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Parsippany Pride Tournament 2006 – Recaps (October 7-8)

 

Well, it was an interesting weekend!  The Ravens played in the U13G White Flight along with the Massapequa Goal Diggers, West Milford Thundercats and the Chatham United Comets.  Chatham has been a formidable opponent since small sided days, while Massapequa and West Milford were unknown entities. 

 

With a flight of four (4), and playing each team once, that meant a total of six (6) games in the flight.  As it turned out, only two (2) of the games produced winners, and a total of only ten (10) goals were scored.  So that meant four (4) ties, and a whole lot of, “could haves,” “should haves,” “almost had,” “if only I had,” and a bunch of, “I can’t believe I didn’t …”  The Ravens had their share!

 

Game 1; Oct 7 AM vs. Massapequa Goal Diggers, L 0-2

 

The Ravens came out with all cylinders clicking, and clearly dominated the early minutes of the game.  But a missed penalty kick in the 4th minute was a bad omen.  Still playing well and getting an edge in overall play for the game, the Ravens defense leaked a goal in the 14th minute of the first half, and in the 49th minute of the second half.  If you let the ball hang around your goal too long and fail to make the clear, only one thing happens, and it’s not good.  That seems to be the Ravens’ problem so far this season.  However, the Ravens had a good go at it in this game vs. the eventual flight winner.  This “could have” been 2-0 Ravens … just as easily.

 

Game 2; Oct 7 PM vs. West Milford Thundercats, L 0-2

 

Having scouted West Milford during their first match, the Ravens knew what to expect from the Thundercats.  The Ravens were well prepared, and were alerted to two potentially dangerous offensive players on the West Milford side. Again, the Ravens played well, but just couldn’t find the net.  And, as it turned out, one of those dangerous players scored two brilliant goals, with one deserving making the 10:00PM sports highlights.  In the 20th minute, and working along the right flank, #5 from West Milford forced a Ravens’ defender to sell herself early.  She then calmly walked it from the right corner and placed a perfect shot into the net.  In the 36th minute, she worked her magic again.  This time, using a series of strong cuts and feints, she beat 3-4 Ravens along the right, all the while progressing towards the goal.  When she finally had time to get the shot off, she didn’t miss! Impressive! 2-0 West Milford, and that was the ballgame, with the Ravens at the very least playing even up with this opponent in the first half, but their overall play wasn’t as strong in the second.

 

Game 3; Oct 8 AM vs. Chatham Comets, T 0-0

 

With this game having no bearing on the final standings, and with the Ravens having been eliminated from advancing to the finals, this game was still one the Ravens wanted to get as we head to the State Cup Round 3 next Saturday.  Amazingly, the early morning dew on the field (7:45 AM start!) was not a factor, as both teams adjusted well, even if they skipped breakfast.  The Ravens adjusted well to a new formation presented to them just before game time, and they processed the information well.  We got the field coverage, and more consistent offensive bursts – both part of he plan.  We just didn’t get the result!  This game wound up being your typical back and forth affair; some good chances; some good saves; and some very sound soccer.  But … no goals!

 

So as it worked out, six games in the flight with only two resulting in a winner. Unfortunately, “see above!”  The Ravens only let up four (4) goals, but unfortunately again, no other team gave up more than 3.  Of the six halves played, we fell short of our standard in probably one.  “If we had only” … tucked in just a couple at opportune times, this “could have” been a much different weekend!  Let’s just hope we saved the best for a run at the Ewing Fireballs next Saturday in Ewing!

 
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Click here to see the Ravens results, and click here to see the complete U13G White flight results. 
 
The Pride 2006 for the tournament home page, and access to all of the Pride schedules and results.
 
 
 

The Ravens participated in the Essex Fall Tournament on September 9th and 10th.  The girls were in a four (4) team bracket.  Here are Saturday's results:

 

Game 1 (Sept 9) – vs. Livingston Lynx (L 0-2) (U12G JAGS)

 

The Ravens came out in their first match play of the season set to play some fundamental soccer, which consists of defending, passing, receiving, running and tackling.  Hopefully, all that leads to some scoring and keeping the ball out of your own net.  Well, there was a thick coat of rust on the boots of the Ravens, as they had a hard time keeping the smaller, but highly skilled, fast, and determined U12 Lynx at bay.  The Ravens were under siege just about the entire 50 minutes, but to their credit, only when their fitness started to wane late in both halves did they surrender two goals. The 23rd minute goal in the first half wound up to be a gimme after some fine passing, but a lost mark at the very end of the play.  The 46th minute goal came on a good low and hard shot from just inside the 18, when the Lynx player found herself unchallenged, and had the time to set it up, take a look, and placed it right where she wanted it.  The Ravens simply didn’t have enough of the ball, and when we did, we did nothing with it.  In most cases, the team with the most energy and enthusiasm will usually have the run of the play.  That was clearly the “message” from this first tilt.  When you combine that with skill, speed, and working as a team, the results are academic.  But, first time out of the shoot for the season, the team was determined to make a quick turnaround.  

 

Game 2 – (Sept 9) vs. Cougar Courage (L 1-2 PK) (MID NJ Flight 2)

 

After making the commitment to play with determination, commitment, play smart team soccer, the girls displayed a clear lack of maturity in the opening two minutes of the second game.  The Courage scored 1:45 in, as they seemed to do whatever they wanted while the Ravens defense completely broke down.  The team was quickly reminded of their commitment to team defending and overworking our opponents.  When you work hard, good things happen, and they did.  The Ravens were awarded a penalty kick in the 6th minute, when the offense started applying some pressure, and forced the Courage defender into an over aggressive mistake.  Katie Astrella neatly deposited her kick into the upper half of the goal, and away from the keeper.  Now tied 1-1, the games settled down a bit, and both teams regained some composure in what wound up to be a more physical match than the first game.

 

The balance of the game saw some good challenges and defense by both sides.  A few excellent saves were made by both goalies, and both teams left some goals on the board after some good builds from the back and through the midfield.  The result was 1-1 after 50 minutes of play, and headed to a best of five shootout.  In the shootout, out of 10 PK shots, only one found the net.  Goalie Randi Pesci made a couple of great saves, but couldn’t corral an excellent placed shot by one of the Courage shooters.  All of the Ravens’ shots either were wide right, over the net, or directly to the goalie.  Courage wins the game 2-1 on PK’s, but the Ravens came away feeling a lot better about their game.  Hopefully we will continue the improvement back to our standard level tomorrow afternoon.  

 

Game 3 – (Sept 10) vs. Ironbound Strikers (W 2-1)

 

Ironbound came into this game 0-2 in the tourney, with 0 goals for and 10 goals against.  If there was a game for the Ravens to recapture their confidence and start reclaiming their good work habits, this was it.  However, Ironbound put up a strong effort themselves, and actually took a 1-0 lead in the 29th minute after the Ravens’ defense could not clear a rather harmless looking short corner.

 

With time winding down, the Ravens were still searching for some offense.  Even though they put a number of good shots on goal, and some over or wide of the net, the ball never found the back of the net.  But, with less than four (4) minutes to play in the game, the Ravens finally got the break they needed.  Center Forward Sarah Lipinski picked up a loose ball about 30 yards in front of the net and went straight for the goal.  She calmly put a low ground hugging shot on goal just before the oncoming Striker goalie could make a stab for it.  GOAL!  Now tied 1-1, the Ravens quickly stepped up their game to the next level, and the entire team was ready to get a finish. 

 

With less than two minutes to go, Carly Stagl snagged a short Ironbound goal kick, and took on the surprised net minder.  GOAL!  2-1 final, and the Ravens came away with their confidence level visibly lifted, and now ready to make a statement in the semi-final.

 

Game 4 Semi-Final – (Sept 10) vs. Cougar Courage (W 1-0 PK)

 

This game represented a pure play-in for the U13G Final.  This game pitted #2 Courage vs. #3 Ravens.  Both teams came out fired up, and the game took on the same kind of intensity as yesterday’s tilt.  Each team controlled play for small stretches during the 50 minutes, and there were only a few excellent opportunities on net.  However, the game turned into a stalemate for the most part.  Both teams could have probably had a goal or two, but the result of 0-0 meant the second shoot-out in two games for these teams … and with the opportunity to head into the final vs. the Livingston Lynx to the winner.

 

The Ravens netted three (3) PK’s in the shootout, while the Courage only got two (2).  Ravens’ scorers were Emily Muniz, Jordan Valori and Melissa Piccoli.  Emily also was the Ravens’ net minder, and she made some timely saves during the game, and in the shootout as well.

 

So now it was on to the U13G finals – Parsippany Ravens vs. Livingston Lynx.

 

Game 5  U13G Final – (Sept 10) vs. Livingston Lynx

 

Now we would see exactly where we stood.  With game one clearly in the rear view mirror, the Ravens were set to show the Lynx what kind of team we really are.  The Ravens had a plan to match the individual technical ability of the Lynx – which was to dictate a high-tempo pace and power to the game, even with the short transition from game 4.  Since this was the third game of the day for each team, so we could expect fatigue to be factor.  That would be an advantage for the Ravens, since we had four sub’s on the bench.  We also knew that the game was going get hard at some point for us, and we would need to dig in, keep team shape, and understand the intricacy of teamwork and timing.

 

What a difference a day makes!  The Ravens took the lead in the 13th minute, when Krystal McLean netted a direct restart from about 25 yards out.  The half ended 1-0 Ravens, but we knew the talented Lynx could mount a strong offensive spurt at any time.   However, the first half was probably evenly played, with neither team getting a clear run of the play.

 

The second half was a different story, with the Lynx creating some excellent chances with their short passing structured play.  The Ravens found themselves on their heels in the early minutes, but then got settled in and started to create more mid-field play.  But, the Lynx got the game tying goal in the 38th minute after the Ravens defense found themselves in a state of confusion after prolonged possession play by the Lynx.  So, with 12 minutes go, the question was could the Ravens hold on, and take this game to a shootout because it didn’t look like we were going to get many offensive chances.  And this is where the game got hard for the Ravens, because the Lynx were just as determined to go for the finish.  The girls responded well!

 

The game ended 1-1, with the Ravens hanging tough and everyone - themselves, coaches and parents extremely proud of their effort, especially after an adventurous first day!  Now a shootout, where anything could happen, to determine the Champion.  The Ravens netted one (1), while the Lynx pushed two (2) to the back of the net.  So, the Lynx take the title, while the Ravens rallied for a strong second place finish while again … “never to underestimate the value of one goal in tournament play!”

 

Great Job girls … and CONGRATS on a successful tournament, and a very exciting final game and rally on Sunday.