State Cup - Round #2
We knew going into the game that this would be one our toughest games in the past two years. Wall play in MOSA's premier flight and were ranked 12th in NJ, per nationalsoccerranking.com's latest posting. Our last exposure to a ranked team was in the U11 divisonal championship game where we were runners up to a stong MatchFit team that is now ranked 7th in NJ.
In the early going I think the Wall team and coaches were surprised by the Wildcats' ability to stifle their advances, as was evidenced by the ever-increasing volume of the Wall coach on the sideline. As the game wore on, the Lizards started controlling the game through hard running to and through balls, and deft first touches, and strong passes. They were quick, strong, physical and technically sound in all positions on the field, which allowed them to take advantage of any slight lapse on our part.
About 20 minutes in a Wall midfielder claimed a ball about 23 yards out, took one touch then fired a strong left-footed ball high far post to give them the 1-0 lead. Within a minute they were driving again, and if not for two consecutive close range saves by Lin, we would have been down by two. The Wildcats plugged on and continued to frustrate the Wall coach to end the half only down by the one goal.
The coaches emphasized to the Wildcats at the half that even though we hadn't put much pressure on the Wall goal, or had the ball in their half that much, that we weren't playing badly. They just needed to want the ball more than their opponent.. run to the ball harder, run through the ball, have better first touches, crisp passes, communicate, and play with confidence. [All the things (pretty much the only things) we work on in training]
The second half couldn't have started much worse, though.. Wall had the kick-off, fed a ball to their left wing, who advanced upfield and crossed to the on-running center forward who controlled quickly and slotted an unsaveable shot on the ground, far post. This all happened within a minute of the whistle and really affected the WildCats' spirit for the rest of the game.
Wall completed their scoring, close to time, with another unstoppable shot that fell just under the cross-bar from a left footed direct free kick from a few yards outside the box.
The Wildcats have nothing to hang to heads about....This was only the third loss for the Wildcats in their last 20+ games and all the losses were to quality teams, and none were blow-outs. This should give the girls incentive to work even harder in training, and on their own, to make themselves and the team better to take the Wildcats to the next level. Player development and team development doesn't necessarily happen simultansously...but if all the players try their hardest all the time and progress and develop at a similar rate, then the team-play will improve at that rate too. GO WILDCATS !!