Summer league update

Get ready to play!

We are pleased to announce that summer league is a go. We didn't have the people to field our own team after all. So Goleros and Tsunami, two similarly minded teams, are merging. I think it's going to work out great. Many of the usual suspects are returning. You got your Alyssa's, your Ally's, your Adrian's, and other troublemakers.

Details will follow. Games will start July 11th. The cost will be quite reasonable - probably $50 or less per person. Once we have to submit dues, we'll let you know.

Holiday week - no game

This weekend is for remembering friends and family. No games! Our next and last regular season game is June 6th at 1:15 p.m. at Ridge.

Everywhere man

We picked up a 4-1 win versus DC Divided yesterday thanks to strong defense that had plenty of space to feed the offense. Mike, who played mainly at sweeper, made a huge impact on the game. He was involved in every score: three assists and the winning goal for a total of 5 points in a single game. It's the assists that count the most.

I bet Denise is impressed and will keep him around at least another week.

We accomplished a lot in the game. We cleared the relegation zone for good, secured a playoff spot in a six-team format, moved into third place, and gave ourselves a chance at a winning season. How can you not be satisfied with that?

But let's not get too excited. DC Divided was undermanned and made the most of few opportunities. DCD's goal was the most tactical and skillful play of the game - a speedy counter with a smooth finish. It was fun all around though, congratulations to our opponents.

What was the coolest play? That's easy. Tracy decided to go up for one of Alec's punts. She did a 120 degree twist in the air and absorbed the ball off the body, bringing it down to feet. Also, I don't recall a single turnover by Chip the whole game. In the midfield, that's something.

Feel free to add any comments!

Notes: 4-1 win versus DC Divided, 5/23/2010, Dunbar HS. Nate (Mike), Mike (Chip), Ermy (Mike), Chris (Mike). GKs: Alec, Pete.

Details of Tailgate

The league is hosting a DCU/ AC Milan tailgate. Here are the details:



This is the final email I am sending regarding the tailgate. Thanks to everyone for helping me put this event together. Details as follows:

Where we will be: close to the tunnel in lot 8. (probably about 50 yards from the tunnel)

What we will serve: Wednesday is taco night. Come construct your own chicken tacos. Served with sides of lettuce, black olives, cheese, salsa, freshly made guacamole, and peppers. Also we will have refried beans as a vegetarian option.

What else we will serve: Noodles, rice, fruit salad (mango, oranges, apples, blueberries and strawberries)

Dessert: Whatever looks tasty enough at Costco when I go tonight

Drink: We will have a keg of the good stuff, and when I mean good stuff, I mean reminscent of the old college days. There will also be soda and a decent supply of bottled water.

Recycling: Absolutely. No waste here. Please recycle in the bin I will bring to the game.

What you should bring: Really nothing, but if I have left something off, feel free to bring it along.

What I look like: I want to use the word handsome, but a little stronger than that :)

http://www.allaroundeducator.com/Barcelona%20Picture%20Page.html

Last thing to know: All together, our efforts have sold just under 150 tickets. I asked for offical RSVPs and I only got about 50 responses so far. Presumably, more will attend the tailgate. I will try my best to plan accordingly, but if we should run out of food or drink, my sincerest apologies. I recommend bringing some money in case you need to purchase something from the stadium.

Game. Sunday. Be there.

Hey Guys!

 

Please RSVP for this Sunday's game: 5/23, 12:30 p.m. vs DC Divided at Dunbar HS in Northwest DC.

 

Thank you!

 

Ally & Peter

Standings: pedal to the metal

Last Sunday's win was a big one. We saved the season. Now, at 2-3 in games played (with a 3-3 overall record), we're right in the playoff hunt.

The message is simple: win and we're in. Lose, and we'll be potentially fighting to stay in Second Division in the last week. We don't want to be there. So keep the pedal to the metal.

Check out the standings going into our last two games:

CCSL>Second Division>
Rank	Team		W	L	T	GP	PTS	GF	GA	GD	GDA
1		Itchy & Scratchy	6	0	1	7	19	18	8	10	1.4
2		Little Urban Achievers	4	1	1	6	13	13	6	7	1.2
3		Taz Devils	3	2	2	7	11	19	13	6	0.9
4		Tsunami Naranja	3	2	1	6	10	14	14	0	0.0
5		Goleros	3	3	0	6	9	17	14	3	0.5
6		DC Divided	2	4	0	6	6	12	16	-4	-0.7
6		DC Thunder	2	4	0	6	6	11	15	-4	-0.7
7		The Diplomats	1	3	2	6	5	11	15	-4	-0.7
8		Lost Tourists	1	3	2	6	5	7	14	-7	-1.2
9		Celtic	1	4	1	6	4	4	11	-7	-1.2

I had a little chat with the "Numbers Guys" about the standings. I am declassifying the conversation. Don't put any stock in talk of top and bottom teams though. It's just a characterization of the current standings in the table. Any team in the division is capable of beating another. Each game, as we know, must be played hard. Read and enjoy!

Goleros Soccer Club	Mon, May 17, 2010 at 9:49 AM
To: Nathan, George Cc: Allison
Nate/ George, Good and fun game yesterday. You're my numbers guys. Take a look at the standings and remaining schedule. I was hoping to handicap our playoff chances in a post later today or tomorrow. I also planned to announce that we were clear of relegation, with 9 points. But looking over the schedule, all the top teams appear to be playing all the bottom teams. So there isn't much opportunity for the bottom teams to take each other out. It appears then that we are not actually safe. If the bottom teams win out, could we be left at the bottom of the table in the relegation zone? http://theccsl.com PI

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George	Mon, May 17, 2010 at 10:12 AM
To: Goleros Soccer Club Cc: Nathan, Allison
Good thing is that we have DC Divided and DC Thunder below us and we need to play both of them.... We can max out at at 15 points, logically we could drop to relegation if we lose both games and the bottom teams win both games. One more win and we are SAFE from relegation.... or two ties - Magic Number is 11 points to guarentee a spot above the relegation zone (That is assuming the bottom two win out) Playoffs - One win puts us at 12 points, the teams in 6th (two of them, if they win their last two games gets to the 12 points), so it will come down to goal differential A win and a tie we are locked into a playoff spot, a win and we SHOULD be in based on GD, right now we are up by 7 goals... If you want to even talk crazier we could logically leag frog two second WITH A LOT OF HELP.... [Quoted text hidden]

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George	Mon, May 17, 2010 at 10:14 AM
To: Goleros Soccer Club Cc: Nathan, Allison
DC Thunder and DC Divided each play US and the Diplomats (team we played yesterday) to finish the season....... [Quoted text hidden]

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Nathan	Mon, May 17, 2010 at 11:24 AM
To: George Cc: Goleros Soccer Club, Allison
[Remember head-to-head is the first tie breaker then goal differential is the second tie breaker] Worst Case: Theoretically we could still place last: Celtic beats LUA and Taz Lost beats Tsunami and Itchy Dips beat Thunder and Divided And the last nail in the coffin would be Goleros loose to Thunder and Divided (giving Goleros, Thunder, and Divided 9 points and Goleros loosing out on head-to-head tie breaker]. This is highly unlikely since it relies on the two last place teams beating the top four teams. Best Case: Like Pete said, we could end up in 2nd place: Goleros wins both games LUA looses both or ties both remaining games (Celtic, and Tsunami) (If LUA ties both remaining, we would only take second place if we win both and if our goal diff is higher since we do not have a head-to-head with LUA). Taz's highest point total can only be 14 (their last game is vs. Celtic) Finally, for Goleros to take second we have to root for Tsunami to win or tie vs. LUA and loose or tie vs. Lost Tourists. This is actually a slight bit more likely than us ending in last place. The most likely scenario is that the bottom teams will stay bottom. The fight for our playoff spot in fifth or sixth place is going to be intense since we all play each other. We play Thunder and Divided and Dips play Thunder and Divided. So, correct me if I'm wrong, but because head-to-head is the first tie breaker - one win guarantees us a playoff spot in 6th place. Nathan

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George	Mon, May 17, 2010 at 11:28 AM
To: Nathan Cc: Goleros Soccer Club , Allison
That would be correct.... A win and we are in (or at least it appears that way) [Quoted text hidden]

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George	Mon, May 17, 2010 at 4:52 PM
To: Nathan Cc: Goleros Soccer Club , Allison
Even a TIE will essentially give us the 6th spot because whoever we tie could only max out at 10 points, so if we tie and lose we are at 10 and would get them at GD, unless they win and overcome the 7 GD... Just a thought [Quoted text hidden]

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Nathan	Mon, May 17, 2010 at 5:49 PM
To: George Cc: Goleros Soccer Club , Allison
sounds right to me

Save the Date!

The most anticipated soccer match ever for the US Men is happening at 2:30 EDT on June 12th. It's the U.S. vs England.

We're going to have a watch party.

While we work on the details, save the date!

Lots and lots of goals!

My friend from Scotland posted this video on my facebook page. Pretty interesting game. There are some amazing goals. The defending and goalkeeping is comical.

Sadly, we've actually played in games like this!

Victory at last!

Behold the famous classical statue, "Winged Victory." She's a symbol of elegance and triumph.

That captures the moment.

We ended a two-game slide and picked up a nice win yesterday versus the sportsmanlike Diplomats. Although we didn't play a complete game, our passing was sharp and we remained dangerous until the final minute. We never trailed (of course, Dips started the game with 8 or 9 players before fully staffing up). Props to Adrian for his sweet game-winning free kick from the 30'. Nearly a perfect take.

Last week, it was a different story. Despite a brilliant run for 20 minutes in the first half when we scored two goals, we were dismantled one piece at a time. We gave up an early goal when we were short players. Then, at half time, we began losing players to important off-the-field obligations. A red card forced our numbers down further. We finished with 9. Notably, we only gave up 1 goal with all 11 players on the field. But credit our opponents, Taz Devils, they kept up the pressure and played well. We had chances to earn at least a point but couldn't capitalize, both offensively and defensively.


Below are the game notes. Please fill in the blanks for me!


Notes: 5-3 win vs Diplomats on 5/16/10 at Ridge. Goals: Jon (forced own goal), Anna (Jon), Elyse (Pete), Adrian (free kick from 30'), Chris. GK: George.

Notes: 5-2 loss vs Taz Devils on 5/11/10 at Trinity. Goals: NK (NK), Chris (NK). GK: George. Discipline: Chris D.(red following a yellow, both cards for dissent).

Standings

We're well into the second half of the season. So it's time for standings. Take a look.

CCSL>Second Division>
Rank	Team		W	L	T	GP	PTS	GF	GA	GD	GDA
1		Itchy & Scratchy	5	0	1	6	16	15	6	9	1.5
2		Little Urban Achievers	4	1	1	6	13	13	6	7	1.2
3		Taz Devils	3	2	1	6	10	16	10	6	1.0
4		Tsunami Naranja	3	2	0	5	9	11	11	0	0.0
5		Goleros	2	3	0	5	6	12	11	1	0.2
6		DC Divided	2	3	0	5	6	12	15	-3	-0.6
6		DC Thunder	2	3	0	5	6	9	12	-3	-0.6
7		The Diplomats	1	2	2	5	5	8	10	-2	-0.4
8		Lost Tourists	1	3	2	6	5	7	14	-7	-1.2
9		Celtic	0	4	1	5	1	3	11	-8	-1.6

We're not looking that good. We're 1-3 in games played, with a 2-3 overall record due to forfeit points. We have three games to play. We must win 2 out of 3 to come out .500. That pretty much tracks our playoff trajectory as well. Two more wins should guarantee the chance to play in the post-season. Anything less is taking chances. And if we don't pick up at least one more win, relegation is a possibility.

Our work is cut out for us. Now let's do it! I know we can.