Well, it came later than I hoped, but we finally got our first win yesterday and coupled it with another one today. Our team is starting to understand the system and my expectations for each position.
Yesterday we won a cold and rainy game. I told the kids that with the field being so wet, they shouldn't be shy about shooting from distance. It was imperative, as it always is, to make sure the shots hit the target. "Force the goalie to make a save." We went into the halftime break down 2-1. After some second half adjustments and reminding the kids to win the 50-50 balls and to shoot and clean up rebounds, we came out explosive in the second half, scoring six goals on our way to a 7-3 win. There was a stretch where we won about either or nine 50-50 balls in a row--and that made me happy. We also got some goals from a new player. Until that game, we had only gotten goals from two different players. Well yesterday, a new player emerged as a scoring threat and he announced his presence loudly, scoring four goals! It was a good way to get the first win, and it felt great (despite the horrible weather).
This morning, we played a team that I knew was going to challenge us. The field was still a bit wet from all the rain yesterday, but the sun was out. It was still cold, with a game time temperature of about 45 degrees. Our boys went out strong, holding possession and dominating play in the early minutes. We finally had our breakthrough and got a goal from our leading goalscorer. He took a shot from distance but followed his shot, looking for a rebound. His pressure forced the goalkeeper to clear it before he was ready, and we won a throw-in deep in their half. We got our goal off the ensuing throw-in from the guy who started it all.
The second goal came off of a rebound. I have begun teaching the boys to shoot far post if they are coming in at an angle. Today, we generated an attack from our left flank, and the stopper/midfielder took a shot to the far post. The goalkeeper tipped the shot away, but our striker was there to put the shot away. 2-0. Our third goal came off of a corner kick. The defense failed to clear the ball well, and our "garbage man" who sits at the 18 on corner kicks found the ball at his feet and took a shot from about 16 yards out. He found the side netting of the far post--beautiful goal.
We came into halftime with the score of 3-0. I asked my team to keep up the intensity, but to focus more on defense. I liked that we hadn't conceded a goal, and wanted to keep it that way. While their offense made several pushes, we did a decent job defensively of not giving them any clean looks at goal. The one clear shot they had, the striker missed it wide (something my players know they can't do). We also had about four opportunities of our own, but three of them were players who don't play much offense and seemed a bit flustered in front of the goal. We could have scored 7 goals easily in this game, but more importantly, we could have given up 4 but didn't. The game ended 3-0, and shut outs are my favorite types of wins.
Five games into the season, we have a record of 2-2-1. Hopefully we can keep our winning ways moving forward.
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