Tippecanoe Fury @ Dutch Lions FC U9 Boys Orange
Date: Thursday 10/25/2012, 5.30 PM
Score halftime: 2-1 Tippecanoe
Final score: 2-4 Lions
Player of the game: Eben
The last game of the season was a home game for the Dutch Lions FC 03 Orange (U9 Boys). Before the game the standings and effect of the outcome of this game were clear: A win or tie would mean second place for the Lions, a loss would mean Tippecanoe would take the second place in the league. After a horrible start of the game the Lions got their act together and won the game kind a easy without playing a good game at all.
The game was only 30 seconds on the way and the first goal was scored. The offensive players of the Lions thought it was a good idea to try to dribble the ball around all 6 players of Tippecanoe right after the kick off and of course lost the ball. After losing the ball the defenders weren’t paying enough attention, hesitant to make a stop and the first goal of the game was a fact. Who thought the young Lions learned from this and would get a different approach might have felt like a fool. Seconds after losing the ball and getting scored on the Lions tried to do the exact same things, resulting in losing the ball again. Luckily for the Lions this time it didn’t end up in a goal, but that was only a matter of time. Within 3 minutes the Dutch Lions didn’t try to make any attempt to stop Tippecanoe from getting the ball up the field which resulted in a quick 2-0 in favor of Tippecanoe. After the game Coach Tommy knew exactly what happened: “ We have a lot of confidence and this game we had way too much, we played very arrogant. Thinking to beat all 6 players right of the kick off for example. I know we played some amazing games the last couple of weeks, but if we don’t do the things we are supposed to do we can lose against any team. This game showed that again and I hope the boys will learn from these kind of games”. In the remainder of the first half it seemed the Lions realized their approach of the game wasn’t the right one and with a lot of hard work, without good soccer, they got back in the game. In the first half the Lions were able to score the 2-1 with a goal scored by Seth.
At halftime the Lions talked about the way to play the game and the effort they put in the game. In the second half the Lions were able to play with more energy and never got into defensive trouble like the first half. Without playing good soccer the Lions were able to score 3 goals, Luke scored 2 goals and Ayden was able to score 1. Despite the goals scored the best player of the field played in the back for the Dutch Lions. Eben was picked as player of the game after playing extremely solid. “Eben works really hard, but is also very skillful as a defender. After stealing basically every ball that comes around him he always is able to find the right Dutch Lions player. That is a rare but great quality at this age. Some players will never learn that, but he’s got it” Coach Tommy about Eben.
With the win the Dutch Lions ended their 2012 Fall season. They won 5 games, tied 1 and lost 2 games. With these results they ended second in the highest bracket for their age group in the Dayton Area. Coach Tommy’s view on the standings: “I really don’t care that much about the standings. It’s nice for the boys to get a trophy, but I want them to be challenged. There have been too many games this season that were too easy. Because of that we let our guards down in some other games. We’ll have to look into our options to make sure we play all challenging games next spring. Winning is great, but I want them to become the best they possibly can be.”
Springfield Thunder – Dayton Dutch Lions FC U-9 Girls
Captain : Leila
Player of the day : Sidney & Jetta
Score : 2-1 (1-1)
The DDL FC U-9 girls played their last game of the fall season against Springfield Thunder. In a game were both team are equal Springfield open the score after 8 minutes. From minute 10 till half time the DDL FC U-9 girls were the better team with good ball posession, good moves and a lot of chances. Unfortunately not all the chances became goals that’s why we didn’t won the game. One minute before half time Sidney made a good dribble, stopped the ball in the box made a very good double scissors and she passed two players and give a pass on Jetta and she made her first goal this season. This goal is where we worked for the whole season. Making moves, making passes and finishing.
In the second half the game went up and down but the DDL FC U-9 girls created more chances and were the better team. But as also in the first half we didn’t finish the chances that we had and if you don’t finish than you’ll get a counter and a goal against. Also in this game. We tried, worked hard, had some chances but we didn’t finish them.
Coach W:
I’m very proud of the girls! The whole season we worked hard, learned a lot, made big improvement and had a lot of fun. In the winter we only have practice and some 4 v. 4 games. In this period we keep on working, improve ourselves and getting better so we can play a good spring season.
Dayton Dutch Lions FC U10 Boys – Butler United U10 Boys
Saturday October 27, 2012
Halftime score: 6-0
Final score: 14-0
Player of the game: Robbie Osborn
Today a game against Butler United. It is our last weekend with 2 games before our little break before we start preparing during the winter for the spring season. With everybody healthy the coach was expecting a good game with lots of pressure on the other team. After the game was over the result says it all. The Lions worked very hard and they did not allow the other team to get into the game. Individually we we’re stronger, faster and at some points during the game we we’re better combining then Butler United. The end result was 14-0 for the Lions which let too happy faces on and off the field. 1-0 Matthew, 2-0 Robbie, 3-0 Robbie, 4-0 Luke W, 5-0 Luke W, 6-0 Robbie, 7-0 Collin, 8-0 Robbie, 9-0 Robbie, 10-0 Andrew, 11-0 Luke W, 12-0 Drew, 13-0 Robbie, 14-0 Luke W.
Coach Dave: I loved the way we played today with great moments in the first and second half. Even at the last minute of the game we did not allow the other team to score a goal on us and worked hard. The end result is not the most important thing, the way we played is what we have to look at. And today it was good and we are making little steps in the right direction. I think this group is ready for bigger steps to be more challenged.
Tecumsah Arrows U10 Boys – Dayton Dutch Lions FC U10 Boys
Sunday October 28, 2012
Halftime score: 1-4
Final score: 3-7
Player of the game: Luke Weller
Our last game of the fall season, an away game against Tecumsah Arrows. A team who has struggled in the season to get a win. Could it be today against us? The Lions we’re fired up from yesterday with an exceptional big win, today the coach did not expect the game to go as yesterday because the coach of the Arrows knew about our game from yesterday. With this last game it was also a game to see how we are playing, which player feels comfortable on which position, and how does the team react to the changes. We started very well with good ball possession creating a lot of opportunities, but the Arrows had a good goalkeeper who stopped shots from John, Luke W and Collin. It wasn’t until the 11th minute before we opened the score. It was Collins shot that was unstoppable for the goalkeeper. After the first goal the Lions played a much better game scoring three more goals. The 2-0 was a goal via John and Robbie, Johns shot rolled underneath the goalkeeper and it was Robbie who gave the last touch right before the goal line. The 3-0 and 4-0 we’re goals by Luke W. The Arrows tried very hard an we’re given a free kick on the 11 yard box-line. They took this opportunity to score a goal making it a 4-1 score at half time. The second half was very good in the first 5 minutes. The Lions we’re putting a lot of pressure on the Arrows which led to the 5-1 and 6-1. Both goals we’re scored by Luke W. After these moments the Lions finished the game with good possession of the ball scoring one more goal via Nicolas. The Arrows team scored 2 more goals as well giving a final score off 7-3 for the Lions.
Coach Dave: the fall season is over, we started with a big loss. But because we believed in ourselves and worked very hard at our practices we all could see the improvements as an individual and as a team. The second game against CUSA was the prove of that with a big win. The third game was against the undefeated TSC, we we’re the first team who gave them a good match. But in the end they we’re the better team giving us our second loss. After that loss the lions stepped up, with 5 consecutive wins against good teams with good team work and beautiful goals. Our best game was probably against the undefeated NWC, with good ball possession and great teamwork we won 4-2. Our biggest win was against Butler, an unstoppable Lions team played very well giving us a 14-0 win. At the end I can say that I am impressed with what the Lions has showed me so far, step by step we are playing more and more the Dutch soccer philosophy. Build up starting with the goalkeeper and via ball possession trying to create scoring opportunities. If the other team has the ball we are putting a lot of pressure on them to win the ball as close to the goal as possible. During the winter practices we will continue our hard work so we are ready for the spring season, personally; I cannot wait.
Dutch Lions FC U12 Boys Orange –Springfield Thunder Navy 00
Saturday October 27, 10.30 PM
Halftime Score: 0-1
Final Score: 1-3
Player of the Game: James
The Dutch Lions U12 Boys Orange played their last game of the fall season last Saturday. They knew it would be, once again, a difficult game, against a team that became champions over the past weekend.
It would end up in one of the best games of the season for the Dutch Lions, the team played very well together, defensive organization was good with the boys working hard and the team ended up creating some big chances with the Lions being unlucky with their finishing.
Despite the equal chances for both sides the Lions were behind by one goal at half time, but the team felt confident they could continue the good game and look for at least one point today.
In the second half the Lions got what they deserved, with Richard scoring a good goal with a left foot shot in the far corner. With the game tied and both teams wanting to win it became a very nice game to watch, with an unhappy finish for the Lions… A goal from Springfield and an unlucky own goal for the Lions (number 8 of the season!!!) in the last 5 minutes of the game put the end score of 3-1 on the board.
Coach Sid “Despite the loss I am proud of the boys today, especially defensively we played a very strong first 40 minutes with James really stepping it up and playing a strong game as a center defender, it is nice to see players developing to important members of the team. I do think we can still improve a lot, especially in the decisions we make with the ball, especially the center midfielders, sometimes a pass is a smarter option then a dribble even when there is space to dribble, and vice versa, I think the next step for this team is exactly to understand when to do what in ball possession, taking more advantage of the characteristics and skills every player has, but like I said, today was a good game for us and we just have to keep working and keep improving like we did in the last 3 months, and this is a very talented group of young soccer players to work with so I am confident in a good winter and spring season.”
Game: DDL FC U13 Girls vs. Springfield Thunder 99
Date: October 28, 2012
Result: 0-0
Players of the Game: Micayla Feltner and Kennedy Young
Against the unbeaten first-place team in the league, the Lions played their most exciting game by far. In a hard fought match that saw both sides creating numerous opportunities on goal and some outstanding offense, the keepers were able to hold strong to their clean sheets. Kennedy Young for the Lions stonewalled many attempts and was the anchor for the Lions’ defense. On the attacking side of things, the Lions created many great chances to score, but were unfortunately unable to put any of them away. They hit the post on a free kick, generated chances off of crosses, created their own shots near the top of the box, and had several lucky bounces help them out, but nothing was able to find the back of the net. Defensively the girls played solid team defense, helped out by Micayla Feltner in the back. She was able to clean up many messes and through balls, often by winning a tackle and finding an outlet pass to begin the transition to the attack. Coach Eric thought that “this was an incredibly fun game to coach and watch. Although I would have liked to win, given how well both teams played today I think that both deserved a point.”
This was one of the better defensive efforts that the Lions’ put forth this season. It was also one of the first games that they were truly challenged for a majority of the game. The back line rose to the occasion, working together to cover for each other. The midfield did a good job in transition of making sure that they got back to cover their marks. The Thunder were the first team to have a dangerous set piece, off of a corner kick, and they used that to great effect. This was the first time that the Lions have faced an organized attack, but were able to quickly figure things out and mark the runners. Any crosses that dropped in the box were quickly cleared or cleaned up by the goalie. The Lions were only caught off guard a few times in transition, but the back four were successfully able to cut it off or stall it long enough for the midfield to get back and support.
In the offensive half of the game, the girls also played one of their better games. Facing a stronger defense that they were used to, by half time the girls figured out that they weren’t going to be able to hold onto the ball as much as they could in previous games. There were many instances of stringing passes together, of making supporting runs, and of switching the field of play. The Lions were able to move the ball around with some of the best combinations that they have showed all season. Although they couldn’t finish on this occasion, the fact that they were able to create this many opportunities against the top team in the league is a good sign. Coach Eric enjoyed the game, saying that “we really played well today. The girls were excited about tying the first-place team, and I was pleased with their effort. They fought to the end on every play, and nearly pulled out a go-ahead goal towards the end of the game. I’m excited to see the girls grow from this game, hopefully to continue watching them play at this level for the rest of the year.”