Day Three - Saturday December 5th, 2009

Having had time to reflect on yesterday, I want to start with some of my thoughts. The complex again is first class and there are over 250 college coaches roaming the complex. I have to say that over all the U16s took a little time to get into the game but by the end of it probably deserved more than a draw. We hit the post, the goalkeeper made two very good saves late in the second half, and on another day it could have gone our way. The boys played good soccer, kept the ball on the deck and created far more than the Rapids. The U18s had a similar game but two poor decisions cost us two goals. We created plenty of chances and with a little better timing we could have scored three or four. We again played good attacking soccer with the ball on the ground and our penetration behind their back four was good except for the final touch. As Brad Wylde commented, “Overall it was a very productive day. We could tell with both teams that in the first half both were a little disjointed and nervous, which is understandable based upon it being the first event with new personnel and coaching staff. But as both games progressed it was obvious to see the talent and potential these two teams have. The results may not have gone our way but we can see that this group of boys will have a very prosperous season.”

This morning the boys have had a chance to sleep in and relax. Breakfast was at 9am and we hit the road with the U16s at 12pm. Prior to this Brad and I attended a lecture by the US Soccer staff about designing an elite training session and the mentality needed at training. Although Gunner and I always try to instill a certain professional mentality and being the best a player can be at training it was good to hear it reinforced.

At 12:30pm this afternoon, Bennett Yort played for one of the 1994 Select Teams against the FC Dallas. Bennett played the second half in a 3-0 loss at right back. The U16s watched the game from the sideline before doing their dehydration testing with the Gatorade people. Prior to their 2:15pm game against the California Development Academy (CDA) the boys were weighed so that at the end of the game it could be determined what kind of weight was lost from fluid. Results are pending!

The U16s kicked off their game at 2:15pm with the U18s making the short trip up from Scottsdale to watch them play. I watched the CDA play yesterday morning and they were very impressive in a 1-0 win against Derby County Wolves from Michigan. We started the game very well with good possession and a creativity that we lacked at the beginning of the first half of the first game. However, somewhat against the run of play, in the twentieth minute the CDA got down our right hand side and produced a cross from their left that flew across the face of the goal, unfortunately there was a player arriving late at the far post to knock the ball in. We once again picked up the play and in the 39th minute a free kick taken from the right hand side by Roland Minogue found Asa Kryst. He hammered home a half volley from the top of the area low into the bottom right hand corner. We started the second half much like we ended the first and hit the post from another in swinging Minogue free kick. After it hit the post it popped out only for Matt Brown to find the cross bar with his header from five yards out. We peppered the CDA goal with a long range effort from Kyle Parker in the 13th minute of the half and then a run down the right by Ben Burdon lead to a cross to Kryst that was saved at the foot of the near post. It continued in this fashion until the very last minute of the game when it appeared that a CDA player was through on our goal only for the referee to blow the whistle and award a foul to the CDA. It was a good game where we played fluid soccer and defended in a compact organized way. The starting team with substitutions in parenthesis was as follows:

GK Jaron Bradley (Stefen Knapp GK)
LB Jake Keating
CB Matt Brown
CB Brandon Kardos
RB Ben Kern (Zhuvonte Wilson LMF)
LMF Harper Williams (Ben Burdon CF)
CMF Santiago Patino (Drew Brown LMF)
CMF Roland Minogue
RMF Conor Keeley
CF Kyle Parker
CF Asa Kryst (Ben Burdon CF)

Select Team participants: Bennett Yort (Saturday), Austin Yearwood (Sunday)

At 6:15pm the U18s took the field with the U16s watching from the sidelines. After a good start, a lot of possession and a couple of half chances we gave away a poor goal in the 14th minute by not marking and losing our shape defensively. The CDA got down our right hand side and with no pressure the left midfielder crossed to the back post to an unmarked player. Their second came after 28 minute when a CDA player shrugged off two tackles in the middle third of the field and played a penetrating ball into the center forward. A sharp combination play later and we found ourselves 2-0 down. We continued to have the better of the possession and chances and pushed to get our first goal of the game. It was not to come but our collective defending was much better and we did not give another chance away. We came out strongly in the second half. In the sixth minute we equalized. Jono Grad picked up the ball about 35 yards out and with no pressure drove toward the CDA goal. At 25 yards out he put the ball on his left foot and struck it low and hard towards the bottom right hand corner of the goal where it settled after crossing the line. We pressed hard again and within two minutes we were level as Giuseppe Gentile powered a header from a corner high into the goal. At 2-2 we were the better team and had chances to make it 3-2 on several occasions. Alex Leonard went close twice from long range only to see the CDA goal keeper make two very good saves. With about 25 minutes to go and us on top, CDA had a player sent off for a very heavy tackle on Leonard. At a time when we should have dominated even more the sending off seemed to awaken the CDA players. They fought hard and eventually were reward with a goal seven minutes from time. A cross from the left side was not dealt with well by us and as it came into the hear post a CDA player nipped in first to score. We went searching for our third in a 3-4-3 shape but it was not to be. The starting team with substitutions in parenthesis was as follows:

GK Trent Johnson (Nick Hensley GK)
LB Tyler Adams (Evan Kent LB)
CB Keith Pittman (Will O’Brien CB)
CB James Nero (Thomas Allen CB)
RB Kyle Searles
LMF Brett Luccia (Jono Grad CMF)
CMF Robbie Beatty
CMF Alex Leonard
RMF Sean Cogan (Nick Barnhorst RMF)
CF Giuseppe Gentile
CF Andrew Benningfield (Michael Nelli LMF)

Once again both teams played good soccer today. We must all remember that this is still pre-season for us and that Gunner and I are still trying to get to know players and evaluate where we think each player is at this time. With hundreds of college coaches around it is also important to try to give everybody a chance to show throughout the weekend. It is a fine balance but one that should give the boys the incentive to play the correct way for both us as coaches and the college programs out there. Tomorrow we have a day off but we have some activities planned including watching Austin Yearwood play in the next 1994 Select Team game. Until tomorrow, thanks for reading!