With the forfeit victory in Week 1 and the weather and holiday events in the following weeks, we didn’t play our first game in months until Sunday, September 11th. It wasn’t pretty. The upstart new team, FC Arlington, beat us 6-1 in a game that was reminiscent of our first match in this league years ago. We came in from the middle division in Montgomery County. We were young and rearing to go. We beat Far Post 6-0, leaving our opponents frustrated. That game is referred to in this old post.
Following a rainout in Week 2, we had the pieces in place in Week 3 - but they didn’t fit together well. We had new players, new formations, and rust, all of which was compounded when we started short-handed. Just as we were getting things under control, FC Arlington took advantage of some confusion and sent a long ball over the top, which bounced above Carlos and George, for a header into the net at speed.
We never recovered, stuggling the rest of the match. The defense was outmatched by their young and tall strikers – no one on FC Arlington looked above the age of 27 to me – who had better service than we had answers. One mismatch after another moved the scoreline from 2-0, to 3-0 and so on. We finally got on the board with Suzie’s layoff to Anna. But we yielded yet another goal late in the game.
It was sufficient motivation to return to form for Week 4. Even though we faced a Funkytown team that was shorthanded for much (but not all) of the match, and not very speedy, for the first time in a while we absolutely did what needed to be done. We made the broad range of plays that are necessary to win – we had defensive stuffs, long runs on the wing, possession, and counter attacks that resulted in shots and goals. No one will tell you that we were perfect, but that worked well. It was fun and it represented the proper integration of the various pieces of our arsenal. Pam and Maggie had good games. Nate and I earned the shutout in goal – we’ll have to teach George a little something. Chris D. was the engine that kept us motivated. De was back in a big way.
From my perspective, I want to point out a few plays that I rather enjoyed watching. First, early in the second half, when I received the ball as goalie, I was looking for an outlet. The off the ball running that we have been lacking came back to life. Kelly got wide and deep on my left wing to create options. Jon recognized the situation from midfield and came back to split Funkytown’s players. He gave me a great, direct outlet that spread the field and got the ball not just to safety but to a threatening point in our attack – quickly.
There were three other plays – little plays – that I remember. One involved Jon coming back for the ball again. But on this one, he received the ball then just made a simple and completely unnecessary back pass to Carlos. It reset the offense, allowed Carlos to distribute effectively from the middle of the field, and again allowed us to build a full field attack. We had people in front of the ball! It was an example of that trust, possession, and Barcelona style that we need to get back to. A similar play happened when Elyse and Nap made a series of 1-2 passes on the wing that just unraveled Funky’s defense. Lastly, I’ll note a play in which Griz saw an attack coming and stepped up quickly to the opponent from central defense. He forced a mistake and was able to reset the ball quickly. It took away space and created the underlying conditions for a nasty counter attack that resulted in the second goal.
So, we’ve got something to build on in the coming weeks. We're trending up.
Game notes:
6-1 loss to FC Arlington on 9/11/11 at Blair High School. Goal: Anna (Suzie). GK: George.
3-0 win versus Funkytown on 9/18/11 at Galludet U. Goals by Jon (Chris D.), Chris N. (Chris D, Maggie), Nate (Chris N. Elyse). GK: Nate (1st), Pete (2nd). Shutout. Discipline: Carlos (yellow, unsporting), Nate (yellow, unsporting).
