Saturday Practice

After attending the GW volleyball game and win last night with Cerys it started the weekend off right.  A Colonials win on what is a busy sports weekend, as I mentioned in yesterday's blog, made me excited for practice today.  Watching the first half of Chelsea v Newcastle before I left the house I already had Dylan kicking the ball around before 8am much to my neighbors annoyance I'm sure.  Anyways, it was off to Mount Vernon and onto practice. 

Usual team meeting in our locker room before we got on the field to go over some final details for the game tomorrow.  A warm up by yours truly including a freshman dance off was followed by a shooting competition with the squad splitting into 2 groups.  How appropriate that we had a tie with 2 pairs of seniors going into sudden death in my group.  Shooting from outside the box on the dribble Solorzano started the sudden death shootout with a goal followed by Ranalli then Sandland then Hinners.  All 4 scoring taking it into round 2 of sudden death.  With someone blasted high into the tennis courts (you know who you are) it was left to Ranalli to just get in on target to win but he finished in style curling one into the upper 90.  To finish we ended with a 11v11 game and as we've down so many times this season we made it OT 20 mins or first team to score. After a entertaining 5 mins it was left to freshman Grevelink to get the winner and not sure if that's gonna count toward shaving off his beard as he waits for his first goal this year but it was awesome to see him score and the celebration that followed. 

After practice it was back home for arsenal v Liverpool and more exciting for me a late afternoon with the family and the mall.  After a power nap from both kids starting our adventure the afternoon became  early evening and then dinner before Dylan and Cerys started to get a little cranky (and me for that matter) it was time to go home.  

Southampton tied their game but gw volleyball won again to continue their great A10 season campaign so hopefully all teams participating tomorrow can continue the winning ways tomorrow.  Kick off High Noon hope to see you there

Raise High Moment is the Day

Freshman forward Jopus Grevelink's winning goal, the first of many as a Colonial 

Friday almost the weekend

Upon waking this morning my bedroom was still dark and for a moment I thought it was still the middle of the night.  With Dylan running around and a quick look at the clock I knew it was my normal wake up time but the rain and mist outside had brought a dark start to the day.  It reminded me of when I was a kid and hated getting out of bed in the ose dark wet winter mornings in Wales.  Once I got up I was looking forward to getting to practice but bad weather usually brings bad traffic even so the morning commute couldn't bring me down as it's Friday and the weekend is here.  More importantly the weekend means game days and it's a busy weekend at GW. 

Women's soccer has 2 games and on Sunday playing at 3pm after our game at noon the chance to qualify for the A10 tournament.  With 6 games left Volleyball has 2 home games and has its destiny to qualify in their own hands (no pun intended) as they entertain Dayton and Duquesne.  Women's and men's basketball opens their seasons with scrimmages on Saturday and Sunday respectively and last but not least our game v Mason at noon on Sunday as part of a soccer doubleheader.  These are just the home games so good luck to all the teams competing this weekend. 

By the time practice started this morning the heavy rain had stopped and the temperature was nice and cool as we started our warm up.  With the surface slick from the rain it was a great day to ping the ball around and after some possession we did just that in our 11v11 game.  Building on yesterday we wanted the guys to get the ball moving quickly and enjoy the running and supporting each other as we look to improve our fluidity and communication.  It's great to have the numbers for a full 11v11.  This time last season we didn't have enough fit players for a 7v7 so it certainly helps the group as we set up or team for the game this weekend.  My worry for Sunday is still our reluctance to take shots and being decisive in front of goal.  We are getting into good spots and now I want to see players taking decisions on themselves and getting into the stats column and box score.  One more session tomorrow before the game and we'll be making some tough decisions with the starting line up for Sunday after tomorrow and seeing some guys come through a full session.  

Just as important as winning games to me and the program is our performance in the classroom.  I'm pleased to say that senior forward Tyler Ranalli was named to the Capital One Academic All-District first team and now qualifies for the national ballot and possible Academic All American.  My first official recruit to come to GW seems so long ago but kudos to Tyler as he continues his great Fall season.  The article can be read here

http://www.gwsports.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/103113aac.html

Raise high moment of the Day

Team Co-Captain Tyler Ranalli 

Halloween

A full session today with everyone taking part was the first bonus of the day.  A sharp warm up by Irizarry was followed by  lsome possession with Coach Ouimet and finished off with a 11v11 game.  The game was enjoyable to watch as the guys looked sharp and their heavy legs and tiredness seemed to be a thing of the past.  

After leaving work a litttle early looking forward to spending time with Cerys and Dylan asking strangers for free candy, I mean trick or treating.  I hope the weather and rain to be specific holds off till later this evening. 

After arriving home I was lucky enough to discover that I only had the bottoms to my halloween outfit so you can imagine my disappointment at not being able to dress up as I walked the neighborhood with the kids.  

Kinda taking part in Halloween u know who you are!

Raise high moment of the day

Halloween 

 

Accolades and Practice

After the tough weekend of games and travel I felt it necessary to give the players off practice both Monday and Tuesday this week.  With many guys having little strains, tightness and overall soreness it has been essential the past 2 days that they received treatments and hit the dreaded ice baths as they try and recover.  Hopefully the extra day off will serve them well as we prepare this week for the visit of George Mason our NEW Atlantic 10 local rival and the start of our Revolutionary Rivalry between our schools.

Before we get to practice alot has happened these past 2 days and another reason to be proud of the team this Fall.  Firstly, Eddie Painter after his heroics on Friday night scoring the game winner in OT was named GW Colonial Athlete of the week.  A short interview with Eddie can be found here on RaiseHighTV Interview  Eddie is the 3rd GW Mens soccer player to receive the award this Fall, so far.  Secondly, Tobi Adewole has continued his great season by receiving his second Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week Award after his first collegiate goal on Friday night tied the game and then getting the assist for the winning goal.  The A10 article can be read here Rookie Award or visit our website.
Lastly, the University paper featured a story on goalkeeper Luke Farrell after his impressive displays over the last few weeks and that can be found here Hatchet Story

Okay, back to today and after the weekends results the competition to get into the A10 championship tournament is wide open with every team still in the hunt to qualify so its going to go all the way to the final weekend and probably last day.  For us, we know that we have to get results in all our remaining 3 games to be sure of a place in the top 8.  Anything less and we then leave it to other teams and results to dictate or path so we certainly don't want that to happen if possible.

With injury concerns after the weekend today's session was a chance to see how far those players are away from returning or more positively in some cases seeing them return today was great.  A FIFA 11+ warm up some fitness and possession and we were done for the day.  Not quite they got a light lift in with our strength and conditioning coach.

For me, in between my daily office routine and work I got a great email that informed me a recent parking ticket had been voided and all the hours waiting on the phone had paid off as I won my appeal.  Seems small but anytime you can win when the odds are against you makes me even happier and $30 to the better.

Raise High Moment of the Day
Even though it wasn't officially today that it was announced I gotta give it to Eddie Painter and Tobi Adewole on their weekly awards.

Road trip ends with a Loss

After waking this morning for our team breakfast at the hotel the mood had calmed from the euphoria of friday and players seemed a little more relaxed uet focused. After breakfast we were in to our pre game talk and starting line up for the game.  With the ride to UMass 30 minutes from the hotel we left about 11am for our 1pm kickoff.  With Newcastle playing at 930 we had some sorry faces by 1130am as they lost to their arch rivals Sunderland which started the day on a sour note.  

A cold windy day set the mood for how our game would eventually finish.  With 3 changes to the starting line up and a need to start the game better than Friday we did just that.  Early pressure and a great move down the left handside involving Shaban and Valencia resulted  in a cross being deflected straight to Valencia on top of the 18 and he hit it first time to get his first collegiate goal.  We would battle through the half and unfortunately we would concede a free kick on top of the 18 with 4 minutes to half time.  It would prove costly as a wicked deflection saw Farrell do well to get the original shot but they were quicker than us to follow up and got the equalizer.  Terrible time to concede a goal and not only that surrender our lead. 

Second half was a cagey encounter with both teams playing different styles trying to get the breakthrough goal.  Already having some injury concerns from Friday as the game wore on we looked like that game had taken its toll both physically and mentally and with just 4 minutes to go UMass with find the winner.  A half clearance found a UMass player on the top of the box and he hit it first time out of the air on the volley and into the back of the net.  It you gonna get score on leg it be a wonder strike as opposed to giving goals away.  With a faint glimmer of hope that we could again come back all was lost as our last few chances were wasted on poor service in to the box and as the clock trickled down to zero our unbeaten A10 campaign and chance to top the league came to an end.  All attentions now turn to next weekend and a home game v local rivals George Mason.  With other results today the final standings will be determined on the very last day as things are so close right now. 

A Long trip back to DC and after today's road bump we'll bounce back next week

Post game interviews http://t.co/miUyXnj1Jr

http://t.co/LXMJhojtO6

Raise High Moment of the Day

Valencia's first college goal, great strike!!