one game.
Fortunately, none of these concerns were a problem. We came out and played well from whistle to whistle. Again, we shut down an excellent goal scorer. Abbie Lynch did make two very nice saves to keep them scoreless. It's nice seeing her come up with some big saves, especially when, over the last couple games, she really hasn't been tested much. The most impressive thing about tonight was that our scoring came larger out of our midfielders. All year, we have kind of relied on Maddie and Hayley to make our offense go, but tonight we had some great runs and scoring opportunities out of the middle. Of our 9 goals, 7 came from midfielders and defenders. Makayla Lindon finally started firing away when she had opportunities and her shots looked very nice. This should give her confidence going forward that she can score goals. For us to be successful against the Waynesvilles and Madisons and in tourney play, we must have our midfielders be scoring threats. Tonight, Dixie didn't have to worry about two players, they had to worry about 7, 8, 9, or 10 threats. This makes playing defense against us VERY difficult and I'd like to think that we can create opportunities from anywhere on the field.
Makayala Lindon scored three times and Sidney Brown, Cassie Crawford, Hayley Hall, Courtney Lakes, Mackenzie Steele, and Maddie Woodard each scored once. Maddie Woodard also tied a school record (one held by our current assistant coach Amy Hughes (Werts) with 5 assists in one game.
9/24, vs. National Trail, 9-0 Win, 7-1-2
Whenever you play a team that you are clearly supposed to beat, sometimes those are the hardest games to play well in. This was certainly one of those cases. In the first 8 minutes of the game against a hard working National Trail team, my midfielders and forwards had not put any good passes together and definitely NOT going to a ball hard. Those eight minutes were all it took for me to remove those six players (4 seniors and 2 leading goal scorers) from the ball game. We played the next 25 minutes with our varsity substitutes and bubble players. These subs did a remarkably good job. They were passing and working very hard to win the 50/50 balls. Our starters were not doing this. We go up 2-0 in those 25 minutes. Our starters returned to the game and finished the last 8 minutes of the half with a much better intensity. In those minutes they picked up one more goal and played much better.
In the second half, we returned with our starting line up and dominated the second half. Our passing was better and we were certainly working much harder. The final score ended up being 9-0 and 8 different players scored in the game. The only girl to score two goals was Maddie Woodard. The other goal scorers were Cassie Crawford, Hayley Hall, Cheyanne Edwards, Courtney Lakes, Abbie Lynch, Makayla Lindon, and Mackenzie Steele.
In the second half, we returned with our starting line up and dominated the second half. Our passing was better and we were certainly working much harder. The final score ended up being 9-0 and 8 different players scored in the game. The only girl to score two goals was Maddie Woodard. The other goal scorers were Cassie Crawford, Hayley Hall, Cheyanne Edwards, Courtney Lakes, Abbie Lynch, Makayla Lindon, and Mackenzie Steele.
9/20, vs. Carlisle, 0-0 Tie, 6-1-2
So frustrating. I will try my best not to slander Carlisle when I talk about this game. As a matter of fact, they did exactly what they needed to do to tie a team that is more than marginally better than them. We outshot Carlisle 24-4. No one put one in the net. We had probably a dozen dangerous chances that we either sent wide, over the top, or hit right at the keeper. In the first 5 or 6 minutes, I thought Carlisle might come out and attack more than they did in the first game. After those 5 minutes, I think Carlisle's team sensed that they weren't going to outscore us in a shootout. So, for about 75 minutes, Carlisle kept 10 girls behind the ball at all times - even when they were on offense. Carlisle's team played long forward to their best goal scorer when they had a chance. The problem with that game plan is that we consistently and easily could recover so that it was literally 1 v 3. There was never a point that a thought Carlisle had a chance to score especially outside of the first 5 minutes. Unfortunately, we did not execute our game plan well enough to put one in the net either.
Our plan was to play wide - where there are fewer numbers - and send in crosses and score off of those crosses. We did an excellent job of getting wide without turning the ball over, but once we were wide, one problem of a couple would always occur; we either piddled with a ball at our feet and didn't send it in danger, sent a nice cross in and failed to get our weakside offensive players on the end of it, or we tried to dribble to the middle instead of cross.
Carlisle is an average team with big heart. They got in our way very well and plugged up the space in front of the net. We just could not get on the end of our crosses to put in that goal. If we could have gotten just one against Carlisle it would have most likely turned in to 4 or 5 because they would have been forced to spread out of the back in an attempt to score a goal.
The consolation is that we had a DII scout at the game and he reinforced what our game plan was (get wide, finish on crosses). Unfortunately, sometimes soccer outcomes are not always who is the best team. Tonight, the better team didn't win the game. It's nights like these that make soccer so unique - no other sport in the world can make you feel the joy and pain of a result that is never pre-determined. If we are fortunate enough to play one of the state powerhouses in the district final game this year, hopefully we have learned a lesson from Carlisle - even if you are the underdog, play the game hard, play it right, play for all 80 minutes and you may get the result that you want. There's a lot to be said about mental and physical endurance...
With the tie, there is now, once again, a three way tie in the league between Preble, Madison, and Waynesville. We play Waynesville and Madison in two of our last four games. Both games earlier in the year we won 2-0, but I expect both teams will be much more difficult to beat the second time around with a league championship on the line. Our league may very well be decided on the last game of our regular season - at Madison on their senior night. That should be a very interesting match up that I look forward to. But, first we must take care of Monday and Thursday this week.
Our plan was to play wide - where there are fewer numbers - and send in crosses and score off of those crosses. We did an excellent job of getting wide without turning the ball over, but once we were wide, one problem of a couple would always occur; we either piddled with a ball at our feet and didn't send it in danger, sent a nice cross in and failed to get our weakside offensive players on the end of it, or we tried to dribble to the middle instead of cross.
Carlisle is an average team with big heart. They got in our way very well and plugged up the space in front of the net. We just could not get on the end of our crosses to put in that goal. If we could have gotten just one against Carlisle it would have most likely turned in to 4 or 5 because they would have been forced to spread out of the back in an attempt to score a goal.
The consolation is that we had a DII scout at the game and he reinforced what our game plan was (get wide, finish on crosses). Unfortunately, sometimes soccer outcomes are not always who is the best team. Tonight, the better team didn't win the game. It's nights like these that make soccer so unique - no other sport in the world can make you feel the joy and pain of a result that is never pre-determined. If we are fortunate enough to play one of the state powerhouses in the district final game this year, hopefully we have learned a lesson from Carlisle - even if you are the underdog, play the game hard, play it right, play for all 80 minutes and you may get the result that you want. There's a lot to be said about mental and physical endurance...
With the tie, there is now, once again, a three way tie in the league between Preble, Madison, and Waynesville. We play Waynesville and Madison in two of our last four games. Both games earlier in the year we won 2-0, but I expect both teams will be much more difficult to beat the second time around with a league championship on the line. Our league may very well be decided on the last game of our regular season - at Madison on their senior night. That should be a very interesting match up that I look forward to. But, first we must take care of Monday and Thursday this week.
9/13, vs. Waynesville, 2-0 Win, 6-1-1
Waynesville entered competition Thursday night as the league leaders with just one tie in league. Both Madison and Shawnee each had one loss. This was probably the best 80 minutes I have seen from them all season with, maybe the Fairborn pre-season win, as an exception. Normally, against good teams, I can see different outcomes throughout the game. About 5 minutes in, I just got that feeling that we were going to win. I thought we were more balanced in our attack, our defensive players were more sound, and our passing was just better. Waynesville has two very good players and nine who I would call average to above average. The game plan going in was to stay in the shooting lanes of Waynesville's impressive shooter (Lazette) and to keep Price under containment and toward the outside. Jordan, Sam, and Courtney did a fabulous job keeping one of the best ball handlers away from the goal and Mackenzie Steele marked up Lazette and kept her from getting any dangerous shots the entire game.
Courtney Lakes scored on her 4th restart of the year to put the Arrows up 1-0 early in the 2nd half. Midway through the second half, Hayley Hall scored goal number two. The last ten minutes was an impressive mental display where we got behind a ball, didn't force the offensive issue, and played length to limit the time Waynesville had to possess. Sometimes when you play good teams and win, you leave feeling lucky to get a win. I'm comfortable saying that, when we play how we can normally play, we are the best team in the league. The challenge is to keep playing well and staying focused. Our motto has become "We have accomplished nothing yet. We will determine our accomplishments on October 11th."
Courtney Lakes scored on her 4th restart of the year to put the Arrows up 1-0 early in the 2nd half. Midway through the second half, Hayley Hall scored goal number two. The last ten minutes was an impressive mental display where we got behind a ball, didn't force the offensive issue, and played length to limit the time Waynesville had to possess. Sometimes when you play good teams and win, you leave feeling lucky to get a win. I'm comfortable saying that, when we play how we can normally play, we are the best team in the league. The challenge is to keep playing well and staying focused. Our motto has become "We have accomplished nothing yet. We will determine our accomplishments on October 11th."
9/11, vs. Dixie, 6-1 Win, 5-1-1
Dixie has been putting up pretty respectable scores against decent teams. They've been scoring goals against decent teams, too. They only lost 3-1 to Carlisle and they scored twice against Madison. So, I was a little concerned and I think that the girls were definitely not taking them lightly. Last year I think they were worse and we squeaked by with two 2-1 wins because we didn't go in to the game with the right attitude.
This year was very different. Perhaps, we still tasted what a let down felt like with the Carlisle game. From start to finish we approached the game with the right attitude and our play showed. Our passing was spectacular all night long and we really spread Dixie out. Dixie has one of the best goal scorers in the league and their keeper is good which could pose problems for a lot of teams.
Maddie Woodard scored within a minute and the tone was set. Cheyanne Edwards has been awesome her senior year and tonight was no different. She had the responsibility of marking up the league's leading goal scorer, and, quite honestly, it wasn't even a contest. Cheyanne held her to two shots outside of restarts. Cheyanne has been as good as a defender this year as I have ever had and when you put her next to Courtney Lakes, the duo is impenetrable.
The final Dixie score was 6-1 with Maddie Woodard (2), Cassie Crawford, Hannah Hurd, Makayla Lindon, and Mackenzie Steele all scored. Cassie Crawford also added two assists
This year was very different. Perhaps, we still tasted what a let down felt like with the Carlisle game. From start to finish we approached the game with the right attitude and our play showed. Our passing was spectacular all night long and we really spread Dixie out. Dixie has one of the best goal scorers in the league and their keeper is good which could pose problems for a lot of teams.
Maddie Woodard scored within a minute and the tone was set. Cheyanne Edwards has been awesome her senior year and tonight was no different. She had the responsibility of marking up the league's leading goal scorer, and, quite honestly, it wasn't even a contest. Cheyanne held her to two shots outside of restarts. Cheyanne has been as good as a defender this year as I have ever had and when you put her next to Courtney Lakes, the duo is impenetrable.
The final Dixie score was 6-1 with Maddie Woodard (2), Cassie Crawford, Hannah Hurd, Makayla Lindon, and Mackenzie Steele all scored. Cassie Crawford also added two assists
9/4, vs. Carlisle, 0-1 Loss, 4-1-1
I only respond because I must. The most frustrating thing as a coach is that there are always things that inevitably pop up that I have no control over. This game vs. Carlisle was one of those days. When I played the game, the game was enough motivation for me to draw from me my greatest effort. For some reason that I cannot understand, for many of our girls it is not that way. Our best effort both mentally and physically depends on so many variables, most of which I as a coach have zero control over. Today, we certainly did not have our best team on the field.
Carlisle scored on what might go down in my coaching career as the luckiest goal I have ever witnessed. There was a blantant uncalled foul against Carlisle that went uncalled. This allowed the Carlisle player to win the ball 30 yards from goal way out on the touch line. She sent a ball in that travelled as high as it did far. I'm sure the intent was to cross the ball because no one ever makes or even takes a shot from there. The ball sailed across the goal mouth, over the keeper and directly into the upper 90. There was nothing any defender or keeper could do about it. Sometimes those things happen. Despite our bad luck on that play, it was not that one shot that lost the game for us. We dominated just about every aspect of the game. We won most of the 50/50s, we outshot them a lot to very little, and we were the more athletic team. Once Carlisle scored midway through the first half, they probably only had 2, maybe 3, legitimate scoring opportunities after that. In the last 60 minutes of the game, the ball was in our offensive third probably 50 minutes of that time. Our problem tonight was that we simply could not put more than a couple passes together before losing possession. The most disturbing thing about it was that we weren't making mistakes because of what Carlisle forced us to do. We were making mistakes because of the way we were playing. When this kind of thing happens (the unforced errors, the lazy passing), it is entirely mental. To Carlisle's credit, after that goal, they did what they needed to do to win the ball game. They got 10, sometimes 11, girls behind the ball and were content on watching us give the ball back to them or to take poor shots from bad angles. Their keeper did come up with some very nice saves to keep us off the board.
Bottom line, sometimes the better team does not win. Soccer is a perfect and frustrating example of this. I don't think the chance for an upset is as great in any other sport than it is in soccer. That is why it is paramount that you take full advantage of every game, every minute. Carlisle did this and we didn't. We still have an excellent shot at winning league. We are .5 games behind Waynesville and tied with Madison and Carlisle. In the long run, I am hoping that this tough loss is just a blessing in disguise. A wake up call that we cannot rest until our goals are accomplished - one of those goals being league champion. Big steps in doing that will come this Tuesday and Thursday when we face a much improved Dixie team and the currently first place Waynesville Spartans.
Carlisle scored on what might go down in my coaching career as the luckiest goal I have ever witnessed. There was a blantant uncalled foul against Carlisle that went uncalled. This allowed the Carlisle player to win the ball 30 yards from goal way out on the touch line. She sent a ball in that travelled as high as it did far. I'm sure the intent was to cross the ball because no one ever makes or even takes a shot from there. The ball sailed across the goal mouth, over the keeper and directly into the upper 90. There was nothing any defender or keeper could do about it. Sometimes those things happen. Despite our bad luck on that play, it was not that one shot that lost the game for us. We dominated just about every aspect of the game. We won most of the 50/50s, we outshot them a lot to very little, and we were the more athletic team. Once Carlisle scored midway through the first half, they probably only had 2, maybe 3, legitimate scoring opportunities after that. In the last 60 minutes of the game, the ball was in our offensive third probably 50 minutes of that time. Our problem tonight was that we simply could not put more than a couple passes together before losing possession. The most disturbing thing about it was that we weren't making mistakes because of what Carlisle forced us to do. We were making mistakes because of the way we were playing. When this kind of thing happens (the unforced errors, the lazy passing), it is entirely mental. To Carlisle's credit, after that goal, they did what they needed to do to win the ball game. They got 10, sometimes 11, girls behind the ball and were content on watching us give the ball back to them or to take poor shots from bad angles. Their keeper did come up with some very nice saves to keep us off the board.
Bottom line, sometimes the better team does not win. Soccer is a perfect and frustrating example of this. I don't think the chance for an upset is as great in any other sport than it is in soccer. That is why it is paramount that you take full advantage of every game, every minute. Carlisle did this and we didn't. We still have an excellent shot at winning league. We are .5 games behind Waynesville and tied with Madison and Carlisle. In the long run, I am hoping that this tough loss is just a blessing in disguise. A wake up call that we cannot rest until our goals are accomplished - one of those goals being league champion. Big steps in doing that will come this Tuesday and Thursday when we face a much improved Dixie team and the currently first place Waynesville Spartans.
8/30, vs. Madison, 2-0 Win, 4-0-1
Here it was. Game five of the season and we were already facing our biggest league rival of the season. There was no doubt going in to this game that our team would be fired up and ready to go. I wish we could take the pitch with this attitude every game. If we could, we may not lose another game all season.
Sidney Brown, one of the more dominate players in our midfield was finally released to play after a pretty severe ankle injury. Her opposite counterpart across the field, Michelle Brunswick, showed up with an ankle injury of her own. Michelle really gives Madison a boost when she plays well. She is tough to mark on corners and controls the middle of the field for Madison. Winning this game would be huge because I am sure they will be better the next time we play them.
Within the first five minutes of the game, I could sense the outcome. We were playing beautifully and Madison did not look like Madison. We were passing as well as I have seen all year and we were dominating all 50/50s against a team who is usually very good on 50/50s. We had a ton of dangerous opportunities right out of the gate. We had several point blank shots that we normally bury and we had a lot more chances to put crosses on the feet of wide open girls on the back post, but we kept them within range of the keeper. Finally, with about 20 minutes to go in the first half, Maddie Woodard scored off of a through ball from Mackenzie Steele. At halftime, we talked about continuing to go to a ball and establish a dominance on the ground and to continue to put excellent pressure at the feet of the Madison players. Our pressure was fabulous all night long. Madison turned the ball over quite a bit and I'd like to think that it was largely due to our defensive pressure, especially out of the midfielders and defenders. In the second half it was much of the same. Maddie scored once again half way through the first half.
With about 15 minutes to go our team went into "try not to lose" mode instead of flipping the kill switch. Madison really didn't threaten us all night until the last 15 minutes when our girls changed their approach. They did get some dangerous opportunities down the stretch but failed to put one in. We will be working on finishing out a game when we have the lead because I think we will have several more close games we'll have to close out down the stretch. If we fail to close out just one or two games, league may slip through our fingers. During the post-game, I reminded the girls that we have really accomplished nothing yet. The win is nice and it's a great start, but until we reach our goals, nothing has been accomplished.
Fortunately, we did not need to force Sidney back into the game. Our midfielders were wonderful workers all night long. Mackenzie Steele and Makayla Lindon really played well at central mid. Cassie Crawford, although still hampered and aggrevated by her knee injury, also started playing much better. Even though the scoring chances are down this year and some of the quick cuts are slow to return, Cassie really has greatly improved in other areas, especially her ability to small pass through the middle to open up space and room for other midfielders. On the other side of Cassie, you'll find our biggest unsing hero. Stephanie Fogt is simply a tenacious defender. As quick as she is she has this uncanny ability to separate opponents from the ball and her tracking defense has been as good as any player I have seen at Shawnee. Steph has really stepped up her game.
Our couple up top have also been playing very well through the first third of the season. Hayley Hall has incredible explosive speed that, I think, surprises most defenders. She's been cutting defenders better than anyone else on the team and then has been serving a lot of really dangerous crosses in to give us scoring opportunities. Her partner up top has just made such incredible strides from last year. As a young junior, Maddie Woodard is quickly proving that she might be the most feared forward in the league. She has amassed six goals in five games against a pretty stout group of defensive teams. Her numbers are comparable to the league's leading goal scorers but we have not had any major lop-sided wins where she has been able to score 3 goals a game. When you put the two of them together up top, it's almost like they have a telepathic connection. They seem to create opportunities for each other without seeing each other on the field. They certainly are fun to watch.
Then, there is our back five. Wow. They have been out of this world. In five games, we have allowed 2 goals, and quite honestly, those probably shouldn't have happened either. Courtney and Cheyanne have absolutely been an amazing tandem back there. Both of these defenders, although, totally contrasting in style, have worked almost flawlessly together to keep danger out of the middle. Our two outside fulls, Jordan and Sam, are two of the smartest defensive players I have seen. Their ability to keep offensive threats to the outside and keep length in front of them has really been impressive. Abbie Lynch in goal has made every save that she could have made this season plus some. You can't really ask for a keeper to do much more.
I'm feeling good about the rest of the season. Keep working.
80+
Sidney Brown, one of the more dominate players in our midfield was finally released to play after a pretty severe ankle injury. Her opposite counterpart across the field, Michelle Brunswick, showed up with an ankle injury of her own. Michelle really gives Madison a boost when she plays well. She is tough to mark on corners and controls the middle of the field for Madison. Winning this game would be huge because I am sure they will be better the next time we play them.
Within the first five minutes of the game, I could sense the outcome. We were playing beautifully and Madison did not look like Madison. We were passing as well as I have seen all year and we were dominating all 50/50s against a team who is usually very good on 50/50s. We had a ton of dangerous opportunities right out of the gate. We had several point blank shots that we normally bury and we had a lot more chances to put crosses on the feet of wide open girls on the back post, but we kept them within range of the keeper. Finally, with about 20 minutes to go in the first half, Maddie Woodard scored off of a through ball from Mackenzie Steele. At halftime, we talked about continuing to go to a ball and establish a dominance on the ground and to continue to put excellent pressure at the feet of the Madison players. Our pressure was fabulous all night long. Madison turned the ball over quite a bit and I'd like to think that it was largely due to our defensive pressure, especially out of the midfielders and defenders. In the second half it was much of the same. Maddie scored once again half way through the first half.
With about 15 minutes to go our team went into "try not to lose" mode instead of flipping the kill switch. Madison really didn't threaten us all night until the last 15 minutes when our girls changed their approach. They did get some dangerous opportunities down the stretch but failed to put one in. We will be working on finishing out a game when we have the lead because I think we will have several more close games we'll have to close out down the stretch. If we fail to close out just one or two games, league may slip through our fingers. During the post-game, I reminded the girls that we have really accomplished nothing yet. The win is nice and it's a great start, but until we reach our goals, nothing has been accomplished.
Fortunately, we did not need to force Sidney back into the game. Our midfielders were wonderful workers all night long. Mackenzie Steele and Makayla Lindon really played well at central mid. Cassie Crawford, although still hampered and aggrevated by her knee injury, also started playing much better. Even though the scoring chances are down this year and some of the quick cuts are slow to return, Cassie really has greatly improved in other areas, especially her ability to small pass through the middle to open up space and room for other midfielders. On the other side of Cassie, you'll find our biggest unsing hero. Stephanie Fogt is simply a tenacious defender. As quick as she is she has this uncanny ability to separate opponents from the ball and her tracking defense has been as good as any player I have seen at Shawnee. Steph has really stepped up her game.
Our couple up top have also been playing very well through the first third of the season. Hayley Hall has incredible explosive speed that, I think, surprises most defenders. She's been cutting defenders better than anyone else on the team and then has been serving a lot of really dangerous crosses in to give us scoring opportunities. Her partner up top has just made such incredible strides from last year. As a young junior, Maddie Woodard is quickly proving that she might be the most feared forward in the league. She has amassed six goals in five games against a pretty stout group of defensive teams. Her numbers are comparable to the league's leading goal scorers but we have not had any major lop-sided wins where she has been able to score 3 goals a game. When you put the two of them together up top, it's almost like they have a telepathic connection. They seem to create opportunities for each other without seeing each other on the field. They certainly are fun to watch.
Then, there is our back five. Wow. They have been out of this world. In five games, we have allowed 2 goals, and quite honestly, those probably shouldn't have happened either. Courtney and Cheyanne have absolutely been an amazing tandem back there. Both of these defenders, although, totally contrasting in style, have worked almost flawlessly together to keep danger out of the middle. Our two outside fulls, Jordan and Sam, are two of the smartest defensive players I have seen. Their ability to keep offensive threats to the outside and keep length in front of them has really been impressive. Abbie Lynch in goal has made every save that she could have made this season plus some. You can't really ask for a keeper to do much more.
I'm feeling good about the rest of the season. Keep working.
80+
8/28, vs. Milton-Union, 2-0 Win, 3-0-1
Going into the game against Milton, I thought they may surprise some teams in our league and after the game I know they will. Milton is a much better team than last year and I really think they will challenge Waynesville and Madison this year. They certainly gave us a fight.
I wasn't sure what was happening in half number one. It was our first league game this year and we have a legitimate shot to win league. We were playing a very quality opponent. I figured this would be enough to get the team fired up and ready to go. Apparently, I was wrong. During the first half, I was amazed at how lethargic we were. We weren't going hard to the ball and our passes seemed more like random kicks. We definitely did not spread the field out as we needed to do. I was stunned. I hadn't seen us play like this at any team during this season including pre-season. We did happen to get one goal off of a corner kick from Hayley Hall to Courtney Lakes.
At halftime, well... I was not very nice. I reminded them that there are no do overs, there was only one year to win league and meet our other goals. And, we were doing nothing in the first half to accomplish that.
Fortunately in the second half, my girls at least played harder. We weren't a whole lot smarter, which made the game really ugly, but the tables turned in half number two. We dominated most of the second half, much like we were in the first. We scored just one in the second half but, in the least, our girls bounced back and outworked Milton. The best thing that came from this game is this. Tonight, we have proven that even if the hard part of the game - the passing, the movement, the positioning - eludes us, we can compete with good teams if we just play hard and work diligently. Even though I certainly was not pleased with how we played (and that may be largely due to how Milton played us), I was pleased to see a quick and important change of attitude in our players.
Mackenzie Steele really stepped it up in the second half controlling the midfield and scoring the second goal of the match. On Thursday, we have what many consider to be the league favorite Madison.
I wasn't sure what was happening in half number one. It was our first league game this year and we have a legitimate shot to win league. We were playing a very quality opponent. I figured this would be enough to get the team fired up and ready to go. Apparently, I was wrong. During the first half, I was amazed at how lethargic we were. We weren't going hard to the ball and our passes seemed more like random kicks. We definitely did not spread the field out as we needed to do. I was stunned. I hadn't seen us play like this at any team during this season including pre-season. We did happen to get one goal off of a corner kick from Hayley Hall to Courtney Lakes.
At halftime, well... I was not very nice. I reminded them that there are no do overs, there was only one year to win league and meet our other goals. And, we were doing nothing in the first half to accomplish that.
Fortunately in the second half, my girls at least played harder. We weren't a whole lot smarter, which made the game really ugly, but the tables turned in half number two. We dominated most of the second half, much like we were in the first. We scored just one in the second half but, in the least, our girls bounced back and outworked Milton. The best thing that came from this game is this. Tonight, we have proven that even if the hard part of the game - the passing, the movement, the positioning - eludes us, we can compete with good teams if we just play hard and work diligently. Even though I certainly was not pleased with how we played (and that may be largely due to how Milton played us), I was pleased to see a quick and important change of attitude in our players.
Mackenzie Steele really stepped it up in the second half controlling the midfield and scoring the second goal of the match. On Thursday, we have what many consider to be the league favorite Madison.
8/27, vs. Bethel, 6-0 Win, 2-0-1
This was a nice win against what traditionally has been a pretty good team. Bethel is in a rebuilding year, but picking up a win is picking up a win regardless of your opponent. From start to finish, the Lady Arrows dominated every aspect of the game. We won nearly every 50/50 ball and our passing was outstanding. I've been harping for 13 years on getting our back four defenders to become part of the offense - that we play offense as a team, not as midfielders and forwards. I was VERY impressed with the defenders this game. They did not really get pressured so much and have to come up with a great defensive game, but every one of them was instrumental in bulding attack and changing the field. Courtney Lakes was winning everything in the middle of the field and instead of trying to cram it down Bethel's throats, she did the smart thing and used our outside defenders, Jordan Lovely and Sam Began) to spread Bethel thin through the middle. Cheyanne Edwards was also very good, but she tends to do more of teh opposite. Cheyanne was also winning everything, but she has such quick closing speed and is so good on the ball that she often dribbled out of danger, attracted two or three Bethel defenders, and then made passes to our midfielders or forwards through the middle. The back four were really fun to watch as they controlled everything on defense and were beautiful links to our offensive third of the field.
The offense also put some things together quite nicely hooking up for six goals on the night. Maddie Woodard scored twice, as did Hayley Hall. Hayley also had two more assists. Courtney Lakes and Makayla Lindon also scored. Abbie Lynch, with help from the back four, recorded another shutout in goal and was forced to only make one save.
A game like today was crucial because it is going to be a very busy week and we needed some time during these games to rest some tired legs. In the last twenty minutes we were afforded the luxury of pulling seven starters and giving the much needed chance for playing time for some key substitutions. All of the girls who took the field tonight looked very good in the effort.
The offense also put some things together quite nicely hooking up for six goals on the night. Maddie Woodard scored twice, as did Hayley Hall. Hayley also had two more assists. Courtney Lakes and Makayla Lindon also scored. Abbie Lynch, with help from the back four, recorded another shutout in goal and was forced to only make one save.
A game like today was crucial because it is going to be a very busy week and we needed some time during these games to rest some tired legs. In the last twenty minutes we were afforded the luxury of pulling seven starters and giving the much needed chance for playing time for some key substitutions. All of the girls who took the field tonight looked very good in the effort.
8/25, vs. Anna, 2-2 Tie, 1-0-1
I'm filled with excuses on why this one ended in, what I would consider, a disappointing tie. The scouting report going into the Anna game was that they are great athletes but not great soccer players. This couldn't have been more true. Typically, against teams that fit this same bill, we have pretty good luck. Since Preble Shawnee girls soccer players are certainly not the fastest or the strongest players, we focus on game IQ. I believe that we have enough athleticism not to get blown off the pitch by any team, and more importantly, we can succeed against any team because of how we play tactically. Unfortunately, at Anna the field is so incredibly small that we couldn't use the entire field like we normally do. Anna had one good central defender and it was very difficult to move her out of the middle when the field is 10-15 yards narrower than almost any field I have ever seen. When we tried to play wide to spread the defenders we either ran the ball out of bounds or we ran forward into their strength. On a regular sized field I think we could have moved their stronger defenders out of position and attacked the empty space behind them.
Also, the field was not just too narrow, it was too short. Their defense could clear a ball out of danger and it would end up 20-25 yards from the goal we were defending. Anna did have a very athletic and quick forward whose primary job was to chase these balls down. Consequently, she ended up scoring both of Anna's goals. She also, single-handedly, fouled three of our girls from behind and all three ended up missing considerable playing time. Not that this point would have had an impact on the game, but certainly their top crossbar was about 5-6" low (measured) and it also seemed like their goals were also too narrow (unmeasured).
On top of that, there was only one official who showed up to work the contest. We are a physical team. Anna is a physical team. When one official shows up to work a game versus two quality opponents that also play physical it is a huge disservice to the players on the field. A lot of fouls were unneccessarily missed because of this.
In the history of girls soccer at Preble Shawnee, we have never played well on a Saturday game, especially when there was no JV game before us. This was compounded by the 90 minute bus trip.
The biggest explanation of the poor showing was just that... the Shawnee girls did not play well in any aspect of that game for any of the 80 minutes. Perhaps it was a combination of all the excuses I mentioned above, maybe it was the coaching, or maybe it was Anna's style of play. The bottom line is that when league matches roll around and when the state tournament start, we don't get do overs and excuses no longer validate anything. We simply have to play better and win the game.
Hayley Hall and Mackenzie Steele scored the goals for the Arrows while Makayla Lindon and Maddie Woodard picked up the assists. Abbie Lynch recorded six saves in goal.
Also, the field was not just too narrow, it was too short. Their defense could clear a ball out of danger and it would end up 20-25 yards from the goal we were defending. Anna did have a very athletic and quick forward whose primary job was to chase these balls down. Consequently, she ended up scoring both of Anna's goals. She also, single-handedly, fouled three of our girls from behind and all three ended up missing considerable playing time. Not that this point would have had an impact on the game, but certainly their top crossbar was about 5-6" low (measured) and it also seemed like their goals were also too narrow (unmeasured).
On top of that, there was only one official who showed up to work the contest. We are a physical team. Anna is a physical team. When one official shows up to work a game versus two quality opponents that also play physical it is a huge disservice to the players on the field. A lot of fouls were unneccessarily missed because of this.
In the history of girls soccer at Preble Shawnee, we have never played well on a Saturday game, especially when there was no JV game before us. This was compounded by the 90 minute bus trip.
The biggest explanation of the poor showing was just that... the Shawnee girls did not play well in any aspect of that game for any of the 80 minutes. Perhaps it was a combination of all the excuses I mentioned above, maybe it was the coaching, or maybe it was Anna's style of play. The bottom line is that when league matches roll around and when the state tournament start, we don't get do overs and excuses no longer validate anything. We simply have to play better and win the game.
Hayley Hall and Mackenzie Steele scored the goals for the Arrows while Makayla Lindon and Maddie Woodard picked up the assists. Abbie Lynch recorded six saves in goal.
8/20, vs. Eaton, 4-0 Win
I've always hated the first game or two of the season. You never really know which team will show up and you are certainly not your best in game one. I also get really nervous when we have a game on the first day of the school year. On top of that, playing a good opponent on the first day of school for the first game of the season is often a crap shoot. Our first half of the game we looked sleepy. We definitely didn't go to a ball. Our defense (who is typically superb at keeping the ball in front of them) let Eaton players turn and run freely to goal. Our midfielders were not possessing through the middle of the field. And our forwards weren't checking back or making the proper runs. The only position on the field that played well was our goal keeper, Abbie Lynch. Thankfully, Abbie came up with a couple nice saves, but more importantly she commanded HER 18 yard box coming out to play loose balls Eaton played into the box.
At halftime, the coaching staff stressed the simple stuff - midfielders hold a ball a little longer, exploit the gaps which we saw in scouting, especially on the outside behind their midfielders, and shoot those direct passes through the middle when we countered and catch Eaton out of position. Most importantly, we needed to start stepping to all 50/50's.
The second half unfolded as I had hoped the whole game would have. We won most of the 50/50's. We started making a couple of passes once we won possession, and then we played directly toward goal. Sometimes this year it won't look like we play good soccer (and tonight I certainly think we did not play good, but good enough to win), but the scoreboard will show a very lopsided win. That's what tonight was. I thought we would be able to get behind a ball on defense and force a turnover. Once won, we counter hard and quick while the opposing defenders are out of position. I think Eaton's team is a solid team and will put together a pretty good season. They certainly are better this year than last and Preble Shawnee lost last years game 3-1. Tonight I think was a testament to the improvements every player on our team has made in the offseason and the incredible conditioning of our team. In the second half we changed some personel around and added a few fresh legs and they really made a difference. Namely, the game changed when the Lindon sisters took over at inside half and Mackenzie Steele and Stephanie Fogt picked it up at outside half. This quartet, offered better possession and fed our forwards the quick direct balls we were looking for in the first half.
In the first half, Maddie Woodard scored late to put the Arrows up 1-0 and I felt pretty fortunate to get out ahead after playing such a terrible first half. In the second half we played better all around - the defense, for the most part, kept Eaton in front of them, our midfielders relaxed a bit more and started linking a few passes together and our forwards really got busy and quick. Maddie Woodard scored her second goal of the match with an assist from Hayley Hall. Courtney Lakes won a restart after a nicely placed free kick by Maddie Woodard. Hayley Hall scored the fourth goal of the match with a great direct assist from Makayla Lindon. Abbie Lynch and the defenders played a great second half keeping the Eagles off the scoreboard.
This Saturday we face Anna, another team that beat us last year (4-1). We didn't play them last year very well and we need to avenge another loss from last year. We beat Brookville in pre-season, who we lost to last year 5-0. We beat Eaton this year 4-0. Now we get our shot at Anna. All three of these teams are better than they were last year. Anna will play physical. The are pretty quick and strong and are very likely a top five team in D3 in the Miami Valley again. If we can beat a team like Anna this season, I really feel strongly that we should be considered a top 3 team in this area in D3. The best we've done in our history is 7th and I certainly know that we should be no worse than that this year. It's great to be an Arrow. Nice persistance, ladies. 80+.
At halftime, the coaching staff stressed the simple stuff - midfielders hold a ball a little longer, exploit the gaps which we saw in scouting, especially on the outside behind their midfielders, and shoot those direct passes through the middle when we countered and catch Eaton out of position. Most importantly, we needed to start stepping to all 50/50's.
The second half unfolded as I had hoped the whole game would have. We won most of the 50/50's. We started making a couple of passes once we won possession, and then we played directly toward goal. Sometimes this year it won't look like we play good soccer (and tonight I certainly think we did not play good, but good enough to win), but the scoreboard will show a very lopsided win. That's what tonight was. I thought we would be able to get behind a ball on defense and force a turnover. Once won, we counter hard and quick while the opposing defenders are out of position. I think Eaton's team is a solid team and will put together a pretty good season. They certainly are better this year than last and Preble Shawnee lost last years game 3-1. Tonight I think was a testament to the improvements every player on our team has made in the offseason and the incredible conditioning of our team. In the second half we changed some personel around and added a few fresh legs and they really made a difference. Namely, the game changed when the Lindon sisters took over at inside half and Mackenzie Steele and Stephanie Fogt picked it up at outside half. This quartet, offered better possession and fed our forwards the quick direct balls we were looking for in the first half.
In the first half, Maddie Woodard scored late to put the Arrows up 1-0 and I felt pretty fortunate to get out ahead after playing such a terrible first half. In the second half we played better all around - the defense, for the most part, kept Eaton in front of them, our midfielders relaxed a bit more and started linking a few passes together and our forwards really got busy and quick. Maddie Woodard scored her second goal of the match with an assist from Hayley Hall. Courtney Lakes won a restart after a nicely placed free kick by Maddie Woodard. Hayley Hall scored the fourth goal of the match with a great direct assist from Makayla Lindon. Abbie Lynch and the defenders played a great second half keeping the Eagles off the scoreboard.
This Saturday we face Anna, another team that beat us last year (4-1). We didn't play them last year very well and we need to avenge another loss from last year. We beat Brookville in pre-season, who we lost to last year 5-0. We beat Eaton this year 4-0. Now we get our shot at Anna. All three of these teams are better than they were last year. Anna will play physical. The are pretty quick and strong and are very likely a top five team in D3 in the Miami Valley again. If we can beat a team like Anna this season, I really feel strongly that we should be considered a top 3 team in this area in D3. The best we've done in our history is 7th and I certainly know that we should be no worse than that this year. It's great to be an Arrow. Nice persistance, ladies. 80+.
8/15, Miamisburg Scrimmage, 1-2 Loss
Miamisburg called us and we accepted a late scrimmage invitation. I was eager to take up this opportunity because I knew they would probably be one of, if not the best, team we would face on our schedule in regular season and likely up until sectionals (where we will run in to Madiera, Mariemont, SCDS, or Fenwick).
In the first 10 minutes of the first half, I'll admit, I was nervous about getting whooped up on because we immediately looked like we were nervous. I think our nerves settled a bit midway through the 1st half, but we played out the half too slow to get open off the ball and too timid to try and possess a ball one on one. We toe poked blind passes and we simply just rushed way too many opportunities. I think the reason this happened is because Miamisburg was the first team this year that ALWAYS seemed to be at our feet right away (something that we ourselves try to pride ourselves on). We weren't comfortable with this yet and it showed. The first half wasn't a complete waste, however. We had a few opportunities that we didn't capitalize on, but Miamisburg did have more. The only goal scored in the half was entirely a gift to Miamisburg from us. Our defender had one a ball, maintained possession, dribbled out of danger, and waited... and waited... and waited... for a Shawnee player to get open and NO ONE moved to do so. Eventually, a Viking took the ball off of our foot and they turned it into a quick counter goal.
At half, I stressed in 37 different ways the same point. Against a high pressure team like Miamisburg (and potentially a Madison or Waynesville or Milton), we must get open for a teammate BEFORE they have a ball, not after. We must (and pardon the cliche) be proactive not reactive. There is no doubt that we will be a very good team, but if we want to win league and our sectional and if we want to even consider competing with any of the annual state contenders in D3, we must think and act quicker. I truly believe that we have the physical abilities to do this, but our focus now should be to work on the mental approach. Think quicker, act quicker. Continue to play physically and with confidence.
In the second half the game was very even. Actually, I think, just like our first two scrimmages, we had more dangerous opportunities to score (but just a few more). We knotted the game up at one after a very nice cross from Hayley Hall that Sydney Steele eventually knocked into the net. Miamisburg ended up sneaking behind our defenders (first time all pre-season that's happened) with about 10 minutes to go and the game ended at 2-1.
Miamisburg beat Valley View 3-1. Miamisburg 'dominated' Waynesville 2-0 (and according to Coach Bobbitt, he couldn't recall Waynesville having a shot on goal (in what was only a ONE HOUR game) and he also said we should kick the 'crap' out of them). Miamisburg beat Lebanon last season 1-0, lost to Centerville 0-1, and finished #7 in D1 in the Miami Valley. I told someone prior to the game that if we walk away feeling we were as good as Miamisburg, I would have no problems voting us #2 in the preseason poll this year. I think I'll do that... =)
But, remember, do not be happy with today's results. Only be happy with today if at day's end you can honestly say that we are better now than when you woke up this morning. So far, so good.
In the first 10 minutes of the first half, I'll admit, I was nervous about getting whooped up on because we immediately looked like we were nervous. I think our nerves settled a bit midway through the 1st half, but we played out the half too slow to get open off the ball and too timid to try and possess a ball one on one. We toe poked blind passes and we simply just rushed way too many opportunities. I think the reason this happened is because Miamisburg was the first team this year that ALWAYS seemed to be at our feet right away (something that we ourselves try to pride ourselves on). We weren't comfortable with this yet and it showed. The first half wasn't a complete waste, however. We had a few opportunities that we didn't capitalize on, but Miamisburg did have more. The only goal scored in the half was entirely a gift to Miamisburg from us. Our defender had one a ball, maintained possession, dribbled out of danger, and waited... and waited... and waited... for a Shawnee player to get open and NO ONE moved to do so. Eventually, a Viking took the ball off of our foot and they turned it into a quick counter goal.
At half, I stressed in 37 different ways the same point. Against a high pressure team like Miamisburg (and potentially a Madison or Waynesville or Milton), we must get open for a teammate BEFORE they have a ball, not after. We must (and pardon the cliche) be proactive not reactive. There is no doubt that we will be a very good team, but if we want to win league and our sectional and if we want to even consider competing with any of the annual state contenders in D3, we must think and act quicker. I truly believe that we have the physical abilities to do this, but our focus now should be to work on the mental approach. Think quicker, act quicker. Continue to play physically and with confidence.
In the second half the game was very even. Actually, I think, just like our first two scrimmages, we had more dangerous opportunities to score (but just a few more). We knotted the game up at one after a very nice cross from Hayley Hall that Sydney Steele eventually knocked into the net. Miamisburg ended up sneaking behind our defenders (first time all pre-season that's happened) with about 10 minutes to go and the game ended at 2-1.
Miamisburg beat Valley View 3-1. Miamisburg 'dominated' Waynesville 2-0 (and according to Coach Bobbitt, he couldn't recall Waynesville having a shot on goal (in what was only a ONE HOUR game) and he also said we should kick the 'crap' out of them). Miamisburg beat Lebanon last season 1-0, lost to Centerville 0-1, and finished #7 in D1 in the Miami Valley. I told someone prior to the game that if we walk away feeling we were as good as Miamisburg, I would have no problems voting us #2 in the preseason poll this year. I think I'll do that... =)
But, remember, do not be happy with today's results. Only be happy with today if at day's end you can honestly say that we are better now than when you woke up this morning. So far, so good.
8/13, Dayton Christian Scrimmage, 5-1 Win
"Don't let your special character and values, the secret that you know and no one else does, the truth - don't let that get swallowed up by the
great chewing complacency." - Aesop
In other words, don't be satisfied. Don't read too much into another dominant win. It's a scrimmage. In October, it will mean nothing. It won't get us a banner. It won't win us league.
What I do want you to take from tonight is this: we should be good. We should play hard and with confidence and, if we do, we will win a lot of soccer games this year. There should be no shoulda-coulda-woulda's. No excuses. This year has been a long time coming. If we are okay with being good but not getting better, if we are okay with what we've done not we we are going to do, then we are setting ourselves up for failure. This year, failure is not an option. We stay focused, we work hard, we get better, and we win games. Period.
As far as the scrimmage goes, we played a better game than we did on Saturday. I think we even played a better game than we did in the second half of Brookville. Now, I think we are comparing apples and oranges when we consider Brookville versus Dayton Christian. Brookville was a better team all around. There is no doubt when looking at the two games. However, Dayton Christian is not a bad team. They will play the good teams on their schedule tough. Bottom line is that we dominated a team that will play respectably against a pretty tough schedule.
As malicious as this may sound, the most impressive thing that we did tonight was reflected by Dayton Christian. As spirited and hard working as they were last year in the tournament, we played them in a manner tonight that completely sucked the life out of them. After 15 minutes of soccer, Dayton Christian knew they were playing a better team. They stopped going to the ball almost entirely when we established our dominance on 50/50's. They started kicking instead of passing. These are the kinds of things that teams do when they aren't as good as the team they are playing. The best part is this: once we establiished that we were better, WE DIDN"T STOP PROVING IT. That, to me, means we have the killer attitude. We have the "I'm going to beat you... and then I'm going to beat you some more" mentality. If we can continue this complacent free, we will be a difficult team to beat.
Every player stepping on the field tonight really did play well today. There wasn't one of you who I could pick apart too bad. Of course there is room for improvement in some areas, like quicker field changes, better use of support passes, finishing (or at least putting our shots on frame), but overall, nothing was glaringly weak. Good defense, good shape, good pressure, good on 50/50s, good possession play, good direct transition play... but, do not be complacent - not even for one second.
We have what will probably be our toughest test in the pre-season Wednesday against Miamisburg. This should be an excellent chance to prove our worth a little more. More on this later.
Scoring for the arrows tonight were Maddie Woodard (2), Hayley Hall, Stephanie Fogt, and Meagan Lindon. 80+ Arrows!
great chewing complacency." - Aesop
In other words, don't be satisfied. Don't read too much into another dominant win. It's a scrimmage. In October, it will mean nothing. It won't get us a banner. It won't win us league.
What I do want you to take from tonight is this: we should be good. We should play hard and with confidence and, if we do, we will win a lot of soccer games this year. There should be no shoulda-coulda-woulda's. No excuses. This year has been a long time coming. If we are okay with being good but not getting better, if we are okay with what we've done not we we are going to do, then we are setting ourselves up for failure. This year, failure is not an option. We stay focused, we work hard, we get better, and we win games. Period.
As far as the scrimmage goes, we played a better game than we did on Saturday. I think we even played a better game than we did in the second half of Brookville. Now, I think we are comparing apples and oranges when we consider Brookville versus Dayton Christian. Brookville was a better team all around. There is no doubt when looking at the two games. However, Dayton Christian is not a bad team. They will play the good teams on their schedule tough. Bottom line is that we dominated a team that will play respectably against a pretty tough schedule.
As malicious as this may sound, the most impressive thing that we did tonight was reflected by Dayton Christian. As spirited and hard working as they were last year in the tournament, we played them in a manner tonight that completely sucked the life out of them. After 15 minutes of soccer, Dayton Christian knew they were playing a better team. They stopped going to the ball almost entirely when we established our dominance on 50/50's. They started kicking instead of passing. These are the kinds of things that teams do when they aren't as good as the team they are playing. The best part is this: once we establiished that we were better, WE DIDN"T STOP PROVING IT. That, to me, means we have the killer attitude. We have the "I'm going to beat you... and then I'm going to beat you some more" mentality. If we can continue this complacent free, we will be a difficult team to beat.
Every player stepping on the field tonight really did play well today. There wasn't one of you who I could pick apart too bad. Of course there is room for improvement in some areas, like quicker field changes, better use of support passes, finishing (or at least putting our shots on frame), but overall, nothing was glaringly weak. Good defense, good shape, good pressure, good on 50/50s, good possession play, good direct transition play... but, do not be complacent - not even for one second.
We have what will probably be our toughest test in the pre-season Wednesday against Miamisburg. This should be an excellent chance to prove our worth a little more. More on this later.
Scoring for the arrows tonight were Maddie Woodard (2), Hayley Hall, Stephanie Fogt, and Meagan Lindon. 80+ Arrows!
8/11, Brookville Scrimmage, 2-0 Win
I knew Brookville would be a pretty tough, comparable team headed into the scrimmage and I really wanted to coach this game to see how different mixes of players would do together and to try and establish a finalized roster and substitution rotations. Winning the scrimmage was 3rd on my 'to accomplish list' following the roster completion and getting out uninjured.
Enjoyably, we accomplished all three things. First, the roster is starting to take shape. Stephanie Fogt played well and certainly showed that she should be in the starting eleven. Sam Began did what she was supposed to do as well and shut down almost all attempts toward her side (although they were few). Hayley Hall, an intended to be outside half, threw the only curveball, proving she is very valuable up top as she started in place of our potential leading goal scorer (Cassie Crawford) who, at least got to play a few minutes. All subs coming off the bench also showed their worth, especially Sydney Steele and Meagan Lindon, playing like varsity players. Hannah Hurd and Paige Raney also showed much improvement from last year.
Second, we all got out without injury in what ended up being, surprisingly, a fairly physical scrimmage.
As far as the scrimmage went, we got away with a pretty ugly first half of soccer. Within the first few moments, Brookville was awarded a PK, which they missed high, and had a couple of pretty dangerous opportunities. All in all, however, even though Brookville probably outshot us, few of their shots were dangerous. Comparatively, we had fewer shots, but our attempts were much more dangerous. I think this is going to be our M.O. for the season - play good defense by staying behind the ball and allow low percentage shots that most likely won't cause us problems and when the other team errs, we counter with direct, dangerous play or possess and pick our opportunities apart through possessive play.
In the second half, we played so much better. Our shape on defense was spectacular and we won almost every 50/50 ball. We continued our direct play and secondary possession. Maddie Woodard scored both goals for Shawnee in the second half and looks to be in line for a great offensive season.
Outstanding performance were turned in by Jordan Lovely and Cheyanne Edwards who both played what to date is the best I have seen them play. Maddie Woodard and Sidney Brown worked tirelessly and created many opportunities for our offense. Mackenzie Steele also played very well and has begun, thankfully, pushing forward at the right times aggressively. Abbie also played well in goal reading her 18 well and making one or two nice saves along with several generic ones. Overall, I think this is a good start. Brookville is a team with 9 returning seniors, a 2011 record of 9-6-3 against some very good teams, and a 2011 tourney loss to a very strong Springfield Catholic team. Brookville would certainly compete for the top spot in our league and we beat them 2-0 without playing our best soccer. Things look good, but we must maintain our focus and pursue our goals.
Enjoyably, we accomplished all three things. First, the roster is starting to take shape. Stephanie Fogt played well and certainly showed that she should be in the starting eleven. Sam Began did what she was supposed to do as well and shut down almost all attempts toward her side (although they were few). Hayley Hall, an intended to be outside half, threw the only curveball, proving she is very valuable up top as she started in place of our potential leading goal scorer (Cassie Crawford) who, at least got to play a few minutes. All subs coming off the bench also showed their worth, especially Sydney Steele and Meagan Lindon, playing like varsity players. Hannah Hurd and Paige Raney also showed much improvement from last year.
Second, we all got out without injury in what ended up being, surprisingly, a fairly physical scrimmage.
As far as the scrimmage went, we got away with a pretty ugly first half of soccer. Within the first few moments, Brookville was awarded a PK, which they missed high, and had a couple of pretty dangerous opportunities. All in all, however, even though Brookville probably outshot us, few of their shots were dangerous. Comparatively, we had fewer shots, but our attempts were much more dangerous. I think this is going to be our M.O. for the season - play good defense by staying behind the ball and allow low percentage shots that most likely won't cause us problems and when the other team errs, we counter with direct, dangerous play or possess and pick our opportunities apart through possessive play.
In the second half, we played so much better. Our shape on defense was spectacular and we won almost every 50/50 ball. We continued our direct play and secondary possession. Maddie Woodard scored both goals for Shawnee in the second half and looks to be in line for a great offensive season.
Outstanding performance were turned in by Jordan Lovely and Cheyanne Edwards who both played what to date is the best I have seen them play. Maddie Woodard and Sidney Brown worked tirelessly and created many opportunities for our offense. Mackenzie Steele also played very well and has begun, thankfully, pushing forward at the right times aggressively. Abbie also played well in goal reading her 18 well and making one or two nice saves along with several generic ones. Overall, I think this is a good start. Brookville is a team with 9 returning seniors, a 2011 record of 9-6-3 against some very good teams, and a 2011 tourney loss to a very strong Springfield Catholic team. Brookville would certainly compete for the top spot in our league and we beat them 2-0 without playing our best soccer. Things look good, but we must maintain our focus and pursue our goals.
Valerie Cute Super Scrimmage (please see 'A Cookie and a Crumble' below)
I went in to this weekend with the hope of seeing different combinations of players working together. The intent was simply to figure out who plays together best, who is suited for varisty soccer, and what our weaknesses were.
Versus Tecumseh, the first ten minutes were beautiful. It was exactly what we worked on at camp the previous week. Good quick ball movement, changing the point of attack, and being aggressive. We quickly jumped out to a two goal lead. The rest of the game was a different story, however. We really didn't look very good. Our traps were poor, our passes were not accurate, and we went into "pitter-pat" mode instead of being aggressive. After the game, I felt like Tecumseh was a team we could have easily buried 6, 7-0, but we got away with a 3-2 win despite only allowing a couple of shots. We could make excuses for our poor play like it was our first time on turf this year or our first time in "live" game mode or that it was 95 degrees out... but I like to think of this attempt as a positive. We will experience all of those things starting 8/20 versus Eaton and we did not get a chance to do that last year. This will only help us get better for when it counts. Scoring for the arrows were Maddie Woodard, Sidney Brown, and Courtney Lakes.
Versus Stebbins, we played much better. I anticipated Stebbins not being very good, or in the least not being as good as Tecumseh, but the opposite was actually true. They moved well and were aggressive. However, they lacked some speed, especially up top, and could never really get any offense going. I don't think we even allowed a shot on goal. The only danger was a through ball that Lauren came out and handled at the edge of the box. We had well over 20 shots ON GOAL, but kudos to their keeper for one heck of a game. She came up with five or six saves that 95% of the keepers we will see would not have made. We did dominate ever facet of the game from our back four defenders to up top. We did a much better job with our passes and our traps in this game, but we still didn't get the field changed like we wanted. Mattie Shockey scored the lone goal of the match.
Versus Fairborn, we saw a totally different team than we did in the two previous games, both from Fairborn and from us. Our possession was much better, we went harder to a ball, and we started showing signs of better field changes. Fairborn had a couple of really explosive players (one was the left wing and the other was the big post up player in the middle). The previous teams we faced did not have anywhere near the athleticism as this group. This was a good challenge for us and fortunately we rose to the occassion. Fairborn's weakness was certainly across the back. We took advantage of this and extended our pressure all the way to their defensive players. We ended up winning the game 3-2. Scoring for the arrows were Hannah Hurd, Meagan Lindon, and Courtney Lakes. The game winner provided by Lakes (her second game winner of the tournament) was one of the prettiest goals I have ever seen here at Shawnee. Mackenzie Steele served in a nice corner that was flicked beautifully toward the back post by Maddie Woodard. Courtney Lakes came out of nowhere to send a laser beam header into the side netting. Somebody call ESPN. =)
Interesting notes: We scored 7 goals and 6 different players scored. We did not get goals from Hayley Hall, Makayla Lindon, Cassie Crawford or Mackenzie Steele (four of the best finishers on the team and four players I anticipate scoring a lot this year). This is NOT a knock on their play AT ALL but more of a compliment to the diversity of our team this season. All in all, there were three HUGE accomplishments in this super scrimmage. We got better each game. We started working out the rust early in the season. Most impressively, we went undefeated without the presence of a full group in any game (Sam and Cheyanne could only be there for a day each, Cassie, Martina, and Abbie were unavailable at all this weekend. There is no doubt in my mind that we will be ready on August 20th. Well done, girls.
By the way, next weekend will be a much stiffer test.
Game #1 - Clinton Massie - 13-2-2 last year, beat Waynesville EARLY in the year 5-2, losses to Little Miami (0-1, who beat Madison 1-0), and Ross (0-5, one of the better teams in DII in the state), tied Hillsboro (1-1, who was at VC and looked good but not unbeatable).
Game #2 - McNick (White) (I assume this is their #1 team) - only 13-7 last season, but they WILL be the toughest team of the three. Their big wins were against DII state champs Cinci Country Day (3-0), Badin (6-0), CJ (3-0), Bellbrook (2-0). Three of their losses were against Alter (twice) and Middletown Fenwick (3-5).
Game #3 - Clermont Northeastern - was 7-7-4 last season. Respectable, but I don't really know anything about who they play. The good thing is that they do not play the known powerhouses in the Miami Valley/Cincinnati area. Lost to DIII state champs 4-0 in tourney play.
Let's see what we do against the best of the best. All of these teams could make a legit run in the state tourney.
Versus Tecumseh, the first ten minutes were beautiful. It was exactly what we worked on at camp the previous week. Good quick ball movement, changing the point of attack, and being aggressive. We quickly jumped out to a two goal lead. The rest of the game was a different story, however. We really didn't look very good. Our traps were poor, our passes were not accurate, and we went into "pitter-pat" mode instead of being aggressive. After the game, I felt like Tecumseh was a team we could have easily buried 6, 7-0, but we got away with a 3-2 win despite only allowing a couple of shots. We could make excuses for our poor play like it was our first time on turf this year or our first time in "live" game mode or that it was 95 degrees out... but I like to think of this attempt as a positive. We will experience all of those things starting 8/20 versus Eaton and we did not get a chance to do that last year. This will only help us get better for when it counts. Scoring for the arrows were Maddie Woodard, Sidney Brown, and Courtney Lakes.
Versus Stebbins, we played much better. I anticipated Stebbins not being very good, or in the least not being as good as Tecumseh, but the opposite was actually true. They moved well and were aggressive. However, they lacked some speed, especially up top, and could never really get any offense going. I don't think we even allowed a shot on goal. The only danger was a through ball that Lauren came out and handled at the edge of the box. We had well over 20 shots ON GOAL, but kudos to their keeper for one heck of a game. She came up with five or six saves that 95% of the keepers we will see would not have made. We did dominate ever facet of the game from our back four defenders to up top. We did a much better job with our passes and our traps in this game, but we still didn't get the field changed like we wanted. Mattie Shockey scored the lone goal of the match.
Versus Fairborn, we saw a totally different team than we did in the two previous games, both from Fairborn and from us. Our possession was much better, we went harder to a ball, and we started showing signs of better field changes. Fairborn had a couple of really explosive players (one was the left wing and the other was the big post up player in the middle). The previous teams we faced did not have anywhere near the athleticism as this group. This was a good challenge for us and fortunately we rose to the occassion. Fairborn's weakness was certainly across the back. We took advantage of this and extended our pressure all the way to their defensive players. We ended up winning the game 3-2. Scoring for the arrows were Hannah Hurd, Meagan Lindon, and Courtney Lakes. The game winner provided by Lakes (her second game winner of the tournament) was one of the prettiest goals I have ever seen here at Shawnee. Mackenzie Steele served in a nice corner that was flicked beautifully toward the back post by Maddie Woodard. Courtney Lakes came out of nowhere to send a laser beam header into the side netting. Somebody call ESPN. =)
Interesting notes: We scored 7 goals and 6 different players scored. We did not get goals from Hayley Hall, Makayla Lindon, Cassie Crawford or Mackenzie Steele (four of the best finishers on the team and four players I anticipate scoring a lot this year). This is NOT a knock on their play AT ALL but more of a compliment to the diversity of our team this season. All in all, there were three HUGE accomplishments in this super scrimmage. We got better each game. We started working out the rust early in the season. Most impressively, we went undefeated without the presence of a full group in any game (Sam and Cheyanne could only be there for a day each, Cassie, Martina, and Abbie were unavailable at all this weekend. There is no doubt in my mind that we will be ready on August 20th. Well done, girls.
By the way, next weekend will be a much stiffer test.
Game #1 - Clinton Massie - 13-2-2 last year, beat Waynesville EARLY in the year 5-2, losses to Little Miami (0-1, who beat Madison 1-0), and Ross (0-5, one of the better teams in DII in the state), tied Hillsboro (1-1, who was at VC and looked good but not unbeatable).
Game #2 - McNick (White) (I assume this is their #1 team) - only 13-7 last season, but they WILL be the toughest team of the three. Their big wins were against DII state champs Cinci Country Day (3-0), Badin (6-0), CJ (3-0), Bellbrook (2-0). Three of their losses were against Alter (twice) and Middletown Fenwick (3-5).
Game #3 - Clermont Northeastern - was 7-7-4 last season. Respectable, but I don't really know anything about who they play. The good thing is that they do not play the known powerhouses in the Miami Valley/Cincinnati area. Lost to DIII state champs 4-0 in tourney play.
Let's see what we do against the best of the best. All of these teams could make a legit run in the state tourney.
A Cookie and a Crumble
Sam - Close space down faster. Excellent 2nd game on Saturday - that's the Sam we know and love!
Sidney B - Trust your team and help Mack more in the middle, be CAREFUL and play cleanly - always. Excellent effort - I never doubted your heart - and good movement on offense without the ball.
Cassie - Thanks for being there! Can't wait to get you back on the pitch!
Cheyanne - a little winded but under the circumstance very forgiveable. Much improved possession out of the back!
Steph - Quicker step ups out of the back especially when opponents only attack with two forwards. Unfortunately I didn't get to see you enough at midfield but I think you played very well when there (and this is where I intend you to be most of the season).
Hayley - Don't get caught out of place in transition both offensively and defensively. Great stuff on the ball (good passing and ball handling).
Courtney - Don't be afraid to push forward offensive at proper times because you will be both a threat defensively and offensively. On the other side of that crumble is what I thought was most impressive this short season so far - great job (compared to last year) of getting involved offensively!
Makayla - Don't allow yourself to get winded. When you are moving at all times, you are irreplaceable on offense - you can be the best player on the field (just play like it =)
Jordan - On the outside, push up quicker in square for the inside mids - you are better than I think you think you are (make sense??) on offense; you are very good at passing and we could use that big time this year. Big cookie here: you are pretty much mistake free tactically - keep playing smart.
Abbie - Thanks for being there! Can't wait to get you back in there controlling that 18.
Mackenzie - Don't be afraid to be big and hold a ball a little longer to make sure your passes keep our possession - use your strength to your advantage (if you can, you will be the best inside mid I've ever had). Excellent wind - I feel like you are already in shape - just like a midfielder should be. Ooooh, you get two cookies - I like you pushing forward like you were at times, just make sure we keep our balance in the middle.
Maddie - A few times, I would like to see you checking back a little more to our midfielders instead of running away. Also, and I know this is tough, but make that tough decision about firing away on spot or attacking forward with the dribble a touch or two before shooting. You also seemed well conditioned and your shots are loaded with power this year (I expect lots of danger from you this year, hence the change to forward this year!)
Hannah - Be less tentative. I thought you were timid, especially in that first game. I love it now that you are taking more than one touch - you can be very good once you get comfortable holding that ball a little longer.
Paige - Be not afraid to just play a ball out wide (even out of bounds) under danger - this will allow us to reset our defense and get behind the ball. I was very impressed with your play on Saturday - good touches, you looked comfortable passing, and you were rarely out of position.
Mattie - same crumble as last year - get aggressive (be more wide in the base). I rarely see you out of position - right place, right time on both offense and defense - continue to play smart.
Sydney S - take a glance and know when you can take more than one touch - play like you do at open fields (comfortable and confident). Excellent conditioning it appears and when you did settle a ball you were an excellent passer this weekend (also much better spacing after the 2nd Fairborn goal!) Did you just get three cookies?? =)
Megan D - Contain, contain, contain!! =) Good spacing defensively. I don't see you out of position very often (if you contain AND position yourself well you will be very useful).
Allison - unfortunately not enough touches Saturday (could partially be your timidness) - be more demanding (I don't care if you are a freshman!). You had one series with the ball that we were very impressed with - a couple defenders beat on the dribble and a pass followed by a few defenders beat on the dribble and a shot.
Meagan L - A little panicky in Saturday. Relax with a ball and make good passes. On Sunday against a way better team, you played much better - better passes, more aggressive, more intent. Well done. And congrats on the goal, rookie.
Lauren - Demand the box (especially the 6) more. This belongs to you. Very good coming directly out. You came up with some nice stops. Thanks.
Alyssa - You aren't quite comfortable yet, but I can overlook that for now. Get comfortable and I love that you ask questions (keep learning and you will be fine!).
Sidney B - Trust your team and help Mack more in the middle, be CAREFUL and play cleanly - always. Excellent effort - I never doubted your heart - and good movement on offense without the ball.
Cassie - Thanks for being there! Can't wait to get you back on the pitch!
Cheyanne - a little winded but under the circumstance very forgiveable. Much improved possession out of the back!
Steph - Quicker step ups out of the back especially when opponents only attack with two forwards. Unfortunately I didn't get to see you enough at midfield but I think you played very well when there (and this is where I intend you to be most of the season).
Hayley - Don't get caught out of place in transition both offensively and defensively. Great stuff on the ball (good passing and ball handling).
Courtney - Don't be afraid to push forward offensive at proper times because you will be both a threat defensively and offensively. On the other side of that crumble is what I thought was most impressive this short season so far - great job (compared to last year) of getting involved offensively!
Makayla - Don't allow yourself to get winded. When you are moving at all times, you are irreplaceable on offense - you can be the best player on the field (just play like it =)
Jordan - On the outside, push up quicker in square for the inside mids - you are better than I think you think you are (make sense??) on offense; you are very good at passing and we could use that big time this year. Big cookie here: you are pretty much mistake free tactically - keep playing smart.
Abbie - Thanks for being there! Can't wait to get you back in there controlling that 18.
Mackenzie - Don't be afraid to be big and hold a ball a little longer to make sure your passes keep our possession - use your strength to your advantage (if you can, you will be the best inside mid I've ever had). Excellent wind - I feel like you are already in shape - just like a midfielder should be. Ooooh, you get two cookies - I like you pushing forward like you were at times, just make sure we keep our balance in the middle.
Maddie - A few times, I would like to see you checking back a little more to our midfielders instead of running away. Also, and I know this is tough, but make that tough decision about firing away on spot or attacking forward with the dribble a touch or two before shooting. You also seemed well conditioned and your shots are loaded with power this year (I expect lots of danger from you this year, hence the change to forward this year!)
Hannah - Be less tentative. I thought you were timid, especially in that first game. I love it now that you are taking more than one touch - you can be very good once you get comfortable holding that ball a little longer.
Paige - Be not afraid to just play a ball out wide (even out of bounds) under danger - this will allow us to reset our defense and get behind the ball. I was very impressed with your play on Saturday - good touches, you looked comfortable passing, and you were rarely out of position.
Mattie - same crumble as last year - get aggressive (be more wide in the base). I rarely see you out of position - right place, right time on both offense and defense - continue to play smart.
Sydney S - take a glance and know when you can take more than one touch - play like you do at open fields (comfortable and confident). Excellent conditioning it appears and when you did settle a ball you were an excellent passer this weekend (also much better spacing after the 2nd Fairborn goal!) Did you just get three cookies?? =)
Megan D - Contain, contain, contain!! =) Good spacing defensively. I don't see you out of position very often (if you contain AND position yourself well you will be very useful).
Allison - unfortunately not enough touches Saturday (could partially be your timidness) - be more demanding (I don't care if you are a freshman!). You had one series with the ball that we were very impressed with - a couple defenders beat on the dribble and a pass followed by a few defenders beat on the dribble and a shot.
Meagan L - A little panicky in Saturday. Relax with a ball and make good passes. On Sunday against a way better team, you played much better - better passes, more aggressive, more intent. Well done. And congrats on the goal, rookie.
Lauren - Demand the box (especially the 6) more. This belongs to you. Very good coming directly out. You came up with some nice stops. Thanks.
Alyssa - You aren't quite comfortable yet, but I can overlook that for now. Get comfortable and I love that you ask questions (keep learning and you will be fine!).