RLC vs Danville

Since year one RLC and Danville matches have been very good matches. Coach David and I are two of the newest coaches in the Region and our programs are fairly new as well. So that combination has made for some very close matches over the past two years. I was expecting the same this year, but Coach David did a very good of recruiting this year and he has put together a pretty good team.

We made the trip today thinking that we might be playing in the rain since it was cloudy and threatening rain in the Mt Vernon area when we left. But when we got to Danville we were greeted with sunny skies and 80 degree weather. It was a beautiful day for soccer. We started on a right note. Within the first two minutes of the game we take the ball down the left side and get a shot on goal. The Keeper made a good stop and it looked like we were going to have a good shot at putting some pressure on their defense. They scored 15 minutes later on a free kick, one of our weaknesses this year, and we didn't allow another goal for the rest of the half. We had a couple of good opportunities to score but the ball wouldn't roll for us.

In the second half, we broke down mentally due to some questionable calls that resulted in two goals. When we went down 3-0 you could see the frustration on our faces. Our goal came on a nice shot from Rocky, about 22 yards out on the left side of the box. He drove it through the Keeper's hands. He almost scored again on a 35 yard set piece right in the middle of the field. He banged it off the top iron.

We had some good things happen in the game. We possessed the ball well, and we had some decent runs in the game. Since we aren't a very tall team, we worked on playing the ball on the ground to feet or to space behind the defense and that part of the game showed up today. Our young team is still adjusting to the 4-3-3, especially the front three. But they're making progress with every game, and hopefully by the time tournament time comes around we'll have it down and be ready to have a good showing.

Danville is a good team. They have already surprised some of top teams in our Region and they are going to give the rest of them fits, and possibly win more than they lose. We've played three very good teams already and have played with them for the most part. The final score today was 6-1, with the last three goals coming afer I subbed my starters.

The rest of the season is going to be a challenge. I hope the boys recover and get mentally tough for the next few games. A win or two for us can make a big difference in the season.