Yellow 10 - SLAP 5

There was 24 minutes of game time for Yellow on Saturday and the guys played hard for about 20 of them. During those 20 minutes, we protected the ball well on offense, made good hole passes and created opportunities through driving. I saw some flashes of offensive brilliance from Dan Pike, Michael Hagerty and Thomas Morgan. Defensively, Jack Buelter, Joe Kabance and Nate Burgraff did a great job preventing the SLAP 2M's from getting off shots of any velocity. Goalies Jake Chisholm and Sean Sullivan did a great job saving the shots within their range, in addition to very good counter-attack passing.

4 of SLAP's 5 goals came during the first 4 minutes of the second half. Yellow stopped moving offensively, forced hole passes into a crash and gave up a counter-attack goal on nearly every SLAP possession. To me, these issues are solved by better communication, anticipation and awareness.

• Communication: I was the only one talking out there, and I was in street clothes. 2M's need to instruct their perimeter players on how to best get them the ball. They need to speak early and often. 2MD's need to constantly remind their perimeter defenders to play passing lanes. Goalies need to direct traffic on counterattack defense, so we don't end up with two guys defending the same person while an open man is cross-cage.
• Anticipation: if you aren't in the play, go the other way. If there is a dangerous pass into 2M, don't watch the ball get stolen, go play defense.
• Awareness: do not just guard the guy who guarded you. Pick your head out of the water and look to see if you need to help. Don't assume your teammates see the same thing you do.

It was a fairly well-played game but for those 4 minutes in the 3rd quarter. This group is still learning to play together, but the flashes of brilliance are encouraging. Player of the game was Dan Pike who scored 3 or 4 goals, all from creating great position at 2M and making one big strong move. Practice starts back up in 2010. Happy Holidays!

-Coach Tom