Category: soccer

soccer

Washington Spirit vs. Virginia: Battle of field goals

Posted on by Beau Dure

Perhaps women’s soccer fans should focus on the positive from the Washington Spirit’s 6-3 loss Saturday night at the Maryland Soccerplex: The University of Virginia has a terrific offense with dynamic attackers who can bring Steve Swanson’s vision of possession soccer to life. They’re much more fun to watch than the typical college team.

That said, the Washington Spirit can’t be too happy to concede six goals to a college team. A 5-2 halftime deficit isn’t something to dismiss with ease.

Coach Mike Jorden, how did you stay so calm in the first half? “Benadryl,” he quipped.

A formation change and some renewed commitment stemmed the damage, and the Spirit outplayed Virginia in the second half. Virginia was lucky not to concede a couple more as ex-Maryland attacker Jasmyne Spencer entered the game and buzzed around the Cavaliers’ box, scoring once and being unlucky not to get a PK call.

The Spirit offense didn’t play badly. Caroline Miller, facing her teammates of a few months ago, was effective as the sole front-runner when she actually saw the ball. She fed Tiffany McCarty for one of her two first-half goals. Stephanie Ochs set up the other.

The problems were on the rest of the field, where Virginia’s Makenzy Doniak simply shredded the Spirit’s center backs for two first-half goals.

Still short-handed through national team absences (Ashlyn Harris, Ali Krieger, Robyn Gayle) and injuries (Candace Chapman), the Spirit’s defense still bore little resemblance to the defense that will take the field for its NWSL opener in eight days. Midfielder Tori Huster was finally relieved of her preseason fill-in center back duty in the starting lineup, but she was pushed back to the back line as the Spirit tried to stop the bleeding.

“I’ve been changing positions a lot over the last couple of years,” Huster said. “It’s hard to transition right there mid-game. It still wasn’t good when I went into the back line, and that needs to be better.”

Virginia coach Steve Swanson understood the situation but was pleased with the Cavs’ opportunism.

“Obviously, they don’t have their full team,” Swanson said. “But credit to our team for creating the chances we did and finishing some really nice goals.”

At halftime, the Spirit finally put a stop to the defensive meltdown. Jorden switched from a 4-2-3-1 to a straight 4-4-2. Lori Lindsey, by far the veteran of the young Spirit team, took a more attacking role. She set up Miller for a good chance that Churchill O’Connell stopped, and she’ll be kicking herself after missing a solo opportunity.

“We tried to play a bit more direct in the second half,” Jorden said. “In the first few minutes it could’ve been 5-4.”

For Swanson, the changes provided an opportunity to learn more about his team.

“We hadn’t been tested too much defensively (in spring games) until tonight,” Swanson said.

Swanson isn’t reading too much into the fact that his team put up six goals against a team that shut out North Carolina.

“I learned a long time ago not to read too much into things like that,” Swanson said.

And Jorden knows what to work on.

“I think we are a dangerous team. It’s just putting a back line together and winning more 50-50 balls.”

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soccer

The men’s national team vs. the media

Posted on by Beau Dure

I’m late getting to this intriguing Jonah Freedman piece about the rise in scrutiny on the U.S. men’s national team, which Freedman posits as a sign that we’re finally getting serious about this soccer thing.

That sort of phenomenon is alien to U.S. Soccer circles. The coaches and players aren’t called out onto the carpet on a regular basis. And as a result, we don’t have enough of a critical soccer culture here in the US. …

The point is, when the press starts taking risks – questioning the status quo, and truly holding people’s feet to the fire – that’s when we truly start to change as a culture.

“This country needs that exposure,” continued (Herculez) Gomez. “This country needs football to matter.”

Michael Bradley may disagree, of course. The Bradleys may include a terrific journalist (Jeff) in their immediate family, but they’ve long been wary of the media. Bob Bradley was cautious to the point of saying virtually nothing. Michael can be downright snippy when asked perfectly reasonable questions.

(Quick aside: Bob Bradley’s reserved nature should NOT stop major news outlets from doing substantial pieces on what he’s doing with Egypt. An American coach keeping things together amid the chaos is a fascinating story that the U.S. non-soccer media should step up and recognize.)

On the men’s side in particular, U.S. Soccer has kept a steady ship. Older players set the tone. Newer players know their place. Reporters who deviate from the team’s internal narrative may get a polite but firm talking-to.

But the hiring of Jurgen Klinsmann rocked the boat. He is an international icon who will, on occasion, speak candidly. He has brought in new players and new methods. We can’t write about the team without recognizing the changes or at least asking what the heck is going on.

And that’s not such a bad thing.

Every national team coach has to remember one thing: The team belongs to all of us. It’s a national investment. The media have a watchdog responsibility.

I’ll disagree with Jonah on one point. We haven’t progressed that much as a soccer nation because the reaction to Brian Straus’s comprehensive story was based simply on the fact that the story was written.

When we start talking about the substance of such stories, we will have progressed.

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soccer

Washington Spirit vs. Maryland Terrapins: Forget about it

Posted on by Beau Dure

On paper, it doesn’t look good for a pro team to lose to a college team. Particularly one that isn’t renowned as a national title contender (though that could change this year). Particularly when other NWSL teams are mopping the field with their college opponents.

But we have to repeat that the Washington Spirit that lost 2-0 at Maryland tonight is not the Washington Spirit team that will take the field in 10 days or two months. The Spirit dressed 15 players, then scratched Tiffany McCarty, who joined Colleen Williams, Kika Toulouse, Danielle Hubka and Candace Chapman as injury absentees. Holly King is back in college in Florida for another few weeks, and four players are away with the USA and Canada.

Not that the Spirit were particularly pleased after this encounter. Grumpiness spread over many of the players — aside from all the Maryland alumni posing for pictures with their former teammates.

Quick aside about that: Maryland has some passionate soccer fans who don’t seem to realize who played for their team last fall or two years ago. They yelled for the current players by name and argued with the officials. Sure, the game had no PA announcer to give the names of the players and rev up the voice for the Terp alumni. But I spoke with a group of fans who didn’t know the names Domenica Hodak or Jasmyne Spencer in the first place.

Spencer barely knew her teammates’ names, having just joined the team at the pregame meal. She got a good long run at forward and posed a few problems for her former defense, but the Spirit attackers weren’t quite in sync. Individually, many of them played well — Caroline Miller came close to settling some old ACC scores singlehandedly, and Stephanie Ochs was solid on the wing and in the middle. The chemistry wasn’t quite there, which is bound to happen to a team that just brought in a forward three hours ago. And as solid a worker as Spencer is, a 5-1 forward may not be the best target for an aerial cross. They’ll need to rework that alignment.

Surely some of the issues will pass. It’s easy to see how the missing players will fill important holes:

– Maryland got most of its chances on counterattacks. They easily could’ve won 4-0. But will the Spirit give up those chances when Ali Krieger and Robyn Gayle (and Candace Chapman, if healthy, and possibly Kika Toulouse) are at the back? Probably not.

– The Spirit had a lot of possession but lacked that incisive pass. Enter Diana Matheson, now busy with Canada.

– McCarty was the driving force behind the Spirit’s win over UNC. She also wasn’t on the field for this game.

So what do we know from this game, one of three games the Spirit will play in seven days with 14-16 players? Not much. About as much as we know from Major League Soccer’s preseason, which is generally an audition period, or Major League Baseball spring training, which is basically a feeding frenzy for shady collectibles dealers.

Some of the players on the field tonight won’t last past Monday’s roster cuts. Others will be typical rookies with moments of brilliance and a few growing pains. In the end, the Spirit will forget about this game — just as Maryland’s fans who attended tonight have apparently forgotten Spencer, Hodak, Skyy Anderson and Olivia Wagner. (Spencer took it in good humor. Might have a chance to post quotes tomorrow.)

As for the opening game April 14, I think everyone has two requests. Warmer and less windy.

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soccer

Single-Digit Soccer: An Easter Lilly for coaches and players

Posted on by Beau Dure

I envy soccer coaches of the 2020s. They will be able to call up apps that keep the attention of their easily distracted players to show them drills. (Yes, my first practices of the season included a few reminders that the most important part of the body in soccer isn’t the foot or the head — it’s the ears.)

We’re starting to see a few steps in that direction. The latest is an intriguing ebook from Kristine Lilly and Coerver Coaching. (HT: Equalizer Soccer)

The one issue I see: Like a lot of “youth soccer” publications and videos, the audience isn’t defined. Is it geared toward girls who want role models, like so many Mia Hamm publications? Is it geared toward soccer coaches who need drills and a good way to demonstrate them without running all over the field and losing their players’ attention? (Please?) Or is it geared toward parents who want to show their kids a few good moves they can try on their own? It’s all three, and that’s going to make this ebook difficult to market.

But for patient consumers, the good news is that the ebook seems to satisfy a couple of those audiences. If you’ve read the stories of the 99ers and North Carolina’s dynasty a million times over, you can skip all that and check out Lilly’s nifty moves on the field. (To nit-pick: “The Lilly” seems like a slower version of “The Cruyff.” But I can’t do the Cruyff effectively, so maybe I can try the Lilly sometime when my teammates won’t scream at me.)

Ebooks and apps are only going to get better and better. I’d love to get involved with them, honestly. We need electronic media to teach kids the game so it’s not left to a coach trying to hold the attention of 14 players who see a dog walking by the woods. We need coaching guides that don’t look like Civil War battle re-enactment plans.

(And it wouldn’t hurt to market them for boys AND girls, whether it’s Kristine Lilly or Brian McBride doing the demonstrations.)

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soccer

Washington Spirit vs. North Carolina Tar Heels: Free subs!

Posted on by Beau Dure
mccartyJ
Tiffany McCarty set up one goal and scored the other.

So I went to an NWSL preseason game and a college game broke out!

A sizable portion of the Maryland Soccerplex crowd wore Carolina blue and broke into a “TAR! … HEELS! …” chant, despite the efforts of Washington uber-fan Stewart Small to interject “SPIRIT!!” The teams played with college substitution rules. For a while, North Carolina’s players outhustled their opponents to every ball and dominated play.

Then Tiffany McCarty broke down the left flank and centered for Carolina killer Caroline Miller, who lashed home the rebound of her own shot, and the professionals restored order against the mighty college dynasty.

“That girl (Miller) has scored against us consistently,” UNC’s legendary coach Anson Dorrance said of the former Virginia player.

Then Dorrance remembered McCarty from her Florida State days. “Actually the other girl was an absolute thorn in our side for four years.”

McCarty was the player of the game. She didn’t officially get an assist on Miller’s 27th-minute goal because Miller’s initial effort was saved. But she was indeed the “absolute thorn” Dorrance remembered from ACC play, and she doubled the Spirit lead in the 47th minute on a superb breakaway.

Stephanie Ochs, usually the target player in the Spirit’s three-pronged attack, sprang McCarty up the middle of the field. McCarty held off a challenge and made substitute keeper Bre Heaberlin guess before calmly finishing as she has so many times in Spirit practice so far.

Carolina managed little the rest of the way.

In the pressbox and on Twitter, we all had a few laughs about playing the game under college substitution rules at Dorrance’s insistence. He was far from apologetic afterwards. “We’re trying to develop our team for next fall,” Dorrance said.

Why not use spring games to develop players for pro play and international play? “The sort of player that ends up on the national team is not subbed out,” he said.

And he had one of those players in Kealia Ohai, Heaberlin’s teammate on the U.S. Under-20 team and the lone scorer in the World Championship final. Plenty of Carolina players could match the Spirit’s speed in a foot race. Ohai was one of the few who could match the actual speed of play, where one- and two-touch play is the norm. “In college, it’s three,” Ohai said.

In the long run, the substitution issue didn’t matter. The typical pro game doesn’t include a change on the fly when a player leaves with a bloody nose — Dorrance couldn’t cite regulations but chalked up to a ref with a brain — but the revolving door at the sideline didn’t affect too drastically.

If anything, the waves of subs provided a good test for the thin Washington team, which had several players on national team duty (UNC was similarly missing Crystal Dunn) and several others injured. Carolina pressed Washington early, beating the Spirit players to the ball and keeping the Spirit stuck in their own end of the field much of the first half-hour. Exhausted UNC midfielder Brooke Elby seemed relieved to see a substitute replacing her in the 28th minute.

“There are going to be some teams that are going to run and gun,” Washington’s elder stateswoman Lori Lindsey said. “They were a good test for us in terms of athleticism.”

The Spirit eventually responded to the high tempo, and coach Mike Jorden let a couple of his own players take a break and return.

“They came out the first 15 minutes and really took it to us,” Spirit coach Mike Jorden said. “As the game went on, we played better.”

Notes:

– Missing Spirit players, national team duty: GK Ashlyn Harris, D Ali Krieger, D Robyn Gayle, M Diana Matheson. Missing due to nagging injuries: D Candace Chapman, M Colleen Williams, F Megan Mischler, D Kika Toulouse. That left Washington with 16 players dressed.

– The absences also left Washington with a makeshift center-back pairing of Tori Huster and Casey Berrier, the latter of whom just arrived in camp after being waived by Kansas City. Berrier struggled at first, with Domenica Hodak racing over to stop a breakaway in her area, but she picked up the pace as the game went on and stayed in for nearly 60 minutes.

– Dorrance didn’t understand the question when I asked for reaction to the closing of Pepper’s Pizza, which is almost as much of a Chapel Hill institution as he is. His players did. “We’re really sad about that,” Ohai said.

Other game reports (will add links as they come in — feel free to add in comments):

– Official Spirit site

– All White Kit

– Equalizer Soccer

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mind games, soccer

No Monday Myriad this week

Posted on by Beau Dure

Check the Twitter feed to get up to speed on world championships in speedskating and women’s curling. Maybe X Games Tignes as well.

Then here are a couple of things you should be / could be following this week:

– Soccer: U.S. men at Mexico, 10:30 p.m. ET Tuesday, ESPN. No pressure.

– Chess: Candidates’ Tournament. Winner plays Vishy Anand for the world championship this fall. Is it Magnus Carlsen’s time already? Standings/webcasts/etc.

And keep an eye out for NWSL preseason news.

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soccer

Single-Digit Soccer: Who cares about the stakes?

Posted on by Beau Dure

Earlier this month, I did an interview with CBC radio about Ontario’s proposal to get rid of official scores and standings for soccer players under age 12. I made a passing reference to my over-30 coed indoor team and our overly competitive games with nothing at stake but a T-shirt for a division champion.

The CBC wasn’t there to capture it, but a couple of days later, we had a perfect illustration of the point.

The problems started before the game. I had never seen a roster eligibility challenge in an over-30 coed rec league before, but lo and behold, we had one. The result: We had only two female players, which meant they would have to play the whole way.

Our opponents were rather smug about it, too. They might have been a little less conceited if we had challenged a couple of their players, but we weren’t going to go there. We’ve paid money to play soccer. We just want to play.

They spent the first 10 minutes of the game establishing a “physical” presence on the field. I was tempted to toss off my gloves and walk off. This wasn’t fun.

Thankfully, the ref took control. He started blowing his whistle, which clearly startled some of our opponents. They were used to whacking people in the back with impunity.

At the end of the game, I went up to thank the ref for minimizing our bruises. I had to wait, though, because someone from the other team was yelling at him. I don’t speak much Spanish, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t, “GREAT GAME! HEY, DID YOU SEE THAT MESSI GOAL LAST WEEK? THAT WAS SICK!”

Oh, by the way, they won.

So even after winning both the game and an unprecedented (as far as I know) pregame roster challenge, this guy needed to voice his complaints about the ref having the temerity to whistle maybe five of the 50 fouls they committed during the game.

We know we lost the game, and we know our record this season. We don’t know theirs. They don’t know ours.

And that’s why I’m a little skeptical of the idea that players and coaches will start focusing on the right way to play when there’s little at stake and no standings to peruse. Overly aggressive people need other means of restraint. Like a good ref. Or maybe having a few beers before the game. (That won’t work at youth level, of course. Especially not for the parents.)

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soccer

Washington Spirit preseason roster

Posted on by Beau Dure
No, it's not Hat Day at the Spirit camp. It's about 30 degrees and blustery.
No, it’s not Hat Day at the Spirit camp. It’s about 30 degrees and blustery.

At last, everyone who has been selected at some point by the Washington Spirit has been at a session at the Maryland Soccerplex this month. (Well, except for Natasha Kai, Jordan Angeli, Alina Garciamendez and Teresa Worbis, all of whom are in various states of injury rehab, school or maybe both.)

At today’s media day, we were handed an actual preseason roster with numbers and everything. The list:

#1 Ashlyn Harris – USWNT goalkeeper arrived in training today but will soon head back over to Germany, where she had been playing pro ball, for national team games.

#2 Colleen Williams – Strong U.S. U23 forward. Many teams will regret letting her slip to the fourth round of the college draft.

#3 Kika Toulouse – Free agent signing from Virginia via Sweden. Grew up in the area and played for Northern Virginia clubs.

#4 Domenica Hodak – Rookie defender from Maryland wasn’t drafted.

#5 Candace Chapman – Why a defensive anchor of the last two WPS champions wasn’t a Canadian allocation is beyond me.

#6 Lori Lindsey – Made a radio appearance with Caroline Miller last week but wasn’t able to report to camp until Wednesday, missing out on her birthday cake. U.S. national team allocation but not getting call-ups right now. She played her way onto the national team with good performances at the Soccerplex once before.

#7 Megan Mischler – Supplemental draft pick from West Virginia via Sweden.

#8 Diana Matheson – Small but impactful Canadian midfielder trained for the first time today.

#9 Ingrid Wells – Free agent from Georgetown – also via Sweden, also small but skilled. Pitchside Report blogger.

#10 Caroline Miller – Second-round draft pick from Virginia. Hat trick in first training session.

#11 Ali Krieger – Came into practice on Wednesday, then immediately left for appearance coinciding with men’s national team game in Denver. Soon after that, she’ll be back with the nationals.

#12 Olivia Wagner – Maryland rookie punched in lone goal in scrimmage against Penn State.

#13 Julia Roberts – Virginia rookie went undrafted. That was what we in the business call a “mistake.” Strong on the ball.

#14 Tiffany McCarty – U.S. U23 forward and first-round draft pick has knocked in a few goals in training. Good mix of athleticism and skill.

#15 Robyn Gayle – Canadian defender arrived at training today.

#16 Danielle Hubka – Yet another Maryland rookie. It’s as if they’re trying to counterbalance the Virginia contingent.

#17 Hayley Siegel – Santa Clara alum has local ties — played for D.C. United Women last year and is an assistant coach at Georgetown.

#18 Chantel Jones – Goalkeeper from Virginia via Iceland looked sharp in Penn State scrimmage.

#19 Skyy Anderson – Also from Maryland, but she’s a year out of school. Defender.

#22 Stephanie Ochs – Athletic U23 forward was the third pick in 2012 WPS draft and the third pick in the 2013 NWSL supplemental draft.

#23 Tori Huster – Second-round supplemental pick from Florida State via Western New York, where she played with Ochs, is the easiest player to spot from a distance. (Look for the reddish hair.)

#24 Diana Weigel – You’d never guess from her unassuming personality, but the William & Mary defender who played with D.C. United Women last season is also a DJ. And a skilled outside back.

They list a blank space by #25. They skipped #20 and #21. Anyone else?

http://twitter.com/hollyking10/status/314907713811402752

Ah. King was here for the tryout, so she has at least attended one session with the coaching staff this month.

That’s still only 23. Kai, Angeli, Garciamendez, and Worbis might make it to the Soccerplex this spring, but they’re not expected in preseason.

Three players from the Penn State scrimmage — Heather Cooke, Ari Calderon and Alex Brandt — are no longer in camp. Calderon and Brandt have schoolwork to finish. With the Spirit entering a reserve team in the W-League, a couple of those players and maybe others who appeared at the tryout could resurface in a few weeks.

And I’ll bury the lead for those who don’t already know: One of my projects this year is an ebook on the Spirit. I’ll publish it right after the season ends. Haven’t decided yet how to incorporate the video and photos I’m shooting, except as documentary evidence that some of their players were aiming at me during one of the drills. They know who they are.

It’s a great team to follow — young, athletic, freewheeling, and fun. The constant drives up 270 will be worth it.

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soccer

Single-Digit Soccer: “Messi would never have made it in the USA”

Posted on by Beau Dure

The U.S. youth soccer system is often criticized as too Anglo. Too athletic. Too focused on big brawny suburbanites, too resistant to Hispanic players and their magical ball skills.

And so the argument goes that if Lionel Messi had been raised in the USA, he wouldn’t have made it.

To which I say: B&*$%@!

As evidence, allow to present a quick peek at the most hyped U.S. player in history:

If you saw Freddy Adu play over the years, you know he was never a dominant physical specimen. He could be explosive with the ball, but he’s not the fastest guy in the world. And he’s not a big guy.

If anything, Messi is more physically imposing than Adu. Messi can score goals with defenders draped on him. Adu is more likely to be muscled off the ball.

Maybe the Ghanaian pickup games in which Adu learned his trade were better for development than American U8 games. Fine. But it’s a fallacy to think a 10-year-old Messi would be overlooked by U.S. teams.

Then we would ruin his career.

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