10/12/08 Game Recap (1-1 Tie)

What a difference a day makes. Coming off a frustrating tie to the SASC Blades on Saturday, the Devils played what may have been their best game of the season on Sunday in San Jose. Facing off against the West Valley Surefire (arguably the best opponent in the league), the Devils came within minutes of laying claim to the best record in the standings, but still battled to a 1-1 tie.

So the question remains, who is the best team in the division? The Devils performance on Sunday certainly makes them worthy of consideration.

The effects of the illnesses that plagued the Devils all week seemed to be as far behind them as the 6-1 drubbing that the Surefire handed the Devils during their pre-season scrimmage back in September.

The Devils played true to the game plan the coaches drew up for the match, sticking to positional play and getting a strong performance from the backs. The Surefire are loaded with big shooters, but the Devils defense prevented any big shots by stepping up and taking away the initiative.

Ruhi once again played a huge part in shutting down the opposing offense. Shivani, Lindsay, Jessica and Karsyn also rotated on the back line to help suppress the Surefire.

Neither team dominated on the offensive side of the ball in the first half, so the chess match would be decided in the second stanza.

Consistently using the mids to move the ball to the forwards, the Devils kept the ball away from the Surefire forwards, which contributed heavily to the low scoring game.

The Devils capitalized on a huge opportunity at the 40 minute mark, when Maanasa sent a high arching shot from 50 feet out that landed in front of the Surefire goaltender, then hopped over on a trajectory over her head. The goaltender got a hand on the ball to slow it down, but it continued to head toward the net, trickling over for the goal.

With time winding down, the Surefire moved the ball into the Devils zone and created their own scoring opportunity with a corner kick. Almost identical to the Devils goal against the Blades a day earlier, the Surefire punted the ball into the box, where a wild scrum ended with a shot that found its way into the goal.

With less than three minutes to play, Surefire had one more golden opportunity to steal the win, when the ball landed even with the right post and nothing but daylight between a Surefire shooter and the goal. With the inevitable go ahead goal sitting perched for the shot, Jessica came flying across the field and cleared it to safety along the left sideline. You could feel the air pressure return to normal as the 15 or so parents in attendance exhaled after the close call.

Positive Takeaways from the Game—

A+ for Effort: The team’s tie the day before could have easily affected the way the Devils came out on Sunday, but they continue to demonstrate how resilient they are. The effort was fantastic up and down the lineup.

Physicality: The Devils are not a physically domineering team, but they played with more emphasis on contact against a team that can kill you with speed and sure footed shooters. That resulted in fewer turnovers for the Devils and fewer scoring opportunities for the opposition.

Stick to the Plan: The girls continue to stay with the general game philosophy that is being worked on in practice. The more trust they establish in that plan and each other, the better they will become at anticipating where their teammates will be. This is a work in progress, but it was fun to see it in action against a very strong opponent.

Practical Application: There were two situational drills that the girls have been working on in practice the last two weeks. 1) quick set ups for direct & indirect kicks and 2) establishing a defensive wall when facing a direct or indirect kick. It was great to see both put into action on Sunday. There was a Devils direct kick that just missed finding the back of the net. There was also a defensive situation that delayed (by design) the opposition from getting a kick shot on goal.

Areas of Improvement—

Vision: We had several situations where there were opportunities to pass to teammates that were wide open, but the blinders prevented the ball handlers from seeing those chances develop. This was especially true of the forwards who were holding the ball and allowing the opposing defense to collapse on them. That leaves the other forwards wide open.

Too Much Initiative: Each player has strengths, but also specific positional assignments. Playing with too much initiative can negatively impact the overall objective. As an example, if players that should be moving up field on an out-of-bounds play decides to take the throw in because they are closest to the ball, it eliminates one prime target for the trailing teammate who should be taking the throw. Another example is taking a corner kick, when there is a stronger foot in the vicinity. We recognize that it’s fun to take a corner kick from time to time, but if you increase the chances of scoring by deferring to a bigger foot on the field, the player should recognize that.