U14 RDYSL 2008 Game Summaries
Shootout Tournament
Alexander had a great showing in the shootout tournament going 3-1 on the day and finishing in a tie with Oswego for first place, but because Oswego knocked off Alexander early in the day they were the tournament champions. Thanks to Paige, Abby, and Bria who joined the girls on the day and all did a great job.
GVBBSC 5 Alexander 3
Alexander fell behind early again 1-0 but battled back as Maria tied it after she finished off a direct kick from Sarah late in the 1st half. Alexander was sleeping a bit to begin the 2nd half and gave two goals to go behind 3-1. Alexander's offense was really clicking in the game but they just didn't finish off the chances they generated in the middle of the 2nd half. Alexander would go behind 4-1 after a nice shot was sent in the far side. Alexander didn't quit though and would pull within 4-2 as Kathren scored off a cross from Becca to make it 4-2. Sarah made it 4-3 as she put a corner into the middle, it was cleared back out to her and she fired it in the far corner. Unfortunately that was as close as Alexander got and GV scored a late goal to make it 5-3. This was by far the best offensive game the girls have played all summer and for the 3rd game in a row the girls played even with their opponents and came away with a great showing. All the girls should be very proud of the improvements they have shown this summer, they are all much more ready for Jr. High, JV, and Varsity than they were 3 months ago. Great job this summer ladies and I am sure next summer in U14 again will go much better in the win column as long as we keep improving and working. Great games were turned in by Maria up top, Gabby in the back, and Lydia in the midfield and up top. Great job girls.
Spencerport 3 Alexander 2
For the 2nd game in a row Alexander nearly picked up their first victory of the season. Alexander fell behind 1-0 early in the game on a corner kick that didn't get cleared and was punched in. For the majority of the first half Alexander controlled play with a fantastic display of passing and movement off the ball. A great deal of communication was taking place on the field as well. This was by far the best display of pure soccer the girls have showed all summer. After falling behind 1-0 Burgandy headed a punt at midfield down the field and the ball was sprung through to Lydia who went in on a breakaway and was taken down in the box from behind and earned a PK. Gabby fired the PK into the net to tie the game at 1. Alexander continued their great movement of the ball and it resulted in another great looking goal. A give and go on the sideline then saw a pass sent in the middle to Maria who took two dribbles and sent a cross to Lydia who went in 1v1 with the keeper, poked the ball around her and put the ball in the net to make the score 2-1. Alexander had the lead at the half but was wearing out a bit. After halftime Spencerport got a couple of lucky/fluky goals that while they looked good resulted from busted plays. One was crossed and hit a few legs and then was shot toward the corner, Jess got a hand on it and it hit the inside of the post and found the net. The 3rd goal of the game was a ball that was skipped from outside the box by the forward and the ball went up in the air and Jess got a hand on it again but it hit the post and went in. Alexander had a couple golden chances to tie the game late but was unable to beat the Spencerport keeper. It was a great performance and the girls have nothing to be ashamed of. The last 2 games have shown exactly how much the girls have improved over the summer and hopefully all the players, parents, and spectators can see that. Fantastic games were turned in all over the field - Burgandy played excellent in the midfield, Lydia was strong up top, and Chrissy was fantastic in the goal. Everyone played very well, great job girls.
Fairport 1 Alexander 0
The 3rd time against Fairport looked like the charm - however an own goal on a bad break was the difference in the game and the girls fell 1-0. An Alexander defender attempted to head the ball out of the goal but it ended up popping off her head and into the corner of the goal early in the 1st half to make the score 1-0. Alexander had 3 great chances in the first half but the Fairport goalie stopped two breakaways and an indirect kick play sailed just wide. With only 11 players Alexander tired in the 2nd half and was unable to get any good shots off despite getting the ball in deep several times. The Alexander defense did a fantastic job in the back allowing only 7 shots on goal - none of which were very dangerous. It was one of the top performances of the summer for the girls and shows exactly how much improvement there has been throughout the summer. Great games were turned in by Maria at center mid, Gabby in the back and at center mid, and Lydia at outside mid. Nice game girls, we had chances to win this one - two more chances to pick up our first win at home next week.
Pittsford 3 Alexander 1
Alexander had a much better showing against Pittsford than their first two times against them. Alexander's goal was scored by Kaleigh near the end of the game to make it 3-1. The girls played hard and controlled good portions of the game but a couple bad breaks in the back lead to goals in the 1st half and put the girls in a hole they couldn't climb out of.
GVBBSC 3 Alexander 1
Alexander played a very solid all around game but fell behind in the first half and was unable to make up the difference falling 3-1 to the Bears. Alexander had a handful of chances in the first half but didn't get shots away and it would end up costing them as the Bears buried their two good chances to go up 2-0 at halftime. In the 2nd half Alexander changed their defense around a bit and did a better job marking and limiting the shots and got a breakaway goal from Maria to get within 2-1. Alexander had other chances but again failed to pull the trigger and would fall victim to an iffy PK call late in the 2nd half to go down 3-1. Jess made a couple great saves in the 2nd half including tipping one over the crossbar that was destined for the top corner of the goal. The offense moved the ball much better this game than they have been and strung together some 4 and 5 pass sequences in the midfield that looked great. The girls continue to improve game to game and with 4 games left in the season I feel there is a very good chance that we are going to pick up our first win - especially with 3 of the final 4 games at home. 1st star in the game went to Kal who had her 2nd fantastic game in two days, this time at outside mid. Played great defense throughout the game and had some great runs down the right side of the field. 2nd star went to Sarah who was strong in the first half and fantastic in the 2nd half shutting down the Bears top scoring threat. 3rd star went to Gabby who was solid in the back, stopped some breakaways, had a couple nice headers, and talked a lot better than she has been. Great performances were turned in all over the field including Maria up top, Becca and Kathren in the midfield, and Jess in net. Great game girls.
Fairport 4 Alexander 0
Alexander played with only 10 players in some nasty heat out in Fairport but came away with a very fine performance playing most of the game even with a Fairport team that beat them up in the first game of the year. Fairport got 3 goals close together in the middle of the 1st half while playing 11 vs 9. Alexander had the first chance of the game playing two players down as Lydia got through the defense but was caught from behind before she could get a good shot off. After getting up 3-0 Fairport played 9v9 the rest of the game and the game was very even from that point on. The only goal Fairport picked up after dropping to 9 players was a rocket scored from outside the 18 into the top corner. Alexander had several chances but just was unable to hit a solid shot on net no matter how close they got. The best chances of the game was Sarah on a direct kick that got through the goalies hands but didn't find the net and Gabby on a direct kick that was knocked up in the air and caught by the Fairport keeper. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd stars go to the 4 defenders (Gabby, Sarah, Korie, and Kaleigh) who played all 70 minutes with no subs and really limited what Fairport could do by making well and winning a lot of the 50/50 balls. All 10 players should be very proud of themselves as it was a great game.
Spencerport 2 Alexander 0
And the improvements keep on coming. In what was a great all around team effort Alexander put on their best show of the summer playing even with 2nd place Spencerport for the entire first half and for the majority of the 2nd half. In the 1st half Alexander had some great team shape throughout the field, communicated much more than normal and it paid huge dividends. Alexander held Spencerport without a shot on goal for the first 35 minutes of the game and the score was 0-0 at halftime. The forwards and midfielders also did a great job stringing passes together and moving the ball forward into dangerous spots. The 2nd half started off a bit slow as Alexander had some issues marking but still held off Spencerport for nearly 10 more minutes before the ball found its way through the defense and into the net. Spencerport would add a 2nd goal just over 3 minutes later and Alexander found themselves in a 2-0 hole. However the girls battled right back and started playing sound soccer once again and the final 20 minutes of the 2nd half looked much like the first - Alexander girls stringing passes together, working the ball forward, keeping their shape, and communicating better than they have all year. Alexander had a couple really dangerous chances in the final 8 minutes of the game but was unable to get a solid shot at the keeper. The best chance of the game came when Maria ran through a ball that the keeper was coming out to get and the ball made it past the keeper, but the defenders raced back to clear it away from the goal before Alexander could punch it in. It was a great all around game which was shown on the goalie stat line where Chrissy didn't have to make a save in the 1st half and Jess only made 2 in the 2nd. Spencerport only managed 4 shots on goal the entire game which is a huge improvement for the girls. Fantastic job. 1st star in the game went to Kal who was strong on the outside mid throughout the game with some great passing and defending. 2nd star went to Lydia who had her best game of the summer - especially playing outside mid and working on offense and defense. 3rd star went to Amanda who was very strong on her side of the field throughout the game, won some 50/50 balls and found herself stepping up on offense throughout the game and then getting back on defense. Everyone did a great job throughout the game - much to be proud of girls!
Pittsford 4 Alexander 0
Alexander struggled again with a strong Pittsford team and fell by a 4-0 count. The 2nd half was a much stronger performance by the girls as they were able to get a handful of scoring chances but not get any by the Pittsford keeper. Alexander's marking continues to improve as most of the goals were long range blasts that didn't result from a missed mark, just a long high shot that we couldn't do much about. Top performances were turned in by Chrissy in net, Gabby and Ashlee on defense, and Kal in the midfield. Nice job girls.
Pittsford 4 Alexander 1
Alexander played what was definitely their best overall game in Pittsford on Tuesday but Pittsford was opportunistic and put 4 balls into the back of the net. The field was much larger than the girls are used to and Pittsford played long balls all game long which caused Alexander a bit of trouble in the 1st half. Most of the 1st half was spent by Alexander attempting to clear the ball down the middle only to have Pittsford launch the ball immediately back into Alexander's end. Pittsford's first goal was nearly saved by a diving Chrissy as she got her hand on it but the ball somehow hit the inside of the post and went in. Alexander went down 2-0 when a hard shot got through the defense and found the net. Alexander regrouped at halftime after spending the first 35 minutes defending and came out with a much better performance. Keeping the ball on the ground and on our feet Pittsford was unable to constantly blast the ball down the field and Alexander controlled the play for the first 15 minutes keeping the ball in Pittsford's end for the majority of that time. Alexander had a couple golden chances to make the score 2-1 but shots got blocked or didn't have enough power behind them and were snatched up by the keeper. Alexander fell victim to some bad luck as a ball was cleared across the field on a miskick and came right to a Pittsford player who deposited the ball in the side of the net to make it 3-0 on Pittsford's first shot of the 2nd half. Alexander went to sleep a bit after the goal and Pittsford got a ball on the left side of the field in deep and crossed a ball that floated high and in the far corner to make it 4-0. Alexander settled back down and started passing again and spent most of the final 7 minutes in Pittsford's end and it finally paid off. Emily was ran over at the top of the box resulting in an indirect kick which Sarah touched to Gabby who fired it in off a defender into the far corner to make it 4-1. Alexander had another chance to make it 4-2 but the ball hit a leg and deflected out of bounds. All in all it was a strong performance by the girls whose success is being measured in progress on the field and not so much on what the final score is this summer. Alexander's marking and talking was top notch throughout the game and in the 2nd half they stuck to the plan of keeping the ball on the ground and on the outside of the field and it really paid off as they played even with Pittsford for the entire half. 1st star in the game went to Kaitlyn who did a great job in the midfield working up and down the field and had some great passes to spring the forwards and outside mids. 2nd star went to Ashlee on defense - kept her mark shut down most of the game, got her turned around and didn't let her turn towards goal throughout the game and even mixed in a couple headers! 3rd star went to Becca who was solid up front, checked back well, attacked in the right spots and found some lanes to pass through. Very strong performances were turned in by the entire rest of the team. Chrissy picked up 7 saves in the 1st half and Jess had 6 in the 2nd in goal. Great job girls - you continue to show a lot of progress.
Fairport 4 Alexander 1
Alexander started off the summer 2008 season with a tough game against Fairport. The girls struggled to get going in the beginning of the game and looked quite rusty. Jess did a great job in goal early in the game along with some nice defensive work and the score remained 0-0 early on. Fairport would get 2 goals in the first half and would lead 2-0 at halftime. In the 2nd half Alexander started out playing much better and got the ball forwards several times and to the front of the net on 3 occasions but all 3 were stopped by the keeper before Alexander could get a good shot off. Alexander continued to look rusty as their passing was a bit slow throughout the game. Alexander fell behind 3-0 midway through the 2nd half but would battle back and Sarah would score on a direct kick that went through the keepers hands to make it 3-1. Alexander would get a couple more dangerous runs up the field but both were stopped by the last defender before Alexander could get a solid shot on goal. Alexander gave up a late goal by an unmarked player in the middle of the field. Chrissy did a spectacular job in goal in the 2nd half picking up 10 saves including tipping a high shot over the crossbar. 1st star in the game went to Kathren who did a great job at sweeper in the 2nd half and stopped a lot of Fairport attacks with some great 1v1 defending. 2nd star went to Chrissy who was great in goal in the 2nd half and kept the score down with some fantastic saves. 3rd star goes to Jess who was solid in goal in the 1st half and stopped a penalty kick with only a few minutes left in the 1st half. There were several other great performances including Ashlee on defense and Emily at forward. Solid game girls, we need to get some more work in to get the ball moving better but the season has just started.