Game #3: Lost to Haslett 3-0. Not much to talk about here….we didn’t have any real chances and were probably lucky to get away with a 3-0 loss. The good news? Gave up the 3 goals early and played even for the last 2/3 of the game. The bad news? Wish Cpher hadn’t ducked (ducked!) away from a shot; he screened his goalie and then ducked out of the way…the goalie had no chance.
(setting a pick. It’s a little thing, but, a lot of his teammates don’t think to do this)
Game #4: Lost to Holt 6-5; Holt scores as time expires for the win.
Matthew continues to juggle soccer and lacrosse; it actually works out really well this year and will probably be a disaster next year. His soccer team practices from 5 pm to 6:30 on Monday and Wednesday nights. Lacrosse games start at 7:15 on those nights, so, he can get a full soccer practice in and get over to lacrosse in time for warm-ups. He misses Tuesday lax practices due to the conflicts but is at Thursday practices.
I’m going to become a broken record on these two points this year; Matthew is easily the best defensive midfielder and the most physical midfielder. Period. Too many kids play defense by just swinging the stick….Matthew gets in good position and if he swings the stick follows with his body. It is a recipe for a lot of success and why he is the go to guy on penalty kill right now. He is also doing very well carrying the ball forward under pressure; a bonus because we are usually a man down when he gets the ball to carry forward.
Cpher is a rock on defense; our defense is really big and does not hesitate to punish the offense of other teams if they venture too far inside. This results in a lot of outside shots and, if our goalie isn’t screened and can see them, a whole lot of easy saves.
Ok, after watching it again I guess I should mention that two Matthew turnovers led directly to goals. Matthew would like to say that none of his teammates were open for passes (too true, his middie line mates don’t understand the basics at times) but as I told him, even still, he can’t turn over the ball and lead to direct runs on our goalie. Because no matter how good our defense is; it is hard to stop someone running at full speed from midfield without anyone in his way.
One final thing….a lot of these lacrosse games have been played in stadiums so the video angles have been really good! But this game was stupid cold; had to be below freezing with the wind chill! You can see the boys in sweatshirts and pants!
