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1-0 win wraps Cyclone's regular season
The Cyclone finished their 10 game Metro league season with a win a 1-0 over the Roseville Spirit that clinched the B Division title, and more importantly, gave the team a boost of confidence heading into post-season play.
As with all games against the Spirit, it was another tight game, with the teams taking turns controlling the flow of the game. For the Cyclone, the effort was their best in weeks, with good ball movement, smart movement off the ball, and a noticeable increase in their desire to play tough and challenge the other team on every possession.
After a 0-0 first half that featured good defense on both sides and some very good goalkeeping by Sarah, the Cyclone scored the loan goal of the game off a terrific corner by Krista that was headed by Kenedi and finished by Kelly. For the last half of the second half, the Cyclone defense tightened-up -- from our forwards to our goalie -- to keep the Spirit our out of the net.
It was an important win heading into the Thanksgiving a break -- the Cyclone can enjoy their week off and turkey confident in knowing that when the "want" it, they are capable of playing with any team. That's important as the Cyclone face three very good teams in District Cup and their Association Cup also features several very strong teams.
Last season, the Cyclone started as the lowest ranked U14 Metro team in District 6 -- #77. A year later, they are tops in the B Division and in the top 8, earning the opportunity to play in the Cup Division. Quite a year girls!
Let's not stop now.
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Uh-oh, the late-season wall
Last year about this time, the Cyclone was wrapping up their first season and looking a little tired. The team bounced back, to have a very strong District Cup and Association Cup.
We’re looking for a repeat performance this season.
The Cyclone last, and hopefully last, bump in the road cam last weekend against the Eureka Sprit. A 4-1 loss (it was 1-0 at half) that featured the Spirit taking control in the second half and scoring on half of their opportunities (two on nice corners). It marked the first time ever that the Cyclone had lost a game after scoring first.
With one regular season match-up to go and then the post season, look for the Cyclone to rest a bit and come back, healthy and hungry.
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Can we blame it on gopher holes?
No, we can’t!
The Cyclone’s Saturday morning was not a good one as they suffered their worst half of the year, giving up three goals and never recovering as they fell to Land Park Velocity 3-0.
After a great first four minutes, the rest of the first half dominated by the Velocity as they consistently won 50/50 balls, air balls and were just flat out more aggressive than the Cyclone. Aggressors get the calls (even offside calls), a lesson we need to learn.
In the second half, the Cyclone bounced back with a better effort, but was unable to generate many quality shots (or hit that gopher hole dirt in just the right angle to get a good bounce!) and the game ended 3-0.
The Cyclone now has only two games left to get the wins they need to secure the B Division and build momentum heading into what will be a tough District Cup.
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Cyclone's scarry Halloween Day tie
One thing about our games this year, most of them have been interesting and close.
Last weekend in Cameron Park against the Prospector Strikers the Cyclone started unusually slow, being dominated for the first 6-8 minutes of the game before turning it around and beginning to control much of the game. While both teams had good shots go off the top bar, the goals that ended up counting were balls that squeezed through the goalies hands and across the goal line (apparently ;-)).
The Striker goal came early in the first half as a ball that bounced around the box too long was poked past Sarah and stopped on or just past the goal line – 1-0 Strikers.
The Cyclone picked up the energy the rest of the half, dominating possession and scoring the equalizer on a ball Kacee played though the goalie and finished by Brittney in a great “three steps” effort that found her knocked into the back of the net (along with the ball).
A few more missed opportunities by the Cyclone and good keeping by the Strikers kept the score 1-1 at the final whistle.
While clearly not the Cyclone’s best effort, the team did do many things well and bounced back from a 1-0 deficit and some adversity to end strong.
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Cyclone Downs Davis 3-2
The Cyclone avenged their Metro Season opening loss to Davis, by beating the Legacy 3-2 on a beautiful (and a little humid) fall Saturday.
Smart soccer, good passing and excellent communication helped the Cyclone open up a 2-0 lead by half time. The first goal was scored four minutes into the game as the team strung a number of passes together, leading to a feed from Kenedi to Kacee at the top of the box. As the goalie attacked the play, Kacee won the one-on-one battle and the ball rolled into the corner for goal #1. The second goal was another team effort, aggressive defense (winning those 50/50 balls), led to a quick transition through good passing and a feed to Kacee for another “effort” goal as she beat two defenders for the shot.
By mid-second-half Kacee’s third goal was in the net and the Cyclone was up 3-0. While the finishing touch on all the Cyclone goals Saturday were made by Kacee, all those scores were the result of a team effort. Communication, good defense or an aggressive play to win a 50/50 ball leads to good passing, movement without the ball, an assist and then the goal. It’s always a total team effort – everyone contributes offensively and defensively (and right now the team is doing that as well as they have all season)!
Late in the second half, Davis continued to work hard and scored two to cut the lead to 3-2. The Cyclone controlled the final five minutes of the game to secure the win.
Next weekend, it’s back to tournament play in Redding.
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Two weeks, Two wins at Maidu
The number of the week for the Cyclone was 2. The Cyclone made two straight trips to Maidu Park, played teams named “Spirit” twice in a row, won 2-1 games twice in a row and moved into second place in the B division in the process.
And we tried two different systems of play this week, too! Someone play the lottery.
This week’s match-up against the Roseville Sprit closed out the first half of Metro League play. The Spirit are a very talented and well-coached group that should be headed towards a U13 Association Cup Final this January; and they played very well against the Cyclone this week.
As usual, good defense was a hallmark of the Cyclone effort. Several good opportunities by the Sprit were held off by Michaela, Jillian, Brittney and Karly. The only Spirit goal came off a corner kick that bounced around the box before being knocked in; the best other scoring opportunity for the Spirit, a breakaway in the first half, was saved spectacularly by Sarah.
The first Cyclone goal came off a corner bent in by Kelly in the first half (she nearly had a second that was prevented by a great punching save by the Spirit goalie) and the winner came in the second half after Kacee earned a PK with a nice run at goal that ended with her on the ground. Kelly followed her own deflected PK and knocked into the goal.
The Sprit went on a strong attack falling behind, but again, the Cyclone defense worked hard to not allow the equalizer.
While the result was good, what was most important was how the Cyclone once again stepped up to new challenges. Already short players; Shannon was injured halfway through the first half and on top of all of that, the coaches asked the team to play an entirely new system of play for the entire second half (after only about 30 minutes of practice time trying it out).
And they responded, playing simpler soccer, working to win balls, communicating (VERY well) and creating space and passing options. Another good Cyclone effort and step in their improvement!
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Cyclone back on track with 2-1 win
After a tough trip (but remember the great weather) north, the Cyclone returned to Metro League play looking to get their game back on track against the Eureka Spirit on October 3.
And they did.
In a good, close game, the Cyclone fell behind 1-0 early in the second half to storm back with two goals for a 2-1 win. Following the Sprit goal, the Cyclone noticeably picked up their game – moving the ball well and winning possessions as they quickly tied the game 1-1 on a nice goal by Kelly from just outside the box off a feed from Liz.
The second goal came on a PK by Kenedi after a handball in the box – giving the Cyclone a 2-1 margin that held. Kenedi was cool under the pressure of the big kick – her first PK opportunity.
The team once again played solid defense and it should be pointed out that Brittney did a very nice job in her first extended play as defender – we’ve added another defensive stopper to our lineup. Also, Kacee bounced back from her injury last week to play one of her best games of the year.
As all the B division opponents have been, the Sprit played hard and both teams had another good, tough game.
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Weekend Split
The Cyclone split the weekend league doubleheader, beating the Prospector Strikers 3-2 on Sept.19 and falling to the 49er Kickin’ Chickens 0-1 on Sunday, Sept. 20.
The Cyclone bounced back from a poor opening week showing to have a good weekend of play. Better passing and solid, tough defense –especially against the Kickin’ Chickens (who scored their goal with just minutes to play) highlighted the Cyclone effort.
Having earned their way from Division “L” to Division “B” in one season, each week the Cyclone gets to play in tough games where each opportunity can be the winning opportunity and a single mistake can mean the difference in a game. This experience will make the team and each player better; and how much fun is it to play in tight, exciting games like the one against the Chickens?
Coming up, the Cyclone heads north to try to take the Wesco Apple Classic title in Sebastopol.
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Cyclone Opens Season With Loss In Davis
Just like the weather this weekend, the Cyclone was hot for a while and then a few minutes later, cold in it's season opener in Davis.
In the first half, the Cyclone was hot, with great ball movement, passing, defense and communications as they produced eight shots while holding their opponents to just three. In the second half, the Cyclone showed their cold side, as ball movement slowed, positioning failed and Davis Legacy took over as the aggressor and score two goals in the last fifteen minutes for the win.
This type of game -- where the opponents will work hard for 70 minutes and take advantage of opportunities -- is what the Cyclone earned by playing their way into the 'B' bracket this season. From these tougher games, the Cyclone will be challenged and improve as a team and individually.
With the opener's lessons behind them, the Cyclone looks forward to a double header weekend with games against the Prospector Strikers and 49er Kickin Chickens. They'll be ready.
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