OLYMPIAN

ORACLE

October 14, 2000

Maybe it was the warm weather, but the Olympians got off to a bit of a slow start.  During much of the first quarter, the ball was in the Olympian defensive third of the field.  Backs Nora and Amanda, with Casey in the sweeper position, had their hands full fending off repeated No Name attacks.  Keeper Sarah also had a busy time of it and had to make several saves.

However, the Olympians began hitting their stride as the second quarter started.   Throughout this quarter the play was pretty much evenly balanced, with each team having its share of scoring chances.  There was also a lot of nice passing, including one from midfielder Tiffany to Jordan on left wing and another from Nora to Erikka in the midfield.  However, about midway through the quarter the No Names got on the scoreboard when a booming free kick from about 25 yards out sailed high into the air and into the top of the net, well out of reach of the keeper's hands.

In the third quarter the Olympians continued to play well.  Devon, Tiffany and Simone in the backfield broke up a number of No Name offensive threats and fed the ball back up to the midfielders.  And Jordan in goal made several very nice saves.   Unfortunately, however, another high arching shot from outside the penalty area by the same No Name striker who had scored previously found the top of the net for the second No Name goal.  Like the first goal, it went into the net well over the outstretched hands of the keeper.

Perhaps energized by that goal and ready to make a comeback, the Olympians played a superb final quarter.    Amanda and Sarah played even more aggressively than usual, picking up loose balls and either taking them down the sidelines themselves or passing them off to wingers Erikka and Casey, who would take them down the sidelines before crossing them to Nora or Jamie in the center. 

This enabled the Olympians to get a lot of shots on goal, including a booming one from Casey and a couple from Sarah and Jamie.  Unfortunately, none of the Olympian shots got by the No Name keeper and when the final whistle blew, the Olympians suffered their first defeat of the season, losing to the No Names 0-2.

A special thanks to Sarah and Jordan, both of  whom performed admirably in goal

The Olympians missed Juliette, Colette and Emily this week and look forward to their return.

Coaches' Commentary

Despite the score, the Olympians played a very good game against this No Name team and one they should be proud of.  Throughout the match, each Olympian gave it her all and never surrendered until the final whistle.  It was also good to see you so ably implement what Paul talked about in his "chalk talk" and take the ball down the wings before shooting or passing the ball back into the center.

Next week the Olympians will take on the team known as Hot Lava.  Early scouting reports indicate that they have one player in particular who could pose a serious scoring threat.   In order to neutralize (hopefully) this threat, we'll have one Olympian "mark" this girl during each half of the game.  The job of the marker will be to intercept passes intended for this girl and to continually pressure her when she does get the ball.

This week's practice will be at the usual place and time.  Game time is 1:10 so please be at the field by 12:40.