I get to watch a lot of games and while every team has at least a couple of players with the drive and the basic skills to get to the goal few teams show much ability to play as a team. Perhaps I'm prejudiced but I think that the real strength of the Sharks is their team work. Of course we have a roster packed with talent and we don't have a single player who isn't really anxious to play but when the Sharks play as a team and attack the other side with just a little bit of organization they are like a wave that simply swamps the other goal, inevitably pushing the ball in for a score. They had three goals yesterday and worked hard for every one of them and earned their best win of the season.
Coach Reynolds' team is the best competition the Sharks face and the kids know it. Sam E. asked me as we were warming up "this is Nico's team isn't it?" I told them they needed to be tough as a team for this game and play their positions. Well, they did it as well as I could have hoped. On attack after attack they were spread out across the field moving the ball up and then containing the other team. I'd say we probably had control of the ball at least 60% of the game and by the end the blue team was clearly wearing down from all the chasing they had to do.
Coach Reynolds' team played hard and could easily have managed a tie if not for having one great shot go just wide of the goal and if not for the outstanding play in keeper that we had from Jackson, Elizabeth, Kendall and Xavier. Xavier especially made just a heroic stop in the last quarter on a ball that had bounced off his chest once then was put back at him on the rebound. On that second attempt he made the stop and then made a great outlet pass to get the ball out of our half. Kendall had her most aggressive turn in goal yet and although they managed to get two shots past her she probably stopped another five and on each of those she made great outlet throws. The big highlight of Kendall's game though was her great play in the field. She was patiently but forcefully trying to move with the ball through traffic and was managing to be in the right spot away from the ball over and over again. On one particular play she smartly broke away from the pack when the blue team got the ball and ran around the ball to get to the defensive side and block their progress. A wild kick from the blue player put the ball right on Kendall's nose but while she held her hand to her face and was clearly in some discomfort she charged on across the field to get after the ball and got right back in the scrum. That was a huge moment for Kendall and I'm sure her folks were very proud.
Jackson was also crazy good in goal and then in the field he quickly abandoned the position in defense I'd put him in and moved up to play that sweeper role that he loves. Only today, instead of mostly containing the ball for our other forwards he was charging the goal himself and had several great runs that culminated with strong shots on goal or good passes across the middle. When Brennan came in he followed Jackson's lead and pushed up from defense into sweeper and the result was one of the most beautiful goals I've seen. After bringing the ball into the left corner where one of his teammates could get it Brennan drifted toward the left post about six yards out. When the ball came free from that left corner and landed right at his feet Brennan let go a beautiful blast that just missed the left edge of the goal and banged hard off the wall and bounced out into the goalie area right in the center. Just as Brennan was taking his shot Austin started charging in toward the goal from the right midfield clearly seeing the play that was developing. When Brennan's shot rebounded Austin was right there to drive it into the net. The whole thing was poetry.
McKenzie, who I have to keep remembering has only just started playing, was having a great game. She charged into the thick of things repeatedly and had at least one good save on defense. She stopped the forward progress of blue players several times, getting the ball loose for us. I am so impressed with how she has jumped right in and played up to the level of the rest of the team. She seems to have very good instincts for where to play away from the ball and that's a valuable talent to have.
I was really happy with how much more patient all of the Sharks were in this game in their ball handling. Elizabeth, Jackson, Xavier, Austin and Kendall all had great runs where they kept the ball close and made a good effort to get around their opponent rather than just kick the ball away. One of Elizabeth's best runs looked like it was going to end in a goal for sure but the defender did a good job of elbowing her off the ball just enough so that she couldn't take the shot before the goalie came out for the ball. Sam E., of course, lead the way so far as the dribbling goes. He showed the blue team every move he has including his newly added step over move. I don't like that one so much but he thinks it's pretty cool. After taking a few shots from a bit far out Sam started trying to penetrate deeper and was able to get in position for some better shots. He strikes the ball with such authority and from such difficult angles it's a wonder he didn't score more often but he was facing his toughest competition of the session. And what is so great is how he and the rest of the team relished that competition. They knew they were playing Nico's team and they were excited about it. They wanted it.
The Sharks played to some tie games early in the session but those were against teams they should have beaten. On those days the Sharks simply got in their own way and didn't play well as a team. In this week's game they came together right from the kick-off and played with energy and discipline, all of them pointing their individual skills in the same direction. When they do that they are tough to beat.
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