Release Your Inner Dragon...

Mid-October and it's the final stretch with just 5 games to go...time to Release Your Inner Dragon!!! (saw this sign board in the airport when we hit Florida and I couldn't resist). I mean come on, is there a cooler mythical creature around than the dragon? Umm, no is the answer; a resounding no! I mean according to Wikipedia, the Dragon is a "legendary creature"...stay with me now, a bit of writers lib...apparently, in making one simple decision (to say yes to my bosses, Dr. Eric Zilmer and Nick Gannon, in accepting the position of Head Men's Soccer Coach at Drexel University) I reached legendary status... So Will "I Am Legend" Smith, move over bro, the new Legend is taking over West Philly ("Doug Hess, legend in his own bedtime"...a.k.a. dreams!)...you may have been born and raised, but I am now occupying your space on 43rd and Powelton! Perhaps there will be a made for T.V. movie (I'd even take an after-school special), called I Am Dragon in the near future...

Know what other time it is??? That's right, it's Unkempt October time as well! What is Unkempt October you say? So glad you ask, it's the time that you start prepping for No-Shave November... what is No-Shave November you say... well, quite simply it is the time you let it all go. The beard gets scraggly, side burns kicking, hair longer all in preparation for a strong finish. Why do we do that you ask? For added strength, duh...

Last week saw us split in the CAA, a loss of 2-1 to Delaware and a 2-1 win over Georgia State in the warm confines of Vidas Athletic Complex, a.k.a. 43rd and Powelton, a.k.a. The Dragon's Den, a.k.a. Legend's Corner...

Soccer is forever a game of chances and mistakes...we saw both down at Delaware last Wednesday night. We created three fantastic chances to score prior to the Hen's getting their first on a counter-attack. The first chance was a free header off a Mannny Cazares corner that Tal Bublil could not manage to get on frame...missed opportunity one. The second, a solid strike from 8 yards steered away by their goalkeeper. Manny takes the ball down the right side, splits two of their defenders to find Nathan Page inside their penalty box. Pagey does the business, turns their defender and takes the end-line. He pulls the ball back to an un-marked Malcolm LeBourne above the six yard box...missed opportunity two. Another attack down the right side, this time a Cazares pass splits their backline for an on-rushing Nate Baker, whose early service finds Malcolm at the back post for a tightly-contested header that goes just wide of the back post...missed opportunity three (fool me once, shame on you...fool me twice shame on me...fool me thrice...hmm, I guess you lose a soccer game).

So, the Hens do us up in a counter-attack off of our throw-in, in their half. A great finish on their part, but a cornucopia (an early Thanksgiving reference...I love Thanksgiving) of individual mistakes. The rest as they say is history...I have to think that more times than not, the team that scores first in college soccer wins...I'd venture as much as a 70-75% rate. In the scenarios that don't prove this to be true, I would venture that most of those games are won by the team that scores consecutive goals. We only had one game to disprove this theory this year (the Towson game...which has caused me to add a heavy dose of beta-blockers to my diet...). In such a low-scoring affair like soccer, it is so important to be the first to score.

Onto the Georgia State game and a return home to Philadelphia. We concede the first on a corner, but proving the latter theory true...we score consecutive goals and take all 3 points to put ourselves in the log jam which is known as the CAA Men's Soccer Table! True to our young team's mentality, we showed strong courage to pull the game right back level after going down in the 43rd minute with a strike of our own from the penalty spot. We put 6 passes together from the kick-off after the Panthers' goal that led to Pagey clipping a well-weighted pass over their left back to Manny Cazeres, who takes the ball down in stride and attempts to cross to Andrew Goldberg getting to the back post. The ball would have made it's way there, but the left centerback's hand restricted its movement...step in the cool-headed Page to level the game from the spot.

A level game as we go into half and some simple points to make to the team to gain the result we want (a level game = level headed coach at the half...I went a bit red on the Wednesday in Delaware and don't think I helped my team at all. Live and learn...what can you expect though from the Red Dragon...It's part of my name...I got excited sometimes...I am human...even legends make mistakes...). I thought the guys made opportunities and stayed with the game, despite not being able to finish a chance. Perhaps this stick-to-it-ness mentality is what allowed baby-faced assassin, Mark "Ole Gunnar Solskjaer" Donohue, to finish for us (for those that don't know, Ole was a tasty forward for Manchester United in the 90's into the 2000's that made a living on a substitute's role and late game heroics). It was a blustery day to say the least and when Tal Bublil's clearence off Georgia State's corner kick caught the wind current, causing their last man back to skim the ball on and engage their goalkeeper to make a play about 35 yards from his goal...a tempest that may happen only once in a century--a nor'easter created by so rare an occurrence... it was the Perfect Storm....

Donohue forced their goalkeeper to make a play and he miscued. Donohue collects, and then makes a near elementary mistake. He begins his dribble into the box and before he places the ball in the open goal, he raises both of his upper limbs (those are his arms) into a position of a winged vehicle capable of flight, despite being heavier than air but propelled by jet engines (that's an airplane)... Mark has only been in the country for a little while (he is originally from England...or is it Wales...I don't think Mark even knows), so a little benefit of the doubt in that he hasn't seen enough of ESPN's Not Top 10 which is riddled with similar plays of athletes celebrating prior to scoring a goal, a touchdown, basket, etc.... As he neared the six yard box, I think he recognized this himself and it became "wow I can't miss this, better put my arms down" time a.k.a. squeaky bum time. Well done Mark!

Time to get the band back together again and hit the road! At Hofstra on tonight (Wednesday, Oct. 20) for a 7 pm kick-off, then down to Richmond (which is in Virginia, and Virginia my friends is for lovers...) for a match-up with VCU on Saturday, Oct. 23 at 7 pm as well. Have a great week and hope to see you on the road...stay in touch!

Regards,
Doug

And the Red Dragon Returns...

So a bit of a lay-off since I last wrote—cricket, cricket... Well, we got through pre-season and life was grand and I was going to write while we were on that glorious four game stretch of wins, but I didn't and then we started to skid... and my computer broke... and I got sand in my eye in Florida... and I had a really bad hang nail that effected my typing fingers... oh, they're all lies (except for the computer broke one, hard drive did crash…gremlins in my computer)! What can I say, I missed my chance when times were good and I'm a sore loser so there was nothing to say during the skid. My mom always told me, 'if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all.' And so, there was silence...a couple of wins and the silence is now broken!

Well, it has only been a month (actually two...but who is really counting! Now you know what my time clock is like, very tough for my lovely wife Kristina who somehow deals with me—although, she knows that 'be home in 15' is really more like 30-45, sometimes an hour...I can't help it, no concept of time nor being on time...plus I get distracted easily...how ‘bout those Yankees?...Phills are keeping pace…hockey season is starting…I like blue…my A.D.D. has A.D.D. I think...perhaps this is a thing for me to discuss with someone in four years time, I'll be 40, laying on a couch...some Yanni on in the background...keys to my Mazda Miata in hand... hairline severely receded... kidding, no mid-life crisis here...just a mid-season crisis!).

Anyhow, on with it. The young Dragons have proven to be a bit of a formidable opponent this season. We are currently sitting at 6-4-1 overall, 2-2 in the ever-so-challenging Colonial Athletic Association (notice that we are an association, not a conference... there's a difference, we like to associate with one another, not confer...).

So 20 of 28 games played thus far in the CAA have been one goal differential or less affairs (if you are struggling figuring out the less part, it's because there are ties in soccer...get over it, it's part of our sport and it's beautiful). All but one of our four games have been decided by a goal, and the one that was more than a goal certainly didn't seem like it. While the two one goal losses to start the league (2-1 away at William & Mary and 1-0 home to UNCW) were respectable results against two teams that have been atop the league the last two years, they didn't sit well with us. We knew full well that we missed opportunities in both to collect points in the league. More importantly, I believe they solidified belief that when we play, we can play with anyone.

Good spot to take a breath and thank all of the Alumni that attended the UNC Wilmington game, and took part in the pre-game festivities. It was a barn burner in the alumni game that saw the Blue side take down the Gold's 4-2...goals galore and it's fare share of nutmegs (love it Thiago!). It was also great to spend a little time talking with all of you in our pre-match "chalk talk"...would have been even better if we actually implemented any of the things that we spoke about in Kopp Lounge...but as a good friend, Woody Woodruff once told me, “such is life when you choose a profession that rests on the decisions of 18-21 year old ‘men’ that run around in short pants”... Nonetheless, it was a beautiful day, that saw both of my predecessors, Johnson Bowie and Lew Meehl, honored for their service to Drexel. I was fortunate to take part in the day and certainly glad to meet you all!

The 4-1 win over George Mason last week was a tightly contested match, far more than the score line lends itself to. 0-0 at the half and then a wonder start for us in the 2nd stanza. Three goals in six minutes that started with a Malcolm LeBourne double—first one off a splitting pass from CAA Rookie of the Week, Ken Tribbett; and then off a splitting pass from CAA Co-Player of the week, Nate Baker. Then it went 3-1, and it did seem like either team could score the next goal. Thankfully young rookie, Mark Donohue, did the business to beat the goalkeeper and his fellow countryman, Nate Page, cleaned up the ball off the post to finish the game 4-1...Ryder Cup style on the alternate shot, 1 point for the Euros, and 3 in the ASSOCIATION for the Dragons!

Off to Baltimore we went, little did we know that we would be in for a gunfight at the O.K. Corral! An absolutely crazy game...we got pounded in the first 15 minutes, I mean punched and jabbed, left and right! Thankfully we were only down a goal when Nate "Doc Holiday" Baker entered the game (Nate is a Red Sox fan by the way...get ready for 86 more years of frustration...ha, kidding. Even though I am a Yankee fan—in October, when it actually matters—4 Days in October was an excellent 30 for 30 on ESPN). His first touch in the game was a sublime chip that did Towson's goalkeeper in off a well weighted pass from John "Wyatt Earp" Carroll in the midfield...1-1. Just 43 seconds later, the English Nate (that's Nate Page) gets on the board with a shot from 20+ out that beats the gk at the near post...2-1. Ten minutes later, Carroll is serving to Tribbett's head at the back post...3-1.

Half-time ends and I barely find my place on the bench...3-2. I get a drink, make my way back...3-3. Um, what is going on?!? Four minutes later we counter up the right side, Baker serves, Brandon "The Situation" Zeller collects calmly at the back post, squares to an on-rushing and very talkative, Tribbett (that's sarcasm folks, I think Kenny has talked to me one time since deciding to come to Drexel...that's an exaggeration, I do that like a million times a minute)...4-3 Dragons. So we left Tombstone wounded, but alive and with three points secured.

Last year's game was a 6-5 affair...10-8 aggregate for the two years...for all the nay-sayers that like to rip soccer for low-scoring games, hmmmm, you might want to put the Towson / Drexel game on your calendar for next year. For the record, I hate 4-3...I like 2-1, 1-0, 2-0. This 4-3 score, eh! I think I lost 5 years of my life during that game and at least an inch on my hairline (no Miata keys though).

It has been fun to watch this team develop over the past couple of months, as well as see different players step up at different moments throughout the first part of the season. To this point, we have had 20 different guys start at least one game, as well as seven different goal-scorers. Balance and competitiveness within the group is so important and I do believe that this will help us down the stretch.

Seven games to go and none more important than the two right in front of us. Down at Delaware this Wednesday, Oct. 13th for a 7 pm kick-off with the Blue Hens; followed by a return to Vidas Complex in Philly on Saturday, Oct. 16th for a 3 pm match-up with the Georgia State Panthers. I hope you will come out and watch us play. As always, drop me a line if you want to chat...have a great week!

All the best,
Doug
dfh25@drexel.edu

August 4, 2010: Pre-Season is Upon Us!

It is hard to believe, but pre-season is upon us…and with that comes the roller-coaster ride that is known as college soccer! Ups and downs, twists and turns, forwards and backwards, corkscrews, and perhaps even a loop-d-loop or two…actually, let’s hope not…my motion sickness might get the best of me.

As coaches, we love to draw the analogy of a season being a marathon, but unfortunately, we are more set up as a sprint in college soccer. Two weeks of preparation, ten weeks of games and see if you survive the heartbeats, heartburns, heartaches, heartbreaks—and if you do, you reap the rewards that pull on the heartstrings…(that was poetic).

As you would imagine, we are quite excited to get things kicked off here next week as the guys report on Sunday and will be getting after it Monday morning. I am truly looking forward to the challenge that lies ahead here in West Philadelphia and the joy of working at Drexel University.

What an amazing summer it has been to get excited for the 2010 Drexel Men’s Soccer Season…World Cup games through June and July, as well as Philly Union games at the “Linc” and new PP&L park. I hope you enjoyed them as much as we did.

More exciting things lie ahead, including our yearly Alumni Day Festivities. Save the date: Saturday, October 2nd, 2010. We will host the reigning CAA Champions, UNC Wilmington, that afternoon for a 3 pm kick-off preceded by an afternoon of events:

Alumni Day Tentative Schedule:
11:00 am – registration/warm-up
11:30 am – Alumni Game (Vidas Field) until 1:00pm
1:00 pm – BBQ on Patio and Kopp Lounge
1:30 pm - Pre-game Analysis with Coach Hess in Kopp Lounge
3:00 pm – Kick-off v. UNC Wilmington


As I eagerly await the start of my time here at Drexel, thought I would send on the Q&A I recently did with our Associate Sports Information Director, Britt Faulstick. Some probing questions from my athletics knowledge disseminator, and poignant as well.

Enjoy the read (quite verbose again, I do apologize) and I will be in touch!

Regards,
Doug



What do you perceive to be the biggest challenge facing the team this season, as well as for yourself and staff being your first season in University City?

This is a tough question to answer, as there are going to be so many challenges this fall. We had a positive spring season and the returning players really got after it, but there are still so many transformations that need to happen within the culture of Drexel Men’s Soccer. The reality is that our returning players are still l earning who I am, who the staff is, and in turn, we are learning just as much about them.

I do believe one of the biggest challenges will lie in establishing a proper training environment. The returners learned a bit this past spring as to what the expectations will be, but we still have a way to go in establishing our daily habits. Training to me is the most important aspect of who we will be. It is the character developed on the training field that will establish the mentality of the team and hopefully, this will bleed into all areas of their life as a student-athlete here at Drexel University—in the classroom, community, and socially.

On top of this, we are adding a class of ten new student-athletes to the mix. When you talk about a roster of 28 players and have a turn-over of nearly 50 percent, this will be as big a challenge as any. We will be blending ten new personalities into our team and with that, the test of getting everyone on the same page becomes that much greater. Building a team and team mentality is a challenge, and one that I enjoy.

We took on a mantra of “embrace the struggle” this past spring and I believe we will grip this same thing through the fall. If we can take joy in the process of getting better, which entails both success and failure, I know we will be able to truly take steps in the right direction of establishing our program.

What words would you use to describe the style of play and attitude of the teams you coach?

Great question. I consider myself to be a relatively simple person, so the soccer must always start in the same fashion; simple is beautiful. Additionally, I want us to be organized. For the most part, this will show defensively. The team allowed way too many goals last season for my liking and organization will hopefully help in denying as many opportunities to our opponents.

I am a defending coach first. We must defend in order to attack if that makes sense. This being said, I love attacking soccer. I truly want my players to have freedom to make decisions in possession of the ball and make conscious decisions to play forward and make runs in advance of the ball whenever possible. While defending is a must, I know the game is solved when you score.

In terms of the attitude of the team, it comes down to the idea of trust. Trust is the key element to our success as a group. Without it, there can be no true commitment, nor be true relationship.

How do you view the race in the Colonial Athletic Association this coming fall?

If history has anything to say about it, I am sure it will be yet another tight and exciting race. The Colonial is a solid soccer conference that is typically ranked among the top 10 conferences year in and year out.

I have done the research, the top four or five teams are typically separated by six points or less…as you get into the 2-7 finishing spots, it gets even tighter! The regular season has been won by seven different teams over the last ten years as has the conference tournament. Last season, nearly 65 percent of the regular season games were decided by a goal or less. Needless to say there is parity in the Colonial and even more so, it is a grind.

I am familiar with several of the teams in the conference from playing them before arriving at Drexel. I have huge respect for the league and know it will be no easy task.

What sort of goals and expectations do you have for the Dragons this season?

To be honest, I am less concerned with the numbers game (wins, losses, etc.) and trying to focus more on what we need to do in order to establish the program. It is obvious that we want to win, why else would you compete if you didn’t have an expectation of winning. However, there are so many smaller details that go into winning that you just can’t simply say “I want to win” without properly preparing to win.

Speaking specifically to some of the numbers, we gave up far too many goals last season. You cannot have an expectation of winning if you are consistently conceding to your opponent. In the league, we gave more than three goals per game. With the quality of teams in this conference, that makes it extremely hard to compete.

On the other side of the ball, we found the back of the net just one time per game. There is nothing wrong with this, if your team is willing to do the work defensively and grind for the result.

I would really like to see our team bridge the gap in goals for and goals against. Obviously, we will be far more competitive inside the league and out if this happens.

With such a large incoming class (10 new players), how will this effect the team?

The group dynamic has been studied and thought through for years. No doubt if you can get all the people on the boat, rowing in the same direction, in the same rhythm you can dominate any field. Therein lies the challenge.

We have ten new players. Nearly 50 percent of our team will be going through this process of living away from home and acclimatizing to life as a college student all at once! It will be a test of patience for them, the returners, as well as a completely new coaching staff that will be learning the twists and turns of life at Drexel as we go.

The positive is that we have 10 new players. We will see where guys stand and whether or not they are ready. It is interesting to me to watch newcomers, for me they fall into one of three categories. They are either ready from day one, ready as the year progresses, or need time and seasoning before they can make their biggest impact.

So we have 10 guys that are totally new to it and ready to impact the environment they are coming into. It should be a fun thing to watch how we stretch and grow, succeed and fail throughout the season; all for the better.


Goalkeepers

We saw a rotation of three keepers last season, is that something you see happening again, or will one rise to take the starting job this year?

For me, the goalkeeper position has to be the most competitive on the team. I am not sure there has been a team that has won anything of consequence without quality goalkeeping. Only one plays and therefore, that one must be sharp. With three on the roster, I expect each of them to push and challenge one another throughout the year.

It is tough to say who will win the job this fall. Coach Robertson did a solid job this spring working with Tres and Tim, helping them in their development. It was clear that the two were close and either could start on any given day. Pentti will add a third to the mix and make this position extremely competitive.


Midfield

Do you anticipate Bafile to be back at 100 percent this season or is it going to take some time for him to get back to All-Conference form? How important is his leadership and experience this year?

Baf is extremely important to this team. He is going to be the lone captain and leaned on a fair amount by both the guys and the coaching staff. I know he is looking forward to getting this year back for the red-shirt and that he has worked extremely hard to get back to form. Baf is an everyday kind of guy, we know exactly what we will get each time we go out from him. He is a worker and we love that about him. That can be infectious to a group and we hope that it will be.

That being said, we will have a very large senior class, eight in total. We will rely on their leadership in bringing along all the new players and getting them adjusted to college life and soccer here at Drexel. On top of that, they have three years of college soccer playing experience. That is an extremely valuable resource. It is the last go for all of those guys and we will expect their best.

What is your midfield going to look like this season? What do you need to get out of this group of players in order for us to be successful?

Philosophically, I believe the midfield is where most games are won and lost. If you can control the possession and tempo of the game in the middle third of the field, more than likely you can control the outcome of the game.

We will look for the midfield to do most of the work in regaining possession and building attacks. Moreover, they will need to do their part in scoring goals as well. Furthermore, the more we can score from the midfield, the harder it will be to defend our team.

The entire midfield group will need to be some of the fitter players on our team, as well as some of the most tactically savvy considering their involvement on both sides of the ball. We have added some strong midfield players in Brandon Zeller, Manny Cazares and Brandon Zeller to an already strong group in Bafile, Cory Rohlfsen, Malcolm LeBourne, Nate Page and Andrew Stolle. The competition amongst this group will be strong.


Defense

Who do you see as your leaders on defense?

That is hard to say and I do not want to be premature in my assessment. There are so many new guys coming in and we have not had the opportunity to see them in our environment yet. Therefore, I believe this will happen over time this fall.

We had a lot of questions at the back this past spring and feel like some of the guys coming in will answer some of those questions. Additionally, the guys that are here (Ben Miller, Justin Johnson, Skylar Olson, Dan Vignola, Jon Volpatti) gained some valuable experience this past spring and will need to step up from the get-go.

What style of play would you like to see out of your defenders this season?

Building a proper back four is priority one for us. We want to build this program from the back forward. Therefore we need confident defenders that are competent both individually and collectively. Additionally, they will need to be adept passers of the ball so that they can start the attack for our team, as well as support it on the width.

We learned a bit this spring with how to defend zonally and got better through the process. I expect us to do the same through the fall.


Forwards

What do you see as the role for your forward / attacking players?

It is the job of the front group to score goals. This is their first responsibility and most important duty. It has been quite some time since we have had a 10-plus goal scorer for the Dragons, as a matter of fact, we have to go all the way back to ’94 when Phil Karn bagged 14.

This will be a challenge for us to develop a guy that can accomplish this task, but it is possible. I think a lot will fall on the shoulders of our returning guys in Andrew Goldberg, Eric Lynch, Nate Baker and Max Crockett. However, we will more than likely be a team that scores by committee and need to get as much support from our midfield as possible so that our front players don’t have to feel the pressure.

As I said earlier with our backline, I do not want to be impulsive in my judgment as to who will lead the team up front. It is far too early to tell. It will be imperative to the success of our team to share the burden of hard tasks and I am eager to see which guys will step up, it should be fun to watch.

Spring Season Re-Cap

So here we go, round 2 of the 91st Minute and not a moment too soon (I like to leave the fans wanting a little bit). May I warn you, this installment is not for the feint of heart…one word, verbose! I mean, wait until you see the verbosity of this edition…the verboseness with which I flow is aggressive…please, I urge you to notice how verbosely I scribe….

First item of Business, font check!

It was made clear to me, that our first edition had some font challenges for the visually impaired. So, cover your left eye and tell me the lowest line you can read:

G
E T
Y O U R
V I S I O N
c h e c k e d n o w

Ha, kidding…

Ok, is it better 1 or better 2…better 1…better 2… is it just bolder or is it clearer? Still kidding, don’t you just love the eye doctor!?! Which reminds me, I need to go for my yearly visit…I think I am ready for lasik! So I have heard from a number of you (my mom included), that apparently I need to use a bigger font size! How is this one?

Ha, kidding again! Seriously though, I will use the 13 font in Lucida Bright (our official font here at Drexel University Athletics!). We finished up our spring game segment and will be doing our eight hours of work (lifting, fitness, and a bit of soccer) through the end of May. The guys have had a bit of “soccer daylight savings time” kick-in, as they have recouped another half hour of sleep due to our limited training hours the rest of the way. 6:30 am start time instead of 6:00, so it is light out now when we get started!

Figured it would be good to do a bit of a re-cap of the spring games to fill everyone in on how our time is going during the transition period.

April 3rd v. Lafayette (Vidas Complex):

Our first time out and first time coaching the group against an outside opponent, so there were lots of new things to get used to. From warm-up to pre-game to half-time to during game to post-game. We all have our own ways of doing things and part of the process is learning how we plan to operate as a coaching staff.

The game against the Leopards was a bit of give and take—both teams having their share of the play throughout the contest. We struck first, a bit against the run of play I will say, on a solid Joe Sales finish. Andrew Goldberg slid a nice little slip pass through to Sales who did well to get round the Lafayette keeper and slot the ball home.

The down side was we conceded shortly after taking the lead. The Easton Assassins (Larry Holmes nickname for those boxing enthusiasts out there), hit us with a bit of a jab, scoring out of a goalkeeper punt. A bit of a miscue on our part defensively at midfield in terms of the challenge and cover from the punt that led to one of their players getting put through off a flick. No cover and the 1 v. 1 left Tres Heffron out to dry a bit in goal. It was a fast paced game for the entire first stanza and needed someone to put a foot on the ball in order to settle the game.

A little re-organization at the half (no changes to the team, but a re-focusing of what we wanted to accomplish). I thought the soccer from both an attacking and defending standpoint was better in the second, but nothing to show for it in the end. 1-1 the game finished and both teams left wanting.

April 10th v. Lehigh (Bethlehem, PA):

Road Trip! For a Northerner that became a Southerner that moved back to the North (that’s me by the way), it’s tough to get used to civilization again…I’ve been in the “country” for 10 years, checking out pick-ups, listening to Alan Jackson with a piece of straw in my mouth riding my John Deere tractor (kidding, but I am a closet Alan Jackson fan…oh, and I do have a John Deere…so apparently I am not kidding…).

So I was behind the wheel of the lead van and had to shoulder the load of leading us to the Lehigh Valley to take on another Patriot league opponent in the Mountain Hawks. Let’s just say that it was a struggle getting off the Schuylkill (a.k.a. the worst road in America) onto the Blue Route when you aren’t paying attention…not quite Chevy Chase ala Vacation, “look kids Big Ben, Parliament,” but needless to say it was a ‘delayed’ departure.

We start well and have both a ton of possession and plenty of opportunity in front of goal. We did well to instigate the game and play in Lehigh’s half. Combined well in possession, got numbers forward, and dealt with the space behind our backline well. We caused Lehigh’s goalkeeper to make a few saves and their team to respond by clearing a couple off their goal-line. All you would want to do…what we didn’t have at the half was anything to show for our work.

It’s one thing to play well and it’s another to keep the end result in mind. The second half we definitely took our foot off the gas and were content to be ‘playing well.’ That being said, Lehigh seized a lot more of the play and did well to disrupt our rhythm. A fantastic 1 v 1 save by Tim Washam kept our opponent at bay and highlighted the second. While we again had our moments in front of goal, we could not finish.

The game ended 0-0. A tale of two halves, the first going to us and the second I believe going to Lehigh. Another tie… There is an old saying that allegedly, a tie is like kissing your sister (I have no idea what this means…I mean I guess a kiss is a good thing, but kissing your sister??? Come on, that can’t be good…).

Oh the ride home, far less eventful than the ride up…aside from the absolute domination I displayed on the ‘radio game’ in the van. That’s the game when you just flip station to station and you have to name the song and/or artist first…22-1 over my trusty shot-gun, Max Crockett—I was in a zone, I felt the music (he recently paid me back with an absolute shellacking in squash…thanks for the lesson Max).

April 16th v. Villanova (Vidas Complex):

The ‘Nova game was an interesting study in sport psychology in my mind…interesting enough, our resident sports psychologist Cristina Fink was on hand to take in the evenings events.

We started the game extremely complacent, almost wanting to see what our opponent was all about before trying to establish ourselves in the game. As a result, down 2-0 just 15 minutes into the game (they say 2-0 is the worst score in soccer…I love being up 2-0…). To go down so quickly is a shot to the psyche, but the simple fact was we pulled a goal back before the half on great back post run and volley from Eric Lynch.

I watched the team leave the field for the locker room for our half-time talk and noticed an interesting phenomenon…zero interaction! The fact that we weren’t communicating as we left the field told me one of two things, either we felt the game was already lost or we just didn’t care. Looking at the guys as I chatted with them in the locker room it seemed to be more the former than the later of the possibilities. It didn’t make sense, there was 45 minutes left to play and we were just a goal behind. I challenged them and we took the field.

We conceded right away…bummer. But, I was proud that after going down 4-1 we did not quit on the game. As a matter of fact, the guys threw a bit more caution to the wind and wanted to show that they were capable of scoring again. A rush forward followed by staying with the game after a broken play found Lynchie sniffing out his second goal on the night. A loss, 4-2, but a positive to build on by scoring the last goal.

April 23rd v. Temple (Vidas Complex):

A cross-city border game that went Big Willie-style (a little Fresh Prince reference…the first of many I am sure over time with my new home here in West Philly). If you were at the game you would have seen a competitive, hard-fought spring game (we got Jiggy Wit it…) that no doubt, both teams wanted to win. It was a battle and I was proud of the way our team held their composure (not so much for their coach…a bit of the redness came out).

Back and forth through the first half with missed chances and opportunities for both sides. The Owls managed the first score off a solid header at the near on a corner relatively early in the second half. The great thing that came from that, we responded!

A heady, quick throw-in from Max Crockett that found Andrew Goldberg. ‘G’ ran at their backline and then took the end-line. He drove the ball hard at the near post space for Nate Baker—funny how you get rewarded for making the decision to run to the near post more often than not. Bakes ran hard at the near, got clobbered by a couple of their defenders, but managed to score a great goal—it just goes to show that sometimes you have to sacrifice a bit of bodily harm in order to score a goal. The guys fed off the goal and were pressing for the go ahead goal until….the lights went out! Literally the lights went out, the timer went off and as a result the game was abandoned with about 5 minutes to play. The result, 1-1…yet another draw!!!

May 2nd v. York and Stevens Tech (Vidas Complex):

The last weekend of play and two perennial Division III Top 15 teams. Games were shortened to sixty minutes and teams were forced to play a bit smarter on the day as it felt like a summer heat wave out at Vidas…the turf was literally hot enough to fry an egg (I actually thought about ringing Dottie up at Handschumacher and getting her out there to do post-game omelets!).

The day had its ups and downs for us again, sometimes soccer…sometimes it looked like the inside of an omelet, stuff everywhere! Nonetheless, the guys managed a result against York 1-0 off a goal from Anthony Bafile that developed down the right side through Nate Baker.

We settled for a tie with Stevens (something new, another draw!), 1-1, in the last game. It was us who played from behind and grabbed the leveler off a Nate Page attack down their right side. Goldberg made a heavy run to the near drawing a lot of pressure to that area of the goal box, and Nate delivered a heavy service to the near…an own goal! While we didn’t score it ourselves, I do believe we created it and caused enough problems that our opponent couldn’t deal with it.

It was a great way to end as we have tried all spring to get across the concept of making defenders face their own goal to defend, particularly when close to their goal. If you can turn the defenders, you can cause problems and the combination of Nate taking the end-line and G running heavy to the near post caused just that.

So now we are left with 8 hour weeks of training for the rest of May. We are still in the process of getting to know one another…me them and them me. There was a definite theme from our spring games of a step forward followed by a step back, followed by two steps forward and 3 back…or in the wise words of MC Skat Kat and Paula Abdul, ‘I take two steps forward, you take two steps back, we come together ‘cause opposites attract…’ It is sad, yes I know, that somehow I remember that song, lyrics and the artists but what can I say, I dominate the radio game!

Thanks for reading,
Doug