With only 1 week left in the Fall season we present to you last week's game reports. A weekend where the U12 Girls played in the Warrior Classic, the U15 Boys Orange and U9 Girls played their last game of the regular season and the U13 Boys had another good performance.
HOPE SPRINGS WELLNESS CENTER TEAM OF THE WEEK
GAME REPORTS
Team: U10 Girls
Location: Tippecanoe
Result: L 3-0 (1-0)
Players: Reagan, Quiterie, Madeline, Alivia, Elizabeth S., Ashlyn, Sophia, Isabella
Hope Springs Player of the game: Reagan/ Elizabeth S.
Defensively, the girls did a good job. They were organized for the most of the game, defending as a team with all the players involved in this process. It was interesting to see the girls dominant in several 1v1 duels, good defensive runs as well as great covers.
Offensively, the girls showed some confidence on the ball, always trying to build up from the back. We saw some good individual initiatives and also good passing. The girls created effective attacking situations, but it was some lack of communication from players in better positions to receive the ball.
After the game, Coach Paulo said “Today we played our last league game, and for me is amazing see the progress these girls have made throughout the season. They are assimilating the ideas and playing more as a team. On the ball, not always their decision-making is the most assertive but it is natural for these early ages. They are improving their skills, continuing to learn the game and above of all, having fun playing the sport they love to play”.
Coach Paulo nominated Reagan and Elizabeth S. as the Hope Springs Player of the Game and quoted “Reagan has been constantly improving as Goal Keeper. She is fearless and has the ability to continue, even after minor setbacks, her confidence levels are growing and she’s becoming more confident and communicative and coaching her teammates during the games”. Continuing, coach Paulo said, “Elizabeth S. is very focused in every moment of the game and her positional understanding has improved substantially. Today she did an excellent job on her positioning, providing good cover to the outside backs, and her aggression on the ball preventing dangerous situations”.
Team: U12 Girls
Record: 0-3-0
Players: Mia; Rachel; Laura; Ava P.; Adler; Hope; Shiloh; Nicole; Ava B.; Alyvia; Marayna; Julia; Lauren
This past weekend the Dayton Dutch Lions U12 girls competed at Warrior Fall Classic tournament, all the games were played at Thomas Cloud Park, in Dayton.
On Saturday, the young ladies played their first game against the Ohio Elite team. During the first half, the young Lions had a pleasant performance, very organized on defense and always ready to counter attack. They connected their passing game, taking advantage of the space created by opponent team formation with only one girl in the center of the pitch. During the second half, the team couldn't hold the numerous initiatives from the opposing team, mostly because of a lack of aggressiveness and focus in the last third of the field.
Saturday afternoon's game was a nice challenge with two teams fighting for the victory, playing offensively since the initial whistle. The young Lions presented a positive performance, they were able to find their options to build up their game in support and move the ball up on the field due a good dynamic with constant runs off the ball, especially from the wings. During the second half, the young Dutch Lions had more ascendant on the match, disposing of the best chances to score. However, a lack of precision to finish those situations and a couple of defensive mistakes ended up being crucial at the end.
Sunday, the Dutch Lions team had perhaps their best performance, very thoughtful on the ball with a great passing game. Numerous times it was possible to see the young ladies building up their game from the back in support, with a good dynamic. On defense, the team was able to keep a solid performance throughout match, compact and with their lines close, reducing the time and space for the opponent creates danger. It was not a perfect exhibition because the team was not able to finish the chances created, and that was the difference at the end.
After the tournament Coach Bruno had the following to say, “about this particular weekend, I think we played better than our opponent the last two games, we had more ball possession and better control of the match. We just needed to be more effective in the last moment to finish the chances we've created." continuing" this was the last competition of the season and I have to say that I couldn't be more proud of this group of young girls. It was really rewarding as a coach to work with such a committed group, they worked really hard throughout the season and the result is visible. All of them have improved individually and as a team including our passing game and the way we see the game, using the entire space and playing more in support. Of course, we also have committed some mistakes but that is part of the process and I really think we are taking important steps in the right direction"
Team: U13 Boys
Location: West Carrollton DOC
Result: W 1-0 (1-0)
Players: Braxton, Holden, R.J, Max, Connor C., Keaton, Josiah, Aaron, Noah, Ryan R., Ryan C., Dominic, Connor B., J.R. George
Goal(s): Noah
Hope Springs Player of the game: Noah/ RJ
Defensively, the boys did a good job especially the first half, where the Lions didn’t allow the opponent to shoot on goal.
At the second-half, playing against the wind, the boys were caught by surprise a few times which allowed the opponent team to create a few dangerous situations. Despite the competitive game, it was possible to see some lack of aggression here and there, and the defensive organization was not always the most organized in the midfield sector. The back line was very organized and very focused, providing good cover to the full backs when necessary and they were able to push up into the midfield as a unit.
Offensively, the Lions had tons of chances to score, mainly at the first-half. They controlled the game, had good ball possession and created good attacking situations but it looks like the Lions had some trouble finding the back of the net. At the second half, with the course of the game, the quality of their decision making decreased a little bit and the boys lost the ball possession too many times due to a poor passing.
Coach Paulo said after the game “This game had two distinct halves. The 1st, where we absolutely controlled the game and the 2nd where we let the opponent take the initiative and created a few chances to score. Again, we build so many good plays, a lot of good chances and shots on goal but we are struggling in capitalizing on those chances. We still have 2 more games until the end of the season and I’m excited to see how they will do”.
After the game, Coach Paulo nominated as the Hope Springs Player of the Game: Noah for his “good performance and decision making in the midfield, and the winning goal he scored” and R.J. for his “good positioning and capacity of cutting past his direct opponent, his leadership on the back line, and excellent work rate throughout the game.”
Team: U15 Boys Orange
Location: West Carrollton DOC
Result: T 2-2
Players: Luke, Collin, Evan, Teddy, Owen, Triston, Dominic S., John, Tommy, Robbie, Dominic M. (U15B Blue), Noah, Nick, Simon, Julian (U15B Boue), Aaron
Goal(s): Simon, Collin
Hope Springs Player of the game: Collin
The DDL FC U15B Orange played their last league game of the 2016 Fall season this past Sunday at DOC Stadium. A very windy game that ended in a 2-2 tie.
During the first part of the first half the team played with confidence and through some good passing and movement John sent a great through ball to Simon that was able to stay calm in front of the net and score out of a 1v1 with the GK. As the first half went on the young lions struggled with the pressure put on the ball and movement out of the midfield from the opponent end ended up conceding a goal putting the score at 1-1. The lions reacted well to the goal conceded and Collin scored out of a beautiful long distance strike putting the lions up 2-1 at half time.
During the 2nd half the lions struggled playing against extreme winds coming from the South and during vast parts of the half they were forced to defend, trying to look for breakaways. The opponent put some good pressure on the lions backline and where able to score the tying goal putting the end score on the boars.
Coach Sid after the game, "We all wanted to finish off the season with a win and the boys worked hard today to try and get it. We scored two nice goals and had a few other opportunities but at the end i think the tie was the right result for this game. We moved up two divisions after becoming champions in the fall and i don't think anyone was really expecting us to do as well as we did. We finished with a 3-2-3 record and played some good soccer the past few weeks. Communication and talking to each other in the field is going to be our main concern over the winter and I expect us to have a even better spring season."
Collin was nominated as player of the game and coach Sid explained why, "We are blessed to have 2 players on this team that are very committed to the GK position with Collin and Luke and both have had good seasons in goal with several clean sheets and good saves. But they also bring value to the team when playing field as Collin showed today with a beautiful goal and Luke has had a few goals and assists as well. Besides the goal today Collin also made a great save during the second half keeping the game tied and had a few other good moments.."