12 weeks, 70 something practices, 7 exhibtion games, 12 regular season games, and it all comes to a close for the 2009 season this weekend. In my 8th coaching university, I still find it amazing how quickly the time passes during the varsity competition schedule. Just when it seems that the team is finding its groove, the season comes to a close. The intense nature of the university schedule seems to really forge a unique atmosphere among players and coaches (especially if things are going well) as we spend so much time together throughout the weeks. This year has really been a special one for me personally but also working with this group of players. I have re-found a passion and enjoyment, watching a group of individuals become a team, improve their soccer and create what will be some great friendships. It is also sad in a way in that this weekend will see the end of the varsity careers for 4 athletes who have each completed 4 years with the Stingers. What makes it even more special is that each of these players has been what I consider a great ambassador for the soccer program and 4 individuals that I have truly enjoyed being around. I have watched each of them grow not only as soccer players, but more importantly grow as people. These 4 will be missed.. and being very honest, we can't always say that about every player that crosses our path. Time always matches on and while this was a special group, the reality is that after this weekend, this group will be no more and we as coaches will need to work to move forward with the remaining players while hopefully keeping the same chemistry, vibe and attitude among the team while adding new faces.
In terms of this weekend's games, well every coach hopes to finish out a season playing for something... and luckily we get that chance. We are currently sitting in 6th place with a record of 3W-9L, with a chance to move to 5th. That placement would certainly be a improvement over last year when we finished 7th having only won 1 game and tied 2. UQTR is right above us 2 points ahead and a win tonight against them, would vault us into 5th place. Two wins this weekend, would give us 5 which would be the highest total in 4 years (we had 4 wins and a tie in 2007). Now for some, saying we got 5 wins might seem like "what is the big deal" but when you are trying to rebuild you look for signs of progress, for concrete proof that you are moving forward and improving and to finish 5-9 in a solid 5th place would be a big step...especially when we consider the # of players who can return next fall. It is hard to see all the hard work that this group has put in and to witness the steady improvement and then have to wait until next fall to hopefully see the results but that is coaching at the university level, you coach for the short-term but build for the future. GO STINGERS !
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Well as the title says, two solid team efforts. Better yet, our weekend could be summarized as " 2 solid team efforts, one disappointing loss, a strong win and proof that we are making progress "
Without getting into too much detail about the games themselves, I will say that I sit her on Monday with a huge satisfaction about the progress this year's current group of players has undertaken since we started back on August. While our overal records remains tilted towards the loss side, the results themselves are good indication of how far we have come. Friday evening we lost again, yes, but 1-0 to McGill (who we lost to 5-0 the first time around) and on a goal that can be respectfully be called fluky (and I am being polite). Due to injury our regular starting goalie Fanny was unavailable and Jessie stepped in. He made some great saves early one as we absorbed a lot of pressure but just before half time, we saw what should have been a fairly routine save, end up with the ball going in the net. Now some coaches might have gone nuts at that point, but looking at the bigger picture and balancing out the pros and cons, I prefer to see it as a learning point with this young team....and boy did this young tream respond. Yes we spent more time defending than we did attacking but the reality is that we did what had to be done to keep the score at 1-0 and we actually created some chances for ourselves, including a clear one on one break-away with about 15 minutes where really missing was harder than scoring. Another chance to blow up at a player....maybe but again, teaching point. Sunday, we took some of the positive vibe coming off our last few efforts and were expecting to win at Bishops. Must be said that Bishops has given some really solid efforts recently, including close games vs Sherbrooke (1-0 loss and 1-1 tie) and a 1-0 loss to Laval last weekend. The game started out with a 45 minute delay due to a serious injury that occured in the Lacrosse game taking place right before us. We got off a strong start pressing them early and dominating play even though we were heading into some serious gusting winds. We converted on a nice crossing play about 25 minutes in and the outcome was pretty much sealed from there. We continued to created decent possesions near their penalty area and even a few decent chances at net (versus on net) but the score remained unchanged. So we now find ourselves 3-9 with the chance to play for 5th place on Friday vs UQTR who sit 1 point ahead of us. To finish 5th we need to avoid a loss and then get either a tie vs UQTR and win vs Laval (not easy) or simply win against UQTR and hope the law of averages prevails. Results, scores, aside, I think that results are relative, anyone who has watched this team play at different points throughout the year, can see the progress, can see the excitement that each player brings to games and practices. Now it would be easy to say things like "we will be great next year" or "just imagine next year" but how relaly can tell. Lots can happen, injuries, players leaving the team, unsuccesful recruiting, not to mention other teams getting stronger. What I can say is that while we are still losing more than we win, we have definitely made a huge stride to changing the culture of women's soccer at Concordia. Our players step on the field with a greater sense of confidence and determination, and can see the results that come from applying yourself and working hard. My job (with the assistant coaches) is to make sure we add the right pieces to the puzzle moving forward and make sure that we continue to raise the expectations Well tonight we head accross town and slightly up Mont Royal to face cross town rivals McGill. Our head to head record against them in recent years has not been great. My first year at Concordia we actually went undefeated against them tying twice during the season and winning in PKs in the semi-final game. Since, well some close games but for the most part some not so close games and truth be told, some games with fairly unflattering scores. Other than our first game last year, where we only lost 1-0, most of the recent games have been in the 4 or 5 to nothing area... nothing to really be proud of. In the 2009 indoor season, we actually played a great game vs. McGill only losing 1-0 on what can in all honesty be called a fluke goal. However this year, our first time facing them, we lost 5-o giving out 3 second half goals. McGill has had some good teams in the last few years but nothing compared to teams they had 2005 and prior. We simply tend to get some sort of inferiority complex when we face them and don't compete as we should. The weekend has come and gone and while we put in two fairly good efforts against Montreal and Sherbrooke, we still come away with 2 losses. There is some consolation with the fact that we gave a much better account of ourselves in both games keeping the score much closer than the first two times we played both schools. On Friday we lost 3-0 in a game (remember we lost 6-0 to them the first time around) that we competed very well in but unfortunately started off giving 2 goals within the first 11 minutes, the 2nd of which was on an own goal. From that point on, we actually put some pressure on the opponents and for certain parts of the 1st half especially, carried the game to Montreal. Our inability to finish once again cost us but the effort level provided by the team was much better and our system of play is certainly starting to be much more consistent. All the work put in during practices is coming accross in the games. On Sunday, facing Sherbrooke, which early season predictions had them challenging Montreal for first, we came with much the same effort level that was shown Monday. We played them even and put a fair amount of pressure on their back line, but once again, we just could not put ourselves in a position for a clear cut chance at goal. We surrendered a first goal at the 40th minute or so and following a great offensive build up in injury time we cam close to tying it up. The second half was well contested, and we surrendered a 2nd goal at the 88th minute as we tried to push forward looking to tie the game up.
The gap is definitely closing but we ( I include the coaches), need to find a way to impose ourselves a little more in games and more important, need to learn how to win out the close, competitive games which requires us to find ways to take whatever chances we get and make something out of it. Good and great teams find ways to score even when they are overmatched in games. I give lots of credit to my coaching staff, the time they have put in with individual players is really showing. We are far from the same group of players that started the year and some have taken big strides forward in terms of technical ability and understanding of our system of play. Still lots of work to do for sure, but it is great to see our efforts paying off. I am a big believer that when you work at something, stick with it, and keep your eye on what you are looking to accomplish, while it will be hard, in the end you will achieve your goals. 2 weeks, 6 practices, 4 games left to go this fall and our goal remains the same, win as many games as possible. Well it isn't really a grind although it can be quite tiring. As I have told a number of people, a bad day at soccer is still better than a good day at many other things, work, school, etc. We are down to the final 3 weeks of the season, 8 more practice, 6 more games and then the 2009 fall season will be officially over... unless at lot of things come together and we qualify for play-offs which to start with would require us to win our final 6 games and then additionally we would need a number of other results to fall our way.
I really find it hard to believe that we are close to the end of the this season, seems like we just got started. We are coming off two back to back wins and hopefully this will carry forward into our following games, however we the weekend off for Thanksgiving, we may have lost a little momentum. The goal from this point out is really to play each game one at a time and accumulate as many wins as possible.. but also to hopefully see the improvement witness in practice translate on the field during games. We have taken some big and interesting strides over the last 10 weeks and our players have come a long way. We are not the same team that lost our first 3 games my a goal difference of 15 and then lost 3 more after that. We so many players still able to return for next fall, it is up to us to keep the core group motivated and improving so that if and when we can add the right additional new parts to this group, some very tangible competitive results should be seen over the winter but most importantly into the fall of 2010. Seems weird to already be thinking ahead but that is the reality of the university enviroment, with a March 1st application deadline and a very competitive recruiting landscape out there, you really have to be constantly in touch with potential players and hopefully look them in early enough that you are getting the players you really want and not choosing among what might be left. So back to this weekend, games Friday vs Montreal and Sunday vs. Laval. Friday will be a big test as I think our loss to them was easily our worst effort this season and I am looking for the players to really fight hard to win back some pride if nothing else. Montreal has been the dominant team in our league for the last 3 years pretty much and they haven't really been pushed in that time. As for Sherbrooke, I still think they are a top team in our league with potentially the two top players in the conference and a rookie who seems to have updated easily to the university league... but who in recent games, seems to be struggling.. .is it injuries, laziness, internal issue, who knows.. we just don't want the Stingers to be the antidote to whatever ails them. I guess we'll see how the team responds soon enough. is like, we let's just say at this point of the year, it is both very much appreciated but also coudl break up some the momentum we have been building up. This weekend will give players and coaches the first multi-day break from soccer since Labor Day weekend and only the second such break since we started training camp way back on Aug. 17th. Hard to be believe we are almost 2 months past when we started.. time really does fly during soccer season.
Six games left and we are hoping to be able to post some good results down the stretch in order to validate the great improvement we have seen in training. The players have been working hard and they deserve the rewards of some positive results and recognition for their efforts. One more practice tonight then it is off for 4 days and back to work on Tuesday evening. I will post something next week leading into our home games vs. Montreal and Sherbrooke. So after waiting through 6 league games, we finally got our first win of the season and were able to follow it up with a second win two days later. This past weekend was the so-called weekend of death as all the teams in oour league played in a home and home series of games vs. another team. This is typically where there is significant movement in the standings after the two games and in past seasons has played a bir part of determining the final league standings. This weekend also represents the bridge between the first and second halves of the season.
We were matched up with UQAM a team who was going through pretty much the same situation as ourselves, young team, frustrating losses and inconsistent play. Friday's game found us travelling to Jarry Parc, former home of the Montreal Expos at their inception and current home of the Tennis Center where ATP events are held. UQAM doesn't not have on-campus facilities and is forced to practice and play at public venues. We got a late start with our warm up and I didn't know how we would start the game but as fate would have it, we are able to get up 1-0 very early after Andrea converted on a direct free kick in the 3rd minute. Getting up a goal is always a benefit as it puts the pressure right on the opponent, however as I learned the hard way this summer (at FISU vs. France) looking to defend a lead for 87 minutes isn't always easy. We continued to presure but could not convert on a few great chances. This allowed UQAM to re-gain some confidence and the play was great even with chances at both ends. We started the 2nd half a little flat but not giving up any really scoring chances...and when we did, Fanny was up to her usual standard and kept us in the lead. While still 1-0, following a missed clearance of a UQAM corner, fate and luck were on our side as Catherine cleared a ball off the line (by way of Fanny's face) in what really the best chance UQAM mustered in the game. Not long after, following 5 or 6 corners and a shot of the crossbar, we finally added to our lead. Alli converted a Molly knock down after yet another corner kick and directed the ball into the net giving us a 2-0 lead. There were a few close calls around our box but no real significant scoring chance and when the whistle blew, we had secured the first win of 2009. Two days later, UQAM came visiting to Concordia and we were hoping to get a great start to the game and out the game out of reach as early as possible. Things didn't go quite as planned and play was quite even and the game was played mostly in the middle third of the field. We managed to create a few opportunites around the UQAM box, but nothing the really finished with a quality scoring change. As often happens when you let a team hang around and given them hope, a poor clearance attempt in our box provided UQAM with a clear shot on goal which was quickly buried....and in 1st half injury time no less. Going into the locker room after 45 minutes 0-0 would have been bad enough, going down 1-0 was unacceptable. Feedback was not tender in the room at half time and Remy was able to bring out a great illustration to the players about wanting to take charg on the field and it woudl appear it had its effect. We quickly tied the score within the first 3 minutes as Izza jumped on a loose rebound and buried it. We continued to push forward and had quite a few chances in and around the box when finally at the 65 minute, Burge got on the end of a through ball and lobbed the UQAM goalie. From that point on, we played with confidence and presence (although not always great execution) and really didn't give up any quality chances for the remainer of the game. I am happy for the two wins but not yet satisfied with our play as I am sure we are still capable of even better. We need to be more effecient on our on-field decision making and better execute the technical side of the game... we get ourselves into trouble with poor first touch and off target passing.... not to mention not putting away chances when we get them. We now have 2 weeks before welcoming Montreal and Sherbrooke at home, and the coaches will spend the time, sharpening the skills and focusing on execution so that we can give a better account of ourselves against these two teams. We are not the same team we were in the first weekend of the season, but we will need to be at our best to look for a result in those two games. Well another week later after my last post and we are still looking for our first win. Last weekend's games did obviously not go as hoped although I must say that our effort vs. U of Laval on Sunday was certainly our best one of this season. They are a quality side and beyond the fact that we only lost 2-1, more importantly we were in the game for the whole 90 minutes. There is still room for improvement in terms of execution especially on the offensive end of things, the players really stayed committed to the game plan for the whole game and our defensive shape was much improved. As seems to have become the norm in our games, we game up a goal in the 30 to 35 minute range but contrary to past games, we came right back and scored within 7 minutes. Being tied at that point of the game really seemed to give the players a lift and we actually carried the play for the rest of the half and for parts of the 2nd half. We got beaten on a quality free kick and were able to limit any real scoring chances but the fact remains that in the end, it was still a loss.
Not much to say about our effort in Trois-Rivières. We were flat for 60 minutes of the game and only really came on for the last 30 minutes when the game was out of reach at 3-0. However I think the effort showed there might have carried forward into the Laval game. So now we arrive at the mid-point of the season. The so called weekend of death, were every team plays a home and home set of games vs. another university. Fate has us playing UQAM, a team struggling just like us who has a single point gotten via a tie against Bishops (yes we lost to them playing with 10 players for 70 minutes it should be noted). UQAM is coming off 2 very tough losses having lost back to back 6-0 vs Montreal and then Sherbrooke (just this past Wednesday). So they could come out very motivated knowing they are playing the current last place team and we can be the cure to what ills them or their confidence can be fragile if we manage to get on them early and get a couple of goals which should both bolster our confidence and affect theirs. It all starts at 6:30 pm tonight and we have given our players the message that anything less than 6 points over this weekend will be considered a dis |
AuthorAfter many years of coaching at various levels and with different teams, I thought I would share some of my experiences and thoughts about coaching. Archives
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