Storm Fail to Hold onto Lead, Lose 3-1

Sunday April 10, 2010.  Schenley Oval.  On the first hot afternoon of the year, the Dynamo Storm got an early lead but faded in the final minutes and fell to the Vandalians, 3-1.

It was about as early and early leads get.  Tamir Frank made a hustle play on the Vandalian’s back pass on the kick off.  He challenged the ball and it was dropped from midfield to the defensive line.  Tamir ran after the ball again and the defender, just starting to get ready to play the game, made a bad touch that put ball in front of the goal.  Tamir hustled again, got a strike on the ball, and off the goalie’s hand and into the net it went.  Not thirty seconds had gone by and the Storm had a 1-0 lead.

The wind was a factor.  A strong, steady breeze blew in from the ice rink end of the field.  The storm played against the wind in the first half and had a difficult time advancing the ball past midfield.  Most of the half was a like a siege, with the Vandalians pressing but the Storm refusing to let a goal.  The D did not allow a high quality shot.  The half ended with the Storm up 1-0.

The wind helped a little bit in the second half, but the Storm seemed to tire while the Vandalians, if anything, played with more intensity.   The Storm defense held and the offense managed a few quality chances to score.   The Vandalian goalie slapped what would have been a 2-0 ball from David when it was at least half way across the goal line.  But it was not to be for the Storm.  With twenty minutes left in the match the Vandalians got the equalizing goal.  A few minutes later they scored a second and then a third goal.

Said coach Phil, “Physical conditioning is key.   And I’ll take a lot of the blame for playing that darned PISA game in the morning.   I thought our boys played well as a team.   Some of the stitching of passes up the field is getting quick and clever.  And I want to give the defense credit for holding the Vandalians goal-less for the first forty minutes.   The Vandalians stacked their offense so that was a strong accomplishment.    But we have a big game this Sunday.  Our opponent is undefeated and if we can win that game, we’ll have a least a share of first place in the division.   Our attention needs to turn to that.”

Interesting New York Times article about sports

Bruce Rollman showed me a NY Times article about an experiment that seems to indicate athletes "think on their feet" better than non-athletes.  read it

Game 1 recap: Storm Spring Forward

April 3, 2011.  Elm Grove Park deep in the South Hills.  The Dynamo Storm started the spring campaign with a thrilling 2-0 victory over Peters Township.  The Storm dominated early with hustle to the ball and clever passes.  They had several quality chances, but the score was zero to zero at the half.  Ten minutes into the second period Ben Udler struck a gorgeous corner kick that arched high over the goalie's arms and curved toward the back pole.  Joe DiPietro ran in the from the 18 and put a forehead on the ball to send it into the net.   Peters Township did not want to lose and they turned up the energy, and the physicality.  There were a few close calls and one friendly cross bar, but the Storm defense did not yield.  Then with about 15 minutes left in the match, Noah McDaniel received a pass at midfield.  His first touch was a good one, sending the ball back and at an angle toward midfield.  Noah stepped toward the ball with a defender following a half step behind.  He then struck it, sending the ball lofting downfield and just over the last defender's head.  It was a nice finesse touch.  Tamir Frank ran past the defender and caught the ball on his foot, caroming it forward and toward the right side of the goal.  Running and gathering himself while shielding the recovering center back, Tamir struck the ball in the air across the goalie's body and toward the far post.  The goalie lunged and got a hand on the ball but Tamir's strike had enough power to push through and into the goal.  It was a strong and agile play by Tamir.

The shut out needs to be celebrated.  It started at midfield.  Everyone who played midfield made it incredibly difficult for the PT boys to advance the ball.  And when PT got past midfield they had to deal with Joe at stopper.  And if they got past Joe they had Mark Rollman to contend with.  And if they go past Mark they had to talk to Miles Martin and Miles was not interested in letting any goals in.  Oh, and if they wanted to sneak around the corners, well there was Sterlling and Lawson manning the flanks.  Sterling and Lawson did not allow one good crossing pass the entire game.  AND the defense pretty much went the distance and saved the subs for midfield.  Quick hits:  Miles had a fantastic save in the first half.  An PT boy had a one-on-one opportunity and got off a strong strike to the far post.  But Miles lunged back and pushed it wide with two hands.  In the second half Lawson Fisher had ANOTHER miracle save where an equalizing  ball was rolling past a prostrate Miles and Lawson stepped across the goal and cleared it while it was partially through the plane.  Sean Lebovitz had an excellent travel debut.  He had good ideas about what to do with the ball and his passes were on target.

Said Coach Phil, "Peters is a good team and I am excited for the win and the clean sheet.  We lost 3-2 to these guys in the fall so you could say that defense was the difference.  Robinson really pressed after we got that first goal but our boys withstood the surge and then were able to put the game away.  I thought each boy tried his very best, and that they all played selflessly.  It was exciting as heck to watch.  This week I think we'll spend some time talking about those crossing passes from Tamir - you never know what surprises you are going to see each game - and how the other boys can be ready for them."

storm hold on to secure third win of the PISA campaign

We always seem to be hopelessly outnumbered at PISA.  We started the game with one sub, then Harry came scooting in and we had two.  But then Mark took an elbow to the eye and we were back down to one.  The report on Mark is that he is fine.  May have a little bit of a shiner. 

I really like the passing and running into space.  It's exciting soccer!  The boys took an early lead with Jack Chaillet getting the first score.

But our boys got TIRED in the second half.  Our opponents from north of town started to catch up . . . but we kept scoring goals and won 7-5 at the end.

Tamir had a great game.  He really gets after the ball.  He has a last second dart to get a foot on it while the opponent is making his plans about where to pass.  Tamir had fantastic sliding strike on the ball for a goal.  And it was his birthday!  even better.

Chad gets the award for "most creative use of wall."  Twice he blasted the ball hard off the back wall as a way to clear.  Very smart.

storm rally from 0-2 but fail to earn tie

The boys played a thrilling game, but could not overcome an early 2-0 deficit and lost to the FreePort Sting.

The two goals were let by defensive lapses.  We talked about those as a team and will try to prevent them going forward.  The defense really did play very well for 47 minutes and 40 seconds.  It was those two brief let downs.  That's what defense is all about, really, being constantly alert and dependable.  I need to start selling more of the boys on defense as a career.  It is very satisfying.  What I liked about this game was that the defense did not panic after giving up the two goals.  They dug in and did not give up that killer third goal.  Thus giving the offense a chance to get back in the game.

Which they did.   Joe got a goal with ten minutes left to make the score 2-1 and then there were ten thrilling minutes while the storm pressed and pressed.  Jack glanced a gorgeous arching shot off the far post.  And Joseph was in a scrum in the box with two defenders and bouncing ball.  Both were close things.  Really close.  Alas, the game ended with no second goal for the storm.

The biggest challenge was the we had no subs and were on the big field!  Zac posted but was feeling too under the weather to play.  Oh well, the boys that could make it got an outstanding workout.  

Quick things.  David - have you been practicing drop kicks?  they looked strong today.  Sterling have you been juggling?  I saw you pluck a few balls high out of the air with your foot.  Joseph was extremely tricky with the ball along the baseline.  Harry busted a guy with an ankle-breaking cut back move and had  near score in the first half.  Jack did an excellent job of slipping into open space near the goal.

Storm hold on for a 5-4 win

The Storm handed the Red Curry their first lost of the season and improved their own record to 2-2.  Red Curry was short-handed at kick off and the Storm took advantage, grabbing a 4-0 lead.  The Red Curry fought back - aided by both the arrival of some highly-skilled players and a bit of a lapse in Defensive focus on the part of the Storm to start the second half.  It was close at the end, but the Storm prevailed.

I was not at the game, but I did get a report.  From what I hear Jack C's progression as a clever and effective passer continues.  I also heard that Chad was un-get-around-able in the middle of the field.  These are both excellent data points.  And did I hear that Tamir scored a goal? A buzzer beater to end the first half?  Awesome if it's true! 

The win and the three points puts the Storm right back in the thick of things . . .

bad sunday

We only had to stop play once to help an injured player off the field, and his mom reported that he was just fine a few hours after game - so that is a positive thing.  And Harry looked really good one-on-one with the ball at his feet.  He busted a Kiski defender and made a quick step to the ball and touched it past the goalie for the score.  So that was good also.

But Kiski got the joy once again and that was the bad part.  The storm gave up two quick goals and the game kind of got out hand from there.  Our boys were a little slow with passes - especially at the start - and got shouldered off the ball a lot of the time.

One lesson to take from the loss is to give a close mark when defending.  Kiski was running to the corner and then centering.  Twice we had a boy standing generally in the right area to guard against a cross but not actually marking a defender.  The cross came in fast and accurate, and the Kiski player was able to touch the ball and redirect to goal with our guy watching from a few feet away.   If we can take that lesson forward and mark players such that we eliminate them as targets, then Sunday's outcome will be easier to take.