If you want to read about our wins, losses, and coach's rambles, this is the place!!
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April 26th vs Lady Speed and Starz: 1-2, 1-2. So close in both of these games... The girls continued to play well coming off the state tournament last weekend. Lady Speed were quarter finalists in the State tournament and sit near the top of the East TN Youth League, proving once again our girls can play with the better clubs out there. If not for an errant PK call on a foul clearly outside the box, this one was a tie. No matter, refs are refs and they make the calls, but the girls play and the final score was 1-2. Regardless of the outcome our girls played well and they knew it. Ditto in game two... same ref and equally poor calls, but it's the teams that play and have to put it in the back of the net. We gave up two goals early in this one and then dominated the play from there on out. Calya H. got some minutes at center mid and used them tally our first goal midway thought the first half. The girls continued to play well and we had several scoring chances, most notably Megan H. blasting one off the crossbar! But, it wasn't to be, and despite some fine play and some good looks at the goal we couldn't find the back of the net and we fell 1-2 once again. If you look at the win-loss record this year you'd think the girls might have lost their will, but they never did. They went out fighting for every ball and as we were riding home in the car Kalli said "You know dad... I know we didn't win any games this season but I'm OK with that. I feel like I really stepped up my game and I had fun playing with my friends." As a coach and a father I can't ask for anything more than that. The girls are all winners in my book and they should be very proud of their individual growth. Go Lady Flames!!
April 11th vs Nike Impact 6: 1-2. This one needs to be prefaced with some history. Last year's U11 girls state championship featured the Signal Mountain Storm and Nike Impact 6. Nike Impact 6 won that game and were last year's state champs. Fast forward to yesterday... Between our two games I noticed that there was quite an interesting game on the schedule for that day. Signal Mountain Storm vs Nike Impact 6. I know Darren from Signal Mtn so I watched most of that game, pulling for them. It was a hard fought game and I was really impressed with the foot skills and speed of the Nike club. In the end Signal Mountain won 2-0 and I thought nothing else of it.... until the end of the day.... There is no "seeding" process used to determine the matchups on day one, team names are just pulled from a hat. Because of that, two very high caliber teams may end up playing each other early and since someone has to lose, thier chances to move on to the playoffs can be compromised. Nike Impact 6 won their first game against Lakeway Liberty (4-1) but then fell 0-2 to Signal Mountain. Zero points in game two cost them dearly and they were ranked 12th out of 20 at the end of the day... and scheduled to play the #17 CFC Lady Flames. When I saw our opponent I couldn't believe it.... "no, I said to myself it can't be". We lost to Lakeway Liberty last week 1-4 and now we're playing last year's state champion and a team who just beat Lakeway by the same score that they beat us as our "consolation" game??!! At that point I needed some consoling!! I will admit I had my doubts, but I chose to keep all of this information from the girls and simply told them this was their last game of the tournament and they should try to work as hard as possible. I did mention that I had seen them play and that they were fast and skilled so we would need to really step up our defensive intensity if we wanted to have a chance. We always seem to be overmatched in size, and for once this team was not bigger than us so I also pointed that out to the girls and told them to play hard through every ball. Bring on the game... WOW!! The girls came out with unbelievable spirit and went up 1-0 midway through the first half on a pretty goal from Kalli P. The girls were fired up and that score held until half-time. In the opening minutes of the second half, we made a costly mistake. Nike got a corner kick and put two girls on the ball. Despite some yelling from the sideline, our girls didn't realize what was going on and using a short pass and some dribbling they were halfway to our goal before any of our players even moved. One player broke out 5 yards off the goal line and a little touch pass to her resulted in a near post blast that was in before anyone could react. The girls regained their composure though and we played them 1-1 though the better part of the second half. Lorne C. played a tremendous game in the back for us, stiffling the attack and sending our goal kicks long. Cassie K. made some fantastic stops too, charging players and reaching the ball before they could get the shot off. Everyone played with tremendous spirit and when Nike scored again I thought they might let down. Not our Lady Flames!! With only a few minutes to go, Melissa G. broke free on the right side and sent a rocket of a shot toward the upper right corner... My eyes were huge... I thought it had to be in, and then at the last possible second their keeper reached up a hand and deflected it just over the top of the goal. The game ended minutes later and while we fell 2-1 the girls all knew they had just played an outstanding game. Brian and I had to hide our teary-eyes as we told each and every girl how proud we were of their efforts today. Wins and losses can certainly be used as one measure of success, but only one. Character, pride, effort, and sportsmanship are some other measures of success and despite the loss in the record book today, our girls demonstrated a winning attitude in those categories across the board. Congratulations to a fine game from the Nike club and how about our Lady Flames?!
April 10th vs KFC Outlaws Orange and HFC Lady Hurricanes Red: 0-6, 1-4. We opened our bid in the state championship tournament with a tough draw against the KFC Outlaws Orange. Amid 20 teams from all corners of the state, it probably wasn't too good for our psyche to go up against a team that beat us just a few weeks ago in Hendersonville. The girls played them strong through the middle of the first half, but the skill and physical nature of the KFC club began to wear on our girls and the goals started coming. To our credit (or demise, depending on how you look at it) it wasn't like KFC sliced through our defense and had open shots on goal, rather, as we have struggled with in the past, it was the missed clear, the bobbled trap, etc in our defensive zone that lead to most of their goals. Megan H. gave us our best scoring chance with a high blast that would have beaten most keepers, but the KFC keeper was tall and just got a hand up to deflect it over the top. For the first time all season, the girls couldn't rally their spirit at the half and it it showed on the field. Move on to the 5pm start and the Lady Hurricanes. The girls re-focused and came out with heart in this one. HFC picked up an early goal but we responded with a pretty shot to the upper corner from Kalli P. The Hurricanes got another, but at 1-2 at the halftime break we were very much in this game. We eventually fell 1-4, but again didn't necessarily get beat by nice plays as much as we sorta created opportunities for them. Obviously something we need to work on as the final score is not very forgiving as to how the goals were scored. Hats off to two very good clubs... both KFC and HFC won both of their games today and are through to the quarter finals. Our girls rallied and played hard in game two, and the single point we got from the goal lifted us past three other clubs and into a tie for 16th place. Based on our record this season we had no illusions of being contenders for the state championship, but like many of the clubs that enter, wanted the experience and came to play hard and see how we could do. I think the girls should feel pretty good about the way they fought in the second game yesterday and should go into Sunday's game with desire and spirit. Go Lady Flames!
May 3rd vs Lakeway Liberty and Lady Hammers: 1-4, 1-2. I missed both these games lying in bed with a fever, but it souded like the girls played with heart. Taylor L. and Lorne C. picked up a goal each.
April 27th vs TUSC Blue: 0-1. Our final game of the tournament and after playing well, we really hoped to go out with a win and this was sooooo close. Again our girls got the 8am slot and they played hard the whole way, though some needed some "encouragement" at times. Cassie K. played a great game in the goal despite a sprained ankle sustained against the Outlaws the day before. We had several scoring chances but just couldn't put any away and then gave one up, late in the game, off a set play. After a handball just outisde the box, the girls set a wall and blocked the shot, but then stood and watched as the ball bounced straight back to the shooter who did not miss the second time. It's hard when you are tired, but we've told them that every second on the field counts and had they charged the player immdeiately after the deflection, my guess is that one would have ended in a 0-0 tie. Always some opportunities to learn, but all in all a great effort from both teams.
April 26th vs Intensity and KFC Outlaws Orange: 1-1, 0-3. Tournament time in Hendersonville, TN. We started with an 8am game and I told the girls the night before that it was important to be up, well fed, and ready to play by 7:30. Not sure if that was the difference or not, but our girls looked ready and despite falling down a goal early they kept fighting. Taylor L. struck for us in the second half and despite numerous chances by the other team, that was what we needed to secure the tie. When it was all said and done, there was only one team in the bracket who did not lose to the team called Intensity and it was our own version of intensity that got us there. The girls continued to play hard but looked a bit fatigued against Outlaws Orange, and combined with some very physical play from that team, our girls just couldn't get it going. We fell 0-3 but will have another chance against them as we have drawn them as our first match in the state tournament May 10th. Way to go ladies!
April 20th vs Signal Mtn Storm '97: 1-3. Well despite the fact that this one was waaay more competetive than the final score would indicate, we still couldn't find that winning combination. Signal mountain started the scoring with one that... well... lets just say sometimes those balls go in, but we'll just pretend that one didn't happen! Shortly after that, they scored a pretty goal on hard blast from the right wing and just 10 minutes into the game we were facing a two goal deficit. To our girl's credit they continued to work hard, and that paid off when not too long later, Kalli P. knocked one cleanly into the right corner of their goal. That score held for most of the rest of the game until midway into the second half when one of the Signal Mountain girls connected on a first time shot off a cross that would have beat the best of keepers. We had several good scoring chances with shots on goal from Megan H., Melissa G., Kalli P., Cayla H., and Lauren R. so we're definitely on the right track. All in all a good game for the ladies.
April 19th vs KFC Lady Devils: 0-1. The girls really stepped it up today and it would have been a nice reward to get a win, or even a tie, but the Lady Devils took advantage of a penalty kick awarded for a reflex handball late in the second half and that was that. I thought the ladies gave a winning effort today but it just wasn't t be. Nothing to hang their heads for though... Everyone played hard and the other team basically caught a break where we didn't. We created several good scoring chances and we just need to start converting those into goals. The good news is that this one was anyone's game deep into the second half and we proved we can play hard for 60 minutes. Keep it up ladies, we were THAT close.... Hats off to both teams for hard play and competetive spirit!
April 12th vs Krossfire: 2-8. Krossfire has never been an easy opponent for us, so I wasn't too surprised when they scored their first goal less than a minute into the game. The pleasant surprise came when we fought for a while and then tied the score at 1-1 with a great follow-up shot from Melissa G. after some hard pressure and a less than stellar clear by their defense. This was a game of momentary glimpes of hope and hard play, but overall, still waaay too many girls waiting, standing, and missing... Kari V. netted our second goal, again, on a follow up effort on a ball that bounced off their keeper, but all in all, I'd say we got about 15 minutes of that type of play from our girls in a game that lasts 60... The bright side of all of this is we proved that we can be a team that scores, and proved that we can be tough (at least for a little while). Unfortunately we also spent a fair bit of time looking like a team that doesn't trust each other, or in other words, did not look like a team at all. Ladies, you are going to have to decide which team you want to be. Hold your heads high, bring enthusiasm to practice, and good things will come.
April 8th vs McMinn Fusion: 0-5. Well... We began the 2008 spring season a bit depleted in respect to our orignal roster, and while we all knew the team had lost some players, perhaps we were not ready to realize the consequences and step up our play. Three seasons since we formed, the girls need to look around and realize that THEY are the team. While we continue to see individual effort and growth in practice, we failed to put that together into any kind of team effort today and paid the price. We played McMinn to a 0-0 tie at halftime, but literally disintegrated in the second half. My sense is that this season may be a true test of character for these girls. How much effort are they willing to give? Congrats to McMinn on a game well played and "heads up" to our girls with plenty to work on in practice!!
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