Games 9/28

[Playerscoach]

In mid TN here are a few games to watch.

 

CPA vs LA, USN

LA is just hard to figure out. Good W vs WHH. CPA is well coached and skilled but like USN their back line has had some shuffling sue to injuries. Is it the pace of KW for CPA vs the USN lightening fast three headed monster? Im glad i dont have to play on a back line facing either team.

 

Fra vs BGA: Hunt vs French. FRA is playing well but BGA is too. The winner wraps up the regular season #2. The loser could be 4th. Should be a great game.

 

MLK vs DCA, Hume Fogg: MLK has performed outstanding all season with a great defense. Will the cats cause problems from 18+? The HF match should be a good one as well.

 

Ensworth vs Clarksville: this is a great test for Ens. They've played well all season but this is arguable the toughest match this season. Winning this game would be a big W for the team.

 

WHH vs WH: Both teams circle this game before each season. Does the direct attack of WHH win over the young but very talented WH squad?

 

Ind vs Franklin: Franklin just reloads every year and this one is no exception. The winner of this game takes the regular season #1. Both teams are full of talent, athleticism and are well coached. Should be a dandy.

 

Any other games of interest can be posted in this thread. Good luck to all of you!

 

PC

[Tuffnut]

Does the winner of the regular season  championship between Franklin and Independence still get an automatic berth in the region?

 

Hendersonville and Beech is also for first in their district. 

[BigG]

In mid TN here are a few games to watch.

 

CPA vs LA, USN

LA is just hard to figure out. Good W vs WHH. CPA is well coached and skilled but like USN their back line has had some shuffling sue to injuries. Is it the pace of KW for CPA vs the USN lightening fast three headed monster? Im glad i dont have to play on a back line facing either team.

 

Fra vs BGA: Hunt vs French. FRA is playing well but BGA is too. The winner wraps up the regular season #2. The loser could be 4th. Should be a great game.

 

MLK vs DCA, Hume Fogg: MLK has performed outstanding all season with a great defense. Will the cats cause problems from 18+? The HF match should be a good one as well.

 

Ensworth vs Clarksville: this is a great test for Ens. They've played well all season but this is arguable the toughest match this season. Winning this game would be a big W for the team.

 

WHH vs WH: Both teams circle this game before each season. Does the direct attack of WHH win over the young but very talented WH squad?

 

Ind vs Franklin: Franklin just reloads every year and this one is no exception. The winner of this game takes the regular season #1. Both teams are full of talent, athleticism and are well coached. Should be a dandy.

 

Any other games of interest can be posted in this thread. Good luck to all of you!

 

PC

Hate to hear of the injuries to LA and USN.  We got hit by the "knee monster" this year, as well.  It seems like there are more and more injuries on the girls' side each year.

 

I pray that the rain stays away tomorrow (hmmmm... nice rhyme there) but alas, it doesn't look good.  

 

I've heard some great things about USN, especially their lightning quick forwards.  Looking forward to seeing what they have.  I love watching talented teams play.

 

I am very interested in the WH vs. WHH game.  Wish I could watch that one!

[Playerscoach]

Does the winner of the regular season championship between Franklin and Independence still get an automatic berth in the region?

 

Hendersonville and Beech is also for first in their district.

Good stuff on HHS and Beech. Im literally 2 miles from HHS right now but that pesky lake is in the way. 😀

 

Dont know about AAA at all? Ill defer to BigG or someone else.

[EnsworthSoccer]

Clarksville is at full strength after enduring several injuries in August. This will be a monumental test for us.

[Playerscoach]

Hate to hear of the injuries to LA and USN. We got hit by the "knee monster" this year, as well. It seems like there are more and more injuries on the girls' side each year.

 

I pray that the rain stays away tomorrow (hmmmm... nice rhyme there) but alas, it doesn't look good.

 

I've heard some great things about USN, especially their lightning quick forwards. Looking forward to seeing what they have. I love watching talented teams play.

 

I am very interested in the WH vs. WHH game. Wish I could watch that one!

Both mids are good HS players and all three forwards are fast, faster and what in the world was that. You know one is the boys HC daughter. Shes just crazy fast! The other two are sisters. Think of KW on your team times three. Except of course one of the three is the state champ in the 100. Have fun! You guys will be fine.

[Impactdad22]

I think if Ensworth makes sure they know where Salera Jordan is the whole game and make the rest of the Clarksville team try to beat them, Ensworth can win this one!!

[Playerscoach]

I think if Ensworth makes sure they know where Salera Jordan is the whole game and make the rest of the Clarksville team try to beat them, Ensworth can win this one!!

Chris Berman coined a phrase about Salera over 20+ years before her birth. " You cant stop her....... You can only hope to contain her". That kid is a special player. Good luck with that.

 

Btw saw your Overton score. Howd that happen? Thats a pretty big margin. Are they that down you couldnt keep from beating them 14-0?

Edited September 29, 2015 by Playerscoach

[EnsworthSoccer]

Fair question. Tough situation. They played a very high offsides trap the entire game, and they were not shy about hard challenges in the midfield. There's not much you can do in those situations. You've got to get the ball off your foot, and you've got to find a place to put the ball when you do that so someone else doesn't get hurt. There's no way to play possession in the middle third of the field with 20 bodies in there, unless you are willing to risk injury. And I am not going to risk injury for the sake of keeping the score down when the other team can make a simple adjustment to put some players deeper in behind the ball. I've coached over 300 high school games in nearly 20 years in North Carolina and Tennessee, and I can count on one hand the number of times my teams have scored over 9 goals in a game. I've seen a few "firsts" this season that have made it difficult to avoid scoring -- literally. I won't comment further on it. 

[Playerscoach]

Fair question. Tough situation. They played a very high offsides trap the entire game, and they were not shy about hard challenges in the midfield. There's not much you can do in those situations. You've got to get the ball off your foot, and you've got to find a place to put the ball when you do that so someone else doesn't get hurt. There's no way to play possession in the middle third of the field with 20 bodies in there, unless you are willing to risk injury. And I am not going to risk injury for the sake of keeping the score down when the other team can make a simple adjustment to put some players deeper in behind the ball. I've coached over 300 high school games in nearly 20 years in North Carolina and Tennessee, and I can count on one hand the number of times my teams have scored over 9 goals in a game. I've seen a few "firsts" this season that have made it difficult to avoid scoring -- literally. I won't comment further on it.

I'm not certain but isnt that the same coach they've had forever? If so i don't remember them being overly physical or playing the trap last season? Our coach shut down our 8th grade F who had 4 goals in 25 minutes in the first half then played her little in the 2nd half and she got 1 more goal. We just kicked it around alot and played bad soccer for most of that game, especially the 2nd half. We won 5-2.

 

Theres simply not much to learn/teach in games like that. We've even played with as few as 8 field players in some games to avoid injury and not score.

 

Tough situation to be in if you believe the other team is being overly agressive. Still though 14-0 is going to cause folks to question it, and deservedly so. I've seen Ricky do some things at the end of games that were questionable and both he and DB caught flak over them. It's part of coaching.

 

Thank you for your post though. It explains what the thought process was.

[EnsworthSoccer]

Let me be clear - the physical play in the midfield was entirely that. Physical and mostly fair. But it was our final game before the current monster stretch that we are now in, and I had no desire to risk losing a player to any sort of preventable injury. We did try to cancel the game earlier in the week. In my estimation, playing possession in the middle third of the field would not have been wise. Our substitute players played over half of the game and were responsible for over half of the goals.

 

In another thread (boys' soccer, I believe), I mentioned being on the losing end of a 20-0 score my first year of coaching, at a school that could barely field a team for games, much less practices. It provides a lot of perspective when you are in those situations. No matter what decision a coach on the winning side makes, that person is going to be second-guessed. My first priority in any situation is not to risk an injury. We did everything to avoid that. Then comes the tactical part - do you play short-handed, play possession, put in an impossible restriction, continue on as usual with the substitutes in, etc?

 

I don't know the answer to that because each potential decision can come across as insulting to the opponent. But I do believe each team has an obligation to compete, including the losing team. When we lost that game 20-0, and when we lost 6-0 to Clarksville last season -- which would have easily been double that if not for our goalkeeper's efforts that night -- our teams competed until the end. We've talked as a team this week about last year's Clarksville game (we have 18 players back who were there that night, so nearly 90% of this year's team experienced it), and the girls pretty much laughed about it - we simply could not stop them in any way that night. For anyone who questions it, we have a good sense of humility about things, and we expect every game the rest of the way to be supremely difficult. We know very well what we are up against.

Edited September 29, 2015 by EnsworthSoccer

[Tuffnut]

Everyone has a few of those matches. Brentwood lost to Independence, last week, then put up 16 goals against Dickson County. Last year, Ravenwood put up17 on the same district whipping boy, CP had 7 or 10 goals in that match and everyone seemed ok with it. Everyone has some of those district matches that aren't worth paying officials or charging admission. The question in those matches is how can the coach make the match fun and beneficial to the team  without hummiliating the other team. Too many goals, playing under manned, obvious possession, even restrictions can still be embarrassing. However, this is not the case in the Ensworth situation. Much can be learned about a coach's goals by the teams and tournaments that he/she chooses to play. I think that much can be leaned by looking at the teams that they don't have to play but choose to play. Congratulations to you and to Clarksville for choosing to play each other. It will make both teams better. When I look at the other teams you chose, I wonder why you chose them. The easiest answer to the "how to manage the Overton match" is don't play them. Don't play the Sycamore Tournament or any such competition. Find better opportunities for your girls to get better. Your stats won't be so impressive but your team will be much better in the big picture.