Saturday, October 31, 2015

Tufts 31Oct2015

Starting out a cool 30F, the day brightened up quickly and felt warm in the bright sunlight. Tufts came last year, too -- a great team to play because of their high quality and energy. They asked for 40-minute halves.

Sarah Latulipe came from Washington, DC! Also: Caroline's dad, Christina's folks and energetic puppies all the way from Virginia, Callie's mom (who took more wonderful photos!), Mel's dad all the way from California!

We spoke about making the quick, easy passes -- keeping the ball moving, as we had at UVM. 

Julia almost got us on the score sheet with her shot on target in the 3rd minute, and Tufts got their speedy forward in behind our defense for their goal in the 4th minute. Tufts put another shot over the cross bar right after that.

Caroline earned us a corner in the 6th minute and another corner followed the first one. Rose took our free kick in the 9th minute, and Lindsey almost scored on the rebound but her shot went into the side netting.

After we had another free kick in the 19th minute, Tufts got a shot on target that Hannah saved and one that went over the cross bar. In the 26th minute, Mel's shot was saved for a corner.

Maria made a brilliant clearance preventing Tufts from a goal for their corner in the 30th minute. Hannah caught their corner kick.

Tufts had three more shots, one on target that Hannah saved, before half time.

During the break we agreed that we were playing really well -- making good passes and changing the point of attack -- we just needed to be patient and keep believing in ourselves!

Hannah saved Tufts' shot in the 44th minute and their free kick in the 47th minute. 

Immediately after that, Sophie earned a corner. Elise put a lofted ball into a perfect position in front of the Tufts net, there was some chaos followed by Lizzie getting her foot on the ball from close range for our equalizing goal!

Hannah saved two more of Tufts' three more shots before Caroline got off another shot on target in the 64th minute (saved). Sophie had her shot saved a minute later.

It was wonderful to see so many of our shots on target!

Hannah saved another Tufts shot in the 70th minute. Rose had her shot saved in the 78th minute, and Tufts put a shot wide in the 79th minute.

It felt like either team could have won, so a draw seemed like a great result. Both teams worked hard the whole game to win the ball, but our passing was better and we had more possession in their half. They had speed up top, but our defense learned quickly how to manage that. Hannah saved us so many times, so great credit to her!

Our defense showed great composure, able to pass out of the back without panicking, allowing us to keep possession. And our midfield did well to get the ball forward to create scoring opportunities -- witness our 9 shots!

It was a great way to cap the season, since we were not sure there will be another game this fall! 

G: Hannah
CD: Lindsay+Kate, Mari+Izzy
OD: Christina+Elise, Maria+Callie
CM: Caroline+Lindsey, Liz+Sarah
OM: Sophie+Julia, Lizzie+Nat
F: Christyn+Mel, Rose+Haley

Shots 9:14  Saves 9:7

3 Julia shot saved
4 Tufts shot upper right --> 0:1
5 Tufts shot over
6 Caroline shot --> corner (two)
9 Dartmouth free kick taken by Rose, Lindsey shot hit the side net
19 Dartmouth free kick
22 Tufts shot saved
23 Tufts shot over
26 Mel shot saved for a corner
30 Tufts corner from Maria's blocked shot, Hannah caught
34 Tufts shot saved
36 Tufts shot over
39 Tufts shot wide
-------
44 Tufts shot saved
47 Tufts free kick -- Hannah saved
49 Sophie earned a corner, Elise took it, Lizzie scored at close range --> 1:1
52 Tufts shot wide
55 Tufts corner
58 Tufts shot saved for a corner
60 Tufts shot saved
64 Caroline shot saved
65 Sophie shot saved
70 Tufts shot saved
76 Tufts free kick
78 Rose shot saved
79 Tufts shot wide
80 Tufts corner

Saturday, October 24, 2015

at UVM 24Oct2015

Having Saturday classes today precluded our trip to the Region 1 Regional Tournament in Delaware this weekend, but the team wisely decided to find another team to play, and UVM has always been a good choice -- so we were happy to travel to Burlington for a game after classes.

Windy! Overcast skies and almost 50F/10C. Joe Nolan came!

The teams decided on 30-minute halves, and there was no ref, so I stepped in to help -- good way to stay warm, too! Given the wind, we spoke about keeping our passes on the ground and making them as high-quality as possible in order to preserve our energy (since we had only 3 subs).

With only 14 players, we could have expected trouble with our game, but that couldn't have been farther from the truth! Our passing was like a clinic! Just as in practice last week, we made give-and-go diagonal passes and switched the attack from side to side -- giving UVM a great deal of trouble with our possession.

It's good to play good teams, and UVM hustled and played a good passing game themselves. They got off the first shot before Christyn and Haley got off three shots in three minutes! 

Hannah came out with immense strength and speed to grab the ball off the feet of a UVM breakaway in the 6th minute, followed by Lindsey's shot in the 8th minute and Allison two shots before half time.

In the 2nd half, UVM got off three shots before Izzy, Maria, Allison, Lindsey and Haley made shots of their own. UVM had one more shot that went wide before time. 

We were delighted to have played so well -- especially with only 3 subs! Playing on turf is always faster, so it was particularly impressive for our team to play so well at speed! So FIT!

And Joe Nolan was rewarded with a trip back to campus with Hannah!

Shots 12:6  Saves 1:3

G: Hannah
CD: Lindsay+Mari
OD: Christine+Izzy
CM: Caroline+Lindsey, Allison
OM: Lizzie+Maria, Nat
F: Allison+Christyn, Haley+Rose

1 UVM shot
2 Christyn shot wide
3 Haley shot saved
5 Christyn shot saved
6 UVM breakaway saved by Hannah
8 Lindsey shot
10 Allison shot
28 Allison shot
---------------
32 UVM shot
34 UVM shot
35 Dartmouth corner
38 UVM shot
42 Izzy shot
43 Maria shot
46 Allison shot
54 Lindsey shot wide
56 UVM shot wide
58 Haley shot saved
59 Maria shot wide

Saturday, October 17, 2015

at Harvard 17Oct2015

Leaving Hanover around noon with cloudy 40F weather featuring sparse showers, we arrived in Cambridge via Routes 3, 128 and Mass Pike around 2:30, missing the Head of the Charles traffic that Lizzie's dad Chris had alerted us to.

So many FANS! Molly Grimes '14, Mila Sheeline '14, Shelby Schrier '15 with Brett Teplitz '15, Christyn's sister Courtney Karol '13 and their parents, Lizzie's parents, Izzy's parents, Lindsay's grandparents Douglas and Ginger, Hannah's dad Joe (with the VW microbus!)

Windy with variable cloudiness, we spoke about keeping our passes on the ground, moving the ball quickly and diagonally, using the width of the field.

The field officials said the halves would be 40 minutes long, so we decided to maintain our more-frequent subbing every 10 minutes -- seemed to work well vs UVM last weekend.

Harvard was feisty as usual, putting great energy into their play and pressuring us as soon as we got the ball. They earned the first corner and Hannah saved the impending header from it.

In the 8th minute, Lindsey put a shot on target that was saved. Soon after that, Harvard put a shot wide before Allison got off a shot in the 25th minute. Then Harvard got off two shots that Hannah saved before their two corners near the end of the first half.

At half-time, we noticed that our passing had improved as the first half progressed, even though we found the midfield very congested and we had difficulty maintaining very much possession. We planned to keep up the good passes in the 2nd half!

Harvard got off the first shot in the 2nd half, followed by a corner and another shot that Hannah saved. We earned a corner kick in the 50th minute and shortly after that a free kick from about 30 meters -- Elise's kick was just a little high but really well struck!

Harvard put a shot wide in the 57th minute, and three minutes later Izzy got a shot in target that was saved. We had several chances to breakaway and get in behind the defense, thanks to really good distribution by Caroline, Lindsey and Liz. In one of those chances, Christyn got off a shot that went wide.

In the 71st minute, Maria hammered a shot from something like 30 meters that certainly would have beaten their keeper, but it sailed a little bit wide. Soon after that, Harvard good off their 8th shot of the game for Hannah's 5th save!

Hannah and our strong back line -- Kate, Lindsay, Mari, Elise, Christina, Callie -- made it impossible for Harvard to score, but Harvard put up a great effort. Our passing became better as the game progressed, so we had a lot to celebrate.

Writing this while seeing Chelsea-Aston Villa reminds me how hard you worked to get the ball back after losing it and how quick you were with your passes! REALLY important! Your work rate and selflessness were reminiscent of Summer Hammond!

It was a great game to watch -- very high energy and fast pace! Neither team could keep the ball very long, and both sides had chances to score. Lindsay's grandfather noted that she has never had a loss at Harvard!

G: Hannah
CD: Lindsay+Kate
OD: Mari+Elise, Christina+Callie
CM: Caroline+Lindsey, Liz
OM: Lizzie+Julia, Maria+Izzy
F: Allison+Christyn, Mel+Haley

Shots 6:8  Saves 5:2

4 Harvard corner, Harvard header saved by Hannah
8 Lindsey shot saved
10 Harvard shot wide
25 Allison shot wide
30 Harvard shot saved
32 Harvard shot saved
34 Harvard corner
35 Harvard corner
------
Harvard shot wide
Harvard corner
Harvard shot saved
10 Dartmouth corner
12 Elise free kick over
17 Harvard shot wide
20 Izzy shot saved
26 Christyn shot wide
31 Maria shot wide
34 Harvard shot saved

Saturday, October 10, 2015

UVM 10Oct2015

Crisp 45F air following the windy rainy bonfire last night, the morning started out overcast but turned sunny during the game!

So many FANS came! Christine Kanoff and Caroline Gellman came! Caroline's family, Callie's parents, Lizzie's parents and sister, Lindsay's parents and grandparents, Christyn's dad (maybe mom, too?), maybe others?

After our beating UVM last fall, we were expecting them to present the huge challenge they usually provide! Their coach's son was my son's coach at Green Mountain Valley School in 1998, so our team has a pretty friendly and respectful relationship with them. 

Beforehand, we spoke about keeping the ball moving -- that the ball can move faster than the opposing team. And we took a moment to remember Summer Hammond '17 again, thanking Lindsay for getting her #23 stitched onto our jersey sleeves.

Both teams showed a great deal of energy and pressure to get possession, with neither team getting much time with the ball. After UVM got off a couple shots, Melanie put her shot wide in the 29th minute.

A minute later, Lindsey had her first shot saved but put in the rebound to get us on the scoreboard in the 30th minute. After Mel got off another shot that went wide, UVM sent a pass forward between our defense with (I thought) a player offsides and put the ball into the back of our net to even the score in the 37th minute.

UVM put two shots wide, and so did Liz, Callie and Lindsay before the half ended in the 47th minute (extra time added on for Hannah to put on shin guards -- awarded a yellow card for illegal equipment!).

At half time we spoke briefly about being more diagonal rather than sending the ball straight up the field. 

UVM put a header over our net right away and then Hannah saved a shot from them before Sophie collected a poor distribution from their goalkeeper and sent a beautifully struck ball in the upper left corner of the UVM net for the go-ahead goal in the 51st minute.

Several minutes later UVM rattled our cross bar with a shot the easily could have been a goal. In the 67th minute, Christyn had her shot saved. Hannah made five more saves in the remainder of the half with Haley getting two shots off wide and shots from Caroline and Mel saved. Hannah's last save from a free kick that touched her fingertips before rattling off our cross bar gave us the win that we all felt we deserved.

Our passing and our speed of play improved as the game progressed, and we were pleased to look so good for all of our fans! The team would like to thank Lizzie's family for the smart new red adidas training bibs ("pinnies")!

F: Allison+Christyn, Melanie+Haley
OM: Sophie+Julia, Maria+Nat, Izzy+Lizzie
CM: Caroline+Lindsey, Liz+Elise
OD: Mari+Elise, Christine+Callie
CD: Kate+Lindsay, Mari+Julia
G: Hannah

Shots 13:13  Saves 7:3

13 UVM shot saved
15 UVM free kick
17 UVM corner
22 UVM shot wide
29 Mel shot wide
30 Lindsey shot saved
30 Lindsey got rebound --> 1:0
33 Mel shot wide
37 UVM (offsides!) goal --> 1:1
40 UVM shot wide
41 UVM shot wide
42 Liz shot wide
43 Callie shot wide
47 Dartmouth corner, Lindsay shot wide
half time
46 UVM header over
47 UVM shot saved
51 Sophie shot into upper left corner --> 2:1
56 UVM corner
57 UVM shot hit the cross bar!
59 Dartmouth free kick
67 Christyn shot saved
71 UVM corner
72 UVM corner
76 UVM shot saved
79 UVM corner
80 UVM shot saved
81 Haley shot wide
83 UVM shot saved
86 Haley shot wide
87 UVM shot saved
89 Caroline shot saved
90 Mel shot saved
91 UVM free kick finger-tip save by Hannah, hit the cross-bar