Game Day V Howard

The second game of the DC College Cup saw us playing at Noon in 90 degree heat and I was sweating just watching the game so I can only imagine how tough it must have been on the players.  We knew from the game Thursday that we had to respond and be more positive on the field so I was very pleased to see the way we started the game.

A superb start on how to pass the ball saw us earn a corner and our best chance early on fell to Alexandersson who meet the corner with a great header only to see the keeper pull off a magnificent save to keep the game at 0-0.  Despite our early pressure we we shocked to find ourselves 1-0 behind after a header from open play found the back of the net.  The key then was how do we respond?  Unlike the last game we came out and attacked again and showed the confidence and belief I asked for before the game.  After being frustrated time and again in our attacking build up the equalizer finally came through Captain Ranalli (2 goals in 3 games) who has thrived on the addition responsibility of team captain and lead by example throughout.  The half finished at 1-1 and I knew we were in for another tough game going into the second half as Howard showed a resilience that I was only to familiar with having not beaten them the past 2 years.

Second half with Howard a man down after a red card at the end of the first half proved to be a game of patience and frustration at times as we probed and moved the ball well but lacked that final pass, goal that would ease the pressure.  Step up Hinners who during practice had put more balls into the ravine at Mount Vernon than anyone else with his shooting but had shown against LIU that he was more than capable of striking a great ball.  Unlike Thursday when we had similar opportunities to shoot Hinners took his touch, looked up and what a laser beam (always wanted to say laser beam in describing a shot after hearing it many year ago) and it found the back of the net.  The dive from the keeper was only a token gesture as not even Tim Howard would have stopped it.  It was pleasing to see the way we continued to play the ball around but we definitely made it hard for ourselves at the end as we panicked to see the game out.

Bottom line, we got the win and in doing so bounced back from Thursdays game and gave ourselves some confidence going into next weekends road trip to the VMI tournament in Lexington VA.

For me it was a frustrating and very nervous game to coach.  Our pressure and possession didn't give us the goals we deserved and so kept it close until the very end.  That being said I was absolutely delighted with the final score and proud of how we came back from a goal down to win the game.

To the players:
Raise high and go colonials!!
Please let me relax by getting a win in the bag before the final minute or OT
Lets get after it this week and keep getting better and better each game
We didn't ALMOST do it second half, we DID IT!

Magic moment of the Day
Hinners Goal, need i say more!

Short Note today

A video session this morning followed by a re-gen session on the field which involved a team jog, good stretch with the bands and foam rollers and that was it for the day.  For me it was out to do some recruiting in the afternoon and finalize the game plan for tomorrow.  After being in the extreme heat for 2 hours watching a game I got home and my daughter Cerys greeted me with her coaching pose.  A new pose with folded arms and serious face, after seeing me doing just that, which made me laugh and also think how young kids pick up on everything.  I have to be careful of what I do on the sidelines now with a 2 year old mimicking me.

Anyways, for all you european soccer fans it was a busy day on the final day of the transfer market with American Clint Dempsey finally getting away from Fulham to move across London to Tottenham Hotspur.  I know alumni Andy Stadler currently playing in Sweden and a Spurs fan will be happy with that deal.  Overall the hyped up day was fun to follow with my Saints getting a big name star who I hope will still be playing in the Premier League next season.

As I try to call it a day and get some rest my mind wanders to the game tomorrow and what I need to do to get the players ready.  I love this game and the 24 hours it absorbs your mind but I have to put it on the back burner as I need some sleep to be ready for tomorrow and give my players my full attention.  Need a win tomorrow to bounce back and take that onto the road for next weekends games.

Hope to see some of you at the game tomorrow and Goodnight.

Game Day v George Mason

After being profiled in a nice article in the GW Hatchet newspaper (Colonial to Coach) I could have started to let my ego get carried away but if my feet were starting to leave the ground they certainly came crashing back to earth after only 23 minutes of our game today.  

Unfortunately after only 1min 30sec of play we had given the opposition a goal, did the same 15 minutes later and then made our task even harder on 22minutes as we conceded our third.  Not the perfect start we had been hoping for.  What do you do as a coach as the game plan was truly out the window??  Don't panic.  Despite the scoreline we had actually played some decent soccer so I still felt we could get something out of the game.  Its moments and games like this that you learn a lot about your players and your team.  Were we ready to cave in or stand up and raise our game?  

At half time I did contemplate taking the Sir Alex Ferguson approach and the infamous hair dryer team talk.  I ended up asking for something we seemed to lack in the first half BELIEF.  In these situations its tough to find and have belief in ones own ability let alone belief in the teams.  I wanted to see players doing things I knew they could do and have seen a thousand times, a GW team that plays with passion and works hard for each other, a belief we could get one goal, then two, then three.  Unfortunately the goals never came but the much improved second half performance certainly showed that we have some character within the team and the fight that we had showed the previous game in OT had returned.

Everyone was disappointed at the end but we can learn more in failure than we do from success.   We take what we can from this one and move onto the next 

Saturday September 1 Noon V Howard (at American in DC College Cup)

Magic Moment of the Day

Second Half Recovery/Performance

Back to Business

After having Monday off practice our new incoming players and I joined all the new incoming GW student athletes in a trip to the Mount Vernon Estate and the home of George Washington.  A brief intro from our Director of Athletics was followed by a rousing version of the GW Fight Song (which all our new student athletes should learn) and then onto the buses for the short trip.

After the tour of the home and education center we began some team building and leadership activities.  It was great to see athletes from all sports working together to achieve common goals and more importantly meeting new people outside of their own sports and part of our GW Athletics Family.  Thanks to the Red Team for making it fun, Karen Ercole and her staff for organizing the event, Alan Zebrak my fellow Red Team Leader and Patrick Nero for starting this great tradition last year and hopefully continuing it for years to come.

Today it was back to business.  With the morning rain clearing we finished our video session then took to the field to get working on some areas from the past game and continuing to increase our teams chemistry and cohesion on the field.  Irizarry made a brief cameo appearance on the field to even the numbers as Felix and I put them through their paces.  By the end of the session the sun was shining brightly and the players were all excited about going to class for the first time.

Tomorrow we will have some more fun videos for you to watch so keeping reading.

Upcoming Games
Thursday August 30th 2:30pm Kick Off v George Mason @ AU in the DC College Cup
Saturday September 1st Noon Kick Off v Howard @ AU in the DC College Cup

Magic Moment of the Day
Gallelli's chipped goal on Colonial of the Week Almodovar

Weekend Review

An interuption in my daily blog after spending 2 days in bed sick I thought i'd give a brief weekend update to keep you all up to speed on the latest goings on.

Well lets start on Friday and the opening game of the regular season.  Despite not sleeping well and waking at 5am in part to my beautiful kids who were obviously as nervous as I was the day would bring my first career win and a winning start to the season which we haven't done for many years. The build up to the game went well and 2 hours before kick off I had the realization that I needed to calm down and know that everything we had prepared for was in place and now it was a matter of letting the players go out on the field and do their best. 

What a game!! I felt that the first half we allowed LIU to dicate the tempo of the game and the constant stalling was not helping us get any rhythm and consistency in our game.  There were not any clear cut chances for either team and despite us having the greater possession they had the edge in shots on goal.  After a goalless 90 minutes we went into overtime and by this time I felt we had established a grip on the game but still could not get the breakthrough we needed.  That being said we were also worried that a counter attack from LIU could give them the breakthrough and so it was a very nervous overtime.  The first period saw good chances to end the game for LIU and us but 10 minutes went by and we were now into double overtime.  At this point I had tried many different things to try and get that elusive goal but all had come up short and so the introduction of Holleran was the last straw ans we wanted a natural left footed player on the left to hopefully get some better service.  The rest is history as they say, the breakthrough came and a golden goal from Ranalli and assist by Holleran saw us get the win and finally the game was over.

I have to admit I wasn't really sure what to do when the ball went in.  I looked to the scorer table just to make sure it was still golden goal, then the referee to see if he signalled the end of the game and lastly to the bench which had cleared so then it finally hit me we had won.  For my first career win it couldn't have been anymore dramatic.  Moving forward I hope we don't have too many games that we take into double overtime otherwise my hair color will start to resemble Coach Lidster's. I can't say enough about the players and how hard they worked throughout the game.  The contributions of players coming off the bench the support from players on the bench and the resilience they showed to get the first win.  Congratulations is thoroughly deserved.

Saturday
Practice in the morning went well and we got the chance to spent time with Alum Bruce Heon and his u13 Mount Laurel Unitd Boys team who were at the game Friday and spent some time with the players on Saturday as they took some PK's on Almodovar, most scored, and we showed them the great facilities at Mount Vernon.  Thanks for the signed T-Shirt and good luck for the season.

Saturday Afternoon saw the whole team helping with move in on the Foggy Bottom Campus welcoming new and returning students back to school.

Sunday
Despite spending the previous afternoon and evening in bed sick I was able to make the practice which Coaches Felix and Irizarry ran but was quick to get out away from the players as I returned home to go back to bed for the rest of the day and night.  Maybe the stress of the job finally got to me but I hope to be ready for practice Tuesday as we plan for Mason on Thursday.

Here are some links for more info on the weekend you can also visit www.GWsports.com
http://www.gwsports.com/sports/m-soccer/recaps/082412aab.html

Magic Moment of the Day/Weekend
Golden Goal Winner by Team Captain Ranalli