Game 5 vs. New Providence Blast @ NProvidence, NJ, May 6th (W 1-0)
Sunday’s opponent, the New Providence Blast, is a team with which the Ravens have a mixed history. In the fall, the Blast won the first contest at Veterans 2-0, but then the Ravens came back strong at
New Providence with a convincing 3-0 victory. By comparatives for the spring, this is another game the Ravens should win, as the Blast was off to a tough start at 0-2.
But someone forgot to tell the Blast! They came out strong, and clearly dominated he first 15 minutes of the game, hardly letting the Ravens cross the midfield with any pace or structure. The Ravens were one step behind, and were having trouble connecting the dots without a Blast striker or middie immediately on them to challenge for the ball, and challenging hard and aggressively. The Blast defense was doing an excellent job as well stepping up on the play to keep the Ravens offensive spurts to no contests. That said, the Ravens’ defense was also doing a great job, by forcing all threats to outside, or allowing only shots from long distances.
At about the 18 minute mark, the Ravens starting picking up their play, and got physical themselves. The Blast was clearly playing off a couple of strong players, and as long as they didn’t have the ball, the Ravens realized they could dictate most of the play. Slowly but surely, the Ravens kept coming, and the bumpy and rutted field started to tilt the other way.
In the 21st minute the Ravens were awarded a corner kick. The play broke down, but the Blast couldn’t clear the ball up field. Instead, Sarah Lipinski found herself with the ball at her feet, about 22 yards out and to the right of the goal. Lipinski let go a soft, but perfectly placed shot towards the far post that settled in the back of the net for a 1-0 Ravens’ lead. And for only the second time in five games, the Ravens were able to get the first tally of the day.
The second half saw a lot of midfield play, with both teams challenging hard on 50/50’s. However, the Ravens clearly created more dangerous opportunities, but just couldn’t find the range, space or quality chance to net an insurance goal. The Blast’s closest opportunities came on some well placed corners, but none resulted in a shot on goal. The Ravens’ goalie threesome of Cynthia Abinader, Emily Muniz and Krystal McLean didn’t have a “wow” save all day, as the defensive play was again outstanding.
The girls are now in the position they want to be in heading into the second half of the season (seems like we just started yesterday). With a 3-0-2 record, the Ravens are sitting on top of the flight with the
Long
Valley Crush, who will be an opponent at the
West Windsor tournament next weekend, and then again the following weekend in league play. But .. you never look that far ahead .. because the most important game is the next game! Yesterday is history, and tomorrow will never come if you don’t take care of business today. Things are going well, and the girls are having fun when you win and play up to your abilities. But we can be better, and we better be … because now teams are gunning for us! Oh .. and
Long
Valley IS the next game .. so for this week .. it is OK to look ahead!
Game 4 vs. Berkeley Heights Blue Hill United @ BHeights, NJ, May 5th (W 3-1)
The Ravens traveled to
Berkeley
Heights on Saturday for a makeup game vs. the Berkeley Heights Blue Hill United. Berkeley came into the game with a 3-0 record for the spring, but their comparative scores weren’t as impressive as those of the
Long
Valley crush, the last Ravens’ opponent where the outcome was a 1-1 draw. Regardless, they’ve shown they can win, but realistically the Ravens were told that this was a game we are expected to win. “Good teams win the games they are expected to win!”
United has a big team, but they are not overly fast and skilled. The Ravens needed to challenge every ball, set tempo, and play cleanly, meaning good collections and first touches. The field was bumpy and rutted, so the girls needed to anticipate strange bounces and rebounds … nothing new by any means.
In the 14th minute, United got on the board. The Ravens defense got caught deep, and presented United a rather large gap of space to work with. The ball was advanced up the left flank, and a United striker found the far side of the net on a well place ground hugging shot. It was United’s first shot of the game, and as it wound up, their only dangerous chance of the half.
But, the Ravens were clearly not on top of their game, and needed something spark them. It appeared that the half was going to play out with United up 1-0. However, just like last Sunday, last minute theatrics in the half was about to unfold.
With seconds left in the half, the Ravens’ right middie Katie Astrella got control a United goal kick. Astrella collected, stepped up, and launched a beautiful shot that found nothing on net. When the ball was touched on the ensuing kickoff, the referee blew the whistle for halftime! And with that goal, the Ravens left their relatively sub-par first half in the real mirror.
The second half was all Ravens, as most of the play was in the
Berkeley
Heights defensive half. The Ravens noticeably picked up the intensity level, and challenged each and every ball. The girls were finding space, keeping with their marks on transition, and were creating opportunities. Eventually, the hard work and determination would yield a positive result, or two.
In the 51st minute, Melissa Piccoli would get the eventual game winner. Stephanie Logan received a throw in and played a nice ball to Piccoli, who easily beat the goalie to the right side. And the Ravens kept pressing.
63 minutes in, the Ravens would strike again. This time Kristen Randolph left footed a cross that took one bounce to the feet of Krystina Hay. Hay collected, took a quick look, and again beat the Blue Hill keeper to the right side.
And the Ravens had some great chances the rest of the way, while withstanding only a couple of offensive bursts by United. Overall, the second half was a model of the game the Ravens want to play for the entire game. For as we witnessed, the Ravens have now let the opponent score first in three contests, but in each one, were able to come back and draw or come away with the win. Some would say, that’s the sign of good resilient team. Other’s might say, they started playing when they realized they needed to start playing. That’s why coaches get paid the hefty salaries they do, to figure out these quandaries. What we don’t need to figure out is this – the Ravens are 2-0-2, and sitting on top of the flight!
Game 3 vs. Long Valley Crush @ Long Valley NJ, April 29th (T 1-1)
The Ravens made the 33 mile trip out west to
Long
Valley on beautiful day for a soccer game. Not too hot; not too cool; a little overcast but no threat of rain. Coming off a brilliant 4-0 victory, the Ravens were going to have to muster all of their energy against probably the strongest team in the flight, the
Long
Valley Crush.
Long
Valley came into the contest with 3-1 and 6-1 victories against opponents the Ravens have yet to play. That’s a pretty impressive start for the Parsippany Pride Tournament champions. The Ravens knew they were in for a tough game against what appeared to be a big, strong, fast and skilled team. But, if the Ravens had their game faces on, they’ve shown that they can play with anyone. When you travel this far for a game, you only hope the game faces came along for the ride.
The Crush came out strong and tried to play a short passing possession game. For the most part they were successful, as they kept the Ravens pinned in their defensive half for long stretches at a time. However, the one thing they didn’t do was get off quality shots, as the Ravens’ defense was successful at keeping the play wide and away from the sweet spot.
As the half was winding down, and with less than a minute to go, the Ravens would be on the wrong side of a bad bounce … or head! A long serve was sent high and toward the Ravens’ net, and unfortunately skimmed off the top of defender’s head, and over the outstretched hands of keeper Cynthia Abinader. 1-0 Crush as the half came to an end only seconds later.
Bad breaks are part of the game, and the girls need to realize that over time and distance things will even up. But part of getting those breaks is forcing the opponent into making decisions and plays they don’t want to make. So, they needed to keep aggressive, attack and win the small battles … and force the Crush defenders into making quicker and hasty decisions. “Create the mistakes” … and then you create your own breaks!
Now going against the wind, the game was being played even up. But in the 50th minute, the Ravens got the opportunity they wanted. Alina Vitencz gained control of the ball along the left flank and made a great pass to Carly Stagl. Stagl got past one defender and then set up for right footed shot that hit the far side window of the goal, and low. A perfect shot that eluded the Crush goalie, who never had a chance as she was way off her line.
The Crush looked dejected and surprised, while the Ravens clearly got a boost of confidence and caught the momentum pendulum for the first time in the game. The Ravens carried the play for the next 10 minutes, but couldn’t press forward through the tough Crush defense for any quality chances. And the same was true on the other side of the pitch, as the Ravens stifled any and all Crush advances, kept the play wide, and really only gave up one slightly dangerous opportunity.
As the game shutdown, the skies opened up, but the short and light drizzle didn’t put a damper on the Ravens spirits. This was a good tie, and a quality outcome. One mark of a good team is consistency, and that’s something the Ravens have shown so far this season. The overall quality of play has been impressive, and in two games the team has come from behind to gain a draw. Now we just need consistency keeping our game faces on for the full 80 minutes – we know they are making it the game!
Game 2 vs. North Hunterdon Blast @ Clinton NJ, April 28th (W 4-0)
The Ravens traveled to Clinton to take on the North Hunterdon Blast, and hopefully to get their first win of the season. Last weekend, the two teams battled to a 2-2 draw in Parsippany. With both teams ready to go on a sunny Saturday morning, both had some extra motivation. The Blast squandered a two goal lead, while the Ravens felt they were the better team, and had the better chances to put the game away.
The Ravens came out strong, and immediately took control of the game. In the 6th minute, Krystina Hay was on the receiving side of a nice lead pass up the right flank by Stephanie Logan. Hay collected the ball, made a quick inside move and then lofted a shot over the outstretched hands of the Blast keeper and just inside the far post. Just what the Ravens wanted - not to give up something early like last week, and set the tempo!!
And the Ravens kept on coming. In the 11th minute, Shannon Wojick and Sarah Lipinski combined on a beautiful play in the heart of the Blast defense, with Lipinski finishing up with a nice shot that caught the back of the net to the right of the keeper. So, same situation as last week ... a team up 2-0 early ... but with just under 70 minutes to play, and anything could happen. However, at this point in the game, the Ravens’ defense hadn’t given the Blast a sniff at the goal, and keeper Cynthia Abinader was waiting to be tested.
The game then settled down, but with the Ravens still in solid command. The passes were crisp, and the girls were enjoying seeing their hard work in practice pay off. There were some beautiful give and go’s, overlapping runs, and some great shots, and from both feet! But the girls were reminded that all the Blast needed was one goal to make it a one goal game, so they couldn’t lose their edge. The goal at halftime was to continue playing cleanly, and pop in a couple more. And certainly the team was reminded of their own comeback last week, and we’re sure the Blast was reminded as well.
In the 46th minute, the Ravens were the recipients of hard work, and a break. Hay and Kristen Randolph advanced the ball up the right flank. Randolph eventually made a low cross into the goal mouth that the Blast keeper got her hands on, but was unable to control. The ball squirted away right to the feet of unmarked middie Amanda Fulton, who calmly tapped it in for a 3-0 Ravens’ lead.
In the 63rd minute, Fulton struck again from the stopper position. The Ravens had a corner that didn’t result in any threat, except that the ball eventually came out in front of the goal, but 25 yards out. Fulton set it up for a clean right footed shot that gave the Ravens the insurmountable lead with 17 minutes to go. Now it was just a matter of keeping the shutout alive. Except for one dangerous chance that North Hunterdon got in the waning minutes, the Ravens held strong and played one of their most complete games in a long time. And, the best part is, it’s just the beginning of the season! Let’s not hope, but plan for many more like it!
Great Job Girls!
Game 1 vs. North Hunterdon Blast @ Reynolds, April 22th (T 2-2)
The sun is finally shining! The field is in good shape! There’s another team on the pitch! And the refs showed up! It’s finally time to play some soccer! So after a pro-longed absence from outdoor game play, the Ravens were ready to go to battle versus their first opponent, the
North Hunterdon Blast.
Or, they thought they were ready. In only the 4th minute, the Blast put the first tally of the day on the board. The Ravens’ defense couldn’t clear the ball out of the front of the net, and after a gallant try by tender Cynthia Abinader, a Blast striker had a “gimme.” OK … so a slow start, but the Ravens needed to get their game faces on quickly, because we had no comparatives on the Blast, and therefore no indications if they were a strong or high scoring team. We only knew they were 1-8-1 in Flight 2 in the fall. But we also knew they got the first one today.
And they got the second in only the 11th minute. A push down the left flank saw the Blast eventually get numbers up and convert on a nice setup by one of their strikers. So in the 12th minute of play,
North Hunterdon was feeling pretty good and strong, while the Ravens were still getting carded (a pre-game ritual that always takes too long!). Anyway, there was a lot of soccer to be played, but the girls needed to pick it up physically, emotionally and build up their confidence. A goal would do wonders!
That inspiration came in the 16th minute. On what appeared to be a relatively harmless play, the ball was pushed down the left flank, and eventually was played back to Claudia Moreira who was at left middie. Moriera made a right footed cross out in front of the goal that seemed to be good serve for someone to get a head on and make some trouble. But the ball kept curving towards the goal and far post, and settled into the far end of the goal. Shot or cross .. doesn’t matter .. as the Ravens instantly felt the emotional lift from getting on the scoreboard.
At this point, the game became an even up affair. Both teams were playing strong, and both had some excellent chances. However, most of the Ravens’ shots were of the soft variety, while the majority of the Blast’s shots were wide. Keeper Cynthia Abinader handled everything cleanly, and was looking real good in her initial keeper appearance.
The Ravens almost got the tying goal in the 24th minute, as middie Sarah Lipinski got off a great shot from about 30 yards out, but it hit solidly off the crossbar and eventually out of harm’s way. 2-1 at the half, with the Ravens given a slight edge in the run of play.
The second half saw the Ravens take more control of the game. The girls managed to connect the dots offensively, and kept any Blast counter attacks wide and non-threatening. But finishing was another issue.
In the 67 minute, the Ravens would get the tying goal. Krystina Hay was involved with two or more Blast defenders down low and to the left of the Blast net. Not in position for a shot, Hay managed to send a low ball in front of the net that eluded the Blast keeper, but found the welcoming foot of Alex Seldin. Seldin held off a Blast defender, and followed the ball into the net to make sure there was no doubt regarding the finish!
In the final 13 minutes, both teams pressed for the winner. The Ravens had a couple of excellent opportunities, but couldn’t get the final touch, or put the shot right into the keeper’s range. The Blast rarely made it across the midfield, but had one good re-start opportunity that keeper Abinader was able to thwart.
The game would have had a different outcome if the Ravens came out with the intensity that they exhibited from the 11th minute onward. Sometimes old demons are hard to get rid of, since we’ve had this issue in the past. However, we’ve not seen the comeback from 2 goals down before as well … or at least not often ... so maybe there are different soccer gods watching over us this spring! Amen to that! But I guess we’ll see!
