Xtreme Tops Team America, Improves to 2-1-0

Indoor Xtreme took on indoor rival Team America in a Thanksgiving Weekend thriller. Once again, Xtreme let their opponents jump out to an early lead, but playing from behind is becoming an Xtreme specialty.

The teams traded multiple goals during the first 25 minutes and went into half time tied at 5 goals a piece. Inconsistent was the best word to describe Xtreme in the first half.

But Xtreme made several mental adjustments during the break and came out determined to own the field. And own it they did. The offensive lines kept pressure on the TA keepers and the defensive lines offered great support at midfield to keep Xtreme on offense for most of the second half.

Multiple Xtreme players scored - and frankly it was too quick and frequent for this cub reporter to keep up. The final score was Xtreme 98 - 12, Team America 6.

Next weekend Xtreme will take on outdoor rivals from the 2007-08 season, LMVSA Patriots.

Indoor Xtreme 1-1 on the Season

After an season opening loss to Alexandria, Xtreme 98 rebounded with an unbelievably exciting come-from-behind win against the VYS Firehawks on Sunday.

After much of the team stayed up ALL NIGHT at the Red squad's end of season party and sleepover, fans were uneasy going into Sunday's game. Xtreme fell behind 2-0 in the opening minutes, but dug deep and by halftime, the game was tied. The Taxman scored on a penalty kick, a result of multiple handballs, the last one inside the box, and Meg scored a blistering goal from the right wing.

The teams took the field in the second half determined to break the tie - and VYS opened the scoring. But Xtreme wouldn't give up, and actually controlled the ball and pace of the game nicely. Xtreme communicated very well and the lines Coach Summer developed synched up beautifully, backing each other up and feeding each other to test the Firehawk keeper.

Consistent with Coach Summer's belief that everyone should get a taste of goalkeeping duties, Xtreme rotated through six keepers. This game saw Kendall, Emma, Madison, Myriam, Meg, and The Hammer in goal.

Caitlin tied the game again with a thunderous shot from twenty feet that had so much boot on it, even if the goalie had gotten her hands on it, was going to carry her into the net with it.

Once again VYS broke the tie going up 4-3, but it was all Xtreme from that point on.

Backed by a solid defense of Kendall and Space Ghost, the offensive line of Elizabeth, Sunshine, and Caitlin peppered the VYS keeper and defense with an uninterrupted 5 minutes of pressure. Xtreme took at least 15 shots during the span that were saved or went just wide or were deflected. VYS was unable to make defensive changes and finally the shell-shocked keeper was able to deflect a ball into the Xtreme half, and all players on both teams changed.

With The Hammer in goal and Madison and Meg on defense, Xtreme's offense kept the pressure on. Taxman, Reina, and Laura continued to test the keeper until Laura found the back of the net to tie the game with less than 3 minutes to play.

The Xtreme line continued to dominate the exhausted VYS squad that lost two players to injury during the match, and Meg and Reina repeatedly tested the keeper, until finally, with less than 12 seconds left in the game, Reina found the back of the net from point blank range to send Xtreme up 5-4.

It was a thrilling match, both teams played well, but apparently working on no sleep seemed to work for Xtreme. Next up, a surprise Thanksgiving weekend game against TA Freedom 98.

Xtreme Ends Regular Season with a Win

Xtreme 98 Red ended the regular season with a solid 1-0 win against Chantilly 98 Freedom. The girls played a great game - their game - and really controlled the tempo of the game. The possession game that Coach Lance has been working on with the girls, and that is going to be the future of the squad, came into focus, particularly with passes back to the keeper to facilitate field changes.

Also of note, the girls finally exceeded 100 quality passes during a game, notching a 47 pass first half and a 54 pass second half. As Lance has said to them over and over, "when you pass, you win," and that was well on display on Sunday.

A more detailed Coach's report is coming, but congratulations to the girls of Xtreme 98 Red and all the fans thank them for closing out the season in such a composed and dominant way.

From the Bench - Coach's Report 11/9/09

Congratulations to all the players at Sundays Game against Loudon. This was another solid effort by this group of players. Here are some of the things that I saw from the bench:

(1) Annandale '98 Red girls played a composed game throughout the full 60 minutes (in an unnecesarily physical game). I think this showed a growth in self-confidence and level of maturity that was not present at the start of the Fall season.

(2) One of the skills that migrated from practice to this game was movement off the ball. There were some wonderful passing sequences that involved 3-4 players and required anticipating where to be for the next pass. (Not enough to score girls, but Rome was not built in a day either).

The first-touch was pretty good, and the use of the bottom-of-the-foot to control the ball on a bumpy surface and buy time by looking up (when one can feel the ball underfoot) was used more frequently than in past games.

(3) There was also a lot more anticipation of where the flow of the game was headed when the other team had possession. This is not a skill that we have practiced and shows how the girls have developed the confidence to adapt and learn on their own. In a recent game, they organized a wall to defend a free kick outside the penalty box. This was all on their own too.

(4) As always, tackling was solid. First-to-the-ball was consistently better in this game. The girls marked-up on their own initiative too.

In the 2nd half, the players tried poking the ball away from a player from the side, instead of facing up and trying to stop the (steamroller-type) player and the ball. Several girls tried it with good effect in the 2nd half. The girls also got to experiment with defending against elbows and pushing. (Unfortunately, this is a skill they will have to learn as they keep playing).

As always parents, thanks for your support over all the ups-and-downs of the season. The positive experience the girls have had is directly a result of your encouragement, support and trust.

Questions, comments and suggestions, plz e-mail or call or visit before/after.

Lance