Capital City Cup

Sorry it took to get this summary in.




This was a very mixed results tournament for us. Obviously we experienced some frustration as a team by struggling to put the ball in the goal. Through out all the matches we owned a majority of the shots on goal vs. our opponents but by not finishing we lost a game and made the rest much closer than what they needed to be.





LRFC 0-1 loss.


This game really set the tone for the whole tournament. The girls controlled the ball for close to 90% of this game. I think we had to have out shot them 20- to 2 or 3. The goal we gave up on the corner was a culmination of mistakes. We made a mistake on possession then failed to get back and attempt to win the ball which forced a corner. We then did a poor job of judging the ball and they had a player in the right place to head in the goal.

One thing I will be working on with the girls is resetting the ball when we have it pressed down in the attacking third. When the defense is packed in with numbers we cant keep forcing shots. We have to be able to pull the ball back to spread the defense to find an opening.



A very disappointing loss. The good thing is that LRFC asked me two days prior to the tournament to not have this game count towards any of our league games, which I agreed to. We have our rematch with LRFC on November 1st with out state league game here. Needless to say I will make sure we are more than geared up for this game.





2-1 win over Hurricanes


A very tough and physical game. The girls came out hot with a focus that in order to get back at LRFC we had to win all our games. We scored our first goal within about 2 minutes of the start of the game and the second shortly there after due to a penalty in the box. We had a number of chances in the first half to put 2 or 3 more goals in and just did not finish. The second half picked up right where the first left off. While we had a number of shots on goal I think we about 4 or 5 more legit opportunities that we should have capitalized on. The goal we gave up was due to a defensive break down and a really good shot on goal. I attempted to rotate our formation a number of times. We tend to struggle a little defensively when we drop to a 1-3-4-2 with a sweeper in the back. The girls do adjust back very well when we go back to a 4 or 5 flat in the back. We will keep working on this formation as we have to be able to run with a sweeper when we match up the top teams.





Thunder Black 96 1-1 tie


This was a tough little team. I had tried the 1-3-4-2 formation again and we just struggled with being able to rotate and mark with a sweeper in back. This team did a nice job with the one touch give n goes up through the middle and it exposed us for awhile. When we adjusted back to our 4 flat back we took control of the game again, but we struggled on finishing. We had a whole bunch of opportunities and we either made one too many passes or just fluffed the ball up for a shot. We did a better job of winning the ball in the middle during the second half of this game and I have to give the girls credit for never letting up.



One caution I want to put to the parent side line is staying positive with the girls. This complaint came from the girls. I realize we all are looking for a win and we all were getting frustrated by the lack of scoring execution on the field but fighting with the girls is not going to help. They also see the little gestures, etc. They cant get it from both sidelines and need some support from the parents side.



Parents should also expect the other team to push us and get shots on goal. As we continue to play higher level of play this is going to happen. I really would like to see more of it at times, we are a very good transition team and we have better scoring opportunities when teams push the ball in on us.



We also go a little luck by getting to play in the finals. The girls played some solid defense and only allowing 1 goal against some of these types of teams is pretty good.


2-1 win in the finals.

The finals really was a frustrating game to watch. The score could have easily been about 5 or 6 to 1. We have to finish. We did so many good things tactically and the small defensive break down was really pretty minor compared to the good things we did tactically. I wont dwell anymore on this.


My focus in practice these last two weeks has been on keeping possession, resetting the game, watching our defensive shape and position as well as keeping the intensity level high.



This weekend I want to level set everyone from an expectation standpoint. If we can minimize our mistakes and finish when our opportunities develop we will be fine. I dont anticipate us to have has many opportunities as we had this last tournament so when they do develop it will be imperative for us to capitalize on them.

Again sorry to take so long to get the blog up.