Dial Cup Summary

A very solid performance over the weekend. Two very different days of weather and two very different days of opponents. The weather was very nice on Saturday. A warm 71 but a bit windy. Sunday that weather turned to under 40 and with the wind being twice as nasty it made for a very uncomfortable day of soccer.



Game 1 5-0 win over Nixa Extreme

Game 2 8-1 win over 96 Comets

Game 3 2-0 win over TSC Red

Finals 5-1 win over Tulsa Nationals



I'm not going to go into game by game detail on this tournament.

Although we have played some more competitive teams over the year the teams in our division were ones that if we came out complacent or with our heads in the clouds we could have some very difficult games. So to put it very simply the main goal was to come in by position and (TCB) Take Care of Business.

To compound my concern as a coach we were very thin due to injuries. Paige was out for the entire weekend. AD, TW, Meagan & Kate all had nagging leg injuries that kept them from being 100%.

Overall the girls played very well. Each position and player took their game to the next level during this game. Great movement, the girls are starting to recognize situations and are moving two to three passes before they get the ball. They starting to understand when to pass to open space and when to pass to feet. When to find the open player and when to try and take the ball 1v1 or set up 2v2.
There were just so many next level things. We put our selves in good position in games early that in many cases we were able to use the games as high level practices. I put in many restrictions during games and in one I played with a player down to put more pressure on the girls.

We scored off set plays on corners and throw ins. I think we had two scores off headers as well. Defensively we played very strong. We gave up two goals all weekend out scoring our opponents through the 4 games 20-2. One goal we gave up was on a direct free kick and the other was just a mental break down. We played very aggressively I cant think of to many 50-50 balls that we did not win. Although we played with a great deal of pressure it was controlled.

Things we need to work on.
It wasn't until I put the restrictions on that the girls would pull the ball back to reset. They are getting better at doing this by being able to move and see 2 or three passes ahead. I want them to work at knowing that when a defense if packed in that its a good time to pull the ball out to stretch the defense and allow us to make another run.

The set plays are getting much better. We have quite a few different plays now. I want them to work on perfecting the set up and execution of the plays.

Short summary and not quite to the detail of the previous.
I would like to know your thoughts.

Doug