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).
good play by all yesterday!
ReplyDeleteGoleritos,
ReplyDeleteAlthough there was a lot of good to take from the Taz Devils game, I feel it wise to focus on/address our play yesterday. Ahem. Let me say that it has been a long time since I enjoyed playing soccer as much as I did yesterday. I had so much fun watching everyone contribute, outplay the other team, and positively affect the outcome of the game. It was truly a team effort, and even George played well enough to not warrant a derogatory comment (which is saying a lot if it comes from me.)
Although they scored a few times, I honestly felt that the defense played really well. Often, we pushed a lot of players ahead on offense and left them to fend for themselves, but they never let us down. They even recouped nicely after Allison's impromptu dance and prevented a goal while we were still a-flutter on the sidelines! The midfielders controlled the flow of the game, distributed well and stopped their offense before it got going. And, of course, the forwards gave the Diplomats' defense fits all game; that stopper will never go to Cantina Marina unless he wants to exacerbate the PTSD developed from all the offensive runs we executed yesterday.
I would be remiss to not credit Adrian for his impressive 2nd half; he really changed the complexion of the game with his professional ball control and, obviously, fantastic free kick. That was definitely the shot of the year but it doesn't fully encapsulate or truly reflect how well Adrian played throughout the game. And yes, his goal came when he subbed for me, so I should get some credit for being so gracious and clairvoyant. FYI, Peter.
Perhaps our opponents weren't as great as some of the other teams we have played, but I think we made them look that way due to our team effort. Their female players had a lot of skill, but I'd take our women any day of the week. Every week I think that if we men played as well as the women on our team, we would be undefeated. You ladies are our best asset, and it is easy to take you all for granted. Well, hopefully no longer. You consistently outplay both your male and female counterparts and, without your skill, we would still be languishing in the third division.
I hope everyone left the game feeling as good about their play and had as much fun as I did. I should temper this praise with some criticism, however. The one negative? We need to work on our pre-game cheer. It continues to be weak.
Hope to see everyone this upcoming Sunday,
Chris N.