A Tale of Two Games

It was the worst of games, it was the best of games...

What a great weekend of soccer. Our first game of the season was a tough, tough game. The Ajax are a well coached team, and they were probably the worst team (worst in the sense of the toughest team) we could face for our first game with so many new players. We were also missing two players and one, Garrett, is the anchor of our defense. The score pretty much says it all. We were able to put together three or four pointed and sustained attacks. But their defense was very tough and was able to disrupt our passing lanes. We had three bonafide shots on goal, and one almost went in. In all, I was pleased with the way we wanted to play. But we could not pull it together against probably the best team in our division.

Today's game was as if we had a completely new team. This team was making strong passes, defending and holding possession the middle third, and running down and disrupting our opponents attack. By the first 15 minutes, we had scored twice, each time on beautiful centering passes that Charlie one or two touched into goal. At the end of the half, we put together a lovely through pass that Alan-Henry picked up and easily put passed the goalie. At the start of the second half, the Blue Jays put together a very nice counter attack that caught our defense off guard (the only time really), and they blew it past our goalie who had no chance of stopping it. But after that, we sank into a lock down defense. Their only real attacks were called back for clear offsides (after some cajoling from the sidelines).

The Blue Jays are a good team, and we match up well with them. We've beaten them before and we've lost to them before. The difference on Sunday was an awesome team effort. Everyone played as a team. 3 players had scored with assists from 3 other players. Charlie had two goals, Richie had two assists. Garrett, Jared, and the Bens held a strong defensive line, keeping the Jays outside of center most of the game. A really great effort on Sunday. I'm pleased that we came out of the first weekend with 3 points. I think we'll be ready for our next weekend double header.

Coach Steve

Soccer season begins!

Finally, the Stingrays FC get to play some real games. I wanted to remind you of our weekend schedule, as we have two games.

Saturday: 8:30 AM v. Ajax - Field 18B
Sunday: 3:00 PM v. Blue Jays - Field 19A

Please arrive at least 30 minutes in advance for warm up and inspection. We will be wearing our Blue jerseys on Saturday. I'll update you later today or tomorrow about Sunday's game.

Unfortunately, the weather predictions include rain for the weekend. Please check the BRSA website (www.brsa.org) for any cancellations due to weather/field conditions. They are pretty good about getting the word out quickly if games must be rescheduled.

See you Saturday.

Coach Steve

Stingrays FC - No practice Wednesday

Parents,

We will not hold practice on Wednesday. But we will have two games this weekend.

Saturday - 8:30 AM - Field 18B
Sunday - 3:00 PM - Field 19A

Please arrive 30 minutes in advance for warm-up and inspection. Wear the blue jersey for both games. But bring the gold jersey as a back up.

We'll see you there.

Coach Steve

Fall 2009 Season

Well it's that time of the year to start our fall season. As we expected, Rafael has moved to the Premier League, and several players have decided to either play American Football (Pablo, Austin), other sports (Khoi) or not play at all (Lee). For a time, we didn't know whether or not we would be able to field a complete team.

Fortunately, we were able to make contact with players from another team, the Thunder Lizards, that disbanded over the summer. Four players (Adam, Alan Henry, Brian and Jared) are joining us, giving us an 11-man roster. While it would be nice to have a couple more subs, 11 players will mean that everyone will get LOTS and LOTS of playing time.

For new parents, I just wanted to reiterate my gratitude that you are trusting your boys with us and our team. We strive for sportsmanship, a love of the game, and most importantly fun. I use the practices to develop individual and team skills, and we always end with a scrimmage. The only thing I ask of you is to reinforce the "fun" message and to cheer (but not coach) the team during games.

We look forward to the coming season. The team's schedule is available on line at www.brsa.org.

Coach Steve