11/2/08 Game Recap (7-1 Win)

What a difference a little dry weather can make. Playing for a second consecutive day, the Devils rung themselves out after a miserable rain soaked game on Saturday and picked up the offense on Sunday against the Milpitas Strikers in a 7-1 victory at Dixon Landing Park.

Five different Devils tallied goals, including Kelly, who recorded the team’s first hat trick in league play. A dry field allowed the Devils to open up the offense, for the first time in several weeks. The Devils hadn’t scored more than 2 goals in any of their last 5 games, even though they managed three wins and two ties during that stretch.

The win also helped the Devils keep pace in the tight U10 Girls Class 3 Division B race.

Kelly would score the first of her three goals on the afternoon just 3 minutes into the game. Playing at midfield, she took a shot from the top of the box after taking a feed from Maanasa on a free kick at mid-field.

She would follow that up with another goal 3 minutes later on a long shot that deflected off a Strikers defender. After ripping a shot from 30 feet, the ball sailed in on goal just above waist level. The Striker defender tried to control the ball with a high kick, but the ball glanced off the top of her shin. The change in the ball’s trajectory fooled the goal keeper enough to slip it home for the 2-0 lead.

Sammie pushed that lead to 3-0, when she chipped home her 1st goal of the season with a shot from the left wing. Marlene carried the ball up the right side before pushing the ball across the top of the box. Christene grabbed the loose ball and slid a pass to her left, where Sammie was parked.

The 2nd half would bring little relief to the Strikers defense.

Maanasa banged home the Devils 4th goal of the game after Ruhi put a shot on goal from the right side. The Strikers goal keeper couldn’t control the sizzling shot, allowing it to deflect off her hands, then continue over to the left side of the goal mouth. Maanasa beat a defender to the ball on the follow to make it 4-0.

Courtney would score her second goal in as any days 4 minutes later by lifting a pretty shot from a sever angle on the right side that tucked itself inside the left post.

The Strikers would fall victim to some questionable officiating midway through the half. The sequence started when Christene played the ball back to her own goal keeper, who didn’t realize it was kicked back by a teammate. Playing in goal, Audrey handled the ball, which resulted in a direct kick for the Strikers from the spot of the infraction. After putting the ensuing free kick into the Devils net, the apparent goal was disallowed, because it should have been called an indirect kick.

The Strikers should have been given another opportunity to take the free-kick, because it was called incorrectly by the referee.

After play resumed, the Devils picked up where they left off. Marlene buried a rocket 6 minutes later. Carrying the ball right up the middle, she boomed a shot from 35-feet that sailed into the net at eye level.

The Strikers finally broke through with 7 minutes to play on a shot that slipped inside the right post.

The only thing that remained was Kelly’s hat trick, which she bagged with a low line-drive shot that she drilled from long range.

Game Positives--

Passing: The passing improves every game and you can start to see the confidence beginning to build in the team’s ability. The girls are starting to make passes that are more difficult, threading the ball through traffic and in tight quarters.

Shooting: The girls put on a display in this game. Funny how firm footing can make such a big difference. Shots were snapping the net because of the velocity that was being generated on some of the goals.

Following Shots: Having run drills on following shots in the pre-game warm ups, the girls put this into action and it paid dividends. There was certainly evident in Maanasa’s goal. Shivani also had a nice opportunity after chasing the ball all the way into the goal keeper’s hands.

Areas of Improvement--

Dropping on Change of Possession: The mid-fielders were having trouble dropping back to cover their defensive assignments whenever the ball changed possession. This was exposed late in the game when the Strikers scored, then again in the waning minutes of the game.

Marking Assignments: The girls are much improved in their defensive marking, but more attention needs to be made on figuring out who to defend. There were several instances where marks were being left unattended.

Creating Movement: On inbound plays, free kicks, and corner kicks, the girls tend to be cemented into position. They need to be creating more movement in order to cross up the defense in these situations. This will be a focus in practice this week, as it’s not something we spent much time working on to date.