Wednesday, April 29, 2009

WCDS Falls in CAC Semis



The first leg of the journey ended well with a convincing 11-0 triumph over a game but outmatched WCDS side. The team defends their title on Thursday against Notre Dame on the Bohn Yard at 4:30 PM. The Fighting Owls are looking for their 10th victory of the campaign.

On Tuesday the Fighting Owls established their dominance from the opening moments as Izzy stuck the first dagger into the Owls inside the first minute. Izzy finshed the match with 2 goals. Diane added another hat trick to her incredible season. Demee found the net for 2 goals, Savi added one, and Gracie had another fine strike. Polish exchange student Ika ( or Domi as the coach calls her ) got her first goal of the season. Liza popped in her second of the year. Everyone played in the match and it was a total team victory!

Monday, April 27, 2009

Win, Loss, Win--8-2 heading into CACs.DACs and VAISS STATES


The last week has been a roller coaster of emotions and results. We began with a wonderful international experience on Thursday April 16 when we entertained the Pakastani Women's U20 club champions around the school and on the Pitch. We exchanged ideas with the coaching staff, showed them around Wakefield and had their girls attend classes with our girls. We worked out with them on the pitch for a solid two hours. Everyone had a wonderful time and the football was crisp and spirited. We engaged in a mixed roster training session that improved everyone's skills and love for the game.

On Saturday we took on Tandem Friends in the Bohn Yard. Diane and Izzie led us again with three goals between them. Diane and Izzie each put one in early, staking us to a 2-0 lead at the half. Friends re-grouped and toned down the high powered Owl attack, getting a goal of their own, cutting the Owl advantage to 1. TF kept attacking the Wakefield goal, and were only turned away by a sizzling save by Catherine, followed by a brilliant punch save to preserve the Owl lead. Jesus saves, but so does Catherine!

Diane then stuck a dagger free kick into the top 90 of the TF goal to give the Owls the final margin of 3-1. A great victory against a quality opponent.



Highland came to campus on Tuesday for a huge game played on the Upper Field. A beautiful Senior Day ceremony opened the festivities. Under threatening skies, and in front of a large crowd, the Owls played their best half of soccer this season jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead against our arch nemisis from Warrenton. A rain delay help up the game for 30 minutes. Wakefield went to the half leading 2-0.

The Hawks showed their resiliency and courage in the storm drenched second half. A massive storm decended upon the game with brutal whipping winds behind the surging Hawks. Three set plays in the final 20 minutes resulted in three Highland scores and a 3-2 victory over the unlucky Owls. The Owls mustered a final surge but could not find the equalizer. A great game to be a part of, but a tough, tough game to lose.

On Thursday the team traveled to Fredericksburg Christian School for what promised to be a tough match against a team that had just lost to Highland by the exact score of 3-2. I wondered how the girls would come out of the Highland defeat. After a slow start, the Owl offense got into high gear. Diane buried a PK after Savey was hauled down down from behind in front of an open goal. Diane then stuck a 35 yard free kick into the top ninety with an amazing strike for a 2-0 lead. The Owls then stuck in 2 more goals for a 4-0 lead, both off of the Diane's golden foot, for a 4-0 lead. Gracie followed with the 5th talley of the game and Savey added a 6th before halftime for a 6-0 lead.

The second half saw the Owls trying different things and possessing the ball for extended periods. FC never quit however, and they ruined Max's shutout bid in her return to goal. The defenders were tough and the midfielders ruled the game. A great rebound from the Highland Heatbreaker!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Moving to 6 - 1



We won our sixth game with an 11-2 victory at Foxcroft. Popcorn soccer went very well on Tuesday. We will be missing some players on Saturday morning but we have adjusted our thinking and have a solid game plan. It should be a good match with Tandem Friends. Go Owls.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Workout cancelled--It will be cold on Tuesday

Diane let me know as I was coming out to the Plains that only 5 people or so would be at the field so we agreed to scrap the workout for Monday. We play Foxcroft on the road on Tuesday and I am sure they want revenge. This is the first time we have played a team who know what to expect from us. It could be very interesting. Remember to dress warm. See you tomorrow.

Booge and Dave

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Monday Workout




Happy Easter!

Girls, I will be on the Upper Field with our soccer balls, on Monday April 13, 2009 at 4PM. If you are back in town I hope that you will be there to workout. We play a game on Tuesday so we need to touch the ball a bit. Let's get that sixth win.

If you cannot be there on Monday please let me know.

Friday, April 10, 2009

An Opportunity

FRIDAY NIGHT SHOOTING PRACTICE
at WAKEFIELD SCHOOL in The Plains
taught by Coach Stu Pierson

free to Wakefield Varsity Soccer players, 8th grade and up (boys and girls)
and others by invitation only -

BEGINNING GOOD FRIDAY THIS WEEK AND CONTINUING

MOST FRIDAYS THROUGHOUT THE SPRING AND SUMMER AT 5:45ish!!!!

followed by Pickup Soccer at Wakefield School's top field

We will usually play in the rain but always, please be sure to
check the hotline before leaving the house, 877-474-8246 code 925.


Hope to see you there!
Thanks!
Stu Pierson
540-253-5100.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

BAck on Track--9-1 win over Foxcroft






Way to bounce back after Saturday, team. We sure can score goals when we are hitting on all cylinders, in very difficult conditions. I hope everyone has thawed out. We scored some exquisite goals. Our third goal was a one-touch gem from midfield to goal box with Issey "writing the last stanza" with a one touch finish that warmed up the whole field. There was lots of good stuff that I will write about later. For now a few picts from the match.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Slipping to 4-1, Moving on....

We were beaten yesterday by a very good team. No one is more disappointed than all of you by the game. I understand that. In the first 15 minutes we were confused, under-manned, and just plain bad. We all know the reasons for this.

I did not let you guys just play. I failed to use my imagination for the start of the game and I take the blame for that. Extraordinary people make no excuses for failure but learn from it for future success.

Seton, as they should have, took advantage of everything and put three scores in very quickly. Everyone, but all of you, expected us to fold our tent. We did not however and fought back courageously. We exhibited all of the virtures in the last 65 minutes of the match. I am very proud of all of you.

On the positive side, Diane's 10th goal of the season was a gorgeous strike and got us back in the match. We pressured well and did not give in after everyone arrived and we started to find our rythymn. We ended the half down 3-1.

We played hard in the second half. Seton got a goal on a great bounce off the post and we were down 4-1. Maxx had a solid 65 minutes in the goal. Izzy was game but exhausted. Diane was the best player on the field and Seton marked her at times with three players. We failed to take advantage of that. Our passing just seemed to be out of kilter a bit. Savanna tried to overcome her achilles problem but just wasn't herself. Nia's shins gave out. Gracie played her heart out. It wasn't our day.

Remember, we a lost a game, not a season. The game is history and the schedule is what we can do something about. We will keep doing the same things. We will keep training the same ways. We have Foxcroft and Highland this week. Let us go forward!!

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Friday to 4-0



Great show on Friday, team. The passing and communication rocked, in the first half especially, as we hit the back of the net six times. Diane started us off with a crushed rope at the 3 minute mark. Five minutes later Savanna chipped in with a pretty goal off a deadly through pass from Gracie at the 8 minute mark. A few minutes later she popped in her second goal. Savanna completed her hat-trick, bringing the score to 4-0. Izzy, still feeling a bit under the weather, scored the first of her two goals at in the 25th minute. Liza Wood brought the score to 6-0, with her first goal ever, at the 30 minute mark. Beautiful play in the midfield slid her through for the point blank shot.

The game slowed down a bit in the second half but we still commanded play. Demi scored her 4th of the season with a nice strike at the fifty minute mark. Izzy crushed a shot at at 55 minutes bringing the score to the final of 8-0. We lost our concentration a bit for the last 25 minutes and survived serveral attacks. Only a great save from XX kept the clean sheet for us. We experimented a bit with 4 defenders and we will work a bit more with that in training on Monday.


Get ready for the big match Saturday against Seton. We will be a bit short-handed with Jordan out for sure, and Katie a probable at best. We are nicked and tired from the match yesterday. It is time to reach down and get one more solid effort. The team is transitioning from good to great. Coaching this team is pure pleasure.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

3-0; Good Training

A good solid victory on Monday against Rappahannock County High School. We jumped on them right from the start to put the game out of reach early. We put Gracie through on a spectacular ground ball out of the midfield and the Rappahannock defender just crushed her from behind giving us a penalty. Gracie stepped calmly to the spot and buried the ball into the right corner giving us a 1-0 lead in the second minute. The mids then kept control of the game and we raced to a 3-0 lead. Savanna and Diane both scored nice goals in the spurt. Our scoreless streak then ended as Rappahannock scored a goal. Max just lost concentration for a minute and the ball was in the net. That would be the last time there was any doubt about whether RCHS would score again.

Demi scored two goals and Diane added 3 more to finish the game with four. Diane has two hat tricks in a row. Jordan scored a nice goal from the front. Catherine put one in from up close and we came away with a 10-1 victory. Liza stroked another assist.

We adjusted for Izzy's absence moving Savanna into the central midfield and Jordan to the front. Katie stepped into the deep midfielder role in place of Jordan. We also missed Domi who was also out sick. Jessie played strong minutes in the front in the second half.

Margaret and Kiely gave us great minutes in the front and the back. Kiely made another bone crunching tackle late in the game that just put an exclaimation on the victory! Sarah played well in the back again with Nia and Alex. Sarah played some strong minutes in the central midfield in the second half increasing our future flexibility.

We still need to work on our communication, especially in the back. We had a few moments of confusion in the back third, which against a better team could create some problems for us. The mids and front runners also have to track back harder to help the defenders bring the ball out when under pressure. Our front runners also have to track back to the ball a bit better and start making diagonal runs to the flags and back posts. We had far too many off-sides, especially in the second half. Disciplined imagination scores goals.

We trained very well on Tuesday. Keep it up today and Thursday. We have a big weekend ahead of us with games against Notre Dame at home on Friday, and Seton away on Saturday. This is a chance to move into the elite. Let's make good on it.

Just remember, it is a game, and games are supposed to be fun. Have fun playing, win or lose. Play with fortitude, temperence, prudence and virtue. Love the beautiful game and it will love you back for the rest of your life.

Go Wakefield!