Region 3 Premier League - Louisanna

We just completed our final long road trip for our region league games. Thank you all for your support. Exposing the girls to the top notch competition in the region is really helping them improve their team game and individual game as well.



Game 1 a 1-0 loss to Mandeville

I think everyone has heard about this game. The girls really controlled this game from the beginning to the end. The score was tied 0-0 at the half but we had really taken it to them both tactically and physically. They were tired and the coach really let them have it about what he felt was a lack of effort. The second half picked right back up, but about 7 minutes into the half we had just a small mix up and found ourselves out numbered on a short break away and gave up a easy goal. For the next 28 minutes the girls gave a really good effort. Obviously out shooting them 27 or so to 4 we had alot of really good opportunities and we came so close a number of times. This was really a disappointing loss.



The girls did a great job of winning the 50-50 balls and finding the passing lanes. We worked the middle and the outside much better than we did vs. Mississippi.

I challenged the girls to see who could take their individual game to the next level. I asked them who could be a difference maker. Individually we played a much better game both mentally and physically.
Tactically we have been focusing on the tempo of our game and being able to time our runs better. I thought they really did a much better job of this.
The girls really played a very good game. I thought our forwards pressed much harder than they had in previous games and really played with some heart. Our center mids did a much better job of keeping their spacing between each other and were able to control the field alot better. They created well and took shots when they had to.
The outside mids had a strong showing. We are doing a better job of coming back and winning balls in the middle with our outside mids. Defensively we rotated formations quite a bit to keep the attack off balance and our defenders did a great job of this. They are doing a great job of recognizing formations and how to react to them.

Game 2 Lafreniere Sting 3-0 win
This team was a very quality team. They had great field presence, passed the ball well and knew how to play possession soccer.
Athletically they matched up fairly well with us, however, the girls played with a great deal of intensity. The girls really frustrated the other coach as we continually won a majority of the 50-50 balls as well as coming from behind to win balls.
I don't think we played as well tactically as we did the night before. When we did get pressed we forced a few passes that kept us from getting scoring opportunities. We did manage several legitimate chances to score. We actually had a shot off a corner that I really thought the goalie was all the way in the goal when she caught it but we didn't get the call. So I thought here we go again. Once we did get the first goal in we seemed to play a little more relaxed and then did a much better job of playing a controlled tempo game.


We switched formations quite a bit during this game and went with a single forward. Our forwards really had to work hard. A great example is when Paige pressed the goalie hard on a shot one of our mids took and as the goalie dropped the ball Paige was there to pick her pocket for our second goal.

As we took the 2-0 lead into the half we talked about not letting up and playing more of a possession type game. I went to a 1-4-4-1 formation to start the half. I felt going with a sweeper would make us less vulnerable to the through balls. The other coach did a pretty good job of adjusting to it and it actually pushed us further into our own third vs what I intended for it to do. They pushed us pretty hard for about 10 minutes. Although they did not get any real clean shots off we did get a questionable hand ball call on us just outside the 18. They had a great shot for their only goal of the game off of the penalty kick.

I then switched us back to a 4 flat in the back that forced their attackers higher up the field. I really think our middle defenders prefer playing this formation. Our outside defenders then stepped up and really took away the outside attack they were using to try and create opportunities.
Our center and outside mids did a great job of stepping up and winning the balls in the middle and put so much pressure on the other side they could not gain possession of the ball.
I think we out shot them in this game 21 or so to 3 or 4.

Overall a pretty solid weekend of play. The girls are really starting to recognize and apply the things we are working on. I've really thought when we have played to our ability and minimized the mistakes we have been right in every game we have played for the league.
The Capital City Cup should be challenging with the Hurricanes, LRFC and a solid 96 Thunder team and then we should have an extremely challenging weekend at the Hurricane Cup so some good soccer yet to come for the remaining part of the fall season.

Our goal has been to take our level of play to the next level, which is very tough to do, but the effort and desire are there and I think the girls are making great strides right now.

Let me know your thoughts on doing the premier league.
thanks
Doug