Today was the big game of the season, against the other local team. Many of the kids on both teams attend the same schools so there’s a lot of off field rivalry. Sadly, as the previous games have gone, Corwin’s team lost 0-4.
The game didn’t start well, with the other team dominating and keeping the pressure on our goal until they scored about half way through the first quarter. After that, however, Corwin’s team rallied back and kept the pressure on them for most of the rest of the game. Somehow, though, they weren’t able to translate that to scoring although they came close several times (once bouncing off the goal post and another just over the top bar). All of the other team’s goals were on break away plays when they got past the defenders and took unopposed shots at the goalie.
Corwin made another of his stomach blocks. He had one the last game or the one before, so it’s close to being a habit for him. The referee wanted to send him out but Corwin refused. Corwin did some good kicking but he still needs to have most hustle, particularly in response to the break away plays the other team was scoring with.
I think that to some extent the team is the victim of team loyalty. There were six locals teams last year, but only 2 this year. Some of the losses were up to the full time league and many of the girls, but still I think that the other team got the cream of the other 5 teams because the slots on Corwin’s team were mostly filled by former teammates. Mom thinks that the coach is coaching for long term, making the players play in a way that’s not so good now but will server them better later on. She may be right — I think, oddly, that Corwin’s team was playing better but just wasn’t handling the break aways by the strong players on the other team as well as they should because they play a very forward defense. We’ll see how they look next year.