Dutch Lions FC U12 Boys Orange – Boro United
Wednesday, February 6, 8.30pm
Final score: 3-4
Player of the game: John
The Dutch Lions U12 Boys Orange played their second indoor game at Kingdom last Wednesday. The young lions lost but where the best team during the entire game. Coach Sid “Today was one of those games that everyone could see a clear difference between two total different playing styles, we were playing the possession game with a lot of short passing and the other team only played the long ball, and unfortunately this indoor facility with walls favors the second type of playing style, with the ball bouncing of the wall all the time. But my main focus is the development of my players and we will always play the possession game, every pass we give has to have an intention and a set destination. The third goal that we score was a great example of that, with a pass back from a throw in, switching fields multiple times, a lot of one twos and one touch passing and with a great finish from the striker, absolutely the high light of the game.” As player of the game the coach nominated John. “John has a lot of talent, with his speed, technique and strong shot he is a dangerous player, proven today with a lot of hard work, one goal and one assist”.
Game: DDL FC U12 Girls vs. Kingdom Blue-Jenk
Date: February 9, 2012 at 6:45pm
Result: W 7-1
Player of the Game: Meera
This was an excellent showing for the Lions. Despite playing against a slightly overmatched team, the girls did well not to play down to their level and were able to put the game out of reach. They had a strong showing at both ends of the field, creating chances in the attacking third while stonewalling the opponent in the defensive third. Coach Eric was pleased with the result, saying that “playing against a team that we have the upper hand on, we really needed to have a good showing and prove ourselves to build confidence. It was great to see the girls rise to the occasion and make the most of things.”
The Lions’ back line was not really tested a lot during this game, but the girls were able to prevent most attacks from being dangerous by stepping up and winning their battles in the midfield third. The girls distributed well from the back, often finding their defensive backs or outside midfielders to build up instead of punting the ball long. The girls never backed down from a challenge, and were consistently aggressive. Coach Eric enjoyed the effort, saying that “we were able to show how strong we can be in the back when we get our midfielders to help out, and when we are able to successfully play a full game of team defense.”
There were a plethora of opportunities for the Lions this game; and the girls did well to finish on a number of them. They created many chances for themselves in many different ways. They were able to find each other through passing, they followed up rebounds off of saved shots, they created individually off of the dribble, and building up off of a counterattack as well. The Lions possessed the ball well, and did their best to find open teammates when under pressure. Several attacks were the results of good possession from the back, switching the ball through the midfield, and finding an open striker or winger on the other side of the field. Coach Eric thought that “this was one of the best overall games we have played to this point. We possessed well, defended as a team, and finished our chances when they came along. I’m glad that the girls rose to the challenge, they deserved to have the final result that they did.”
Game: DDL FC U13 Girls vs. Boro Attack Orange
Date: February 4, 2013 at 5:15pm
Result: Tied 2-2
Player of the Game: Micayla
This was a tough game for the Lions. From the first whistle they came out strong and applied intense pressure for the first five minutes of the game, rarely letting the ball out of their attacking half. They generated multiple opportunities but were unfortunately unable to find the back of the net with any of them. The game inevitably swung back towards neutral and became a more even contest, with the Lions eventually scoring but unable to maintain a lead. Coach Eric said that “this was a great game for us, but we couldn’t put it away. We learned the importance of finishing our chances; if we put away one or two in the first five minutes this game becomes a lot more comfortable and less of a fight for us.”
This game was a good defensive showing for the Lions. They closed down passing lanes and were able to put constant pressure on the ball. What few opportunities they did give up were often in the form of a counterattack, or when there was a breakdown in communication. The girls won most of their 50/50 challenges in the midfield, often stopping the attack before it became anything of meaning. Unfortunately, the amount of pressure caused by a poor transition lead to two eventual goals for the other team.
In one game, this was both an incredibly good offensive game, and a very frustrating one for the girls. They created multiple opportunities from individual effort, from counterattacks, from build-ups, and from possession in the attacking half. Unfortunately they did not have the finishing touch this game, and allowed the other team to capitalize on their opportunities instead. The Lions’ passing was outstanding this game, with the girls possessing well, moving off of the ball to provide passing lanes and options, creating off the dribble before finding an open teammate, and communicating well. The coach’s final thoughts on the attack were that “we have to put a team away when we can. Beyond missing chances that we needed to finish, I thought we played really well.”
Dutch Lions FC G95/G96 @ Lady Warrior G97
Date: Sunday 2/10/2012, 5.00 PM
Final score: 4-0 Lady Warrior Win
Player of the game: -
The 4th game for the U14/U15 Dutch Lions girls was scheduled for 5.00 PM against Lady Warrior. The Dutch Lions came of the tie against CSA 2 weeks ago and hoped to keep improving on their game. With only 12 players from the possible 23 the Dutch Lions started the game with only 1 sub. During the game the Lions never looked like they really wanted to win the game and lost with 4-0.
After the game Coach Tommy was honest: “The Lady Warrior team deserved to win. We did not play well and didn’t show enough effort. We made silly and even stupid mistakes. If we think that we, with a U14 and U15 combined team, can compete against good U15 teams with this attitude we are very wrong. But at least these girls were at the game. This week we need to get together and work our butts off to be ready for the game next week. I hope we are able to raise up to the occasion. The CSA team we tied 2 weeks ago is in first place in the league. Our tie against them shows we have the quality to compete. Let's assume this was a learning experience for the players and have faith in a better game next week”.
Dutch Lions FC G96 @ NKSA Blast
Date: Sunday 2/10/2012, 3.00 PM
Final score: 3-1 Dutch Lions Win
Player of the game: Rachel
After a bye last weekend the Dutch Lions FC G96 played their 4th game in the Wall2Wall indoor league. Today the scheduled game was against NKSA Blast. A team the Lions played last year in the Louisville Cup in Kentucky. The Dutch Lions lost that game 2-0 and struggled a lot with the physicality of the NKSA Blast players. The Lady Lions were very motivated to take revanche for that loss and with a lot of effort they won the game with 3-1. Player of the game was Rachel, scoring 2 goals.
The game started with both teams trying to control and possess the ball. The NKSA Blast team tried to build up from the back and already in the first couple of minutes the Dutch Lions were able to steal the ball close to the goal of the opponent. It was Rachel who first missed a 1v1 with the goalkeeper and later hit the crossbar with a shot. The Dutch Lions stepped up as a team and kept the field very compact when NKSA was having possession of the ball. After great defensive work from Lauren M and Christina Rachel was able to break away and score the first goal of the game.
After the Dutch Lions goal NKSA got more on the Dutch lions side of the field, without creating any real scoring opportunities. This would change after a wrong step of a Dutch Lions defender. The first real opportunity meant the equalizer. After this goal the Dutch Lions stepped up their game and were able to create some momentum. On one of the attacks it was Rachel again who scored with a great, diagonal shot over the goalkeeper in the far corner. The Lady Lions were in the lead again and this time they were determined to keep it! Katie M showed some great understanding of the game about 10 minutes before the end of the game. The opponent passed the ball back to the goalkeeper, but Katie was there to pressure the goalkeeper faster than she expected. Under pressure the goalkeeper was forced to a quick kick, blocked by katie into the goal. The Lions were up 2 goals and in the remainder of the game this lead was never threatened. The Lions could have score more goals in the counter attacks in the final 10 minutes after NKSA decided to take more risks, but Ashley was not able to score after some good runs from her side.
After the game coach Tommy was relieved: “I have been telling these girls for the past 18 months that we are nothing less than any other team in this area. The only thing that is different is the attitude on the field. We have felt like other teams are more and better than us in games that made absolutely no sense to me, and we played like that. Seeing how hard the girls worked today, the aggression when pressuring the opponent, that made me really proud. I truly believe we won today because we played like winners. We did whatever it took to win the game. If we play combine this attitude with our skills and understanding of game tactics, like we did today, we can beat any team. Today we beat a team that plays in the highest Buckeye Division (the State division) and is in the Midwest Regional League First Division. They are ranked number 4 in the state of Kentucky. That is a great accomplishment and gives, at least me, a lot of trust for the Disney tournament next weekend and the spring season!”
Dutch Lions FC U18 Girls – CUP Black
Sunday, February 10, 06.00 PM
Final Score: 0-2
Player of the Game: Spenser
The Dutch Lions U18 Girls played their fourth game of the 2013 indoor season. Playing against the leader of the indoor league, it would be a great opportunity to test the defensive organization where the lady lions have been working so hard on the last couple of weeks. “It is important to keep playing against strong teams so that we keep improving and growing as a team. Today we showed that the defensive organization is strong, not giving a whole lot of chances away. I know it’s hard but now we need to improve our concentrations levels and defend strongly and as a block during the entire game. Today two mistakes in positioning cost us two goals. But I am happy with the performance of the girls today, we defended well and tried to build up and play the possession game, now our focus has to be on how to create some more chances and hopefully score a goal soon.” Where coach Sid’s word’s after the game. The lady lions ended up losing the game 0-2 but showed good improvement from last weeks game. As player of the game coach Sid nominated Spenser “Spenser played strongly today as our left fullback, good positioning and winning a lot of 1v1 duels with the attackers. I hope this gives her the confidence that she needs and she keeps up the great work.”
Game: Dayton Dutch Lions FC U14 Boys – FC Thunder Struck
Date/time: February 10th 2013, 2.00 PM
Score: 0-0
Player of the day: Kean
For the 3rd time this Winter season we travelled to Wall2Wall. So far the results at the indoor complex in Mason were disappointing. We lost all our games. Some because of our own lack of attitude, but mostly because the competition is strong and the teams we compete against are playing in high(er) leagues.
Today we had to play FC Thunder Struck who beat our U15 2 weeks ago with 0-2. Once again we knew we were up for a challenge.
And finally we showed what we can do if we all go for 100%. With a lot of pressure on the ball we never gave Thunder a change to start passing and to create changes. We stole the ball early and passed nicely at times.
We weren’t able to create a lot of changes, but neither did Thunder. The biggest change they got was well stopped by Trent and the biggest changes we could have were just stopped outside the box.
A game with a lot of passion and teamspirit. Coach Patrick was very happen to see this: “We had a good of practice and the boys took this to the game. They were marking closer, going in harder and more working as a team than before. We spoke about this and it’s good to see that everybody got the message.
Now it’s time to also create more offensively. This Sunday will be a good competitive game versus Warren. I’m positive that we can get our first win at Wall2Wall if we show up with the same attitude as this game, but only than”.