They're back! Sleepless nights, feverish sweats, pots of coffee, butterfly-filled bellies, and one big rush of blood to the head...it must be the roller-coaster ride we know all too well as the college soccer season!
65 years of soccer is ready to begin in University City...loads of history - Conference Championships, All-Americans, Players of the Year, the Philly Soccer 6, and the coup de gras...a National Championship in 1958 (which we are honoring by adding the star to the uniform this year). It is time to add to this great history in 2011!
How about that intro, not bad if i may say so myself. So when I left you last, I was quoting Robert Frost...and now I am spitting some fly Dougie "Fresh" Hess drizzle... or not... cricket, cricket....
A summer spent coaching at camps, recruiting, and gobbling up as many opportunities as possible to see the game live, albeit on the TV or in person. Went to the Home Depot Center to catch some Gold Cup games, as well as PP&L park and the Linc several times to watch the Union, REAL Madrid, and Klinsmann's debut as the new head coach of our US National Team against Mexico. All great events, but nothing compares to being on the field with our very own Dragons (OK there I go lying again, there is actually nothing better than puring a 4 iron from 200 into a slight wind on the par 5 18th hole down at my parents' place on Fripp Island, SC to close out the former AD and current AD from Rider University on a little 18 hole Nassau press for kick-in eagle...but I digress, I do like coaching soccer too...by the way, we took all 3 - front 9, back 9 and total).
Our pre-season games are all done and the real deal starts today at Villanova, kick-off at 4:00 pm. I do not like the term "pre-season"...we only get two weeks to prepare for an opening game, that is not nearly enough time. So for me, pre-season starts in January and goes until the end of July. When we get here in August, that's season baby!
We played our two scrimmage games away from home and will be starting our season on the road as well (four of our first five games are away from the comfy confines of our home at 43rd & Powelton...for those first time readers, I love to refer to our home complex, Vidas Athletic Complex, as 43rd & Powelton basically because I love directions...just ask my wife, she hates it when I want to talk about a driving route to work or down to her parents or how to get to the grocery store - I'm a living, breathing GPS baby....RECALCULATING!). It is important for us to learn to win away from home, to me this is the truest test of a strong program-that they can win in a hostile environment, away from their comfort zone. A good start for us in our tune-up matches, as we were able to take down both FDU (3-1) and St. Joe's (4-0) at their home fields.
Farleigh Dickinson University (Teaneck, NJ):
This was a good early test against an opponent that finished in the top of their conference last fall and won more than they lost. The Eagles are a pre-season pick to finish atop the NEC and are a team committed to playing a good brand of soccer. We had to duck some clouds and summer thunderstorms to get this one in, but we managed it in the end (thought at one point we were going to get struck by lightning, so I quietly moved to sit on a cooler instead - figured my assistants could test out the metal bench "theory" as energy conductors...).
We played some good soccer box to box, but weren't as sharp in the final third as we had hoped. That is to be expected after a lay-off of a couple of months and we are just getting back into it. Nonetheless, we managed to score three goals from three different goal scorers prior to FDU getting their first. The first goal was a great exercise in patience. Simple passing through the midfield that lead to Ben Miller getting forward from the right back spot. B-Milly from West Philly as he likes to be known (I'm more from Philly than this kid...he should be B-Milly well West from Philly), did well in taking the end-line and finding a free Andrew Goldberg in the box. G calmly took control of the ball, set himself up, and pulled across the face of the goal for our first strike part way through the first half.
1-0 at the half and time for a little re-organization. FDU despite being down, was having a lot of the middle third possession and had some skillful players in their midfield. We had to tuck our midfield in a bit more to prevent them from finding spaces between us. The guys adjusted well and managed two second half goals. The first was a bit of a hockey re-direct in front of goal (hey we are in Flyer Country aren't we?). John Volpatti came forward from the right back position and took a dig from about 35 yards out, as I am yelling "no, play simple" the ball gets through their first line of defense and finds an innocent John Carroll at the top of the 18 yard box. JC re-directs the shot into the top corner and I change my coaching point to "or do that." It really wasn't high percentage, but I have to get over myself because a goal is a goal and we like goals.
The final strike came from our little Italian Stallion, Michele Pataia. We had a passing movement across the top of their 18 yard box that eventually Ridge Robinson and Michele link up on. Ridge slips the Italian Job in behind their back-line and Michele finishes with pace, high at the near post....bella bella!
St. Joe's University (Philadelphia, PA):
A little trip across town for an in-city rivalry game. The Philly games are important to me as we build our program and the guys know that. I want us to be THE team in Philadelphia and our opponents to know that all Philly roads lead to Drexel.
Another solid start to the game and a large amount of the possession. We created chance after chance, but no final result. At the 25 minute mark, I "gently" reminded them that to have all this forward play and nothing to show for it is meaningless. That is one of the toughest things to manage mentally in a game. You are playing well, having success against an opponent and getting content with "playing well," but no goal to show for your work. Those are the times when the game can be the most cruel...play so well, but you conceded a goal out of nothing. Thankfully, about five minutes later we managed our first strike. A nice little counter movement up the middle of the field between Nathan Page and Andrew Goldberg. Pagey slips G in behind their back-line, and G slots it home past their goalkeeper. Unfortunately, he paid the price as he got "touched-up" after finishing. Keeping the fingers crossed that he can return to action this fall.
The half continues and I can tell the guys weren't satisfied with the one goal. They saw the blood in the water and went for it, Nathan Page would be the beneficiary. Just before the half Pagey picks up the ball on the right wing and just runs the ball forward as he likes to do. He ran and he ran (just like Forest Gump) until he got in the box and drove it across the face...hits the inside of the back post and in, a quality finish and right before the half.
The second half was much of the same. A large amount of possession and a couple more strikes. At 2-0 and part way into the half, we conceded a corner to the Hawks. A lost mark in the box, lead to a game-sustaining save from our fine Fin, Pentti Pussinen. Sometimes when you are winning and getting comfortable, you need your goalkeeper to make a save in a game that reminds your team they must keep defending and Pentti did that for us. We manage the third goal at around the 70th minute. Kenny Tribbett takes a hit from outside the box that their goalkeeper saves and spills. Manny Cazares anticipates the lose ball and does a bit of Handy Manny work to lose the gk and his marker before serving back to Kenny who heads home for the goal. A great little example of staying with the play despite not scoring on the first attempt.
The fourth and final goal came in the last minute of play and was a bit of "Groundhog Day" (you know the hilarious early 90's film featuring Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell and Chris Elliott where the lead character, Murray, keeps repeating the same day over and over until he learns his life lesson...too much TV as a child, I know) of the redirection from FDU (why not another hockey re-direct goal, just 21 days until the Flyers open up). This time it was Matheus Goncalves (that's Ma-te-us Gon-sal-vez....it's fun to say, try it...) who volleyed the ball from about 22 out through traffic and it found fellow freshman Zack Wolfe who was willing and able to get a bit of a toe flick to the ball lifting it up and over the goalkeeper for the final tally.
A good result in Philly and a solid ending to our "pre-season" scrimmages.
65 years of soccer starts today! Off to the Mainline this afternoon to take on fellow Philly 6 rival Villanova. Get out there and support your Dragons for the 4:00 pm kick-off, it is going to be a great game...hope to see you there!
Regards,
Coach Hess
p.s. Alumni Game is set for October 8th Weekend...get it on your calendars, we want all the former Dragons to make their way back to 43rd & Powelton!
p.p.s. Ma-te-us Gon-sal-vez...go on say it again, you know you want to
