By the time our 4:15 game rolled around, the sun had come out and the temperatures were in the high 60′s. A little bit of wind, but really a perfect day. U10 was matched up against FFC Parma, one of the best teams in the U10 A1.

The boys kicked off and got the ball down the field and it was game on. Parma is a very skilled, well organized team that maintains a strict shape throughout play. Our 305 boys on the other hand are more independent and take the game on a more free form attack. This created a game that was very wide open.

We held them off through the first ten minutes before giving up the first goal. The boys jumped right back in and we had a few chances. Throughout the first half we played well from end to end and the boys made Parma work for the other two goals. At half time we were down 0 to 3 and 305 had 7 shots in the first half and FFC Parma had 8.

In the second half, the boys started where they left off and continued to run at Parma. About midway through the second half, Trenten Leary made an excellent run to the endline and served up a beautiful cross that Riley got on the end of and headed it past their goalie. What a great team effort to put us back into the game 1 to 3.

We had several more chances in the second half and Parma scored one to make it 1 to 4. In the end the final score was 1 to 4 but for the second half we had played them even 1 to 1. 305 had 10 shots by 6 different players in the second half, so we really stepped up our attack. Holding Parma to just one goal in the second half shows our improvements by all players across all positions. Another hard day on the pitch with a great effort from our players.

Wow – what a gorgeous day to play soccer. We were back at field 12 at RSC playing POAFC from Saturday. We had two objectives going out for the first half – not allow any goals (we seem to give up easy goals early) and try to score 3.

It had been a long weekend for the boys and several players were just not dialed in for the game. Colby had come up from U10 to play goalie and he had a terrific first half securing our first objectivel with a shutout for the first half. At the other end,  our 8 shots were mostly off goal and did not really test their keeper.

I was really impressed how POAFC came out ready to play at their best and not get beat 8 to 2 again. They were pressuring every ball and beating us to most of the 50/50 balls. In the first half we had 8 shots to their 6 shots.

In the second half, things did not improve initially and they came out attacking us right away scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes of the half and putting us down 0 to 2. With about 15 minutes to go in the game, our boys starting picking things up and we put together a nice run of possession with a flurry of shots ending up with Brandon scoring on a  good finish from a rebound off their goalie.

As the half wore down, I was for sure we would get the 2nd goal to tie things up, but their goalie and defense remained determined and held us off for the 1 to 2 win. What a fantastic effort by POAFC to turn things around from Saturday.  We ended up having 12 shots in the 2nd half to their 8. Total for the game, 305 20 shots to their 14.

We had several outstanding performances with Colby in the first half, and our new boys Brandon, Tanner Mac and Levi putting in lots of minutes and getting into the swing of things. Tanner Mac contributed down the left and in the back with his very determined play. A nice compliment to Alex on the right who had things locked down for most of the game.

Some of our players are having a tough time shifting gears to a new season and meeting the new challenges: 8v8 not 6v6 on a field 25 yards longer and games 10 minutes longer. Our midfield is larger now so the middle mid has a LOT more ground to cover and our forwards can’t just run 15-20 yards farther now for a one on one. Our shots may be not as good since our legs are covering more ground to get to the goal. So we have to have more team play – more passes and better passes – let the ball do the work. As coach, we have lots to work on as we progress through the season to adapt to these new challenges.

Before the season started I mentioned that this is the fall season and we would be shooting to go 500 like we did last fall (4-4-0). With the big win on Saturday, we probably didn’t come out as ready to play as we could of. But it was truly a learning experience and we will be a better team having faced a team that came out to play and better themselves from the day before. Head’s up – lots of great games still to play this season.

It was a beautiful fall day for a noon kick off. Lee’s Summit has really nice fields even though getting to field 16 is a bit of a hike (or jump over the fence).  POAFC is the Panathinaikos Soccer School in KC. Panathinaikos is the famous Greek soccer club.

Once again we started slow but did get things going with a goal on a free kick from Tanner in the 6th minute. Two minutes later, Hunter put us up 2 to 0. POAFC then scored to make it 2 to 1. Hunter then scored in the 20th to put us up 3 to 1. This was followed by a goal by POAFC to make it 3 to 2 at half. In the first half we had 8 shots to their 6 shots.

In the second half, we picked it up a bit. Tanner put us up 4 to 2 with his second free kick goal of the day. Four minutes later, Hunter completed his hat trick with a great goal off a give and go.

Riley stepped up to the Penalty spot on the 18th minute and beat the goalie with a shot to the upper right corner. Two minutes later, Alex scored on a blazing shot from the right that beat the goalie near post. Tanner finished his hat trick to end the scoring at 8 to 2. In the second half we had 15 shots to their 5. So a much better second half.

It was a perfect day to play and everyone seemed to have fun and contributed to a good win. Now we just need to keep working on our first half performance.

U10  – Sunday, September 26
RSC Field 9B
Play FFC Parma
Game Time: 4:15pm
Warmup starts at 3:45pm
We are the home team WEAR RED/BLACK (Bring white for backup)

 Our Website Fields and Direction page for all Fields we play at: http://305spin.sedaliasoccer.com/category/fields-and-directions/

U11  – Sunday, September 26
RSC Field 12
Play POAFC
Game Time: 1:50pm
Warmup starts at 1:20
We are the home team WEAR RED/BLACK (Bring white for backup)

 Our Website Fields and Direction page for all Fields we play at: http://305spin.sedaliasoccer.com/category/fields-and-directions/

U11  – Saturday, September 25
Lee’s Summit Soccer Complex Field 16
Play POAFC
Game Time: 12:00pm
Warmup starts at 11:30am
We are the away team but WEAR RED/BLACK (Bring white for backup)

 Our Website Fields and Direction page for all Fields we play at: http://305spin.sedaliasoccer.com/category/fields-and-directions/

This is a big soccer complex – give yourselve plenty of time to park.
map of park – Field 16 is on the southeast side of the park. South Parking lot would be the closest. Field is south of field 7 we played on last year.
http://www.lssa.org/pdfs/field-map-legacy.pdf

For the third game of the tournament, the U10 boys were up against Topeka Prodigy Razors which were undefeated so far in the tournament. The sun had come out and things were warming up for the 12:30 match on 9A.

The boys came out raring to go and put together a good run of possession. Unfortunately, we gave up a couple of soft goals to pus us down 4 to 0 by the time the half was over. We maintained good possession but just couldn’t beat their last line of defense or their keeper. We did better in the second half, out shooting Razors and only giving up one goal. In the end it was a 5 to 0 defeat against a very good team, but the boys played very well. For only our second weekend of the season, we looked really good.

The final would be determined by the two teams with the most points. Since we were tied with LS Rush, we would go to tie-breakers – head to head (we tied), least amount of goals given up (tied), goal differential (LS had 1 better). So not playing that second half did end up making a difference, but not beating Rush head to head was really the difference. We had the chances to win that game and just couldn’t put it away.

Great weekend of soccer boys – can’t wait until we play Rush next weekend in league play.

U11 was back in action Sunday morning at 9:30 am to face the Group A first place team, Arsenal Gunners. The storms had moved out and it was a foggy, wet morning. Hopefully the boys would be off to a better start this morning than on Saturday. Unfortunately, it was another slow start and we found ourselves down 3 to 0 with Arsenal scoring 3 times on 4 shots. Poor marking and sluggish play forced us to change things around and take a stronger defensive posture while we tried to get back into the game.

Brandon opened up his scoring for 305 Spin when he finished a beautiful run of play and put us back into the game 3 to 1. The boys turned it up and we ended the half strong with 8 shots to Arsenal’s 6.

We came out strong in the second half and it seemed like it should only be a matter of time before we would bring the score level, but we just couldn’t beat their keeper or find the net. In the second half we had 9 shots from 7 different players to Arsenal’s 5 shots but the score remained 3 to 1. A tough loss with the boys playing with heart and determination to work their way back from the early deficit.

For only our second weekend of soccer for u11, I am really pleased with our progress during the tournament. While our slow starts in morning games is frustrating, the boys determination to get back into the game and take control was encouraging. My biggest smile of the weekend was seeing the shot chart for the third game and how we came together as a team with everyone contributing to trying to win the game – 9 shots from 7 different players. A most positive finish to a weekend where everyone worked hard as individuals and became a team.

Our 5:00 U11 game v Jefferson City Capitals was delayed by the weather until 6:00. We would only plays 15 minute halfs so that we would get the game in and the remaining games could also get in before dark. It was much cooler and the wind kept changing directions.

We needed to start better than we did in the morning game and we needed to score goals in the first half in case the weather chagned again. The boys kicked off and we went down and took a shot that was deflected out for a corner. Tanner sent in a perfect kick and Hunter arrived on the end of it sending the ball into the back of the net putting us up 1 to 0 in the first minute of play. Great start.

We dominated play for most of the half giving up only a couple of shots. Hunter scored in the 13th minute and again in the last minute of the half to put us up 3 to 0. We had 12 shots on the half to JC’s 1 shot.

In the second half, we continued to dominate the game with Capitals scoring to get back into the game 3 to 1. It was a good second half with the boys holding on to win 3 to 1. We ended the day second in our group with 11 points to BVSC 19.

In the second game of the tournament, U10 played KC Legends East Gunners at 3:40. At game time, the weather had started to chagne and it was looking stormy to the North. We knew we needed to get this game going and get goals quickly. The boys kicked off and took the ball down field and immediately started pressuring the goal. In the first half, we had 30 shots on goal to Legends 1. Riley scored 3, Trenten Leary also had a hat trick. Landon Naylor scored to make 7 goals for the half.

We tried to get the second half going as soon as possible and just as the Ref put his whistle to his mouth to start the half, the Lightning siren went off. So we didn’t get the second half started and the game was delayed due to lightning.

At 5:50pm, after nearly a 90 minute delay due to several storms in the area, it was decided to call the games that had been in progress and then try to get the remaining games in. Our game would stand as 7 to 0, so good news we would get a shut out, but we would also lose the opportunity to score more goals to help our goal differential for the tournament.

U10 ended the day 2nd in the standings with 16 points to Topeka Razor’s 18 points.