Mo-Kan for 3rd

Game 4: 28 March vs. L.S. North at Mo-Kan for 3rd Place (0-0, losing 4-5 in the shootout)

We really played well tonight. We dominated a game about as much as you can dominate a game in the second half, but, once again, we could not find the back of the net. That second half we got off 10 shots, 5 of them on goal to go with 8 second-half corners.

We created 10 corner kicks for the game. We are proud of the girls for working hard to create those what-should-be-dangerous deadballs. We probably should have finished at least one of them. We do need to rework our service from the left side.

One of the best things we did tonight was to move Marge back to her old spot at the top of the diamond.  She was amazing.  She touched the ball 3 times more than any other player on the field. She slotted 3-4 great through balls to our frontrunners as well.  2 College coaches, after the match, mentioned how well Marge played and how dangerous she is. She was not only the BWhite Player of the Match, she, along with Mallory Heying, was named to the All-Tournament team. 

And what can you say about our defense?  We have played 4 games, against 4 quality opponents, and given up zero goals. Zero. Yes, at half we talked about closing space better, but we also knew that we just played 3 games in 5 days.  I know Mallory's legs probably were close to falling off as neither she nor Marge have had a break in the last two games. So, we applaud that defensive effort.

I know I statistically promised a goal if we could generate 8 corners, and the girls created 10, but we didn't cash one.  A little unlucky.

Kyli Jackson got rocked in the second half injuring her ankle, with quite a bit of time left in the match. The good news right now is that the X-Rays show no break.  So we will hope that ice and rest will have her back for BV Southwest. 

After she left, we did not have a sub for center midfield.  Amanda and Francis held strong for the rest of the match, both playing well. 

In fact, 2nd half Hamm generated 3 corners. That stat shows quite an effort by Amanda to get forward and to help generate some offense. Well done.

Another shootout—and we were much better. We made 2 out of 5 against Teresa’s. We hit our first 4 last night, but LS North was unreal. Yes, their first kicker hit the post; that did give us a chance, but the next 5 kicked unsavable balls.  We tried to offer up something different for the second five, but the ref would not let us change keepers; we have done it before, once using 3 keepers. The way North was shooting it probably wouldn't have rattled them anyway. But who knows? We still had Molly to use as well.

I know it is a little crazy that we have not given up a goal all season, yet stand 2-2.  I don't think I have ever seen that in all my years being associated with soccer.  We are going to start scoring, and when we knock down that door a bunch of goals are going to start flying in.

We got so many compliments on the tournament, especially on the hospitality room.  I know lots of people helped, but Mrs. McEnroe and Mrs. Janky headed it up.  Thank you guys so much.

And we really appreciated all of the help we got from JD in the press box: spotting, running the clock, collecting lineups, recording goals.  Great stuff. Greg and JD do a great job for all of our games, but for JD to show up and help with all the other games as well—that's just what makes other coaches and parents tells us what a smooth-running tourney it is!

We now stand 2-2-0.

STATS:

First Half: Saints:  Shots: 7 (6) Corners: 2 (Heying, Chalabi)

Broncos: Shots: 4 (2) Corners: 1

Second Half: Shots: 11 (5) Corners: 8 (Hamm 3, Janky, Heying 3, Cox)

Broncos: Shots: 3 (1) Corners: 0

Shootout:  LS North 5 Saints: 4 (O'Keefe, Cox, Chalabi, and Janky).

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