Jermaines Hat-trick - Orangemen vs Turtles

Launder's Pavillion -  Arrowbrook Park

In the pouring rain on Saturday night a few of the Orangemen approached me and said, among other reasons why Arrowbrook field in Herndon was a great choice to be our home field, was the fact that they built an awesome pavilion to stand under. Named Launder’s Pavilion, after Hal and Ruth Launder who owned Arrowhead Farm upon which the field is constructed, rain or shine the pavilion is there, with picnic tables and restrooms, and all the comforts of home. It’s a fantastic venue...I’m glad the Orangemen have come to appreciate the venue over and above the field at Bryant Alternative. But don’t worry Orangemen, we will get to play at Bryant in a few weeks, for those who miss it, and the drive.

We had a great game against the Turtles in that pouring rain on Saturday night. Passing was up...it had to be, the ball was too slick to dribble. Although we still had too many instances of individuals learning for themselves first that the ball was too slick to dribble. But on the goals scored, the passes leading to the goals were perfect. Final score was 3 to 4. Breaking it down, we lost the first half, 1 to 3, but won the second half, 2 to 1.

That was really a great comeback and there were several additional opportunities to score that went wanting. But we were very close. Jermaine actually scored our three goals. His first hat-trick on the Orangemen. Jermaine get’s player of the match honors. Truth be told Jermaine could have scored as many as 5, which would have equaled the feat of players such as Jermain Defoe and Dimitar Berbatov, who both have scored 5 goals in the English Premier league. Alas, he went for a spectacular bicycle kick which he arguably should have put his head on and then on another he tried to power a shot past the keeper which rocketed into Jeff H’s face, as opposed simply touching it into the back of the net. Still three goals is a fantastic percentage and we can’t rely on Jermaine to win the games for us.

Kendall has to get credit for feeding Jermaine the assists on two of the goals. Kendall either learned quickly that the ball was too slick to dribble, or he realized that if he didn’t pass the ball while in the box, Mooch was going to yell at him. Afredo also picked up on the clues coming from the sideline that he ought not be trying to dribble. Fredo’s got one of, if not the best, one touches on the ball on the team.

Mooch has be asking him to show more of that skill on the pitch and he has been working hard to show it. At half time Mooch made one switch in the defense. He kept Jan sweeping but moved Matt’s speed into the stopper position. Putting the passing skills of Fredo, Maurico, and Tedd into the half-back positions to feed Kendall and Jermaine the ball. This was the combination that really got it done in the second half.

After the game we drew a crowd over for Pizza at Bertucci’s Dave, Gene, Karl, Steve, Maurico, Matty, and Mooch at a good conversation about the game as well as auto mechanics, residential carpentry, and chiropractic medicine. Other’s should show for these impromptu discussions that move well beyond soccer.

Mooch Throws a Chair--Orangemen vs Metros

Too bad we don’t have a slick varnished wood floor and a few chairs around. Or maybe I should say good thing we don’t. No doubt I would have done a Bobby Knight and started throwing furniture around last night.

I don’t want to say we did good last night Orangemen. We lost 2 to 3 against the team I consider to be the standard for the league. If you look back to that game last Fall against the Vienna Metros I wrote a very important blog. I called it, “It’s Why a Soccer Ball is Round”. 

As good as we may think did on Saturday, the truth is we could have done better. Much better. And it’s not because there were a couple of calls that didn't go our way. It’s because, although we clearly had more talent on the pitch than we did when we fell 0 to 10 to the Metro’s back in the fall, we still have trouble make that simple last pass when we are on the attack. Time and time again last night there were better options in the box and the striker running with the ball decided to go at the goal alone.

Yes, we had chances. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. Make the goal and all the sins are erased. Don’t make the goal and if there were better options in front of you, square, or charging onto the 18 you've made the wrong decision. All those options were available last night and there was plenty of guilt to go around if you feel like you are being singled out.  Actually, that would be a good thing because if you feel some guilt maybe you're one of the ones I'm talking too.

And it’s not that we don’t know how to pass. We were passing fine through the midfield. The Metro’s were so fast if the ball wasn't moving they would have shut us down. But just after the break heads went to ground. Two weeks ago I said I was going to start shouting about one more pass...I failed to do so last night. Some I’m shouting now. One more pass. Start making those final passes or start working on your defensive skills. It’s that simple. Only one of those extra passes last night would have made the difference.

So, onto the game. We went down 2 to 3 in the end but we clawed back from a 0 to 2 deficit to tie the game and put serious pressure on the Metros to respond. And respond they did.

The Metros are competitors. They are gonna put the body on you if you’re on the ball. They are also talented players who have been together as a team for many years. They have a system, they know their positions, and their roster rarely changes. But they are not unbreakable. FC Valpo beat them last weekend, for instance. But Valpo is a good team...they might even be the team to beat these days. Valpo beat us back in July...and if memory serves, it was quite a spanking. Although I chose to forget about most of it in the blog I wrote...the Tour de France was in full swing. It is the game where the herniated disk between my C6/C7 probably originated. But here it is if you want to remember. Orangemen vs FC Valpo.

So we clawed our way back from two goals down. We didn't lose heart...which was a good thing and we kept running hard. Jermaine scored a great goal on a break with a well place feed to him. His speed surprised the Metros. It’s not clear we ever produced that kind of speed in a player upfront for Orange before. He just strides away from them when he has the chance. However the Metros adapted. They truly understand how to play the game. Never again, did Jermaine get a clear run at the ball after the goal. The Metro’s marked him close and never gave him an inch. They put their bodies on him and got the touch in to knock him off balance at all cost. Another example of their adaptation was to Matt’s throw. Matt was using his long throw to make trouble for them. We fooled them once or twice with his long throw. After that, they backed it up. Almost instinctively they knew the yardage and had someone there. 

It’s frustrating to put in the kind of work that we did last night and go down. But, just like the game is never over when you play a team like Manchester United, the Metros are gonna play hard until the final whistle and frustrate you time and time again. Yes we scored two against the Metros...but for a team that has put 10 up against us before, we know they are gonna score. So the only thing we can do is out score them. Which means teamwork. One more pass Orangemen...we had plenty of guilty players last night...all trying to be the hero. 

It was a physical game. There were slides and there were whistles and there were free kicks. Yes there was some controversy but in the end we failed to produced, it was not their physical play. Dave their manager was always talking to his team and keeping things under control. Several times I noted honest play turn the ref’s call around. On both sides. But the physical play and the sliding will produce injuries. But it’s not just slides, Mooch got raked down the back of both of his Achilles tendon and had to step off until he could walk again, and a few others got knocked ass over tea kettle by the Metro’s physical play. But the injury of the night belongs Will H. If you didn't see it he has a stud mark on his upper shin that looks like a bullet wound. I hope he iced it down. But ask him to show it to you next weekend. He’s going to keep that particular scar for life.

Best goal of the night honors go to Jose for left foot blast into the top of the next that came from out of nowhere as it raced into the box with defenders all over him.

Best goal of the night that wasn't honors go to Tommy who got on the end of a very nice ball over the top from...either Matt or Jose or Will...and then he put it right back across the keeper with his head. It should have been a goal, but the quality of their keeper was not to be underestimated. He snatched it in a reflexive dive to his right.

In the end however, I’m giving Man of the Match honors goes to Scott Fearing. The defense kept us in it. And Scott was playing like a man possessed. He was there again and again to break up the play. He tireless played all positions assigned. He got forward to start the game. Was moved into midfield. And then finished in the critical position of left full-back.

Getting to the Heart of the Beautiful Game

In keeping with Mooch's tradition of awarding "Man of the Match" honors, let us begin with a democratic process of voting.  So raise your hand if you were at the Orangemen match 7 September.  15 players' hands should be up.  Keep them up if you have ever undergone major surgery.  Fewer hands will be up.  Now, keep your hands up if you've had your sternum sawed in half and your chest cracked open to allow doctors to surgically ensure the function of a critical organ.  Dave Nanney's hand should be the only one in the air at this point and I believe we can all agree to name Dave “Man of the Match” on the 9th anniversary of his triple bypass surgery.  

Dave represents a side of soccer that transcends anything that occurs on the pitch. Soccer is an international community of men and women who love the beautiful game and gather together to share this love despite adversity, despite differences, despite all the ugliness and negativity that is sometimes a reality of our world.  Soccer allows us to think that no matter how bad things get, there is a kid somewhere in the world at this very instant - maybe on a mud-packed alley of a ghetto, maybe on beach looking at the ocean, maybe on a side-street of Calcutta, maybe in vacant lot in Europen city, or maybe in a dusty field in Africa - but that kid will find a ball, hopefully gather a few friends and they will kick it around, pretend that they are international stars, try a few moves, and for however long possible they will forget their troubles and get lost in the magic of the beautiful game.  

Sometimes that kid is a balding, over 50 dude who is celebrating 9 years of life after a significant event reminds him of the precious sanctity that accompanies each moment with friends and loved ones.  Dave Nanney brings an incredible gift to the pitch - he brings love.  I speak for all of us in thanking him once again for sharing his gifts.

Onto the game…  The Orangemen showed up with exactly 10 men and 1 woman to start the match at 8 pm.  We had a nice pre-game visit with Jim Landoll who stopped by to say hello and watch a bit of the match.  Jim’s devotion to the team was evidenced not only by his presence but also by the fact that he matched the Orangemen’s all-black kit.  The referee came to the field at around 7:55, so kick-off was delayed until after 8pm which allowed 3 more Orangemen to show.   The late start was one of the very few negatives about this ref.  He called a superb game even though it was a very physical (not dirty) and hard-fought contest.  He let play continue whenever possible and kept order by issuing a yellow card when the hard knocks got too rough.  Sterling’s manager also did a good job of keeping his team under control despite language challenges including native English-speakers who apparently do not understand the meaning of “no slide tackles”.  I’d also like to commend the Orangemen for keeping their cool despite some debatable off-side calls, no-calls on hand-balls (denying a goal for us), and a few dishonest throw-ins poached by our Sterling brothers.

The Orangemen started with a 4-4-2 formation featuring Gene between the pipes, Jan sweeping, Greg stopping, Ann at left back, Karl right back, Tommy right mid, Gooch and Ben central mids, Scott Fearing left mid, Will and Jemaine on the attack.  Warming up with Dave Nanney were late-arrivals Kendall and Matt.  The Orangemen started out playing a splendid game of controlled, short passes, with tremendous runs off the ball to gain advantageous positions.  Hallmark tactics such as creating space on the flanks, give-and-go’s, wall passes and well-timed runs with deftly-weighted through balls created several scoring opportunities all through the game.  Sterling, like many recent opponents, were stunned at the speed, pace, skill and work-rate the Orangemen displayed.  A large part of this is attributed to players like Kendall, Jermaine, Will (new recruits) as well as the return of John H.  Of course none of that would matter if the defense were not a solid unit.  The flourishing dominance of Matt and Greg combine with Jan’s mastery and Karl and Ann’s steadfastness have kept the pressure off our beloved Keeper Gene and have vastly improved our competitive opportunities as well as team chemistry. 

While the Orangemen failed to convert early opportunities into goals, Sterling’s speedy, skilled ball handlers produced an early goal on one of their counterattacks.  Most Sterling attempts were expertly staunched by Jan and company; however, a Sterling attacker sprinted past our backs then connected with a loping through-ball lobbed into our 18.  Gene’s run narrowed the angle, but a decent finish put Sterling up 1-nil.  Time after time, the Orangemen snuffed Sterling’s attack.  Greg was playing an aggressive, high line and disrupted many plays.  Matt entered the pitch as stopper, moved Greg to outside back, and allowed Ann and Karl to go on a rest-sub cycle.  Kendall came onto attack, moving Will to midfield and Gooch onto the pine while Dave subbed in at forward.  

Sterling had luck on their side during the first half as no less than 10 Orangemen shots went everywhere except into the net.  Apart from the culmination, Orangemen build-up and total field play was gorgeous.  With Tommy and Ben settling into a harmonious rhythm of crisp accurate passes.  Will, Jermaine and Kendall ran non-stop: touch-line to touch-line and half-way line to goal box.  All of the miles ran, hard work fought, and creativity displayed was much appreciated and resulted in a style of soccer which was beautiful to watch. 

Later in the half, Sterling scored a second goal in flamboyant style.  One of their wings lofted a corner across the Orangemen’s 18.  With Matt all up in his grill, the Sterling forward closed his eyes and attempted a spinning, waist-level volley – the ball didn’t touch the ground until after it hit the net.  The Sterling forward opened his eyes and blinked in disbelief for a few moments until he realized the ball actually went in.  2-cero for “El Amarillo”.   

  

The Orangemen came back with a glorious goal.  What made it sweet was that the goal resulted from a steady build-up from the back line, through midfield, then into the attacking third.  Ben and Tommy deserve huge credit for the running and passing.  They allowed Jermaine to penetrate deep on the right flank.  By this point in the match Sterling always had two guys on Jermaine and after he beat one, he pulled the ball back to behind the 18 where an on-rushing Will was open and drove a surgical strike past three Sterling defenders and their keeper. 2-1 Sterling at half.

Sterling accumulated substitutes at half-time – and by that I mean they had a yellow clone army consisting of 8-11 identically-built and equally-skilled players.  This included a goalkeeper who Karl described as “the only reason Sterling won”.  The Orangemen tried this keeper again and again only to be thwarted by great saves.  We also had too many balls bouncing around in Sterling’s goal box.  Some areas to improve upon are shot placement, finishing, and having a nose for the goal.  This means that during a shot, at least one forward needs to collapse onto the goal positioning himself in area which allows him to tap in a rebound off the keeper, post, or defender.  Same feedback for corners and set pieces near the opponent’s goal: we need to convert many more opportunities into goals.

Of course it’s not all about points on the Orangemen’s column.  Again, we can’t forget the tremendous defensive performance.  Jan’s excellence is obvious, consistent, and almost scary.  Last night’s performance from Ann and Karl was very good – they confronted forwards who had experience, ball handling tricks, speed, and excellent soccer skills.  Ann and Karl put on a clinic featuring ‘how to stand an attacker up; delay, deny, and destroy’.  Often the destruction came when the attacker pushed the ball sideways to go around, allowing Jan or Matt to pounce.  Ann’s great game was accentuated by her throwing various parts of her voluptuous body in the path of Sterling’s shots – which was very disconcerting from the perspective of her fidanzato, but she saved two goals from the line.  Matt was particularly fearless as he relentlessly shouldered into challenges that were audibly cataclysmic.  Greg continued to raise his performance bar by playing 90 full minutes of Total Dutch Soccer – conducting deep-raid sorties into Sterling’s line like one of Jeb Stuart’s Killer Angels.

Sterling scored their final (soft) goal after a mis-communication between Jan and Matt left the ball ricocheting off players and bouncing into the path of a Sterling forward who easily drained the shot from about 12 yards.  3-1 Sterling.  Oft-times soccer has magic moments: the Orangemen’s second goal was one of those moments.  Jermaine once again gathered a pass and out-maneuvered a bevy of Sterling’s amarillo warriors near the right touchline.  He expertly switched fields delivering a beautiful cross to Kendall who was streaking up the left side.  The pass hit Kendall in stride, he expertly controlled the hot rock with one touch in front of him then absolutely blasted a 22-yard cannon-shot from his left foot beating Sterling’s keeper and notched the ball in the upper left corner.  As the net rocked and jaws dropped, Kendall erased whatever doubt anyone had about ‘what just happened?’ by screaming: “GOLAZO!!!” while thrusting his fist high above his head.  Indeed, Kendall, es verdad!   

Even though the night ended 3-2, the Orangemen played a tremendous game against a great opponent.  We have plenty to be proud of, a few things to work on, and a promise of future victories to follow.  With the return of our missing captain Mooch as well as Tedd (competing in the Nation’s Triathlon), Mauricio, John H., Alfredo, and maybe a few of our multiple Jose’s  - this will be a great season for the Orangemen.         

Orangemen Defeat Springfield 3 to 2 on Labor Day Weekend

Jermaine in Flight

Sorry this is a late and short report this week as I’ve been once again, placed on the injured reserves.   I could write about my medical condition...but I've spend too many  blogs this year doing that...let's just say I'm getting old.

Labor day weekend screwed up the league but the showing from Orange was fantastic as we had at lease 18 players at the field.  However the home team, Fairfax Juve, canx on us early in the week forcing us to go out and find another opponent.  Robbie from Springfield’s opponent also balked, but because Robbie has players who actually like to play, was able to field a team.  So we used the Juve field, hired a ref and split the cost.  Game On!

Springfield has been have serious success this season going most of the Spring/Summer undefeated, and the last game we played with them, only six weeks ago, was barnstormer...and we suffered two pretty serious injuries, not due to Springfield’s play, just the competitive nature of the match.

The game was also very competitive.  But we had an all star cast of performers on the field including John H, Jose the younger, Matt A, Tommy, Bernie, Jan, Will H, Mauricio, Alfredo, with Kendall, and Jermaine up top.  We also had Chris show up to split time in the net with Gene and Greg, Steve H, Karl, and Scott F on the pitch to shore up our defence.  I iwll note it was Jan’s first game back since the shoulder separation against Springfield six weeks ago.

It was a highly competitive match.  We were going end to end with plenty of opportunities up front.  And much better distribution of the ball than last week.

Matt, who should always be taking our throw in’s, was heaving the ball from the slide lines to the far post...this is as effective as one of Tedd’s corner kicks.  On one throw the ball went far side, was headed back across the goal, and Jose was able to get his neck behind the ball and direct it in for our first goal.

Springfield was playing their typical ball control, Barcelona style, of play. Relentlessly passing the  ball with an entire squad of strong and shorter stature players who all look like Lionel Messi from behind.  Strong on the ball, exceptional control, and great passers.  The two goals they scored on us they practically walked into the net.

But because Jose had pulled a goal back, the game was not out of reach and we were playing well.  If fitness could hold out we had a shot.  And it took until the last fifteen minutes of the game to tie it up.  Jermaine took a pass between two defenders, pushed it forward, and used his gazelle legs to run through them like they were standing still.  Jermaine has Gareth Bale like speed when he gets into a free lane and can spread his wings.  He finished with a right footed shot that the keeper couldn’t handle.  We were tied.  Mooch called for a sub and made a late game change to put fresh legs on the field for the last five minutes.  As Will walked off he said to Mooch, “If you want to win keep Jermaine on the field”.  Mooch kept Jermaine on the field, and wouldn’t you know, we had repeat performance.  Jermaine took a pass right between two defenders, pushed it past them and used is gazelle like speed to run past them for another right foot strike past the keeper.  The Orangemen we up 3 to 2.  A wonderful late goal and we could just hang on, a long awaited victory for the Orangemen.  We hung on for the remaining minutes and took the victory home on labor day weekend.

Good job fellas!  Sorry it took all week for us to re-live the glory of the past weekend.

Orangemen Play Total Futball vs Internazonale

Last night at the Stadia de Arrowbrook, the Orangemen took on Internazionale in what would be an exciting end to end exhibition of soccer. The referee commented at the end of the match that it was one of the highest quality matches he has refereed in our division.  I can’t put my finger on it exactly what was happening last night but I might say the Orangemen were playing total futbal.  Meaning although we had positions assigned, the players were really playing wide open and were moving about the field where they needed to be.  The only two players who were staying at home were Karl and Greg, at right and left fullback respectively.  Greg Z was certainly a candidate for player of the match, several players who have not appeared in a while noticed his skills having improved considerably throughout the summer months.

The other thing that was a bit different about last night is we had two Olivera’s show up to play.  Those of us familiar with the Orangemen know that Jose the elder has been a significant fixture on the Orangemen in years past, but has chosen to spend more time overseas in Afghanistan than picking up the Orangemen level of play.  He’s got his priorities in order.  Many of you probably don’t know that Jose the Elder probably had a career in Pro Sports had his priorities not been in order after he graduated from West Point and decided to serve his country with distinction.  All was not for naught athletically because Jose Sr. was recognized for his athleticism in 2008 by being inducted into the West Point Hall of Fame for his contributions to the West Point Lacrosse team  

http://www.goarmysports.com/genrel/082808aaa.html

He’s a real athlete and an American hero and it’s always an honor when he steps onto the pitch with us.  

But I’m not done, Jose the elder brought his son Jose the younger with him last night.  The younger has played with us a few times throughout the years when he wasn’t in France, or Mexico, or the Dominican Republic playing pro-basketball.  That’s right, not soccer, but pro-hoops.  You can check out his stats at this link and some news footage at the second link.

http://www.eliteprohoops.com/jose-olivero.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFb69aChdZg

Regardless, even though we were playing soccer, the presence of a pro-athlete on the pitch could not be mistaken, nor could the presence of his Hall of Famer Dad.

Between the two Olivera’s, with the speed of Ben, John H, and B, with Tedd’s fineness on the ball, the rest of us Orangemen only had to fill in the holes.

Our defense rocked including the contributions from Gene playing  between the posts.  The first goal they scored was a fantastic shot, perhaps unstoppable, but their second goal game off a well played ball over the top that caught Gene way off his line.  Easily stoppable had Gene stayed at home, but it was a tremendous take because no one on the pitch though the attacker was evening thinking about going over the top at that point in his run.  He showed great skill, but it was definitely a soft goal.  Internazionale had plenty of opportunities though, but Gene was up to the task and made some really good saves by being exactly in the right position. 

And speaking of opportunities we had plenty.  Most of those came off of crosses from the right and some frequent corner kicks.  Johnny H was using his speed to get to the ball but was unable to direct the ball true.  We also had headers coming in from both Ben and Jose the Younger as they streaked into the box and lept into the air.  We just needed a bit of luck and a few more goals would have dropped for us.

Choosing a man of the match this evening is hard, but I think I will split the honors between Ben’s-in-Ben and Johnny Rocket who could outrun just about everyone on the pitch in the defensive third.  Both of them tirelessly ran end to end, getting up on the attack and then racing back, sometimes deep into our defensive corners to thwart an attack.

I am not ready to change our game philosophy to total football yet...but don’t think I haven't considered it seriously.  Those of you played with my indoor squad, BoB FC, know we played total football.  No positions, everybody just went for it.  And it produced some extremely competitive and exciting matches.   What I believed we needed last night was one more thing.  And that thing was one more final pass in the final third.  Not two, but one more pass.

By my count we created five opportunities to score when that one final pass to the open player occurred up top.  Whether that was a touch back to the 18 or a cross in.  Of those five, B finally got on the end of one and was able to finish, not without a heroic last sliding touch of individual effort, but it opened up for him based on the pass.    On the other side of the coin we had over ten additional opportunities where the final pass was not offered and the defense shut down the person who thought they would go it alone.  This was producing frustration within our ranks when the Orange Attacker went it alone as the defense massed leaving as many as three unmarked Orangemen standing alone on the opposite side of the box.  What happens then is the attackers simply give up.  Why anyone would think Mooch would try to go it alone, however, is beyond me.  However, after a full game of attackers making the run into the box and the cross never coming over or out to  them, when Mooch was on the break and played a perfect ball into the top of the box, literally no one made the run. That’s the tell-tale sign of frustration.  Some might argue that Mooch was simply too fast on that run and beat everyone up the field to the box,  yeah, right.

So Internazionale was fast, very fast.  The only way to beat them was to keep the ball moving.  When we kept it moving we dominated position...except, again, for the final attack.  One more pass would have outdone them, I’m convinced of it.  My motto going forward is going to be, "One More Pass".  Remember it, you're going to hearing a lot of it.

I want to give some credit to Ernesto who played with us for the first time.  And Will H was taking our free kicks for us and doing a fine job.  Alfredo also had a fine game, making tackles and helping with our position game.

There was a little criticism of Internazionale being a team that fouls a lot.  I remember them from our last game... a physical team and there did seem to be a lot of body contact prior to the ball arriving.    However, they seemed to be distracted with scoring another goal and were just playing good soccer.  Don’t know what would have happened in we would have scored a second or even went up on them...their frustrations only surfaced once or twice...and they really started yelling at each other...but for the most part they didn’t take it out on us.  I think, however, free kicks were about even on the match.

Overall it was a great game, final score was 1 to 2.  A frustrating loss since it was a winnable game for us.

The Kill Chain - Orangemen vs Mt. Vernon

It was another epic Orangemen match-up with Mt Vernon, and although the result was not entirely satisfactory, it was fun game with excellent contribution by all.  Only minor breakdowns and each end of the field held us from victory.

The ref started us promptly at 9, which was a pleasant surprise, and was an indication of a match that was about to be very well refereed.  We drew first blood, but they drew more (literally and figuratively – four stitched for those who were making odds).  

In the military, we have a doctrinal approach to training our weapons on target, that we describe as “the kill chain”.  Loosely, this is the steps that need to be taken to destroy the objective (search, identify, track, target, engage, check – in all these steps speed is highly valued).  Last night, our first goal had a chain of its own, that should prove the model for our future attacks.  The chain consisted of at least five deft Orangemen passes from our defending end into the Mt Vernon eighteen.  Forgive me if I miss a pass or two, but the right back (Matt at the time) advanced the ball on the right outside to Dave who was nicely dropping back to “show” and one-timed it to Ben, who in classic Ben style controlled the ball through a challenging Mt Vernon player or two and fed the ball to Tedd as he approached our right side of their eighteen.  After shifting the ball left (any surprise?), Tedd was thinking shot, but, out of the corner of his eye saw Kendal, who slipped inside the Mt Vernon right back.  So Tedd made the easy play and nudged him the ball.  After a quick move further left, Kendal blasted the ball past a helpless keeper.  It was early, it was fast, and we were on top 1-0.

After that, Mt Vernon responded with two goals of their own.  Three of the Mt Vernon goals were top-notch, skilled control, from inside to out, smart passes across our six (one in the air), with unstoppable finishes. The other two, were preceded by our failure to rapidly/aggressively clear the ball.  Second first-half goal was similar to the first culminating with an easy pass to Alfredo, who on our right side of the Mt Vernon eighteen, made a skilled move to his right, then beat the keeper low far post.  At halftime we were down 3-2.

Our shortcomings at the offensive end were characterized by poor execution and on occasion pressing an attack that was not developing in a controlled fashion (e.g., Tedd’s mediocre shot near the keeper when just inside the eighteen, the ball shifted to his left foot, and the defenders momentum right; and repeated forced passes through).  However, those were balanced by solid play exemplified by another classic “kill chain” and by a set piece play.  In the former, John Herbert (who after stymieing us in the first half, was back on our side) fed Tedd the ball in our defensive right towards the touch line.  Meanwhile, John Hamner, exploiting the open field on the left, called for the ball, received a cross from Tedd, and advanced through the midfield unopposed.  Once challenged, he made a sharp pass to Matt, who had nicely showed inside and one timed it back outside to John, who was streaking into our left outside of their eighteen.  John collected the ball, shifted left, and blasted one of the hardest Orangemen shots seen in quite a while into the upper left ninety.  Because the ball kept rising until well passed the fence, was so fast (light speed time-warp phenomenon), and the net was poorly hung letting the ball through, there was some confusion (on the part of some players) if it was a goal or not.  But there was no doubt on the part the ref, keeper, John, and those who saw the net ripple from being nicked as the ball shot through.  3-3.

The set piece was a gorgeous direct-kick cross from just inside their half on our right side by Ben to Tedd, who was just outside our left of their six.  He deflected the ball down to beat the keeper low, nearside.  We were up 4-3.  A while later, they knotted the score with a direct kick initially vectoring wide, when in an effort to get out of its way, Peter (who was now augmenting the Mt Vernon side), turned his back and the ball smacked off him and spun into the upper left corner – nothing Jean could do.  4-4.

Their final goal in the waning moments was skilled, and frustrated a stellar defense by Jan, Mikey, John Herbert, and Greg.  Special thanks to John Herbert and Peter for helping Mt Vernon field 11, special mention to Matt for being a utility player with strong showings at both ends of the field, and a shout-out to the dozen young kids who graced the field during half-time!  In summation, it was an excellent game which could have easily gone our way, but we should be proud of strong Orangemen play.

Finally, Tedd is extremely grateful for the care and kind attendance to his cut by Cori Ann, the Aldykiewiczes, Kendal, and everyone!

(Oh – lest Mooch have visions of Tedd subbing as scribe, it will only be on rainy Sunday afternoons when Tedd is kept from the pool by stitches in his eyebrow resulting from last minute Mt Vernon inadvertent elbows)

Orangemen vs Alianza on an Otakon Weekend

Was it summer vacation, the new field in Herndon, or perhaps everybody was up in Baltimore attending Otakon 20. Whatever the reason, at 7:56 last night, four minutes before kickoff, only 6 Orangemen and 3 Alianza had materialized for the game. Mooch, who spent 14 hours at Otakon yesterday, and had been back to Baltimore already today, and was due back to pick up his Otaku and her friend up at 10pm was at the pitch early, at 7:30pm, and found the referee was already there looking for ways to canx the game. He was the ref that called the game on account of the Thunderstorm being 30 miles away three weeks ago, meanwhile we had sustained the worst injuries of year on in that first half of play. Just a general rule, the refs seem to be tightening things up, we’ve had several ask that we take off or tape our rings and I’ve seen more shin pad inquires than I’ve ever seen before.

Eventually we had enough to field a team but only 7 Alianza showed up. So we offered them 3 players to even out the sides. Mooch called on Maurico and Gooch 1 (Mike) and Gooch 2 ( Anne) to bring total team strength to 10 on both sides...with no subs. However kickoff didn’t happen until 8:18. The ref was in good spirits and didn’t deduct any time for such a late start and one positive aspect of his super risk aversion was his policy not to allow the other team to pick-up ringers on the sidelines. And the Arrowbrook field is full of ringers...so it was a good policy.

All in all it was a fun game...but Alianza with Mauricio and the Gooches still crushed us 3 to 7, although I thought we scored a 4th. And we stayed with them until a few questionable calls and one horrendous missed handball in their penalty box, broke our spirit...it just wasn’t going to be our night.

However, no matter how fun the game was, there was still a lot of frustration on the pitch last night....meaning the Orangemen had room for improvement. I’ll start at the top and try to get through the match as best I can remember.

First...let's get this out of the way...if you show up late you don’t get a chance to warm up and you get no touches on the ball you can't be frustrated when things don't go your way.  I’ll tell you three players who showed up early and had plenty of practice and warm-up touches. The Gooches and Maurico. They were the first to arrive, pay, dress, and start practicing. Gooch 2 even gave Dave N a hug, while she was handing me cash.  Gooch 1 wondered why he didn’t get in on any of that action.  But Anne was in great sprits and it showed on the pitch...ven after Mooch stomped on her foot early in the first half.  Not only did she get 13 hours of sleep the night before, she had a good warm-up.  And it was probably a mistake on Mooch’s part to hand Alianza the players with the most warm-up, however, I do my best to rotate those folks I ask to play for the opposition and and their numbers came up.

So we had a few players show up so late they got no warm-up, none, zero, zilch, nada, zippy touches on the ball before playing. Kendall, John H, and Matt were among the guiltiest but we had a few other’s sauntering up to the field at well past kickoff, and only the late whistle afforded them any warm-up whatsoever. But at kickoff, the 10 who took the field for Orange were the 10 who walked off the field 90 minutes later. There would be no substitutes tonight. The weather was in our favor however, in the mid-70’s and dry, it was a perfect evening to play.  Slides were permitted and we would not be taking water breaks on the quarter. There are no quarters in Soccer...just ask Coach Lasso (Jason Sudeikis).  This is a must view video if you haven't seen the SNL skit.

Gene, Steve, John H, Matt, Jermaine, Jose, Mooch, Tommy, Dave N, Kendall comprised the team for Orange last night.

It wasn’t a bad side at all, and for the first half we were pretty evenly matched. Both sides had chances and we scored first of a ball floated in from the right with Jermaine getting on the end of it and floating it back across goal and over the keeper into the top corner. But Alianza had two terrific forwards with great ball control, speed, and really hard shots. It wasn’t long before they would equalize. Tommy scored the second goal on a ball he picked up at the top of the box on a feed from John, that Mooch let run between his legs (intentional or not), drawing the defenders to him. Tommy had a wicked strike curling the unstoppable ball into the top left corner of the net. Our third goal was came from a run Jose made on the left and he placed a hard and low cross in and Kendall got on the end of it scoring our third goal. It seemed however, that we scored more. We had plenty of shots. Matt got in the action, John H had one go high and one ring the post, Jermaine had shots, Kendall had opportunities, Jose had some opportunities, as did Tommy. Even with this many opportunities, we could have had more as our passing broke down in the final third with too many decision of our strikers to go it alone rather than making one more give and go to improve their field position. When the short pass came in the final third, and was played back to the striker, it always split the defense and created a shot on goal. This happened numerous times and could have happened a lot more. 

So criticism one...get to the field early and take some shots on goal. Criticism two, more passing in the final third makes soccer an easy game. And three, way too much sniping at each other for missing a pass or screwing up a play. Everyone made mistakes last night. No one should be critical of other Orangemen particularly when frustration sets in. Everyone is frustrated and the sniping only makes it worse.

Since we lost 3 to 7, I’m not awarding a man-of-the-match last night, unless I give it to Gooch for being involved in a number of the Alianza goals and scoring one himself. On the Orangemen I would almost give honorable mention to the player (Dave Strider) who was limping with two bad feet but still managed to feed six or more runs on the Alianza goal, that all, alas, went wanting...but they could have been magnificence ...and then he got in his car and drove back to Otakon...I hope everyone else went to Bertuccis.  Oh, and special thanks to the Adam's Family for bringing post-game watermelon!