Highlights from the 9-24 game

The girls seemed to really enjoy themselves last Saturday, and I think their confidence was boosted by scoring multiple goals for the first time. The level of play improved on both offense and defense despite the lack of practice last week. I’ll try not to think about that too deeply…

Michele Etzbach did a great job controlling the ball and scored three times. One of the goals in particular was fun to watch because Meghan Mariani and Caroline Joseph pressed the ball forward and assisted on the goal. It was even a little hard to tell who kicked it across the goal line – a good team effort!

We again saw very solid goalie work by all involved, this time by Abigail Knudson, Claire Wilson, Caroline and Jessica. In each game, the girls have been playing the goalie position instinctively and to good effect. It really is the hardest position to play, and they should each be very proud of how they have handled it.

Kaitlin Hao plays with heart and single-minded concentration. Rose Joseph is a very accomplished dribbler and can move the ball through traffic. Celine Shen shows no fear and confronts any opponent with the ball. We missed Hadley Ryan at the game but look forward to her returning this week.

See you Tuesday!

Photos from the 9-17 Game

Couple of photos here from Saturday's action. Michele Etzbach scored a goal in the game and we saw very good goalie work by Michele, Kaitlin Hao, Meghan Mariani and Claire Wilson. All of the girls played very well.

We have some pretty clear areas to focus upon during our next practice. Defensively, we still need to work on staying between the ball and the goal. On offense, we need to move faster to take advantage of gaps.

It's always more fun to win than to lose but the girls know that the only thing worse than losing is losing with a bad attitude. See you on Tuesday!

Team Photo

From left to right: Michele Etzbach, Hadley Ryan, Kaitlin Hao, Jessica Westmont, Celine Shen, Caroline Joseph, Claire Wilson, Rose Joseph, Meghan Mariani and Abigail Knudson.

Thanks to Kathy Chiao for this photo, and see more on Shutterfly.

Update 9-12-05

The Red Dragons made a strong showing during our second game, with only a few miscues against what seemed to be a larger team. In fact, the ball seemed to be down at the other end of the field for most of the second half and only the vigorous efforts of the opponent’s goalie kept the Dragons from scoring.

If you have any photos from the game, please send them to me and I will forward them to the rest of the team and also post them on the blog.

A special thanks goes to Alice Wilson for designing a ferocious Red Dragon banner. Can/did someone volunteer to serve as ‘team parent’ to manage collections for all of the items related to banner/snack/end of season party, and their associated cost? Let me know, please.

Two defensive areas we will work on during this week’s practice include 1) Never retreat with your back to the ball -- watch the ball at all times – and 2) as a defender, stay between the ball and goal. On offense, we will work on longer shots and longer forward passes rather than pure dribbling.

Changing subjects, we have a logistical complication for which I could use your patience. Since we have ten players on the team, a couple of girls will end up sitting out two quarters during games when everybody shows. I will do my best to make sure that if your daughter is out two quarters during one game that she will play three quarters the next game.

Believe me, I know everyone wants to play as much as possible, but – as I discovered last Saturday -- this rotation is simply a function of the math of having seven players on the field at a time but ten on the roster. Please work with me on this. On hot days, it will probably be for the best in any case.

Don’t forget practice at 5:30pm on Tuesday, and our game is 11 am this coming Saturday.

First Game!

The Red Dragons kicked off the soccer season in fantastic fashion on Saturday, demonstrating a spirit of teamwork and energy that usually takes much longer to develop. Although we have really only had one practice together as a unit, the girls played their hearts out despite the heat and a number of injuries. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun!

Claire Wilson has a lot of speed and can deliver powerful kicks to drive the ball far down the field. Celine Shen played tough and wouldn’t let the ball get past her. Caroline Joseph seemed to be everywhere on the field at once and made several key plays. Rose Joseph was very aggressive attacking the ball and was great at following through after a kick.

Kaitlin Hao showed talent in dribbling and controlling the ball and gained confidence as the game progressed. Michele Etzbach had equal skill on offense and defense and several times knocked the ball away from the goal when the other team got close. Meghan Mariani also was a key contributor on defense and demonstrated good hustle and good sense in knowing where to be on the field.

Hadley Ryan and Jessica Westmont made several great saves taking turns playing goalie, and Jessica scored a goal just as the game was ending to tie it 1-1.

All in all, the girls have a lot to be proud of and – most importantly – seemed to enjoy themselves and work together as a team. We will keep on rotating the girls through every position in the field, and also do some scrimmages during practices. Thanks again for getting them involved in soccer!