April 5, 2001
Memphis Shock at Zebra United F.C

Our game started off roughly 20 minutes late. Good thing is that it helped us out, since we would’ve started with only 10 players, AGAIN. But we had 2 show up at what should’ve been game time, another 10 minutes late, another who couldn’t find the field, and 2 others that didn’t come. Zebras got the early first chance of the game. A loose ball in the defense lead to a shot that Baxter made a diving save on to award the opposition a corner kick. That was basically the only real threat that the Zebras made in the first half. After many unsuccessful tries on goal, we finally broke through 15 minutes in the game. After a couple of passes, Micah, who made his triumphant return from tendenitis in his knee, sent the ball up for Dennis. He outran the stopper and one-timed the ball just outside of the sliding keepers feet for the first goal of the game. Memphis Shock 1-0.

With just over 10 minutes left in the half we got another goal. Chris was running back to cover a guy with the ball, he won it and passed it back to Tyler. He sent the ball up to the forwards. Dennis headed the ball to Bryant who took a couple of dribbles, and sent the ball to the top of the box for Micah. Micah missed the ball but was in the process of going to run the ball down. The defender pummeled him just inside the box for the penalty kick. Micah stepped up, and shot a hard ball left side to hit the back of the net for the goal. Shock 2-0. This play was a good indication of how we were playing. Crisp passes, and tough defense.

Halftime we were leading 2-0. Cam was crying out “Remember the Alamo”, excuse me, “Remember the Glory” in reference to our last game. So after some fun on the sidelines we came back out ready to play.

The second half was more of the same, us passing the ball very well and rushing their goal at every opportunity. Not much happened in the second half. We had a handful of shots that went either straight to the keeper, or 50 yards over the crossbar. We had a few lapses where we allowed the Zebras some chances near goal. Only 1 shot this half had the possibility on getting past Baxter, with the other ones harmlessly floating to him. Quote of the game, to his own teammate, “What are you doing? You can’t score on Baxter from there.” End of the game saw a victory for the good guys 2-nil.

I have to admit, the Zebras have greatly improved. Soon they will be able to take that next step as being one of the teams to beat. It took us a full year to get there, and I think the Zebras will do it. But tonight, we came out hot and showed it. Other than the few lapses, mainly in the second half, we were in control of this game. The stats will show just how much we were pressing them. Of their shots, only 2 were threats. Most of our shots either flew over the goal or were stopped by a much improved keeper who kept his hands on the ball and was in much better position than seasons passed. Our midfield and forwards were making crisp, precise, short passes. Our defense didn’t allow them all too much. When the Zebras did attack on goal, we were there to get in their way, or cut off the angle for a pass. When the opposition did get the ball, we had a body on them quickly. Overall, we played a very sound fundamental game, just our finishing left a whole lot to be desired.

We worked on finishing in practice this last week. If you shot the ball over the crossbar, you had to do 10 push-ups. Needless to say, near the end of practice, the balls weren’t going over the bar. This game, the 2 forwards who were at practice didn’t hit 1 single ball over the bar out of roughly 7 shots. That might not seem like that big of a deal, but if you work on that specific drill, then you will see the rewards you reap from it. So if we could have a good practice where we could work on that, as a team, we will not shoot nearly a third of the balls over the bar.

Good things to take away from this game: Our midfield was strong tonight, making many runs up the sides, spreading out the field, good defensive stops, and constant pressure on the oppositions goal. Bad things: Midfield getting caught up too far and not dropping back, suspect finishing. Hopefully we can improve on this for our next game.

Dennis Thompson