Since it is mid-July and therefore the youth soccer management machine is only starting to gear up for the fall season, we can take a moment to try something new: a match review for the Washington Spirit, our hometown professional women's soccer team!
Given that I am not a sports writer and don't have any notes other than my memory, this is a review full of random thoughts, not a full recap. You can read the Spirit's recap here.
First, whether from the beer garden, the hill, the home or away side, I always come away impressed with just how fantastic a place the Soccerplex is to see a game. Last night, with a nice breeze and moderate humidity, was very pleasant indeed. I remarked to my lovely wife on the way home that, despite the scoreline, it is such a nice inexpensive way to spend an evening. If you live anywhere with 20 miles of the Soccerplex on a night when the Spirit are playing and no other commitments, it is well worth the cost of admission to spend the evening cheering on the local team.
Since we started the game with a beer and some BBQ in the beer garden, we were right behind the goal when Ashlyn Harris saved an early penalty kick with a nice dive to her left. Watching and listening to Ms. Harris and the other visiting goalkeepers is a must for fans and for budding youth goalkeepers.
Ali Kreiger is the star and rightly so. She is great at what she does. While it is interesting to see her move up to the midfield to provide some offense (and Kika Toulouse did fine in the right back position), that probably shouldn't be the long term plan. It was similarly fun to watch Sonia Bompastor move upto the midfield with the old Freedom but this is more an indication of how much better each is than everyone else on the field. The trick will be finding quality players to add to those positions rather having to move talented players away from their natural positions.
Newcomer Conny Pohlers still seems to be trying to figure how to play with this team and, despite some nice displays of skill, can appear unengaged and disinterested at times. She got a few nice strikes on the ball and one (earned) yellow card late in the game in a slide tackle of pent up frustration. I did laugh at the loud protestations of a Spirit fan since it clearly was the right call by the ref.
Lupita Worbis also played like she was trying to fit in. I actually remarked during the game that I thought she was really young and was playing tentative. However, based on the date of birth on the roster page, she is a little older than Diana Matheson...who has probably never played a tentative game in her life. I hope to see more of her skill and energy in future games.
Fellow newcomer Lindsay Taylor was a nice surprise. Although I was a fan of Domenica Hodak, the player released to make room for Ms. Taylor, I thought Ms. Taylor added some nice energy as a substitute late in the game. She tracked back when needed and made some nice touches.
Ms. Matheson is always fun to watch but didn't seem to have as much of an impact this game as she can. Long time Washington stalwart Lori Lindsey likewise seemed to have trouble getting the passes to go where she wanted them too. The vision was there but the passes just a little too heavy most of the night.
I liked the way Tori Huster moved up the left side aggressively, even putting a shot on frame from distance late in the match. Tiffany McCarty adds a spark up top. At some point, someone will score. Not sure when but hopefully this season!
Ms. Harris made at least two nice saves in the second half. The two goals against were nice bits of skill. The first resulted when a Huster run left the center back one on one with Leon. The center back didn't cut off the angle early enough so that by the time Leon started to make her moves, she was well inside the box and her left footed shot went over Harris to the back corner. The second goal seemed to find an unmarked Masar who volleyed it home. Man-marking in the middle looked to be problem throughout.
The Spirit pressed late and had some chances but couldn't get on the score sheet.
Attendance was just under 3,000 - not bad for a weeknight game. I imagine the next few weekend games will be over that with the August 10 game vs Seattle FC being well over 5,000 (Hope Solo & Co!)
It is fun to watch the team adapt and to get to know the players that we didn't before. Keeping in mind that, at any given time, there are probably 10-12 national team players (US/CAN/MEX) on the pitch in any given game, it is a quality display of soccer.
Tune in next week when we return the focus to Youth Soccer and the perils of Youth Soccer management!
