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An Important and Memorable District Cup Run
“The most important and memorable moments that will come from playing Select soccer will not come from wins and losses or individual achievements; they will be a result of accomplishments and activities achieved as a team and friends”
That quote come from our “expectations letter” provided to each family at the beginning of the season; and it provides a good perspective on the Cyclone’s District Cup run.
On Saturday, the Cyclone did not play their best game of the year by any stretch, we were a bit flat and we let the other team dictate play by out-hustling us to the ball much of the game. Our passing was not crisp, our individual defense was not as tough as usual and overall the energy just was not quite there; but despite all that, anyone watching the game knew that the Cyclone was just a few bad breaks and unlucky bounces away from a different result against Azzurri. Even when we are not at our best, we have opportunities to succeed; that’s one mark of a good team.
So, let’s put Saturday aside – I’m not sure a different result would have really meant a whole lot more to this team in the long run (but it would have felt a little better the past few days!) than a taller trophy – and think about the opening quote and what District Cup meant to the Cyclone
Through District Cup, we made some important strides as a team. In the opening weekend, the girls played exceptionally, many had their best weekend of soccer this year. They showed great growth and more importantly saw how good they could be as a team and individually.. This weekend, the results weren’t what we wanted, but the girls now understand the effort required to finish the job on a title run; it’s doubtful that in future finals we will be flat or off our game. The Cyclone players learned they can’t take any opportunity for granted, that the best effort is required every game -- an important lesson and a good one to learn in year one.
And, despite the temporary disappointment, they still accomplished much as a team. As a first year team, the Cyclone has had an unexpected run of success – from a great regular season to Hanford to Fright Night to District Cup, there has been steady improvement and lots of success. Not many first year teams, with nearly all first-year select players, have had the success the Cyclone has had; making it to a District Cup final this season was not an expectation we had as we started kicking the balls around last Spring.
So Cyclone, be proud of your District Cup run . . . and be very excited about the two big challenges still ahead for us, the Cassy Rowe tournament and Association Cup (where we will be one of only seven teams from our District stepping up to the challenge of this Northern California playoff).
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Cyclone Headed to District Cup Final
In the fog and cold, but home at Stonehouse Park for the first time all season, the Cyclone continued their terrific inaugural season by coming out on top of a closely contested District Cup bracket this weekend to advance to the Cup finals.
The weekend started with an opening 3-2 win against the East Sacramento Tigers. The Tigers, another first-year team and a friendly rival in multiple sports, struck first but the Cyclone answered with three in the first half – a corner kick goal by Kelly (how many great corners this weekend?), a finish by Shannon (assisted by Olivia) and blast from the left wing by Kelly. In the second half, the Cyclone held off a strong effort by the Tigers to hold on for the win.
In game two, the Cyclone had their third shot against Team Kryptonite – otherwise known as the Loomis Lady Falcons. The result, a 1-1 tie, made it three meetings in a row that the Cyclone was unable to beat the stingy defense of the Falcons. The Falcons scored early in the game to take the lead, but the Cyclone answered minutes later with a beautiful left-footed finish by Shannon off a perfectly placed feed by Kacee. For most of the next 50 minutes of the game, the Lady Falcons held off wave after wave of Cyclone attack to preserve the 1-1 tie. While the Cyclone can point at lot of missed opportunities to score, give the Lady Falcons lots of credit, they were tenacious and were playing hard at the end of what was a long day for them.
Coming into Sunday, all the teams had an opportunity play in the finals. When East Sac downed the Lady Falcons, it opened the door for the Cyclone to move on with a good effort against the Fair Oaks Falcons.
The Cyclone came out strong, putting pressure on the Falcon defense right from the start. Working the ball around the field, the Cyclone found space and a beautiful cross by Shannon (what a weekend for her!) was finished by Olivia for her first goal of the day. Goal two came from Kacee, who was relentless in controlling possession, on a 25 yard blast.
Up 2-0 going into the second half, the Cyclone got smart passing and TOUGHNESS from Jillian, Krista, Bre and Dani to keep the Falcons at bay, leading to a 2-1 final and a trip to the District Cup finals.
The defense, anchored again by Kenedi, Karly and Ashley G. and Ashley R. were solid once again and controlled several strong opposing offensive players. Sarah had yet another great weekend at goal.
Mackenize played with her old “red faced” toughness, Elisabeth once again played in several roles and worked hard on the field and Armani nearly had a game winning goal late against Loomis.
In looking at the weekend as a whole, it was clear several Cyclone players had their best weekend of the year and showed great growth as soccer players. The passing, ball movement and decision making was exceptional much of the weekend (especially Sunday), and the team kept focus in pressure situations on the field. The team played with a target on their backs all weekend – they were the team to beat and they stepped up to the challenge. It was yet another important step forward for girls and the coaches could not be happier with their progress . . hard to believe this is only year one.
But, let’s not stop growing. . . we still have big weekends of soccer left.
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Cyclone Wraps Great Regular Season with Big Win
The Cyclone wrapped the regular season with an impressive effort against the Eureka Envy, a 7-0 win that featured seven different goal scorers and Cyclone players experimenting in new positions throughout the day.
The game had all the markings of a previously typical Cyclone game – lots of shots, but few goals. In the first half, the Cyclone had 19 shots – but only one goal. The first half goal was knocked in by Shannon (who had several previous near misses from the wing) on an assist from Kenedi.
In the second half, the Cyclone put the misses behind them and zeroed in on the net– six goals on 15 shots. Goals by Daniele, Alyssa, Kelly, Krista, Bre and Mackenzie helped with assists by Armani and Alyssa opened the game up quickly to its 7-0 final.
During the second half, the Cyclone players mixed up positions and tried to focus on passing and moving the ball. Sarah came out of net for a good run on the wings and as a center mid. Jillian played forward for the first time all season, Ashley R played all positions, we forced Karly to try to take shots rather then defend them, Olivia had a long run at forward and few seconds as a defender, and Elisabeth saw the field from just about every angle possible. And in goal at the end, Alyssa who recorded her first three saves since third grade. On the sideline, Kacee supported her team wearing her day-glow cast (but, she’s back for District Cup!).
It was a fun end to a very successful inaugural season for the Cyclone. At 7-1-2, a 27-5 goal differential and tons of great experience gained by the players, the season could not have gone any better and has set us up for what should be a fun and successful post season.
Great job Cyclone!
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Cyclone Holds on for 6th League Win
It was dark and dreary, it rained a bit and the game wasn’t the best, but the Cyclone completed week nine of the regular season with a 2-1 win of the Eureka Soaring Eagles. The Cyclone struggled much of the game with possession and stringing together passes; and the difference in the game came down to defense and several individual performances.
Early in the first half, the Cyclone got its first shot on goal via a PK (hand ball in the box). Kelly stepped up and calm blasted the ball to the left corner of the net – 1-0 Cyclone.
Later in the half, Alyssa had a highlight-reel possession of dribbling, faking and beating the opposition and finished it off with a bending shot for goal #2.
In the second half, the Soaring Eagles dominated play. The Cyclone struggled to maintain possession and rarely worked the ball into the Eagles side of the field. While much of this had to do with the effort of the Eagles, the Cyclone seemed frustrated and reverted a bit to kicking without purpose, failing to communicate and not hustling to win loose balls. However, as has been the case, even while struggling to possess the ball, the Cyclone played good enough team defense to prevent the Eagles from getting many quality shots.
Their one goal came late in the game off a PK, setting the final score at 2-1.
Hard to believe there is just one game to go in the regular season. And despite games like this one that did not really show how well the Cyclone can play as a team, the season has been amazing. If we take what we learn from games like this one – and expect some tougher practices this week to make sure we did learn from this game – more success in the post season lays ahead.
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They still play soccer in the rain?
We’ve played in smoke, sweltering heat, Cyclone-force winds and at fields that smelled like dairy (or onions, or garlic, or whatever it was down there) and this weekend, we finally had a game in the rain.
It seems that they don’t let the kids play in wet conditions very much anymore (I guess all that grass doesn’t grow back?), but this weekend the games – ours anyway – were on.
While for much of the game the Cyclone played very good soccer – there were periods of the game of excellent ball movement and passing – our propensity for shooting over, around or off the goal showed up again. Of our 24 shots, only two found the back of the net – one a beautiful left footed shot from the 18 by Alysaa set up by Bre and another finish by Daniele set up nicely by Kenedi and Olivia. It felt like theses two first half scores would be enough to get by the Tigers, but they never gave up.
Late, late, late in the second half (perhaps at he 38th minute ?), the Tigers cleared a corner kick deep for a breakaway attempt. Sarah made a great play to come out to block the first attempt but a nice individual play to follow-up the deflection and score by the Tiger attacker tied the game at 2-2.
Like in all our games, there were more learning opportunities. The coach learned some things in this one about time management, and as a team, the take away is – again – working on “finishing the job.” We need to finish a sequence of great passing and execution with a goal not just a shot; loose balls can’t be left for the other team to beat us to; we finish a pass by moving to an open space, we finish a game by stepping up pressure on the other team, not getting lax.
All these lessons will be important as we get ready for the post season tournaments.
And, all that said . . . the most important thing was that the team had fun sliding around a bit in the rain.
Go Cyclone!
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A Frighteningly Good Tourney for the Cyclone
Last weekend we talked about taking “growth” from the game . . . this week, we took trophies from the games.
It might have been the “Gang Green” uniforms or the coaches' lucky wigs (and John’s great sunglasses), but whatever the reason, the Cyclone’s progression continued this weekend at the Randy Langan Fright Night Shootout Tournament in Orangevale, where the girls went 3-1 with three more shutout wins to capture third place.
Saturday’s games were a little unusual in that the Cyclone did not have the high number of shots the team usually does – this day was about efficiency and adversity. In the first game against Prospector 2xtreme, the Cyclone managed only four shots, but connected on two and the defense tallied shutout #1 of the tournament for a 2-0 win. Goals from Kacee and Daniele started the tourney right, and Sarah started another amazing tournament in goal with several key saves (for all the game stats, go to the “Game Results” tab of the website).
Saturday’s second game against the Sierra Storm was notable not so much for how we played, but how the Cyclone responded the next day (which we will get into later). Against the Storm, we allowed a few bad breaks to disrupt our play, affect our approach and diminish our hustle as we fell 0-4 – our second worst loss of the year. Leaving Saturday night, our chances to play a fourth game would depend directly on how the team responded to the adversity of a bad loss.
Sunday morning the Cyclone came to the field with a noticeable focus and intensity. The game against Roseville Hornets’ Revenge was not going to be about the final score, but how the girls bounced back. Well, we received results not just in attitude and focus, but also on the field. The game was as intense we have had all year with the teams battling up and down the field. We were once again limited on shots with only six, but got scores again from Kacee and Daniele, some more highlight-reel saves by Sarah and unbelievable defensive play by the entire team up and down the field, as we scored a 2-0 win to send the girls to the Consolation game vs. the Sunrise Tigers.
After strict instructions to avoid sodas and fast food (and a quick shopping trip for some of the team at Sunrise Mall), the Cyclone returned for the final game wanting to “finish the job” and not settle for fourth place. In a game similar to the one played earlier in the day, the Cyclone played with great intensity, challenging every play and for every loose ball. The Tigers were a nice match-up, with team speed, some excellent individual players and good focus and fundamental play. In the first half, both team shots were limited as defense and a lot of mid-field battles for possession dictated play. The Tigers missed on a PK about midway through the first half and the teams went to the break 0-0.
Halfway through the second half, the Cyclone got their chance. Armani was fouled playing a ball at the top of the penalty area, setting up a 20 yard direct kick for Kelly. A beautiful shot around the wall, over the goalie and into the top corner put the Cyclone up 1-0. The girls held off several Tiger attacks the final 10 minutes and celebrated their very first tournament trophy.
In these stories, the goal scorers and goalies get mentioned a lot; but soccer is the ultimate team sport, so we understand that all of the team contributes to every game. This weekend’s games were most memorable for the Sunday effort and the intensity and focus all the girls brought to the games. Each week has been a step, this week’s steps were advanced ones: playing though adversity, bouncing back from a bad game and learning to focus and “finish the job” in tournament play.
And finally, and most importantly, the girls had fun (and so did the coaches and parents). They played hard, played tough but played with smiles and joy.
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Physical Play Takes the Day
Growth . . . that’s what to take out of this weekend’s 0-0 tie vs. the Loomis Lady Falcons.
At this point in the season, the focus begins to shift on the post-season events, so rather than wins and losses in our league games (at 5-1-1, the Cyclone has proven itself in league), we are focused on “taking the next step.”
The game against the Lady Falcons, the Cyclone showed significant growth:
• The team, coaches and our sidelines handled the erroneous offside call that took away Elisabeth’s goal much differently than we would have several weeks ago. Missed calls happen in soccer and the team played right on through the bad break – no complaining and no pouting, just right back at them with another attack.
• Aggressiveness. We will be talking a bit about what is excessive aggressive play, but the team that battled this weekend was certainly not the team that was pushed around the first month of the season. Soccer is a physical sport and the Cyclone is learning how to play tough.
• Adjustments. The team has progressed to the point where we can now make and execute tactical adjustments in the course of the game. We started out playing most of our balls wide for crosses, but adjusted to more of an interior attack in the second half . Not long ago, most of our play was touch-to-touch, with little opportunity for tactical play; this is not the case anymore and a very big step for the team.
• Individual growth. Each week, we see players playing their best games of the season. After 60+ practices, 20 games, 9-10 scrimmages and hours working at home on their own, it’s great to see that the players are not slowing down in these “dog days” of the season, but are instead working hard to get even better. Good stuff.
Next step in the growth of the Cyclone is the tournament this weekend. We have a good opportunity to take all our growth and bring home some hardware. We’ve learned what it takes to win, now we need to go do it.
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Cyclone Force Winds Bring Lots of Goals
Apparently, the Cyclone thrives playing in cyclone-like gusts of wind. Putting aside (for good, hopefully) game after game of missed scoring opportunities, the Cyclone found the goal SEVEN times and notched its fourth shutout in the league season in beating the Lincoln Lightning 7-0.
Playing upwind the first half, Kenedi scored the first goal for the Cyclone (and probably should have been awarded another off a great feed by Dani). The defense – which means all the players up and down the field – was especially strong again; even with the wind in their faces, they limited Lincoln to three shots in the first half. Olivia and Bre (once we had the right shoes on ;-)) contained the strongest Lightning players in the middle and on the wing.
In the second half, the goal scoring log jam finally broke loose. Krista started the scoring with a 20 yard direct kick goal just over the goalie’s outstretched arms. Following that goal, scores followed by Elisabeth (2), Kenedi, Kacee and Mackenzie. Daniele totaled three great assists on the day. Strong shots by Kelly, Alyssa & Jillian were caught in the wind, flying high over the net (and almost on to Bond Road in some cases).
The defense, which got an especially strong effort by Ashley G, held the Lightning to one shot – saved by Ashley R -- in the second half.
The Cyclone also mixed up positions a bit in the second half, with Karly playing midfield, Sarah spending some time on the wing and Armani getting a long run at forward (all helped set-up some of the second half goals).
What really made the coaches happy was that before the game, the girls were asked to refocus a bit on their game – and they responded. This team has made great strides since the journey began in April; today’s Cyclone is not the team we saw in August or even the beginning of September. There is the potential for even more, and how well the players focus as we head toward the stretch run of the season will determine how much more improvement we will make.
Saturday was a great start to the rest of the season.
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A Wet Weekend of Wins
The Cyclone finally played in a little Fall weather this past weekend and learned that that they can be successful in rain, darkness and on slippery fields.
On Friday night in Auburn, the Cyclone beat the 49er United Rebels 3-0 in a light rain and a little mud. The scoring started with a direct kick goal by Kelly from about 25 yards out, the second came when Daniele knocked in a corner kick from Alyssa and the final goal of the night came from Kacce.
While the scoring gets notice, the real strength of the Cyclone – defense up and down the field – was showcased once again with the Rebels limited to six shots on goal. Sarah, Ashley and Bre all spent time in goal and combined to post yet another Cyclone shutout.
On Saturday, the Cyclone faced the Cal Rush Breakers with first place in the division at stake.
The offense started off strong (once we adjusted to the offside trap tactics), using long balls and runs to attack the Breakers. Despite numerous opportunities, the Cyclone held a 1-0 halftime lead on Kacee’s first goal of the day, a one v. one breakaway set-up by a nice through pass by Daniele.
Early in the second half, the Breakers mounted a bit of comeback pressuring our defense, but as has been the trend lately, the defense and keeper held strong keeping the Breakers out of the goal.
At about 25 minutes into the second half, Kacee connected on her second goal of the day to give the Cyclone a 2-0 lead. The Breakers scored very late in the second half to make it a 2-1 final. The Cyclone grabs first place!
The Breaker’s win was another great TEAM effort; with important plays made by all members of the Cyclone.
While the wins are good, the visible progress of the team is even more important. Over the weekend, we didn’t play our best soccer, but we did do the things we needed to be successful. Our next steps are to effectively finish our goal scoring opportunities, improve our first touches, continue to improve on our passing, shape and spacing, and to play the game at OUR speed and ability , not the other teams’.
So far, so good!
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Hanford Success! Cyclone Takes Third in Gold Division
The Cyclone headed south (how many different crops being harvested did you smell on the way down?) to Hanford for the Central Cal Fall Kickoff this past weekend for hot weather, a LOUD Mexican dinner and much success on the soccer field.
Picking up on their work at recent practices and scrimmages, the Cyclone played a new fast, physical brand of soccer, leading to an impressive 2-1-1 weekend and third place honors in the Gold Division (where we were the lone U13 team).
On Saturday, the Cyclone started strong with two, 2-0 shut outs over South Valley United and the Hanford Blackhawks.
The SV United game set the tone for the weekend – it didn’t take long to determine that the Cyclone would be facing the most physical matches of the season with lots of tackling (football at times), shoulder-to-shoulder play and no free ball earned without a fight. In weeks past, the Cyclone would have struggled a bit in this type of match, but they learned adjusted and became the aggressors. The frost goal of the match came of a great corner kick by Kelly, headed by Alyssa and finished by Shannon. The second came from Kacee as she worked the ball up the middle and finished with a left foot shot to the corner.
The defense – certainly a trade mark of the Cyclone – was outstanding as usual, allowing only four shots. At goalie, Sarah started a remarkable tournament in goal with several spectacular saves (overall for the weekend, she scored two shutouts and allowed only two goals on 27 shots against).
The Hanford game was a battle from start to finish. The Cyclone had only three shots, but made the most of them by scoring two – one beautiful left-footer by Dani (and she was rewarded with a stomped foot) and another by Kenedi who finished off a feed by Shannon right in front of the net. The efficient offense was compliment by an outstanding defensive effort. There were long periods of this game that were played in our end – and tough , determined play by defenders Ashley (both!), Karly, Kenedi, Caira and Bre helped to preserve the shutout. We also learned how to play an indirect kick by Caira – her heads-up steal of the Blackhawks “tap” was talked about by other teams in attendance.
Another highlight of this games was how well the team fought through injuries – at one point we had four girls out hurt.
Coming into Sunday, the Cyclone stood in second place with a showdown against first place South San Jose set for the morning. Another great game for the girls. SSJ is a very good team, skilled across the field and disciplined in their approach to the game. We held tough, with strong play this game on the outside against some big, fast wings by Jillian, Krista and Olivia.
We had a few good opportunities to score in the game (including blast of the post by Dani and some breaks by Shannon), but overall it was a solid defensive battle that we didn’t win, but still has success in (through learning and playing tough and fast).
In the final game of the tournament against California Odyssey, the Cyclone came in needing a win to guarantee second place and fell a little short in the Hanford heat. A 1-1 tie could have been a 2-1 or 3-1 win – a few just barely missed shots by Kacee and Alyssa, and a near direct kick goal by Kelly almost sent the girls home with medals. Still, positives out of this one too – some determined played by Mackenzie and Elisabeth up front and an “never give up” effort by the team overall were more building blocks for the rest of the season.
Our first tournament: one goal, no wins
Our second tournament: one win
Our third tournament: Third Place
See the good trend?
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Week Three Report: Goals!
In week three of the regular season, the Cyclone finally was able to cash in on all the beautiful crosses, passes and combinations that they have demonstrated this season.
The Cyclone found the net three times, with goals by Shannon (after a pass by Olivia and playing the ball with her noggin), Mackenzie, assisted unselfishly by Daniele, and Bre, assisted by Kacee. While the goals highlighted the offensive effort, overall play was at its best of the season, with the wings and defensive players initiating several attacks.
Once again, possession was dominated by the Cyclone. Much of the game was played in our offensive end, as we outshot the Envy 20-5.
Another stingy defensive effort by the defense and the keepers -- highlighted by Karly, Kenedi, Ashley and Bre's efforts to control the fast, physical Envy striker -- stifled the Envy attack and helped the Cyclone score its second shutout of the season.
The effort against the Envy and our previous tournament experience sets the team up well for its September 27-28 tournament in Hanford.
Great work girls!
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Week Two Report: Home field frustration
20 Cyclone shots . . . 3 opponent opportunities . . . a 0-1 loss!
Game two of the 2008 Cyclone season was highlighted by two trends: The Cyclone's stingy defense and our ability to create, but miss, a lot of shots.
The Cyclone was terrific in controlling the pace of the game, tackling and playing stifling defense. Once again, the opponent had limited opportunities – in two games, we have allowed only 8 shots.
On the offensive side of the ball, the ball movement was the best of the season for much of the game. Passing back, reversing the ball, accurate crossing and combinations were all part of the Cyclone arsenal week two.
But the game demonstrated again the value of every goal scoring opportunity; not only did we have a lot of shots, we had a number of point blank opportunities. Learning to finish will come, and when we can finish consistently, look out.
Hats off to the Loomis Lady Falcons for fending off our attacks and exhibiting a lot of composure and confidence in their play. They were a fun, talented, well-coached group to play.
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Week One Report: Defense, Defense, Defense
The Cyclone began their 2008 regular season with a win in the Marysville heat against Azzuri Xtreme.
The game was a defensive battle, with both teams limiting the other's shot opportunities.
Cyclone scored what turned out to be the game winner with about 8 minutes left in the first half. A nice pass from Daniele led to a breakway for Shannon down the right side. As she approached the box, she was fouled from behind, setting up 22 yard, top-shelf,direct kick goal by Kelly.
Throughout the game the defense repelled attacks by Azzuri and Sarah aggressively challenged loose balls in the box.
A good game and a great start aganst a very solid Azzurri squad.
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