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.
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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
January 2023
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