Thunder and Lighting

I assume when everybody left the match last night they figured out that the horrible thunderstorm that caused the cancellation of our match at half time was over 30 miles away.  I printed out the radar coverage of the weather activity at 2100 hours when I got home.  The storm was in Columbia Maryland.  I suspect since Bryant Alternative sits on the back side of Beacon Hill about 200 ft above Sea Level, while that doesn’t afford us a view of the city it does provide an unobstructed view of thunderheads at 70,000.  

The first clue is when you can see the lightning, but can’t hear the thunder, the storm is a long way off.  10 miles is about the max distance you could hear thunder if the lightning is close by.  But 30 miles?  That’s just crazy.  I’m a little beaked that the game was cancelled at half-time.  Bottom line, we should have never canx the game last night.  I suspect that our referee was trying to join up with friends for a Saturday night party.  And why not, he had already pocketed our cash.

We had guests from California who joined the team and only got to play through half time.  Much appreciation goes to Rubin J for bringing his boys to play and stepping out of their family reunion to come visit.  His son’s played well, and had we moved into the second half, I think we would have been able to break Sringfield's 17 game unbeaten streak.

All in all it was a tremendous 45 minutes of play before the storm.  The score was 2 to 3 at the half.  But there is no doubt we were putting tremendous pressure on them.

Having both Ben and Matt at the game we worked the formation with both of them playing outside fullbacks with the authority to get forward on the attacks.  That formation seems to work very well.  Once again Ben was on the score sheet with with another tremendous header off of a signature Tedd corner kick.

Sadly however, we had two big injuries during the match.  Jan, was playing his strong sweeper role and was busy cleaning up messes.  On one attack he went in on a hard tackle, snatched the ball from the marauding striker which up-ended him at a full sprint.  Jan went to ground hard and the player fell with his full weight onto Jan’s shoulder as they hit the ground.  The result was a trip to the ER for Jan and a severely separated shoulder.  I will not relieve the gory details of Jan writhing around on the pitch in agony, but it was pretty graphic.

Of course the injury didn’t stop him from playing in the wounded warrior tourney on Sunday.  Watching him play with a hurt wing tucked into his side, was just as painful.

Mooch sustained the other injury, after he had the best opportunity of the half to score but pulled the ball just wide of the post of a keeper who was readily beat.  Alfredo did all the work and then slotted a perfect ball to Mooch who was wide open to take the shot.  A few minutes later Mooch had the ball at his feet and was advancing toward the net with only one fullback to beat.  He pushed the ball wide, and had clearly beat the defender to his outside, when the defender made an off balance lunge at the ball with his outside foot.  He hooked his heel across Mooch’s left foot and came down hard with his heel smashing Mooch’s foot to ground and bringing him straight to the ground.  Mooch went immediately knew he had sustained a game ending injury.  He got up and tried to walk off the field but fell immediately as he knew he couldn’t put pressure on his foot.  However on the side line, the Adam’s Family medical team went to work.  Mooch’s foot and putting ice on it to reduce the swelling.  Since the game Mooch has sought out Matt’s medical expertise.  More details on the injury and his recuperation from treatment to follow in the coming weeks.

While Mooch was on the sidelines icing his foot, Will H was busy taking free kicks and doing the Samba in the penalty box.  I didn’t see it, but Will made a run into the box and did his best Brazilian as one of the defenders, swept his legs out from under him as well.  No doubt it was the same defender with bad timing.  This take down resulted in a PK which Will finished in style.

With only the 45 minutes to judge man-of-the-match I’m going to give the honors to Will H, who seemed to be available in many plays and had numerous touches on the ball, including a well placed free kick, his Brazilian in the box, and of course his successful PK.

Karl Bakes a Cake...Oh and the Orangemen Defeat Mt Vernon 2 - 0

Matt's 30th Birthday Celebration

Back in March of this year, during our last game against our long time rivals, Mt Vernon took us to school.  You can read about it in this post:

Loss to Mt Vernon

Last night, in one of the most thrilling games of the season, the Orangemen returned the favor.  A year’s worth of team building has produced a solid core of players that includes a fresh crop of talent that is just turning 30, as well as some players who continue to be recruited based on our ties to the Pentagon team, and of course our veterans of 20 plus years, still going and going and going.

Last night 19 players turned up for a home game.  Finally Mooch had a fantastic showing at a home game which meant he could collect fees for the match and put a little margin on the books as the Fall season approaches.  As it turns out Mooch was actually turning players away last night as requests to bring guests came from several sides.  As mentioned last week, he’s doing to the best he can to accommodate those requests.  Everyone needs to look at the eVite and make their own decisions with regard to the number of players who show for any given match...and what their prospect for playing time will be on any given weekend.  I’d rather be fat then thin...but fat means that average playing time will go down, but the time you are on the pitch means you should be “all in”.  If you’re walking on the field with 8 subs on the sideline you are going to take a seat earlier than you expect.

Highlights from the match.

Gene kept a clean sheet in the first half. He played and communicated well with the defenders.  On several occasions when the ball was played over the top he was well positioned to step forward and claim the ball at the right moment without the need for the defender to clear it out of the box.

John Hamner showed for his second game and his triumphant return from playing soccer in Kansas, a state known for Army prisons, tornado’s, little dog’s named Toto and anything but soccer.  His foot, after the injury of May 2009 has healed.  Remember John was involved in a red card incident back in May 2009 in which during  the last 5 minutes of a game his foot was shattered by an over aggressive opponent thinking he was playing in the World Cup.  John's foot required no less than 9 pins.  Most of the metal has been removed from his foot and John says he is at 100%.  That’s an incredible recovery from such a bad injury.  In keeping with league policy, Tasso (Mt. Vernon's captain) and Mooch in conference with the ref at the start of the game felt it best to keep sliding off the pitch for this match.  Jon, Mt. Vernon's manager, absent from the night's game, would have  been proud of Tasso's decision to keep sliding out of the match.

A huge change during the match, which might signal a shift in game philosophy, is that we tried out a new defensive lineup...in stead of shoring up the defense with 5 in the back, the idea would be to place 4 very strong players on defense and build from the back.  With a strong defense that enables us an option to play with three strikers up front.  That changes the game dynamics considerably.  And it was clear during the first half that it was having an impact.  So here is how we lined up.

John H, Dave. N, and Kendall up front.  With Jose and Peter ready to go in on the attack.

Chris and Gene would switch as keeper at half-time.

Tedd in central midfield, Alfredo, Will H, Steve H, Karl, and Greg playing midfield with Mooch and Chuck filling in the holes.

Matt, Ben, John, and Mikey playing the strong defense.  The idea here is that with Matt and Ben on the defensive flanks, they would take the pressure off our central defense and would also be able to get forward, overlapping the midfield on the attack.  During the first half, they spent the majority of their time on defensive duties.  And the defense was seemingly impenetrable.  The game seemed extremely even with neither side able to make progress.  As Mt. Vernon tired, however, and Ben and Matt and even John, began stepping out of the defensive role and pressuring into the midfield and beyond, the momentum switched in favor of the Orangemen.  We started playing more and more of the game in the attacking third.  More opportunities presented and it was only a matter of time before we were able to finish.

The break through came when Will H was making a run up the left side of the field.  A scramble ensued and  Will maintained control of the ball drawing defenders into the box and on the left side of the pitch.  Will turned on the ball and  was looking to drop the ball out back but apparently heard Mooch shouting from the top of the penalty box.  He crossed the ball low and hard.  Last week Mooch let a similar low and hard cross from Will pass him by to an awaiting Tommy, who finished in style.  This time, Mooch wanted the glory so he reached up with his right foot and snatched the ball out of the air coming in about knee level.  The ball miraculously dropped dead straight in front of him.  I was a quality trap for multiple reasons.  One the ball settled motionlessly on the goal side of him, two, it stopped in space away from the closing defender on his right creating extra space, and three, it was sufficiently out from under his feet that Mooch's natural kicking stride required no adjustment.  Mooch felt like he had ten minutes to shoot the ball, felt like he was aiming at the broad side of a barn, didn't think twice about using his left foot to take the shot.  When it left his foot he knew he connected well and as he saw the shape of the ball knew he hadn't over cooked it. It's funny when you know the ball is going in the net...only the spectacular from a keeper stopped a goal in these situations, and the feeling rang true.  The ball cleared the keepers out stretched fingers and dipped beneath the crossbar into the upper right corner of the net.  It felt like an easy goal.  Mooch was more proud of his trap to set up the shot than the shot itself.  So special thanks to Will for the cross in, which earned him the assist.  Will had a chance to take a free kick earlier in the game, which he placed perfectly onto the back of the six yard box with three Orangemen in position to get a head on it.  The first Orangemen stretched to meet it, and unfortunately didn't connect as well.  One of the Orangemen behind would have had a better angle to get their head on it.

Our second goal game off a corner kick.  Tedd took the corner kick and with his signature cross, low, in swinging, and to the back of the box, Ben, up from his defensive position, made a diving header to finish the ball into the need beating the keeper to the inside post.  Everyone is learning that getting on the end of a Tedd corner kick is like money in the bank.  We expect skirmishes as Orangemen fight over that 10 square feet of space near the back post to score an easy goal off a fine delivery from Tedd.

More opportunities presented in the second have with Kendall having a great opportunity on a break away through the center and one v one chance with the Mt. Vernon keeper advancing out.  Kendall did everything right.  He controlled the ball and didn't wait for the keeper to make a move.  He snap kicked the ball with his left foot scoring what should have been a perfectly played goal.  But as mentioned before, the keeper, miraculously made a reflexive and blind flail at the ball, and somehow made contact with it  as it was beating him on his right side.  It was a sick save of a certain goal.

Mt Vernon, however, wasn't without answers in the second half, but Chris was able to keep his sheet clean with a series of two great fore-hand volleys off his line to save the goals.  When the ball sits up like a tennis shot, years and years of tennis reflexes kick in and Chris knows how to volley from the base line.  No one is going to beat Chris on his forehand, and he's shown that again and again.  However, if you play a drop shot, Chris is known for going to ground early.

After the match, our newest player celebrated his 30th birthday.  Matt’s birthday celebration included cakes and cold cuts with one cake hand baked personally by Karl M.  The rest of the birthday celebration was catered by Matt's wife Cori-Ann who wanted to also bring a fireworks display to rival the best displays in the Country.  However, Mooch had to kill her pyrotechnic aspirations by reminding her that the best fireworks were illegal in Virginia and that the County would probably not appreciate us setting fire to the synthetic field.  I must also mention that Matt was also called to medical action to treat Dave N for a sprained or jammed wrist that occurred when Dave got hammered with the ball.  Dave returned to action during the game, and although he claimed he would be sore, the soreness didn't stop him from carrying equipment off the field with his "damaged" left hand after the game.

Great game last night Orangemen...I proud of what we've accomplished this year and look forward to a great Fall season, that should begin in a few short weeks.

Last thing...Dave N felt compelled enough from the game last night to send in his own recount of some of the action, that I dutifully record here for the record.

Dave N says:

Tonight, I feel I need to speak on behalf of all our teammates, and recommend our “Man of the Match” be Jim, the “golden foot”, Muccio.  Starting with his overall play, but highlighting his super first touch in settling the ball in a crowded melee in front of the goal, Jim had the presence of mind to lift the ball neatly over the rushing goalie.  But that’s the second reason for tonight’s recommendation.  The Orangemen played against a talented, young, aggressive opponent.  We had a full lineup with an “abundance” of substitutes.  The principle reason for Jim’s nomination is the outstanding game he coached, insuring a rock solid defense, pressing midfield, and an attacking front line.  Jim managed to move players around without revealing any weaknesses, allowing everyone to get their minutes, yet  insuring the lineups were balanced, and eventually successful.  So Jim Muccio, player of the match, first for coaching, and second for the opening goal of a 2-0 win.

The second man of the match is actually the “family Matt”.  Matt has played with us for only three weeks, but his lovely family including two young angels, celebrated his 30th birthday at the field.  They brought cake, veggies, water, and plates to share the special day with the team.  And, oh by the way, Matt is a very good player who contributed to the solid defense.

Orangemen vs FC Valpo

Another summer game down...the fall season quickly approaches.  Only four games left until Fall Soccer is here and one of those games is on the weekend of the Wounded Warrior tournament where we will be extremely short handed.  So if you are not playing in the tournament, on the 20th of July, let me know.  We will have to call in substitutes and visiting players to field a side for sure.   In other news, Le Tour started on our game day last Saturday.  It’s a special tour this year as it celebrates it’s 100th year of the bike race.  Despite the controversy over performance enhancing drugs, Lance Armstrong, et al, it’s still the World Cup of bike racing. The first stage got rolling and for the first time, the grand tour traveled to the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean.   I never realized, one, how big Corsica is, and two, how mountainous it is.  It looked like the riders were in the Pyrenees on the first stage.  If you haven’t been following the tour, you should.  It’s a fantastic athletic event, and if you didn’t know, Maurico is a huge bike rider, and when he isn’t playing for the Orangemen, he’s on his road bike training for road races.  It was a big weekend for sports, The Confederations Cup Final was played in Brazil on Sunday.  Brazil defeated Spain, 3 to 1.  This competition is really just a warm-up for the World Cup next year. It’s not a game with too much meaning other than to test the venues to see if Brazil is ready to host the big event next year.  If you will recall, Confederations Cup 2009, the year before the 2010 World Cup, was played in South Africa, and coincidentally Brazil won the final there as well.  But not so coincidentally, the United States played in that Final and was defeated by Brazil 3 to 2.  Did anyone notice that the US was playing in a International Final on the World Stage?  Not really.  Just like no one really cares that the World Champions, Spain, went down to Brazil in a humiliating defeat.  However, that all changes in about 11 months.  Everyone in the world will be watching the World Cup 2014 get kicked off in Brazil next summer.  Get ready to have a World Cup get together or two next June.  Think of some ideas and feed them too me.  Let’s get ready for a fun season.

OK, some of you might be interested in the game recap.  Me, not so much.  We played FC Valpo who wore light blue.  It’s a nice uniform, sky blue, reminds me of Manchester City.  Which reminds me there is only 5 weeks remaining until the start of the next English Premier League on 17 August.  Sadly, very few preseason games are coming to the US this year.  Unlike last year when we got together at Raven stadium in Baltimore to watch Liverpool and Tottenham mix it up.  But I digress, back to the game.  FC Valpo beat us in what was a strange game indeed.  We seemed to have backed away from all we’ve learned this year.  We moved back into our 1 sweeper, 1 stopper defense...which puts all the pressure on Jan.  We don’t seem to be passing as well as we have the past the last six months...we don’t even seem to be looking for passes.  It could be FC Valpo was just that good.  They were certainly fast...it was hard to complete a pass or receive a pass and look up without there being a field of sky blue all around.  So, I’m just gonna leave it at that.  FC Valpo good team...and unless we are firing on all cylinders there is very little we are going to do about it.  I’m not even sure what the final score was, but we did bag a single goal, which from the bench looked spectacular.  So there is that...  But what was even more interesting was what was happening on the bench.

Mooch, who is forever seemingly prone to injury, left the field when an FC Valpo player checked him in the shoulder.  It snapped his neck hard to the side.  As impacts go it was nowhere near the hit Ben took between the shoulder blades back in the spring, where the back of his head practically bounced off his spine.  But the hit Mooch took from the side was sufficient to throw his neck out of whack. He stood there practically paralyzed.  The ref indicated play-on because we gained the advantage and then he stopped play a few moment’s later when he saw that Mooch was unable to move.  The ref said he saw the hit, but due the the advantage, didn’t award the foul.  Mooch, in severe distress, hobbled off the field and sat in the bleachers.  Matt, who was having a bad day because he was suffering some muscle strains following his performance last week approached Mooch, in a deliberate but non-threatening manner.  As he drew near Mooch noticed Matt extending his hand toward his neck.  When someone moves their hand toward your throat that should generally trigger a defensive reaction, however Matt’s movements were not threatening, and Mooch was like an animal, when in severe distress, sensing that the human is there to help and allows that human to touch them, to release them from a snare, or to pull a thorn from their paw, for instance.  Also, Mooch had the knowledge that Matt is a Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine and did sense that he was there to help.  Despite the fact that Mooch couldn’t move his head since his neck was so locked up, had anyone else in the world made a move to touch his neck at that point, even his mother, he might have summoned one of the blocking move’s he learned in Kung Fu.  He did not and Matt landed his hand on the back of his neck.  Within moments Matt was having Mooch lift his arm and was applying and releasing pressure with his hand.  Then he had Mooch apply resistance pressure against his own pressure.  Quickly Matt had discovered the source of the kink and which one of the vertebrae in Mooch’s neck was pinching a nerve.  He then started a series of stretches on Mooch’s head and neck that almost immediately relieved the pressure.  Mooch’s neck was unlocked.  The pain was gone.  In fact, his head was so loose on his shoulders he commented that  he felt better than at the start of the game.  Mooch’s recovery was so fast and felt so good he returned to the match.  One week later, while sore for a couple of days, the kink never returned.  Early treatment seems to be key for these musculoskeletal  anomalies such as this...amazing.

So, we’ve discovered a secret weapon, keen to join the Orangemen family.  I guess I don’t care so much that we got clobbered by FC Valpo.  What an acquisition for Orange!  We must all take some time to thank Karl for recruiting him.  It feels like we now have our own physio on the team...who needs the assets of a Manchester United or Liverpool if we have our own quality medical care coming to play at our games.  Thanks Matt for joining us so quickly and bringing your family to our family...not to mention your soccer skills and skills as a doctor...we are gonna offer you a 5 year contract and have you sign with our team ASAP.  Forget that talk about being closer to Herndon or Chantilly...what the hell was I thinking!