A10 starts

After a much needed sabbatical from the blog in an effort to recharge my creative writing skills or find some writing skills I'm back today as we start our Atlantic 10 Conference season.  With 8 games to go in the season we really have been given another opportunity to get our season back on track and earn a place in the A10 conference tournament.   After being picked to finish 9 from 12 teams in the preseason polls if the season ended today based on overall records we would finish 10th.  Dayton would finish 1st and St. Louis our current A10 champions would be 3rd so a very difficult start playing both teams away from home in the first weekend of play.  Fortunately that is not the case and we start with a clean slate and begin our challenge for an A10 championship tonight.

As we left DC yesterday the area was getting hit by heavy rains and storms so it was a pleasant surprise when we got off the plane in Dayton to find it bright and Sunny.  We start tonight against Dayton the only unbeaten, untied team in the country with a perfect 10-0-0 record and currently ranked #19 in the country.  We got a chance to practice on grass yesterday for an hour so the players can get somewhat used to the difference between our field turf (artificial) and natural surfaces.  The players have had a great week of practice so far so yesterdays session was a final tune up and a chance to get the travel and flight tiredness out of our bodies.  I took it upon myself to get my cleats on and after hitting the crossbar from every angle and then the half way line at the first attempt I decided to call it a day and offered my cleats to anyone who wanted to use them as they were obviously on fire. 

A team dinner last night and a walk and stretch this morning broke up the day well from sitting in the hotel all day waiting for the 7pm kick off.  Just about to head for our pregame meal so the rest of my blog will probably be done post game. Looking forward to getting on the field with the lads and getting off to a good start.

Games over 0-0 tie great fight and spirit and Could have won it at the end but I'll take a point on the road, post game thoughts tomorrow 

Colonials v Colonials

forgot to mention this in the blog yesterday but if you ever buy a restaurant gift certificate for $20 and the value is $50 please read the small print.  Sounds like a great deal but upon looking at the full essay of small print you had to spend $100 to get the gift certificate discount.  Still sounds like a great deal especially if your eating dinner with friends but try spending that kind of money in a sushi restaurant with your spouse and two children (3 year old and 1 year old).  Food was great though.

Today's session was just about getting the players some final prep for the game tomorrow both on the chalk board and on the field for a short sharp session.  Coach Ouimet took the guys through their 4 goal game and with Coach Irizarry now becoming a goalkeeper I seized the opportunity to get in and play.  Irizarry despite being somewhat unorthodox technically for a goalkeeper continues to amaze us with his performances between the sticks.  I on the other hand had a difficult baptism to my entry into the game with my team losing both rounds I competed in.  Not only that but some missed chances by me personally weighed heavy on my mind as we finished the game and Lopez the goalkeeper who taunted me afterwards would get his feet set firmly on the ground in our post session shooting competition.  Too eager to taunt he fell into the trap of giving himself a situation he couldnt walk away from and with 10 chances to score from the top of the 18 I knew I could get at least one goal.  No warm up and the taunt of pulling a hamstring from Lopez was not enough for me to try my whole repetoire of shots from the top of the box.  The side foot curler, laces down the middle for power and then on the knuckle ball it happened and a ball which was surely flying over the bar found its way into the upper 90.  Outside fade crashing against the post and in and pure power off the right foot saw me score three goals and a bad day at the office for Lopez.  Never a good idea to call out the coach, i used to play a little ball myself.

I personally have never played against Robert Morris but I know they will be a tough opponent for the game tomorrow.  Coming into the game on a three game winning streak and out scoring their opponents 10-1 in these games their confidence will be sky high.  The scouting reports tell us they're a good side and I expect a very close game which we will have to fight tooth and nail to win.  Its a battle of the Colonials with Robert Morris sharing the same nickname as ours so I strongly recommend you do not cheer for the Colonials tomorrow.

Have to say another thank you to the GW Alumni Association for sponsoring our Alumni Event tomorrow and with the forcast great I hope to see a great crowd cheering us on.

Raise High Moment of the Day
Coach Jones 1st goal into the upper 90, pure genius even if i say so my self.

Family Dinner / Alumni Event

After being on the road for last weeks game I unfortunately missed most of the University Alumni events but this weekend we have our annual Fall alumni event.  An alumni world cup 6v6 tournament followed by GW v Robert Morris game and an evening reception/ happy hour make is a great Saturday for all involved.  For me its a chance to catch up with my fellow alumni but also to showcase the team who now proudly wear the GW uniform.  For the players it will be an opportunity to talk to others who have walked in their steps previously and get a glimpse into the successes they can expect after college when they graduate.  The usual banter will be in play with alums telling how hard they had it, how things have changed and how lucky the current players are with the facilities and resources they have today both athletically and academically.  If the players can take anything away from the day I hope its is the connection and great memories these alumni bring but most importantly how fast their time will go and to play every game like its your last.  I realized that too late and before you know it, its all over and your college career rolls into an alumni career.  I hope when this happens for our current players they have no regrets and can look back and know that they gave everything they had and hopefully can wear a championship Ring or two, three, four back every year.

Enough of the sentimental chat.  Practice was good again today and I'm still trying to gauge how that will play out for our games on the weekend.  I see players who don't practice that well during the week but bring it for the games, players who practice great all week but cant quite find that form in the game that weekend its a mystery I'd love to solve.  One things for sure, the only thing you can control is your effort.  Passing maybe off, shooting maybe off, tackling maybe off but give me 100% and I can accept that.  We all have bad days I just hope that we have more good days than bad.

Haven't even mentioned what we did in practice today but I feel there's no need to do so, we're working hard and improving our strengths and limiting our moments for weakness so one more session tomorrow and its game day.  The weather is meant to be awesome on Saturday so I hope to see a great crowd and give them a game to remember.

Raise High Moment of the Day
Sushi night with my number 1 fan and daughter Cerys, my always supportive wife Liz and the Kraken, Dylan tearing up the restaurant.

DC United / Sunny DC

It was another great weather day in DC with the sun shining brightly and the sun block being used for the morning session.  The past few days have been beautiful and it seems like we're having a final push from the summer suns before they give way to the colder Fall days and nights just in time for our A10 play. 

After a hard physical session yesterday it was a shorter field session today as we finished with a lift.  With everyone taking part to some extent in todays session we started with a fun warm up to get the guys moving   With the intensity and heat taking its toll yesterday, today was about getting the guys moving again and injecting some life into those aching legs and minds.  The warm up seemed to get the guys going and plenty of shouting and celebrations showed they were into the soccer handball game.  Main topic of the day was shooting and crossing, Is there a better way to get the players buzzing again when they're feeling a little tired?  Coach Ouimet our goalscoring/attacking  took the guys through some  exercises before we got into a 11v11 game to finish the field session.  Our new strength and conditioning coach Mark Spellman has been pushing the guys hard in the gym for our lifting session and I look forward to seeing the results in the spring when we really increase our strength and conditioning program.

With the players finally getting a water bottle for practice it was almost too much excitement for one day as some already forgot to pick them up or left them in the gym after the lift.  On a side note, Shaban came into the office pre practice to give me some grade updates but more importantly we discussed the win by DC United last night in the Open Cup.  As one article noted, DC United is currently the worse team in the MLS (overall record) but that didnt stop them winning and lifting the trophy last night and a place in next seasons CONCACAF Champions League.  Congrats to Benny and Chad Ashton and all the other staff and players at the club.

Raise High Moment of the Day
The goal from Farhan Khan to end practice.  A great move in the 11v11 game to be finished off with a strike into the upper 90 from the top of the 18 yard box.  Lets have some more tomorrow please.

Tuesday

After Monday off for the players it was back to the practice field today and what was planned to be, and was, a tough session.  After starting with our injury prevention warm up it was time for me to take over and get the guys working up a sweat.  What I originally had planned as a possession session turned into a 1v1 wars with possession combined through overloads and numbers up scenarios.  For those of you who don't coach the previous sentence probably didn't make much sense with all that coaching jargon but don't worry because I do coach and it didn't make much sense to me.

Anyways, the players worked very hard and we had some very tired legs in between each repetition as they gasped for air in the hot DC sun trying to get some energy before they started the next set.  Talking about the sun, it was another glorious day in DC with me having to delay putting the sun block away for another week at least as the forcast looks good. 

After the possession it was time to get into a 6v6 tournament with three 5 minute games to decide a winning team.  With injury numbers low, playing numbers are high so I have found myself on the bench throughout the Fall so far and Coach Ouimet and Irizarry taking the field to make up the numbers we need.  I think its time I got on the field because what I've seen from the staff so far has not been of the highest standard.  Let me correct that last statement, this is referring to my outfield staff as Coach Pasquinelli not only took his team to the winners circle but saved the last penalty in a PK shoot out to get his team the win.  It was the only penalty he dived for so I guess he was saving the best for last, no pun intended.

Tomorrow its practice and lifting sessions as we continue to prepare for Robert Morris and our Alumni Game.

Raise High Moment of the Day
PK save by Coach Pasquinelli, rolling back the years !!!

Winning and Moving Forward.

Another week over and another winless week.  at least on paper thats what it seems but for me its been a winning week in terms of how the group has trained and played, answered some questions we had and achieved some goals that we had set.  That being said we still have questions and areas of improvement and we're far from a finished article.  A new playing style and formation has been an adjustment for returning players and an adjustment to our new players as they each played different styles before they came here.  One things for sure we're alot better today than were were back in August.  I fully believe that we cam push on and as we reach the half way mark of the season put ourselves in a position that we can go into each game knowing what our strengths and weaknesses are and know we can win each game.  By being honest and brave enough to know our weaknesses both individually and as a team we are able to play to our strengths and keep improving them to improve the overall collective performance of the group.  Its tough to focus on your own weaknesses as a player and as an individual but you dont get better by only improving what your good at because thats the easy part of being successful.

A light session today followed by our lifting session kept to the same routine that we have folllowed throughout the season.  I once read a book by Brian Clough a charismatic and successful manger/coach in the UK and he said the one thing he did for his players was to keep things simple, keep to the routines that you start at the beginning.  The players have enough on their plates with academics and outside influences to deal with so i try and keep soccer simple and not to stray from the norm to throw another curve ball their way.  This could be the kiss of death but so far its helped with keeping guys healthy and on track and after seeing Ranalli running today after a possible hamstring injury yesterday and Spencer and Jonny Forrest close to their returns from injury its been a big difference from our nightmare last season with injuries.  I hope the players are more relaxed asthey prepare for each game week to week and the only thing they have to worry about is being on time as all the other items are taken care of for them.  Keep it simple and be consistent!!!

With it being an off day for the players tomorrow I actually would love to be on the field practicing so luckily I will be coaching a first through third grade clinic and 10 year old girls clinic to keep me on top of my game lol.  No Blog tomorrow but look forward to seeing the guys on Tuesday as we start preparing for Robert Morris and a home game next Saturday.  Its our alumni weekend so i'm gonna have to get a couple if runs in this week to play some ball before our game with my fellow alums and then let them enjoy the game as i stress out on the sidelines.

Raise High Moment of the Day

Having no player sitting out. 

Post game thoughts

After a disrupted week of writing the blog I was hoping to have a memorable night writing this one but unfortunately it wasn't to be.  After practice yesterday I left work to spend the remainder of the day in bed with what was a 24 hour bug of some sort with an excruciatingly painful headache and upset stomach I was worried I may miss the game totally if i woke up feeling the same way.  Fortunately I woke up feeling much better and with my body and mind feeling much better was looking forward for the game this evening.

Again it was another day of watching the premier league on TV and my Saints winning again.  Watching the big teams lose made me even more confident that the game tonight could be one that we would win and I haven't got this excited for a game since i was nine.  Not that I'm a betting man but if you looked at the form book we were playing one of only 2 teams in the nation that had a perfect record 8-0-0 and so on paper were would have been long shots and under dogs for the game.  Knowing if we played to our strengths and continued the hard work and performances we are capable of I was very optimistic that we could win and approached the game in that manner.  Not content just to be out there, sitting back to defend in numbers and hopefully get a goal from somewhere we played to win, pressed and got numbers forward every chance we would get.

First half started and after only 2 minutes a half chance would go wide from UMBC which was a warning sign that we would be in for a long night if we kept giving them too much space in our defending third.  The response was brilliant, confident to try and play and get on the ball we utilized our wide guys and created the best chance of the first half after Heine had beaten his man a superb cross found McQuitty unmarked 6 yards from goal but unfortunately his header went too near their keeper and he was able to make the save.  It wasn't until almost the end of the first half that UMBC had their best opportunity but again the shot was straight at JP and he easily made the save.  A scoreless first half but one that gave the group belief that they could win if they didn't quite believe it before.

The second half started the worse possible way as we conceded after only 5 minutes from a good move that we failed to clear and the ball was scrambled home from 7 yards out.  UMBC were one of the highest scoring teams in the nation and so after getting the goal the next 5 minutes were crucial that we didn't concede again and lose our discipline and shape.  As a coach you know the game can go either way and this point, you can crumble and lose the belief or you can hang in there and turn things around.  We did the latter, after continuing to try and play and not panicking we got a sublime equalizer from Hinners who after wining the ball took one touch with his chest and shot from the top of the 18 leaving the keeper no chance.  With 30 minutes left on the clock there was still a lot of soccer to be played and we defended well and got forward well when our chances came but neither team could win it in regulation.  

The first period of overtime saw us have a free kick from 20 yards that Sandland hit to find the side netting and for a split second I thought it had gone in and was just about to run home to Foggy Bottom but it wasn't to be.  It took another 10 minutes and into the second period of overtime for UMBC to get the golden goal.  I'm always disappointed when calls don't go our way and what seems insignificant would lead to us conceding a free kick that would result in their winning goal.  No excuses the service was great and found its target at the far post.  End of sports.

Disappointing way to end as I thought we had done enough to at least get a tie but when your 8-0 (now 9-0) you have the confidence and what seems like luck to get those goals.  I don't believe in luck or should i say I think you create your own luck and good teams on a roll like UMBC find a way to win.  A credit to them I certainly can see why they're unbeaten so far and wish them the all the best as the season goes on.  For us its back to the practice field but with a stronger belief and desire to win the next one and get ready for the A10's.

Raise High Moment of the day

Hinners Goal, an absolute beauty!!!