High School Play

I was fortunate to watch Sunset vs Southridge last night and wanted to share some observations from that game.
A) They spread the field. Very rarely do you see two players occupying the same space unless they are involved in a double-team. When a player has the ball, her teammates create avenues for her to pass them the ball; i.e. they take off running in anticipation of a lead pass. They don't stand there and look at her, waiting for a pass, they create a situation where a pass to them will create an opportunity for advancement.
B) Speed of play. These girls play fast. When there is a throw in, BANG it's in! When there is a free kick, BANG, the ball is down and advancing. Every possession by the midfielder the forwards would turn to goal and streak in anticipation of a lead pass. They would cross, trying to create confusion on the defense. But mainly, they wouldn't stand around waiting. They ran to create opportunities.
C) Communication. These girls never stopped chattering for 80 minutes. The defense & keeper, the mids, the forwards. Always let each other know where they were and what they were doing. This gave the girl with the ball knowledge of every option available. When the defender had her back to the field, all the other defenders let her know where the pressure was. If a mid had the ball, the forwards took off and the defenders let her know who was open. It was pretty cool to listen too really.
D) Purpose. With very few exceptions, every pass, whether it got there or not, was intended for another player. Other than when there was action in front of the goal and it needed to be cleared, every possession had the purpose of starting a break to goal. If a defender had the ball, the left & right mids flared out and the center broke free. Once the mid had the ball the forwards would cross, check and run or whatever. They were trying to create a situation where the mid could feed them a pass as they broke to goal. Often I have watched our forwards stand there and wait for a pass from the mids.
D) Physical. These girls know how to use their bodies. I would have to say the best team we have faced that used their bodies for positioning was LOSC. They stepped in front of us and had position all day long. The best girls who do this that should be copied on our team are Jill Farely, KJ & Emmy. I don't know if that's something they teach at ODP but it is surely something ALL our girls need to adopt.

These were just a few helpful hints I wanted to pass on from the game last night. And, by the way, Sunset won 1-0. I wouldn't have added that but I'm an Alumni so, well, you know.

GO SODIUM!!