The Dayton Dutch Lions played 4 matches after the Labor Day weekend with mixed results. See below for our ALT Architecture Team of the Week and game reports.
GAME REPORTS:
Age/Gender: U13G
Location: DOC Stadium | West Carrolton High School
Players: Ava B., Lauren, Sara, Alyvia, Hope, Shiloh, Mia, Ava P., Rachel, Laura, Kayden, Nicole, Adler
Result: 0-4 L
ALT Player of the Match: Ava P
Defensively, the Lions did well to win challenges in the midfield but struggled a bit dealing with their direct balls behind the back line. Both keepers made some saves to keep thegame close but as a team it wasn't our best defensive performance.
In the attack, the Lions were able to move the ball well from the defending third into the midfield third but struggled to get anything going near the goal. Had the Lions played a little faster and moved the ball from side to side, they would have had more success.
Coach Bradley stated, “I learned a lot about our team from this game. I think we displayed a lot of frustration and several players seemed unhappy with the result. I believe moving forward the girls will work harder and have greater focus in training sessions so we can improve in these various areas.”
Ava P was selected as the ALT Player of the Match. Coach Bradley stated, “Ava P is always one of those players who is going to go out and compete. She hates losing and will do anythingto help her team succeed. She stepped up for us today by sliding into the backline and did well to keep us organized against the opposition attack. Her intensity and desire to win are evident."
Age/Gender: U13 Boys
Location: Ohio Fusion Fields | Bellbrook
Players: Andrew, Asher, Zane, Christian, Tyler, Daniel, Kon, Levi, Joseph, Akol, Tyson
Result: 7 - 2 Loss
Scoring: 5’ OF, 12’ OF, 19’ OF, 26’ OF, 40’ OF, 56’ Akol (Asher), 62’ Christian, 70’ OF, 75’ OF
ALT Player of the Match: Akol
The U13 Boys were on the road for the first time and took a bit of a beating from a good team. We played the match without any substitutes and fortunately the weather was kind to us with a small breeze. The Lions did give a spirited effort from the opening whistle to the end, but their execution and communication suffered greatly and the impact was painful.
Defensively, we had players moved around a bit and we had trouble finding the proper marking. The opponent took advantage of this and scored two goals early. These goals impacted our desire to communicate and we lacked the talk, movement and support needed to be successful against good teams. The gaps between defenders became too great and the home team made us pay for our spacing.
Offensively, the Lions struggled to put passes together. As the other team pressured, we started to clear the ball at every chance and this only played into the opposition’s strength. The second half we did better in moving the ball wide and attacking in the final third. Akol scored off a nice pass from Asher to get us on the scoreboard and Christian scored on a long shot just several minutes later.
After the game Coach Ric shared the following with the team, “Even though, we played hard we did not play very smart today. When we got behind we fell into some bad habits of not talking or moving. We are not athletic enough to not communicate and move for each other. We have to play smarter and be more committed to each other when we play good teams or we will suffer like we did today. Good news is we play again tomorrow and can quickly put this game behind us.”
The ALT Player of the Match, selected by Coach Ric, was Akol. “Akol started the game playing center back for us and worked hard. He was one of the few players who competed today. Once we moved him up top, our offense got started and his goal was a very nice shot after he made a very nice run and asked for the ball. He gave a 100%.”
Age/Gender: U13 Boys
Location: DOC Stadium | West Carrollton
Players: Andrew, Asher, Zane, Christian, Tyler, Daniel, Kon, Levi, Joseph, Akol, Tyson
Result: 4-2 Win
Scoring: 8’ Knights, 15’ Akol (Joseph), 24’ Akol (Kon), 29’ Joseph (Asher), 60’ Knights, 65’ Kon (Akol)
ALT Player of the Match: Joseph
The U13 boys played back-to-back this weekend without substitutes so plenty of playing time was available for the mighty 11. The opponent for the second match lacked game experience at the select level and the Lions were able to garner the win.
For the third game in a row, we made some player changes defensively and it took the players some time to get used to each other. The Lions were not attacking the ball with any energy and seemed to just sit back and wait for the visitors to bring them game to them. This resulted in an early goal for the opponents as they took the space given and got off a good shot for the opening score. We did adjust a bit and controlled the rest of the match from the 10 minute mark on and gave up a late second goal due to some poor positioning.
Offensively, the Lions were given much more space than the previous game and had the time to find teammates open. The passing was good as the moved up the outside very well. The first goal was the result of a four pass combination with Asher finding Tyson at midfield. Tyson played the ball up the line to Joseph who beat the outside back off the dribble and made an excellent square pass to Akol in the box. Akol took a small touch and hammered the ball into the back of the net to tie the match 1-1. As the Lions became more and more comfortable with the ball at their feet a second goal came when Kon gained possession and played Akol into space with a long thru ball. Akol had outgunned the defense as easily scored his 1-on-1 past the oncoming keeper. A third goal came from Joseph as he beat the keeper near post after Asher found him open in the box. In the second half, the Lions played too much long ball and did not create the opportunities that they should have for the amount of possession they had of the ball. A short corner kick did bring a final goal as Akol received the short pass and dribbled towards goal. He crossed the ball and Kon was waiting to tuck it into the goal.
Coach Ric shared the following after the match, “The pace of this match was much slower than yesterday and we started slowly, but after ten minutes controlled the match. I believe that their goal was a wakeup call for us and we responded well. The second half we lost concentration and our execution really suffered. We should have continued with our short passing ~ possession game and we would have done very well. Instead, we started playing long ball trying to get the easy goal and it did not happen.”
Joseph was selected by Coach Ric as the ALT Player of the Match. “Joseph had a very good game and a good weekend of soccer. You never have to working about him bringing energy to the game. He is always going all out. Today, he played within himself and did what he was capable of doing…..good positioning, good passing and dribbling at the right time. Congratulations on a strong effort, Joseph.”
Age/Gender: U15 Boys
Location: DOC Stadium | West Carrollton
Players: Connor B., Justin, Keaton, Aaron, Holden, Owen, R.J., Noah, Gradey, Alex, Deng, Connor C. Gabe, Collin, Max
Result: 1-0 Loss
ALT Player of the Match: Connor C.
After a weekend without games the U15 boys team were back in action, playing their third match of the season. The team played in their 1:4:3:3 usual formation.
Defensively the boys had a decent performance, especially in terms of organization and space occupation. It was nice to see the boys reacting quickly after losing ball possession, pressuring the ball carrier, our defensive line and goalkeeper played an important role on that by keeping the lines together. Especially during the first half the team had some problems to intercept the long ball or win the individual duels, something that ended up being crucial at the end. After the break the boys were able to change that, which have limited significantly the opponent game.
Offensively the Dutch Lions had a very positive performance. After a rough start, where the boys couldn't find the right options to connect their passes, they were able to settle their game and control the ball possession, with moments of good soccer. It was really nice to see the team with confidence to build up from the back, with a good dynamic. The boys were able to create multiple chances to score, especially during the second period of the match, however they couldn't capitalize those chances, mostly due a lack of accuracy in that last moment.
After the game Coach Bruno had the following to say “Overall I think we had a really nice performance, despite some inconsistent periods during the first half, the boys played well today. I happy for the way we moved the ball, with a good collective dynamic. Of course we have committed a few mistakes, especially during the first stage of the build up, but that's the price we are willing to pay at this phase of our development. I'm pretty sure we will learn and grow from it, the result is a consequence of it, in the future we will collect the fruits of our work in a consistent basis, I believe."
As ALT Player of the match coach, Bruno selected Connor C. and said, "Today Connor C. played an important role in the team maneuver. He was the main reference to connect our game when the team had the ball possession, and also on our defensive proves closing the space and keeping the sectors together."