EAST VS. WEST

[siegelsoccer]

East / West All Star Game, Saturday, November 14 at Drake's Creek, Hendersonville, TN

 

Wow! I probably got about as close to coaching a college soccer team as I will ever get. What an outstanding line up. After talking with many of the head coaches whose players were represented on the team we chose to play a 4-4-2 against the West. Warm ups were fun. These girls were not only some of the best in the state but they were so charasmatic, a lot of fun to be around. I especially had a good time talking with Savannah from Brentwood, Kiersten from Bearden, and Lauren from Dobyns Bennett. Katie Jones was phenomenonal. She controlled the middle of the field like it was her back yard. Very composed on the ball, effortless passer of the ball, and solid defensively. Taylor and Alexis swept up most attacks from their defensive positions and Hannah dominated from the right wing. Up top, pick your poison. Kerbi made some great runs and Jennifer Lee was awesome. Great ball control, speed, and always seemed to be in the right position in the box to make plays.

First goal - Good possession from East side, ball comes in from the left flank on a pass from Stephanie Surgerner to Katie Jones. Jones ripped a shot off the cross bar from 25 yards (glad the goal was anchored). Rebound comes to the feet of crashing Lee who finds the back of the net. "Stankie Leg" celebration ensues. (1-0 East)

Second goal - Hannah makes great run down the right side rewarded with well paced pass, Hannah beats defender on the dribble, Shot from top of the 18 side netting far post. Incredibly versitile player. (2-0 East)

Halftime

Third goal - West broke us down in transition with their 3 forwards. On a bouncing ball down the middle West forward pushes the ball into the net with outside of her right foot. Great finish. Don't have their names...(2-1)

Fourth goal - I have coached Kerbi for four years and this the best goal I have seen her strike. Receives the ball on the top right corner of the 18. Cuts back to her left and strikes a bent ball around the keeper, top shelf back post. (3-1 East)

Fifth goal - mirror image of Hannah's first goal.

 

Hats off to all the parents that attended, thanks to the girls for being understanding and in some cases playing in positions that are not "natural positions" to them, and a big thank you to Russ Plummer, Bill McCloskey, and Eric Turner for organizing this event. It was a huge success, i would estimate the crowd at around 75-100.

 

Selection for the team was made by coaches that are registered members of the THSSCA. The purpose of the Tennessee High School Soccer Coaches Association is to promote the sport of high school soccer across the state of Tennessee. THSSCA is the official voice of high school soccer coaches to the state of Tennessee High School Athletic Association and works to recognize the statewide accomplishments of student-athletes, referees, and coaches. THSSCA also works to promote the professional development of high school soccer coaches. http://www.thssca.com/

 

If your coach is not a member then he/she can not be a part of the process of recognizing the statewide accomlishments of student-athletes. This organization is relatively new and we need the support of all coaches through their membership. The more members and support we are able to garner the more serious other organizations will take our sport. If you are a parent and are part of a booster club organization in support of soccer, make sure to budget for dues for your coach so that your players can be eligible for these awards.

[nizolek]

1-0 at the half.

2-0, then 2-1. Then East scored two to end the game at 4-1

 

East coach was Eric Shelton (Siegel)

West coach was Jan Morrissey (BGA)

 

Goals for the East: Lee (Oak Ridge), Towry (Siegel), and the last two from McGowen (Riverdale)

Goal for the West: Bussart (Houston)

 

The thing that struck me about the game was how well the game came together and how well the girls played. Nobody was under a lot of pressure so maybe the girls just played. It was enjoyable to watch.

 

I know there has been discussion about not all the "best" girls being included, but this was probably a pretty good bunch. I was particularly impressed with the goalkeeping (East: McInturff (Dobyns Bennett), Shipman (Brentwood). West: Hooper (CPA), Mangrum (Franklin). If these weren't the best goalkeepers in the senior class, they must be pretty close.

 

Some keys to the game, as I saw it. The East seemed stronger in the mid field with Jochmann (Oak Ridge) and Jones (Dobyns Bennett) and controlled things there. In fact, in my view Jones was the player of the game. Towry played with a lot of energy, and McGowen showed good aggressiveness and finishing with her two well placed goals.

 

Taylor Cravanas (Bearden) was a rock in the back for the East. She turned away several dangerous West challenges.

 

For the West, Hunter (BGA), Bussart (Houston), Zigelsky (Franklin) kind of stood out for me.

[soccermom127]

Thanks for the great updates!

 

How was the coach for each side determined? Was play time evenly distributed between the girls participating?

[h2odog]

Glad my nudging got somebody stirred up. Great stories and detail. Funny how we see the same game differently.

It sounds more like East vs. Middle, but glad a good time was had by all. To my earlier point, two of the top keepers in the state were not there and they are from shelby county, very West. I'm using ODP, as my measure and I don't know the girls who played and am sure they are excellent as well. Maybe down the road we can have four teams and play a mini-tournament. That would really get a lot of attention and exposure for the girls. Let's face it, many, many excellent players were not there and this could be a major opportunity to promote quality soccer in TN.

[soccermom127]

Let's spice things up on a rainy Monday.....

 

Does anyone find it interesting that the West won three of the four soccer divisions (AAA, D2AA, and D2A) in Chattanooga for 2009....but lost in the East/West game? There were not any AA/A teams in Chattanooga for the state tournament from the West....

[Bean0007]

Let's spice things up on a rainy Monday.....

Does anyone find it interesting that the West won three of the four soccer divisions (AAA, D2AA, and D2A) in Chattanooga for 2009....but lost in the East/West game? There were not any AA/A teams in Chattanooga for the state tournament from the West....

 

Nope, not at all when you consider these are '92 girls, and the East has won the D1 State Championship the past 2 years, and actually 4 of the last 5 for that age group. I don't know that it really matters; it's apples and oranges.

[hamlet7478]

soccermom...it is kind of interesting. What's your theory?

[h2odog]

Let's spice things up on a rainy Monday.....

Does anyone find it interesting that the West won three of the four soccer divisions (AAA, D2AA, and D2A) in Chattanooga for 2009....but lost in the East/West game? There were not any AA/A teams in Chattanooga for the state tournament from the West....

 

Nope, not at all when you consider these are '92 girls, and the East has won the D1 State Championship the past 2 years, and actually 4 of the last 5 for that age group. I don't know that it really matters; it's apples and oranges.

 

Sorry, but I don't understand what '92 girls have to do with winning the state or are you saying that the West has younger players on their HS teams, or our '92's are not as good as the East '92s????? Help me here?

[Bean0007]

OK 'dog, I'm going to take you by the leash and walk you through this. Most Seniors are '92 club girls. The All-Star team was composed of Seniors. The '92 girls from the East have won as mentioned the state D-1 titles. Just sayin' that if we are trying to look for a 'reason' as was posted by soccermom, this was as good as any. And yes, HS is composed of multiple age groups which would tend to favor West teams due to the wins posted at the D1 state level this past year.

[soccermom127]

soccermom...it is kind of interesting. What's your theory?

 

My theory is three fold....

 

First, one of the teams that won a state championship (St George's for D2A) did not have players on the West team and another team (SAA for D2AA) had only one player on the team.....so some of the talent that helped to win the state championships was excluded. Actually players from all four teams that were in Chattanooga last weekend for D2A were excluded from the list....of course, could be a coaching thing and not being a member....

 

Second, the game was called East versus West.....however, to Waterdog's point....it was more of an East/Middle sort of game. From the "true" Western region, there were only 8 players out of 19 on the "west" team....

 

Futher looking at it, there were 13 true "east" representatives, 17 Nashville area representatives, and 8 true "west" representatives.....seems like the West was not very well represented.....

 

and Third...I think that this illustrates that the teams in the West have a lot of younger talent that are major contributors to the West's success.

 

Just my thoughts.....

[hamlet7478]

Ok. You seem to have thought about it a lot.

 

I didn't realize that the "true" West representation (i.e. Houston, C-ville, St.Agnes, B-crest, St. George, ECS, etc.) was as small as it was.

[Bean0007]

none of the CAK players were there for the East. I think we all know some very deserving players, which is a great problem to have for our State on the whole. It happens in every sport, just so many spots to go around. It was a good season, a bunch will carry on next year.......me I"m basically over and out except for club one more time.