Mullen vs. Eaglecrest (Women's soccer)

 Mullen vs. Eaglecrest (Thunderidge Middle School/Eaglecrest High School)

JV@ 4pm - Thunde Ridge Middle School (5250 S Picadilly St, Aurora, CO 80015)

V@ 5:30pm - Eaglecrest High School (5100 S Picadilly St, Aurora, CO 80015)

**We are away - wear white all the way down!

**The varsity game is at a slightly unusual time - make sure to snack and eat good calories prior to the game.

Match Report Preface: 

Eaglecrest has had a wonderful season thus far. They are a super strong defensive team that seems to lack a definitive attacking presence. They are young though and that will change. My hope is that we are playing them at a good time. They have been blown out twice this year, once by eight goals, and last Thursday by six. They responded defensively to the first blowout and had a little success, but they sacrificed their attack to do so. I believe that the second routing came as a result of trying to open the game up against the ABK's ;) and they paid the price for it. The problem for them is they need some more wins so they are going to have to chase them. If we are patient and play our game, we should have an opportunity to capitalize on their struggling identity.

EHS Strengths:

Defense: EHS has proven to be a well organized/disciplined defense team. They have some impressive score lines and have shut out or kept a number of opponents to only one goal. The keys to their defense are twofold: one, number 20 is one of the best players in the league. She is cool on the ball, technical, and she can clear it out. Secondly, they recover relatively well. Midfielders get wide and drop to create a nice block. Until the AHS game last Thursday night, they had demonstrated a commitment to recovery, and against Grandview, they defended with 11 girls behind the ball most of the game. Their coach has no problem playing for low scores/ties. She smart like that.

Set pieces: Number 20 can send in a lethal set piece. We saw her hit the bar against trail. She has both accuracy and distance. We need to be cool in the final third (no unnecessary fouls) and goalie needs to stay super focused on high balls coming in.

Speed up top: EHS is a relatively fast team, but the girls who plays in the center of their attack is down right quick. She has okay ball control, but she has proven that she can get behind the D and put the ball in the back of the net. We need to contain her with depth in the back field.

A shifty 6: Finally, the girls who plays in the middle of the park for EHS is deceptively good! She is shift and manipulates the ball well. If you dive in on her, she'll cut you up. Remember, hand length, don't let her turn, force her to play the way she is facing.

*She is also a decent defender and will get behind the ball. However, she is prone to getting frustrated when they don't have options.

They want to do the right thing: Lastly, EHS has some girls who can play. They are relatively technical, and they want to move the ball around. It is good. We have to keep our shape and not allow their passing to pull us out. Don't chase. Don't do someone else's job... tell them to do their job.

EHS weaknesses: 

Goalie: Their keeper is young, and although she is athletic, she is spotty. Everything spills. We need to shoot and CRASH, CRASH, CRASH. Against AHS, it was clear that she got down on herself and this really exposed them. If we can get in early, she is gonna struggle. (As opposed to Grandview who played everything right at her, she grew in confidence, and then ended up making some really good saves) Don't make it easy on her. Don't let her heat up.

*Additionally, their backup is a sophomore as well so they don't have depth in the goal.

Defense gets tight: Though they are well organized, the one flaw I can see in their system is that the outside backs track their girls tight into the middle. If we play a little tighter in our top four, it should leave big lanes on the flanks for our outside backs to get elevated or for a 6 or 10 to make a wide run. If the attacker doesn't track back, we'll be wide open, but 1v1 at the most.

EHS can get drawn out: They are best when they are blocking, but AHS really managed to draw them out, their line got high and flat, and then they were super exposed. If we are patient and move the ball to feet, we can draw them out and move in behind them like we did against trail. See below:

As you can see in the clip, our 7 receives the ball with her back to goal, finds the contact and holds off her mark. She turns her and finds our 9 who has drifted wide (which is great). At that point, our 11 moves inside and makes a brilliant run into the backfield. She receives the ball with THE OUTSIDE OF HER FOOT :) and then megs the goalie. 

The key here is that we don't force anything and we move the ball patiently! 

Goal kicks: This season it seems like EHS can't come up with an answer for their goal kicks. We have to be well positioned, win the first or second ball, and when they go short we have to press hard. 9's gotta do some work tonight, but you'll create turnovers and goals. 

Mullen Keys to success:

1. Protect the ball and play to feet. We need to play on the front foot and be smart with the ball and our attack. 

2. Outside backs need to get involved in the attack and our 6 needs to stay in cover (like a 3rd CB).

***It is really important in tonight's game that we keep the field tight. Like we talked about after the creek game, we can't afford a big gap between our defense and midfield. EHS' fast players will exploit that gap! As we attack, we need to move up with the attack to quickly prevent any counter that might develop. 

3. We can't get flat in the back. In order to contain EHS speed, we need depth in our backfield. Constant pressure/cover/balance.

4. No mistakes, no shots on goal = shutout.

Let's keep it going!

Good luck :)