Game Stats

 

Blaze - Spring 2004 Soccer

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Game 1 We were missing Marcus, Stanford and Tommy very much today. Only one sub.  The wind was a big factor.  The team did a good job maintaining possession against the wind in the first half.  We let 3 quick-strike goals get past our defense though.  Their strikers showed a lot of speed on the final attack.  Josh played goalie in the second half and demonstrated several times how to come out of the box and challenge on a fast-break. He clearly saved at least three goals this way. We showed patience in the second half. Good job working the ball up through mid-field. Tougher time finishing.  Should be a fun rematch!

Game 2  We completely controlled this game. It was fun to see so many kids get involved on both offense and defense. Congratulations to Robert for getting his first goal. Things we can improve on would be 5 offside calls.  The game plan in the first half was to get the ball to Tommy to set up a pass and the boys did very well following that plan. It seemed like there was almost constant pressure on their goal, but this was set up by excellent ball control and passing at midfield.
After getting burned on fast breaks in the first game, we told the defensive line to be very conservative. I think we have focused too much on always trying to draw the offsides in the past year.  The backs have really improved on "holding the line", but it has probably made us too vulnerable to fast breaks. Jordan is showing great leadership in the backfield.
We tried a "rover" position again today (invented for Tyler).  This is not a real position, but the intent is to allow one person to run like heck and be creative.  It worked OK at times.  We may continue to try this.  It leaves one person at defender. This person is basically a pressure defender  who immediately attacks the ball as it crosses midline.  This is a position we need to work on.

Game 3  Gretna led 1-0 at the half.  I challenged the boys to get two goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half.  They did it in 13.  This was a great comeback. I think it will buoy their confidence for the rest of the season.  Several boys demonstrated some great deep-field crosses into the box. Spenser had at least four beautiful crosses that all could have resulted in goals.  Jason and Alex Perry's crosses did result in goals. Stanford also had two nice crosses from left field. We have been working on this in practice and the more boys that can pull it off in game situations, the more scoring opportunities we will create for the entire team.
The defense was again told to be conservative.  The weak side defender immediately pulls back when the attack starts instead of slowly drifiting back with the line.  There were only two defensive breakdowns the entire game. One resulted in a score, but it was mostly just a great individual effort by one person.  The other situation was simply not having enough players in front of the box to cover.  As a coach, it is great to see how seriously our defenders take their role.  Jordan, Robert, Alex E and Woody are doing a great job in their respective specialties.

Game 5  vs CB   (this is shaping up to be our game of the season)
This did turn out to be a great one.  We got ahead 2-0 at the half against the wind, then controlled the rest of the game.  We held Council Bluffs to really only 2 or 3 serious attempts at goal.  Special recognition went to Alex Estes at the half and the end for his great display as THE SHADOW. #11 on the other team proved to be a fast-break threat in our first game.  So we really worked on playing conservative defense with strong cover tactics in the back.  Alex was asked to shadow #11 and take away any opportunity to even receive the ball.  He responded great and took it very seriously.  This really pumped up the coaches and the energy spread on field, too.  Alex Ritter took over as shadow for the last 15 minutes and also shut down #11. Alex Ritter is really starting to show his speed!
Again, we did a good job of passing and controlling the tempo of the game. The team is doing better at moving as a unit. 
The attacks are vastly improved. The kids have really got the idea of moving the ball to the corner and crossing into the box.  We have scored 21 goals in 3 games.  The boys had 14 goals in 7 games last season!  Josh had a great goal in the second period that reminded me of Josh as a first grader--bulling his way through the defense beating 5 or 6 guys and scoring at point blank range.
Jason and Stanford helped out by playing both Forward and Back at various times.  Tommy continues to be catalyst for lots of good things with his presence in the center. Jordan has taken on the role of backfield captain.  We encourage the goalies and center backs to be aware of their teammates and be very vocal because of their vantage point.
Everyone continues to improve and its very fun to see.

Game 6  vs Gretna  Hot day!  Instant replay of the last Gretna game... They led at the half.  We had 13 shots at goal, but most of them were right in the goalie's hands. Pretty good control of the ball throughout the game, but Gretna really hustled today and won a lot of one-on-one battles.  Great hustle today from several players today.  Alex Ritter and Aaron were very active around the ball. Aaron has gotten very good and making space for himself when he has the ball. Spenser continues to find lots of opportunities for himself and for others. Stanford came on from goalie and showed a lot of energy in the second half.  We just couldn't quite capitalize on all the looks in the box.  It was nice to have Johanathon back after missing a few games. All in all, a fun game of soccer.

Game 7  vs Ralston

Game 4  (moved) vs Ralston

Coach Swanson in deep thought vs Ralston
United
13 - 0
game 2
 vs CB
Lions
0 - 5
game 1
 vs Gretna
Dragons
3 - 1
game 3
 vs CB
Lions
5 - 0
game 4
 vs Gretna
Dragons
1 - 3
game 5
 vs Ralston
United
vs Ralston
United
Aaron Adams AssistShot
    Cross to the box  
Alex Estes
 Assist

 SHADOW!


Tyler Hunt  GoalGoal
Cross to the box Shot  X
 
Marcus Leichner Cross to the box X ShotShot Cross to the box

 
Jason Martz Goal
 Assist  Cross to the box Cross to the box  
Spenser Miller GoalGoalShotShot Shot GoalCross to the boxCross to the boxCross to the boxCross to the boxShotShot AssistCross to the boxCross to the box Cross to the boxCross to the boxCross to the boxCross to the boxAssistShotShotShotShotShotShot  
Josh Noble GoalShot SaveSaveSave  ShotShot  GoalGoal Cross to the boxShotShot  
Johnathon Osborn ShotShot
 X    X
 
Alex Perry
 GoalGoal
AssistShot    X GoalShotShot

Woody Rittenberger  X

 Goal Cross to the box  
Alex Ritter Shot

 Cross to the box
 
Robert Severson GoalShotShotShot Shot
 
 
Jordan Shurtleff 


 
 
Connor Swanson GoalShotShotSave SaveSaveShot SaveShotShot  GoalGoalSaveCross to the box SaveSaveCross to the box  
Stanford Swanson GoalGoalAssist X SaveSaveCross to the boxCross to the boxShotShot Cross to the boxSaveSaveSave SaveSaveSaveSaveCross to the boxCross to the boxShotShotShot  
Tommy Widdershoven
X
 GoalGoalCross to the boxShotShot Cross to the box Cross to the boxShot

Image Meaning Coach Swanson's Value
Assist ASSIST! 4 points
Goal Goal 2 points
Shot Shot at goal 1 point
Cross to the box Cross to the box
 1 point
Save Goalie save 2 points