Game Day Comments

After waking up to another treat of live premier league soccer it was off to Mount Vernon for our home opener.  The DC weather certainly cooperated and it was the perfect day for a game.   It was great to be playing at home in front of a good crowd.  Many thanks to the GW student athletes who came out to support the lads and all the other families and supporters who made it a great day all round.  Special thank you to the U8 boys from Bethesda soccer club for coming and playing at halftime and cheering the players on.  Also to Cerys Jones my number one fan.

After losing to VMI last season and with it being our home opener that should have been enough of an incentive to make sure we started the game strong and quickly dictated the tempo that we wanted to play at.  It was under five minutes when after good pressure on the VMI back line we were able to force a turnover by Ranalli and he continued to goal to coolly slide the ball past the oncoming VMI Gk.  The perfect start to the game and one that not only gave us the belief that we could score more but set the tone of how we wanted to play and pressure the opposition.  A couple of half chances and we were well on top but still not able to get that second goal.  With McQuitty entering the game he made an immediate impact, winning a long ball from JP and flicking it into the path of Ranalli who again kept his composure to make it 2-0 and it would stay that way until half time.  A good first half performance but at 2-0 we knew the job was only half done and we needed to keep pressing for that third goal to give us a cushion that we would be able to kill the game off.

The second half started much like the first with the players hustling the VMI players and forcing turnovers but also we were not able to keep possession better and moved the ball quicker.  A great move saw the ball eventually find Farhan Khan in the 18 yard box who coolly beat the last defender  and sweetly struck his left foot shot into the upper ninety.  3-0 and one more would definitely allow me to relax a little for the first time this season on the sideline.  It wasnt  long in coming, another flowing move down the right hand side and who else to finish it off but our senior captain Ranalli.  A hatrick for Ranalli and an assist on Khan's goal game him 7 points for the day which already has surpassed his total from last year.  A great team performance all round and another shut out for our defensive unit.  As the game wore on we were able to make some changes and rest guys that had some minor injury worries more for a precaution knowing we play again on Wednesday.

Overall a great day for the players and certainly one of my most enjoyable coaching moments.  Its been a busy week Birthday greetings to Coach Irizarry, JP and Abdul who all celebrated being 21 this week (Coach Irizarry is slightly older but he's as fit as a 21 year old) and tomorrow its practice followed by our GW Student Athlete retreat on the national mall.

As always you can visit www.GWsports.com for highlights, box scores and game reports.

Raise High Moment of the Day

The Hatrick from Tyler Ranalli