Saturday, November 10, 2012

at UVM 10Nov2012

Blue sky, snow on top of Mt Mansfield, 50F/10C, perfect weather for our last game of the season -- our first time on their new turf field called Virtue Field.

Mila and Sophie's aunt, uncle and grandparents were there, so we had great fans! Their brownies and pumpkin cookies were incredible!

We spoke about being quick and making the easy passes.  We dominated for the first half hour, and we were unhappy about many off-sides calls that prevented us from scoring.  UVM had a few chances in the last twenty minutes.

At the half we reiterated that the ball travels faster than UVM, so we used the second half to improve our passing. We dominated even more in the second half, but UVM got three chances that Hannah prevented. We were a little unlucky not to score, but it was impressive that we put together so many good passes and that players excelled in different positions than usual! 

UVM said that they love playing us and are looking forward to seeing us in the spring. They are a high-energy team and deserve a lot of credit for their draw today! We were sad to have the last fall game for seniors, who all showed their immense skill today!

GK: Hannah N
OD: Blythe+Liz, Annie O+Kate
CD: Collin+Tessa, Lindsay
OM: Jenn+Mila, Amanda W+Sophie
CM: Julia+Christine, Liz
F: Courtney+Ginny, Caroline+Lindsay

Shots 17:6  Saves 5:7

6 Mila shot saved
9 Mila shot wide
10 Jenn shot wide
14 Jenn free kick wide
20 Jenn free kick over
27 UVM shot saved
32 UVM shot wide
37 UVM corner
43 UVM shot saved
45 Julia shot over
46 Liz shot barely wide!
47 Julia shot saved
48 Christine shot wide
51 Mila shot saved
57 Hannah huge save --> UVM corner
62 Hannah huge save
65 Mila shot hit post
67 Courtney shot off the cross-bar
72 Jenn corner
80 Sophie shot saved
83 Collin free kick saved
     Collin shot saved
85 Hannah save
87 Christine shot saved
89 Caroline shot wide

Saturday, November 3, 2012

at Harvard 3Nov2012

A nice partly-cloudy and windy 10C/50F day, the trip into Boston was easy and traffic was manageable.  We got there a little over an hour ahead of 4pm game time!  Watching the Holy Cross-Yale men's club game was the uncle of Lindsay Leone '06 who played on our team!

We had a huge fan group! Emily Niehaus '12 and a friend of hers, Lindsay's grandparents, Caroline's family, Courtney's family, Amanda W's family from Ohio (!), Julia's parents, Hannah N's parents in a VW microbus with an "Eye of the Tiger" sign on the side, Molly's (?), Ginny came after her job interview in Boston, and there might have been others!

Surprisingly, Harvard's coach insisted that that we play 40-minute halves -- no explanation but maybe a good idea since the temperature would be dropping after sunset.

We knew from last spring that Harvard was FIESTY!  We spoke about being quick with the easy passes and to be diagonal with passes and dribbles, as we had practiced.  

Harvard was very energetic and made it difficult for us to keep the ball, but their style was easy for our defenders to manage. We were quick to ball and quick with our passes, so we were able to create a lot of chances.  Jenn, Mila and Allison hammered their goal before Christine's corner in the 31st minute found Amanda F-C for our first goal. We all took a sigh of relief!

At the half we felt we were playing the way we should and recommitted to quick, diagonal passes.  Sending the ball long, Harvard got a couple chances.  Hannah bravely came way out to prevent a Harvard cross from becoming a scoring opportunity.

Most of the action was in the Harvard half because our passes were really accurate and our movement off the ball was so helpful. In the 72nd minute, a great string of passes from Christine to Sophie to Amanda W to Lindsay created our second goal, and right afterwards Kristin made a strong dribble through pressure to set up Amanda W's goal.  Both Amanda's and Christine had more chances before Amanda W set up Lindsay's second goal.

We were happy with our possession and technique! And delighted to have so many fans and treats they brought, too!

GK: Hannah N
OD: Blythe+Liz, Annie+Kate
CD: Julia+Collin, Christine+Tessa
OM: Jenn+Mila, Amanda W+Katherine
CM: Shelby+Molly, Kristin+Amanda FC
F: Allison+Courtney, Caroline, Lindsay, Sophie

Shots 15:6  Saves 4:5

3 D corner -- Courtney's header over
7 Harvard shot saved
9 Jenn shot wide
14 Jenn shot wide
19 Mila shot saved
24 Allison shot wide
28 Harvard rolling shot saved
31 Christine's corner found Amanda FC --> 1:0
33 D corner
37 Sophie shot saved
42 D corner, Julia's header over
43 D corner
45 Harvard shot over
47 Allison shot saved
50 Harvard roller wide
70 Harvard (sort of a) shot saved
71 Hannah N came way out to grab a threatening cross
72 Christine to Sophie to Amanda W to Lindsay --> 2:0
74 Kristin dribble through pressure, pass to Amanda W --> 3:0
76 Amanda FC shot deflected
78 Amanda W shot saved
79 Christine shot saved
80 Amanda W pass to Lindsay --> 4:0
     Harvard shot wide