Playoffs: déjà vu: tapped out again

Different day, same team, same results, 2-1 loss to TapouT.

If I am recalling this correctly, same half-time score, down 2-0. There were of course many things that were not the same:
-with 10 min left, Geoff gave a beautiful ball to Robert down the left wing (Robert is left footed), and they pushed Robert down before he got a shot off, resulting in a 2 min penalty. We unfortunately did not convert this 2 min penalty and were still down 2-0 with 8 min left
-we shut them down almost completely the 2nd half, as they tried to protect a 2-0 and 2-1 lead
-Lael was in goal and he pushed up a lot during the final 10 min, taking a few shots from mid-field (the ½ line), helped create plenty of opportunities, in exchange for one huge give-me for the other team that they did not convert. Actually, after the game we were trying to count how many shots they had in the 2nd half … maybe 5 total shots/opportunities for them, compared to 20 or more for us (if you count passes off the wall that their goalie had to come out and block)

I had one very good opportunity with my back to their goalie and no defenders around, but I didn’t know their goalie was on my back until after the game when somebody told me, and I don’t think I even got a shot off. I had a couple of other good chances, and I am guessing just about every player had at least one good opportunity for a shot.

I’ll let our loan goal scorer or assister describe how we cut it to 2-1. I don’t remember how many minutes were left, but I do recall that at this point it felt like we were surely going to tie it and then win.

What I can describe is their 2nd goal, which I was on the field for. It was a dot kick for them, with the basic play of a feed to the right for a right footer shot. I was at first a 1-man wall, and they took this shot while we were trying to add a 2nd player to the wall. The shot was a right footer from their best player, to the upper right corner. It was a perfect shot, not likely blockable unless we block it with the wall or other defenders.

I don’t recall exactly why they got the dot kick, but I think it was one of the 2 or 3 times I tried clearing the ball from the defensive 1/3 and ended up passing to their team instead of clearing the ball. Not sure exactly that their dot kick was related to one of the times I did not clear the ball, but I know I cleared the ball at least twice with a kick on the ground instead of up and out, and down the middle instead of down the wall. So, I am noting this as an item I need to work on in the off season, clearing that ball up and out and to the wall instead of down the middle.

We seriously might get an “off season”, as I was told that the next game is probably March 19th (not the 12th). That’s a nice long break, with plenty of time to consider things we could do differently.

If I am invited back as manager for next session, one thing I’ll do differently is shorter game summaries. I get lots of advice from players during the game, which is good, but it is better for all if you’ll make comments to all (not just to me) over email after the game. Also, it would be great to hear about the goals from those who scored or made the assists.

Final sentence from me is that it was a fantastic session for this team in transition, adding a few new players, kicking butt up until these final 2 games against TapouT, and I look forward to us improving our offense output as we further gel next session.

David
Session 64 Workdaze Team Manager