Newport

Varsity 16-20-5 Those were the numbers I had written in my notebook before the game. Not lottery picks, but minor reminders of long-term and short term team goals:  16 opportunities in our regular season.  20 shots per game.  5 shots against.  Those were my numbers going into Friday night.  Final results:  20 BHS shots, 2 against, and an opening win.  15 more to go.       On Friday, the varsity team opened our 2016 season against our 4A neighbor Newport HS and it was clear that our girls were as excited as I was. So excited, that we did more running and tackling than measured passing and skillful trapping in the first ten minutes. And that suited Newport just fine. Both teams were frenetic as the ball caromed from team to team without much purpose. So it wasn't terribly surprising that we made a series of poor ball-control mistakes in risky areas that led to the opening goal for the Knights. One shot, one goal after 8 minutes. Lesson learned. 0-1 Knights. Calm please.       After the over-excitement of the first ten minutes, and the resulting sloppy goal, we recovered nicely and began to play to our potential. Less than five minutes after conceding, we tied the game with a combination of grit, determination and confident finishing. Kiley chased down a ball in the Newport half that should've been an easy clearance for the defense; but Kiley's tenacity was rewarded as she rode out the tackle and got a favorable bounce downfield. What followed wasn't fortunate, it was talent and skill as Kiley slid the ball to Carly who calmly smashed the ball into the roof of the net from 8 yards. 1-1.   It was a great goal, and unfortunately marked the end of the evening for Carly as just a few moments later she took a hard knock to her ankle and had to be substituted. If any of you read my soccer handbook description of team roles, you know how much I value the players who are on the bench. It's a difficult role (everyone wants to start and play), but an essential part of any team that has big ambitions. Your job on the bench is to stay ready. Focused. You never know when your number will be called. But when it is called, you need to do your best to make a positive contribution. So when Carly went down, freshman Courtney Serres entered the game to take Carly's place. This story ends well. Foreshadowing.          For the remainder of the half we continued to create chances and pinned Newport in their own half. Although the midpoint ended in a 1-1 deadlock, we had out-shot Newport 10-1 and had totally dominated the final 25 minutes of the half. At halftime, there was no worry. No anxiety. Just a reminder to let the ball do the work and focus on simple, quick passing. And the half began well. very well.  Within a minute, Kiley combined with Courtney who laid off a perfect pass that Kiley lashed into the upper left corner of the net from 25 yards. Beautiful. Exquisite strike. And a very positive contribution from our freshman. The same two players combined again in the 68th minute as Kiley turned her defender inside-out and sent a perfect cross to Court who nodded home from 6yards to extend our lead to 3-1. And effectively end the contest.   We added a fourth with 8 minutes left to play, as Kiley reprised her role as provider by racing by her defender (again), and instead of taking a shot from an acute angle, she spotted Joelle crashing the back post and cut-back a lovely weighted ball for Jo score easily.  And really, it could've been more. Katie rattled the crossbar from an excellent corner by Maud. Ellie B had several chances in the air that seemed destined for glory but somehow stayed out. In the end, it was a solid 4-1 victory that had all of the elements that coaches love: some adversity, a good response, great defensive shape, and unselfish play up front.  Other highlights: despite our little 8th minute hiccup, our defense was very very good. Madi faced two shots all night, and every time it seemed that Newport might gain some momentum, Catie made a crunching tackle, Nikole and Paige provided quick cover, or Maud cleared with a confident header.  Both Caylee and Claire came on and were strong, confident and assured as they helped patrol the backline. Ellie and Katie dominated midfield and provided further evidence that playing good soccer is as much about reading the game well and anticipating where the ball will be rather than where it is. Ana filled in the gaps at virtually every position in midfield 
​