Sometimes the soccer gods smile on you, sometimes they don't...

A lot has transpired since my last entry, so let me get right to it.

On 10/5/13 the Crushers had their third round game in the State Cup tournament vs. a tough and talented Burlington team. They had played earlier this season and Burlington managed to hand the girls their only league loss so far in a hard fought 1-0 match. This time around, it was a pitched battle from the first whistle to the last. Both teams would bend but not break over the course of the match and in the end it was another 1-0 loss for the Crushers. That result ended their quest for the State Cup. As the title of this week’s blog entry says, “Sometimes the soccer gods smile on you, sometimes they don’t.” The team played brilliantly against a tough opponent and came up on the wrong side of the result. It happens…soccer is funny like that. The team was heartbroken, but can hold their heads high that once again they gave Burlington everything they could handle and more. In the end they were just one good bounce away from a victory. Unfortunately, the soccer gods chose to smile on Burlington that day…I smell a rivalry brewing. The question posed to the team once again was how they would respond…the answer was a bit unclear.

This past weekend the Crushers went into the Rocky Hill Columbus Day Tournament with a bit of post-Cup loss “hangover”. They had 4 games in 2 days starting with a 7:30 AM game vs. Cromwell. I need to go on the record here stating that the girls have not historically been at their best with early AM games. Suffice to say the Cromwell game was no exception. The team “sleep-walked” their way through a 3-1 loss vs. Cromwell. As coaches, Dreyfuss and I need to accept responsibility for having the team ready to compete regardless of circumstance….that said, no matter what we tried, we just couldn’t shake of the doldrums and the “flat” performance cost the team a win. Surely this was an anomaly and the game later that morning would be better – or so we thought. Yeah, not so much. The Crushers lumbered to a 0-0 draw with Greenwich that was arguably a worse performance than the first game. Woody Allen once said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up.” Whatever the other 20% is, the girls couldn’t find it and neither could we. The recurring theme is focus and consistency. Maximal effort every time you take the field. It is one of the hardest things to accomplish and Saturday was living proof of it.

Sunday was a new day and 2 new opponents were on the docket. First up was Guilford, a well balanced, physical side. There was a (seemingly) new team on the field battling back and forth with Guilford. They were wide awake and playing to win. Frustratingly, the Crushers were unable to convert on the sparse opportunities that Guilford afforded them and Guilford scored on the one defensive lapse the girls had pretty much all game. Despite the 1-0 loss to Guilford it was clear the Crushers ship was righting itself. Newington was the victim of the girls finally starting to hit their stride. In a strong game from both teams, the Crushers edged Newington 1-0 in a much stronger overall performance. Focus and effort made all the difference. The girls’ performance was dramatically better, not great, but far better.

Success in anything, soccer included, is not a given. It takes hard work and effort every day to make it happen…maybe showing up is the first 80% of success but I believe intense focus and consistency make up the other 20%. As the girls prepare for the last few weeks of the Fall season and their final tournament in Colchester November 2nd and 3rd they would do well to remember these words:

“A winner is that person who gets up one more time than she is knocked down.” ― Mia Hamm