On a beautiful afternoon in Ashburn on an all natural grass field, the Orangemen wore black and took on our yellow clad nemesis the Sterling Sting at Bles Park. There is no record of the Orangemen ever playing at Bles Park as most games against the Sting around held at the complete near Algonkian or over near Park View High School. The records we do have show the Sting handing us our ass throughout 2012 and 2013.
Sting Kill us 1 to 5 in Summer 2012
Sting kill us 1 to 6 again in fall 2012
Sting beat us again in 2013
It is therefore very depressing to report that we were up 4 to 2 in the second half yesterday but due to very poor last minute management by the manager...we let our lead slip away and the Sting bagged two heartbreakers in the final minutes to tie the score at 4-4 at the final whistle. A good result by Orangemen standards but a horrible result considering how hard we played and the work we put into the match.
We played well against the Sting and we kept the ball moving. I haven’t seen that much passing in a long time. Sometimes we strung 7 or 8 passes together before losing the ball...but it didn’t matter as we had great control against a team that has traditionally been much faster than us.
Beyond passing, the highlights of the game came from our scoring and the diversity of which we were able to find the back of the net. Jermaine scored on a breakaway pushing the ball past the keeper’s left side and finishing back across goal. Kendall scored diving feet first at the far post a at a high crossing bar and connected with it at the post returning it back across the goal to clip the far post and glance inside for the score. Matt had the header of the day off a corner kick from the left from George. Matt stepped in front of the defender and buried it in the net while his family choose to miss the event choosing instead to admire the muddy water on the trails leading to the field. For goal number four Alfredo stepped up to bag one from the left side of the box which he lofted over the keeper into the far side back of the net.
We had a good turnout today...despite the confusion of a potential rain out and the bizarre location of the new field.
Gene played Keeper
Karl, Steve H. and Greg we outside fullbacks
Jan, Matt, Mauricio and Jermaine played central defenders with Jermaine stepping up front for some time
Ben played central midfield supported by Alfredo, George, Mauricio, Scott F, and Mooch
Kendall, Dave Nanney, and Andres played up top.
Although we tied the game Orangemen it feels like a loss because we should have won because we were up 4 to 2 late in the second half. I blame myself as I pulled the defense way too soon. I thought we were down to just a few minutes and I completely lost my perspective after walking off the field feeling sorry for myself due to my own injury. And speaking of injuries...we have not heard from Matt yet...he took a hard fall last night and we heard a pop on the sidelines...there is a suspicion of a collar bone fracture...we will update as we find out his condition. Update 11:45 on Sunday. Matt has a clean break across his clavicle...here is what a clavicle break looks like. Kind of nasty...Matt says he will be able to work but it's a few months recovery...the family was still glad to be there...and Matt scored a gem of a goal he can be proud of.
We are slowly changing our culture Orangemen and I think we can get there. There are several parts to having a winning team. You've got to have quality players...which we are starting to recruit a new crop of fine talent. And we also have to have a coaching staff with a winning attitude. I was way too passive today. I should have been yelling to have 10 behind the ball...I should have done everything I could to preserve the lead. Manchester United sees it through... we have to see it through as well. We are so close to making the turn... I’ll start yelling a lot louder at these times so everyone is aware that it’s much better to go home on a Saturday night a winner than to tell the family you lost...again. My wife stopped asking me years ago...and that’s pathetic.
OK Break Break...On the financial front a number of players approached me expressing their concern over subsidizing the entire team. Fair enough because this was one of my concerns as well particularly if the cost of the season were to begin to approach $140-$150 for some of the core team members. If there is a consensus it seems to be that everyone wants to pay less money. Which of course isn’t the direction we need to be moving in.
The last few seasons I have been charging $10 for every home game. If you make every other game over the course of a year thats on the order of 24 games give or take. So that’s $240 a year...and should be the minimum anyone who considers themselves to be a core team member should be expecting to pay. You might get away with paying less...but you should have $240 in your budget for soccer… that’s right at $20 a month...less than the cost of a single Venti Soy Lattes at Starbucks a week. Those of you who show up drinking one before matches probably have a few more during the week…
That said, the minimum any of core team members should be expecting to pay for the Spring/Summer season is $110. There are eleven home games. If anyone is thinking about not paying more than $100, they should stop paying at $110. This will guarantee our financial obligations are met. However, if we continue to have good turn out like we did last night...we should meet our goals early and not have to move past collecting at 10 games...and of course everyone will miss games...so I wouldn’t expect anyone to be paying over $100 for the season with decent turnout. Jan has offered to build a spreadsheet to track the payments...which unless we have cheaters on the team shouldn’t be necessary...as I’ll be tracking total payment...and will stop collecting as we approach the numbers we need.
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