UVM 27apr2014

Cloudy, 50F/10C, our strong adversary UVM had asked to play Sunday rather than Saturday. Many fans came! Katherine's dad with his wonderful camera, Shelby's mom, Sarah's parents, Kate's mom, maybe others!

We talked about the ball's being faster than the players -- to keep the ball moving. But neither team could hold onto the ball very long in the first half; both teams hustled to get 50/50 balls.

UVM had no hesitation shooting from distance, and they had more chances than we in the first half. We only had a couple shots; UVM defended well. Julia D, Kristin, Tessa and Kate kept away their best shots. They did a lot of kick-and-run soccer. We spoke at half-time about not wanting to copy their approach!

We had better passing in the second half than we did in the first half, but UVM did well to keep their energy and pressure high. In the 50th minute they got in behind us to slot a shot into the lower-right corner of our net.

Later, Kristin, Julia and Lindsay had their shots saved, and Kristin cleared another UVM shot off the line in the 77th minute. Julia D kept us in the game with more key saves in 80th and 85th minute. Then in the 86th minute, Nat used her hustle and intelligence to slot a diagonal pass to Mila, who was running up the right side of the field. Mila made a cut to her left, which left the UVM defender on the floor, then shot with her left foot -- a brilliant 30m shot into the upper left corner of the UVM side-netting to even the game!

Julia D made another save in the 87th minute to prolong the draw, and in the last minute of play UVM hit our cross-bar with a shot that easily could have put them ahead.

We were delighted with a draw against a strong team that also did well at Regionals in the fall. It is always a pleasure to play a strong team and come away with a good result! No doubt UVM felt robbed!

It was a great send-off for graduating seniors -- boo hoo! And we did really well to keep our undefeated record in all games but the last Regional quarter-final game!

Shots 6:23 Saves

GK: Julia D
CD: Kristin+Tessa, Lindsay
OD: Mari+Liz, Annie+Kate
CM: Julia+Shelby, Christine
OM: Katherine+Mila, Caroline V, Sarah
F: Nat+Sarah, Lindsay, Caroline G

1 UVM shot saved
8 Mila corner out
9 UVM shot wide
10 UVM corner out
12 UVM shot saved
12 UVM shot saved
13 Sarah's corner 
13 Dartmouth shot saved
13 Sarah's corner
25 Julia shot saved
34 Tessa blocked UVM shot --> UVM corner
34 Kate saved a UVM shot
34 Julia D saved a UVM shot
40 UVM shot way over
41 UVM shot wide
42 UVM shot saved
46 UVM corner, header wide
48 UVM shot blocked --> corner
50 UVM shot into right corner of our net --> 0:1
54 UVM shot saved
55 Sarah's corner
57 UVM shot wide
58 Mila corner
59 UVM shot over
62 Kristin's shot saved
63 Julia shot saved
65 Lindsay shot saved
69 UVM corner
70 UVM shot wide
74 UVM shot over
77 Kristin saved a UVM shot --> UVM corner
80 UVM shot saved
81 UVM corner
85 UVM shot saved
86 Nat pass to Mila who beat a defender, left-ft shot --> 1:1
87 UVM shot saved
90 UVM shot hit the cross-bar!

Brandeis Tournament 12Apr2014

Our first time undefeated at Brandeis! And with only one sub! Incredible!

Hanover was near-freezing, but on our trip to Waltham the sun appeared and we had glorious weather at Brandeis.

It was great to see so many fans! Molly's parents, Julia's parents, Shelby's dad, Lindsay's grandparents, and puppies, too!

Our warm-up was fairly limited -- we had to wake up some players and got a late start -- but Bentley served as a good warm-up game. Games were shortened to 35 minutes, so we knew they would go by quickly!

Bentley was quick with pressure, but neither team could string very many passes together. Julia almost scored on Bentley in the 13th minute.

Azzurri lived up to their fine reputation by making many great plays and outshooting us 3:10. Julia D kept us in the game by making three key saves. Nat almost scored with three shots, and Molly's free kick in the last minute almost crept in the upper left corner of their net but hit the side netting instead.

Emmanuel showed good energy but not as much skill as the other teams. Nat, Julia and Sarah all had really good scoring opportunities in the first 8 minutes, and in the 11th minute Nat showed great composure as she scored after getting in behind the Emmanuel defense. Lindsay's shot in the 16th minute was saved.

Brandeis was very strong, giving us a lot of trouble with 9 shots. But Julia D, and Lindsay and Kristin in center defense saved almost-sure goals for Brandeis. We showed our usual learning ability by playing smarter, as the game progressed, with better on-the-ground passes to feet rather than long lofted balls that require a lot of energy and often become 50/50 balls. We were delighted with 0:0! 

It was the first time we went undefeated at this tournament! What a GREAT DAY! And with only one sub! AMAZING!

GK: Julia D
CD: Kristin+Liz, Lindsay
OD: Mari+Kate
CM: Molly+Julia
OM: Katherine+Sarah
F: Nat+Shelby, Lindsay

v Bentley 0:0

Shots 1:3 Saves 1:0

13 Julia shot wide
16 Bentley shot over
18 Bentley corner
25 Bentley shot saved for a corner
27 Bentley shot wide
34 Bentley corner (2)

v Azzurri 0:0

Shots 3:10  Saves 3:2

2 Azzurri shot over
4 Azzurri shot saved
8 Nat shot saved
9 Azzurri shot wide for a corner
10 Azzurri corner
10 Azzurri shot wide
13 Azzurri free kick
15 Azzurri shot wide
18 Azzurri shot over
22 Azzurri shot saved
23 Nat shot saved
27 Azzurri free kick, corner
30 Nat shot wide
31 Dartmouth corner
33 Azzurri shot saved
34 Azzurri shot wide
35 Molly free kick hit the side netting

v Emmanuel 1:0

Shots 6:1 Saves 1:1

7 Julia shot hit the post
8 Nat shot hit the cross-bar
8 Sarah shot hit a defender
11 Nat 1v1 with their GK --> 1:0
16 Lindsay shot saved
18 Sarah shot wide
20 Emmanuel corner (2)
24 Emmanuel shot caught by Julia (not sure it was on target)
34 Emmanuel free kick

v Brandeis 0:0

Shots 0:9 Saves 5:0

2 Brandeis shot saved
6 Brandeis shot wide
8 Brandeis shot wide
22 Brandeis shot wide
24 Brandeis shot saved by Julia
24 Brandeis shot saved by Lindsay
27 Kristin blocked Brandeis shot for a corner
30 Brandeis shot saved for a corner
31 Brandeis shot wide
32 Julia D caught Brandeis cross

at Harvard 6Apr2014

First game outdoors since November! Beautiful sunny day ~15C/60F but windy.

Many fans! Allison Steele, Melanie's dad from California, Shelby's dad, Lindsay's grandparents, Molly's mom, Liz's sister Emily on bike! It looked like there were more fans, too.

We spoke about keeping the ball on the floor in light of the wind, and playing our game rather than how they play. Harvard pressured us intensely, and neither team could link very many passes. 

Thankfully, we calmed down and got passes connected! The first goal, 22minutes in, came from a series of passes from Kristin to Lindsay to Sarah who crossed the ball to Julia. Only seven minutes later, Sarah's corner kick found Kristin, who scored on a wonderfully skillful half-volley.

Harvard kept pressing, and got a gift of a goal when their crossed spinning ball found the back of our net. Only one of their shots was on target after that.

Sarah almost scored in the 51st minute, when she magically set up her own breakaway by manipulating the ball around their last defender. Her shot was only slightly wide of the right post!

Harvard kept attacking, but we defended well and maintained the win. Credit to them for keeping at it so long! We were delighted with our fitness, our cohesion and our win! The fans were impressed!

GK: Julia D

CD: Kristin+Tessa

OD: Mari+Liz

CM: Molly+Julia, Shelby, Sarah

OM: Katherine+Melanie, Sarah, Caroline

F: Natalie+Shelby, Lindsay, Sarah

Shots  Saves

18 Harvard shot wide

22 Kristin to Lindsay to Sarah to Julia --> 1:0

29 Sarah's corner to Kristin half-volley --> 2:0

34 Harvard cross spinning, hard to handle --> 2:1

40 Harvard shot over

44 Harvard shot saved

48 Harvard shot wide

51 Sarah breakaway shot wide

53 Harvard corner

59 Harvard shot over

61 Harvard corner

67 Harvard corner

70 Harvard corner

80 Harvard shot wide