CSC 01 Girls Gold at CKSC at 5pm (10/16/11)

The girls came out playing pretty well. We found out real quick in the game that our opponents were going to play very physical. There was a lot of pushing and tripping throughout the game. We told our players to keep their head and continue to play the way the have been playing. We got frustrated at times with them playing kick ball and playing the ball out of bounds alot throughout the match. We had to remember that we had to settle the ball back to the ground and possess the ball. I was very proud that our girls did not lose their cool and just continued to play the game fairly. We played solid on offense and defense. We had lots of shots on goal offensively and did not allow any good shots on our goal defensively. We ended up winning the game 3-0!

CSC 00 Boys Gold at Javanon at 1pm (10/16/11)

We played pretty well in the first half on offense and defense. We had a little issue with their speed up top but, we handle it ok. Both teams possessed the ball well. We scored a great goal in the far post side netting from a through ball to our forward. We led at half 1-0. In the second half we lost some focus for awhile and started giving up some goals. We gave up a direct kick outside the box and they scored. We ended up getting beat with their speed and through passes to their forwards several times in the second half. We did not give up and quit, we continued to push offensively in the second half and also scored more goals. In the end it became a scoring war and we ended up unfortunately losing 6-3.

CSC 00 Boys Gold vs LSA at 3pm (10/15/11)

We knew this was going to be a tough game. We felt we totally outplayed them the first time we faced eachother this fall but ended up losing the game. We knew going into this game that they would play the drop pass and then play the long ball over the top to their forward. We were correct because they did that the entire game. We handled it well and played very well defensively against it. We scored once in the first half and led at halftime 1-0. We unfortunately gave up a very questionable hand ball inside the box in the second half and they scored on the PK to tie the score 1-1. We did not stop pushing the ball up the field and it proved to benefit us in the second half when our outside defender made a run out wide and all the way up the field to the endline and sent the ball across the goal and scored the game winning goal. Offensively, we had alot of missed shots on goal throughout the game but, we won the game 2-1!

CSC 01 Girls Gold at Nelson Elite at 11am (10/15/11)

We knew before the game began that this was going to be a physical game and it definitely proved to be correct. Neither team could find the back of the net in the first half. It could have been due somewhat to the very small goals?? The field size was good but, the goals were 6v6 size so it made scoring opportunities for both team harder. The referee let the teams play and did not call many fouls. We finally got a penalty kick awared to us in the second half when we were tripped from behind for the second time inside the box on a breakaway. We scored on the PK to go up 1-0. We felt pretty sure we would get a foul called on us inside the box before the end of the game and we did in fact get a tripping foul called on us which awarded them a chance to score on a PK. Our keeper made a great save and then our players followed the shot and cleared the ball out! We added a second goal also in the second half on a cross on the ground and a great finish on the backside of the goal. We won 2-0!

CSC 01 Girls Gold at Mockingbird White at 3pm (10/9/11)

We came out a little slow defensively and they scored on us right away. Both teams played aggressive during the match. We did not give up and started scoring some goals throughout the game. We ended up scoring a total of 6 goals and we allowed 3. We started to pull away from them in the late minutes of the game. Our fitness level helped us play strong for the entire 60 minutes.

CSC 01 Girls Gold at Javanon at 3pm (10/8/11)

The girls played very aggressive the entire game and we possessed the ball well. Our defense was solid and our keeper made some good decisions along with some good saves. Our offense had their rythmn going and found the back of the net well all game. We won the game 5-1!

CSC 00 Boys Gold at Thoroughbred Blue at 11am (10/8/11)

The field we played on was very slanted and was very bumpy. The field condition really caused both teams some trouble in possessing the ball. Thoroughbred scored in the air on a corner kick in the first half and no other goals were scored on the ground. We came out in the second half and did not give up, we kept pressuring the ball and finally late in the game we got an equalizer goal on a break through pass that we finished in the back of the net. Final score was 1-1.

CSC 00 Boys Gold - Fall Ball Tournament Premier Division Champions (10/1/11 - 10/2/11)

The boys played in the premier division against three buckeye teams in pool play. We won all three pool games 3-1, 5-0, and 4-3. We played well on both sides of the ball. Overall the entire weekend was a great team effort. In the championship game we faced a tough team from Columbus. We started out very slow and they scored quickly. We were down 2-0 within the first 10 minutes of the game. We scored right before half and the score at halftime was 2-1. The boys refused to lose in the second half and battled hard for the final 30 minutes we scored two more goals and did not allow any in the second half of play. We ended up winning the final game 3-2!

CSC 01 Girls Gold (09/24/11-09/25/11) Mockingbird InvitationalTournament - Champions

The girls won all four of their games, scoring 29 goals and only allowing 2. The played really well all weekend. Our defense played solid with two shutouts on Saturday and our offense dominated by finding the back of the net well all weekend! It was a great weekend overall and the whole team pulled together in the final game to win the championship!

CSC 00 Boys Gold (09/17/11 - 09/18/11) - TNFC Tournament of Champions - Finalist

We played in the premier bracket against some really tough teams from Tennessee. We went to this tournament in the hopes of facing the #1 team from Tennessee in our age group from the host club TNFC in the finals. Their coach contacted us last year in the fall and personally invited us to come play them. We could not fit it into our schedule last fall but decided to go to their spring 2011 tournament. We played great in the pool play and were set to play them in the final but the tournament was cancelled due to rain before the finals. Since we did not get to play them last spring, we decided to head back down there again this fall. We actually got to play against them this time in the semi finals and beat them to advance to the finals. We then played against the Lobos from Memphis who after playing them once in pool play and again in the finals, I am pretty sure they will now be the new U12 TN State Champions. We battled them the whole 60 minutes but came up short in a 2-1 loss. the final game was played very well by both teams. Both teams played with control and possession. It was a great game to coach and be part of!

CSC 00 Boys Gold vs LFC Premier at 6pm on 9/11/11

We dominated the time of possession throughout the entire game. They came at us very physical knowing that we are a better skilled team than them. We had a couple of mistakes defensively and they scored two goals on us. We scored one and had alot of missed opportunties to score more especially in the second half. We really pressed offensively in the last 10 minutes but unfortunately could not get any more of our shots to go in the back of the net. We lost a close game 2-1.

CSC 01 Girls Gold vs Atletico at 4pm on 9/11/11

The girls played really well with intensity from the start to the end. We controlled the ball on our offensive half of the field the majority of the game. We got alot of shots and finished them very well. Our defense was solid all game and our defense and keeper recorded another shutout. The game was stopped with about 6 minutes left in the second half when we scored our 10th goal. The final score was 10-0!

CSC 01 Girls Gold at Thoroughbred Blue 5pm on 9/10/11

The girls came out aggressive and scored 4 unanswered goals in the first half. We spread the field well and found holes in thouroughbreds defense which we attacked well. Our defense was strong making good tackles on the ball. We kept possession alot throughout the first half and really did not let our opponent get any good scoring chances. We came out in the second half and continued to play aggressive and had good team possession of the ball. We scored 3 more goals and end up winning with a final score of 7-0! Our defense and keeper played well the entire game and resulted in another shutout performance. Great job!!

CSC 00 Boys Gold at MUSA 11am on 9/10/11

The first half we dominated and had tons of shots on goal. We played very aggressive defense and offense. We had several through passes into space and spread the field well. The field was in very rough condition and caused us some big problems on our finishing. We were able to knock two shots in the back of the net and went into halftime up 2-0. I reminded the boys that a two goal lead was not enough and we had to play hard on both sides of the ball in the second half to secure the win. We came out in the second half and continued to play well controlling the ball and had lots of scoring chances. We had alot of offsides called against us which was okay because it meant we were attacking every chance we got. Our defense played well all game, when we did not have possession of the ball we fought hard to get it! We did not allow hardly any shots on our goal throughout the entire game. We gave up a foul outside the box in the second half and that was the only goal they scored against us. We were able to score 3 more goals in the second half and the final score ended with us winning the game 5-1!

CSC 00 Boys Gold vs United Gold at 6:45pm on 9/9/11

We started out playing pretty well and had some scoring chances early in the game but did not capitalize on our chances in the first half. United scored first toward the end of the first half and we answered back right before half time. We discussed coming out strong and playing hard in the second half and felt pretty good in our chances. Unfortunately, they had an early cross which we did not mark well on the back post and they scored again. In the first twenty minutes of the second half they cored two more on us and we were down 4-1. Each time they scored, our players seemed to stay positive and say "lets go" and "we can get it back". Our players must have believed in themselves and their abilities because we came back and scored 4 Goals to win the game 5-4! I told them after the game that as long as I have been coaching some of these player (since they were 5yrs old) I have never been as proud as I was in the last 5 minutes of the game. Not because they won the game but because they believed in themselves, played as a team, and they did not quit. Win, tie, or lose they played great aggressive soccer in the last ten minutes which is what we have been working on for the last few years. I can't wait for them to put 60 minutes together like that! Great job boys!!

CSC 01 Girls Gold - Mead Cup Champions - Dayton, OH (9/3/11 - 9/5/11)

The Mead Cup is the largest tournament in region 2 during the fall season. This year it had 524 total teams, 40 divisions, 7,950 players, 899 games, and 350 referees. The three day tournament weekend began on the drive to Dayton on Friday. The temperature gage on my car read 102 around 330pm as we drove into Cincinnati. We knew then that our games were going to be really hot on Saturday. We at least were scheduled to play at 8am and noon instead of late afternoon. Most of our players did not arrive to the hotel until late and unfortunately did not get into bed until late as well. Saturday morning came early with us facing our first opponent at 8am. We played against Metro FC Toledo. We came out pretty strong with lots of shots on goal but we had some trouble finishing. We controlled the ball pretty well and seemed to out play them most of the game but unfortunately tied 2-2. We knew with the tie we would have to win out the rest of our pool play games in order to make it to Monday's semi final round. The heat did not play a huge roll in the outcome but it was pretty hot by the end of our first game. We had a couple hrs to rest and change venue locations for our 2nd game at noon. By the start of our second game, the heat was really high so the tournament implemented mandatory water breaks during the rest of the games that day. We played against Blast FC in our second game. We came out and played really aggressive controlling the ball well. We got lots of shots and actually finished pretty well this game. Our defense on the ball was really good and did not allow our opponent to get many shots at all the entire game. We won the game 7-1. We were glad to get a huge break of over 24 hrs before our third game which was schedule at 2:45pm on Sunday. The girls enjoyed some good team bonding time at the hotel while playing ping pong, swimming, playing hotel tag, and playing some extreme indoor soccer pickup games in the huge hotel atrium. By the way, my team won the 4v4 tournament - Just Saying!! The rain came in during Saturday night and continued most of the day on Sunday. We were fortunate that at our game time it was barely sprinkling. We faced BSC Storm and won a close game 1-0! We knew we were facing a must win game to make it to Monday in the semi final game. I was extremely proud of the whole team effort to pull out that game. On Monday morning we played MV Rangers Premier in the semi final at 9:15am. I challenged the girls to play as aggressive as they could during the whole 60 minutes and if they did, they would have a really good shot at playing later that day in the finals of their first tournament together. The girls must have listened because they played really aggressive the whole game against a pretty physical team. We passed the ball well and maintained possession well throughout the game. Our defense was solid and our keeper play was strong the entire game. We scored 3 goals and only allowed 1 goal in the very last second of the game. With that win in the semi final 3-1, we secured our spot in the finals 1:30pm. We were set to face a team from Cleveland named Pennine White who had won all four of their games to make it to the final. I asked all the girls prior to the start of the championship game how many of them had won a select tournament and only three players raised their hands. I told them that if they played with intensity and played together as a team the way they have been training since the beginning of the summer right after we formed the team that there was no doubt in my mind that they would all win the championship of this tournament together. They came out and played very aggressive with intensity on the ball. They were solid on offense and defense the entire game. We got an early goal off a corner kick and it sparked the players from that point until the last whistle. They not only won the game they won it strong with a final score of 3-0! We shut the team out and recorded the second shutout of the tournament. The whole weekend was a huge success not because we won the tournament but because the players came together and played strong all weekend!! Even though they tied their first game, they battled every game they played. I am extremely proud of the whole team effort. Well done girls!!

CSC 01 Gils Gold vs CKSC at 4pm on 8/28/11

We started out playing super aggressive to the ball. We pressured them when they had the ball and caused them to make alot of turnovers. We spread the field and controlled possession well. We finished several of our shots on goal during the first half. We led at the half 5-0. Second half we continued to pressure the ball well and caused them to turn the ball over alot. When we had possession, we continued to spread the field and look for our crosses. Our number of shots on goal were good but, we were only able to finish in the goal on one of them. Defense continued to play solid and only allowed one goal late on an unfortunate turnover. We won with a final score of 6-1.

CSC 00 Boys Gold vs Javanon at 2pm on 8/28/11

First half started out a little sluggish. We were rushing ourselves much like we started out in our game Saturday. We began to slow our attacks down midway through the first half and ended up scoring two goals before halftime. Our defense was pretty solid not allowing too many shots and our tackles were pretty good on the ball. At halftime we discussed that we needed to score some more goals in the second half if we wanted to secure our lead and hold on to a win against Javanon. Unfortunately, we made a mistake early in the second half and a bad deflection off of one of their players went into our goal. We seemed to panic in our play after that misfortunate goal. We found ourselves trying to rush our possessions and attacks which resulted in us turning the ball over too often. They counter attacked on our turnovers and had speed up front which caused us some issues. We got called for a pushing foul inside our box on a 50/50 ball which resulted in a penalty kick being awarded. They scored on the penalty kick and tied the score at 2-2. We lost our team composure and continued to feel rushed when we had possesion. Our midfield turnovers in the middle third gave them several attacking opportunities against us. One of our turnovers and fouls on the left side allowed them to have the ball down on the corner for a free kick which they crossed to the far post. We had two players on the back side during the cross but found ourselves ball watching while two of their players ran past us to the far post. One of them hit the one touch and scored their third goal to go up on us
3-2. We made a late substitution to get in more offense and switched to a 2-4-1 formation to try to get in a last minute tying goal but we were unsuccessful. We ended up losing a tough one 3-2.

CSC 01 Girls Gold vs Thoroughbred Blue at 5pm on 8/27/11

The girls came out with alot of intensity on the ball. They played great from the opening kick off to the last whistle. We got lots of shots off in both halfs of play. Our offense controlled possesion of the ball well by spreading their team out. Our defense was solid all game and made hard tackles on the ball. We won possesion with smart defense on the ball. We only allowed two shots on our goal all game. Our keeper got her first kssl premier division shutout. We finished the game with an impressive 9-0 win! It was a great team effort for 60 minutes.

CSC 00 Boys Gold vs Thoroughbred Blue at 9am on 8/27/11

First half we started out playing rushed. We did not maintain our shape in the midfield and did not take time to spread out and look for our passes. We were rushed in our decision making. We began to settle down toward the end of the first half. Our defense played pretty well during the first half and was relatively aggressive to the ball. We went into the half with a score of 0-0. We discussed at halftime to come out relaxed and to not play rushed when we had possession of the ball during the second half. We did in fact play better possession in the second half. We spread the field and saw some good opportunities to switch fields. Our back line defense played aggressive to the ball and helped pushed the ball forward and take pressure off our keeper. We found the net twice in the second half with two great finishes. We did allow one goal on a misfortunate clear out on a corner kick. Overall, it was a good team effort with the win of 2-1!

Boys and Girls Training 8/23 and 8/25

Training went pretty well this week for both teams. We worked on finishing, first touches, receiving the ball out of the air, and possession with drops and switching fields. We had some good moments of intensity in our training this week but, we will continue to work on elevating our intensity for the full 1 1/2 hours of training time each day. Our fitness level is improving overall but, we still will continue to improve that as well week by week. I feel that both teams are ready for their games on Saturday and Sunday this week. We should see some good results this weekend if both teams come out and play with intensity, speed, and possession. CSC 00 Boys and 01 Girls Gold - Have Fun and Play Hard this weekend!!

CSC 01 Girls Gold vs Javanon at 6pm on 8/21/11

We knew going into this game that it was going to be a tough one since they were supposedly the best team in the top division last year as u10. We came out really strong with intensity on both sides of the ball. Offense and defense both played much better than our game on Saturday. The game was very physical and our girls endured the battle well. I think we controlled the ball well and had lots of opportunities to score. Our defense played really well against the speed up front that javanon sent toward our goal. Going into halftime up 2-1 was proof that we were outplaying them. It was important for us to come out in the second half and score some more goals to set the tone for the second half. Unfortunately, they got a good shot off to tie it up before we could score again on them. We felt the need to get a goal pretty quick after that because we could see the clouds rolling in. Sadly, the thunder and lightning rolled in and the remaining 15 min of the game was cancelled due to lightning. The 2-2 tie is the way we finished but we came away knowing we could handle their speed and physical play. We had lots of shots on goal and could have scored several more if our finishing had been a little better. It will be good match up when we play them again on the road in a few weeks. Looking forward to challenging them again!

CSC 01 Girls Gold vs MUSA at 5pm on 8/20/11

First half started out with a lack of intensity and our team really struggled to get any good possession going. We were slow to the ball all over the field. Our first touches on the ball were not controlled well. Despite our first half slump we were able to connect on a great header goal off a corner that helped spark us. The second half was alot better as we began to play with more intensity we started passing better and our defense shut them out to allow us to find a way to tie it up. I believe the girls learned not to take things too easy just because you have beaten a team before. I was proud that they did not give up and played harder in the second half. Overall definitely not one of our better performances as a team. It was good that we got a chance to play another game the following day.

CSC 00 Boys Gold at LSA 1pm on 8/20/11

As always #1 and #2 in the 00 Boys KSSL premier division go head to head in week one of play. The first half began really well for us. We completely controlled the ball and came out aggressive on both sides of the ball from the opening whistle to the end of the first half. Our offense attacked the goal with speed and control. Our defense denied them the ball and made good tackles when they had the ball. We controlled the ball from the back third up to the attacking third. The team effort was strong and we entered half time with a 2-0 lead because of it. The first half we showed our physical and mental toughness. We came out in the second half and became somewhat reactive instead of proactive. We did not apply the same intensity on the ball as we did in the first half. We did not deny their players the ball and we did not make good tackles on the ball when they had possesion. We allowed a couple of goals and once that happened we seemed to lose our mental toughness. Once that happened we began to panic and got away from our style of play because we felt a sense of urgency to try to do too much as individuals and not work to get it back together as a team. Our offense lost its attack and when we did attack we did not finish our shots on goal. We have to give our opponent some credit they did not give up and stayed with their game plan of long balls and speed up front. As frustrating as was to give up too many goals and not score anymore goals ourself in the second half, I think we will take away from the game that we have to keep our mental and physical toughness as a team for 60 minutes. We will be back at work Tuesday and Thursday. Looking forward to two good performances this coming weekend.

The fall 2011 soccer season kicked off this weekend

It was an great weekend to begin the fall soccer season in kentucky despite the high temperatures and high humidity. I was fortunate to coach three games this weekend in the premier division of kssl. I also enjoyed watching several teams play in the bluegrass cup tournament over in versailles. I was witness to some promising things to come in the future development of soccer players in our state. I witnessed alot more than just the skill of the players on the field, I also noticed the teamwork and sportmanship from players which they will value as they mature in everyday adult life. I found myself looking around and seeing families spending time together instead of going their different ways as they so often do. I am blessed to have soccer in my life and cherrish the experiences it has provided me over the 26 years that I have played and coached. Soccer is a great game and so much more than just a game!