09/22/2025
Reflection Post
What a weekend! My second favorite part was that we lost our first game of the season.
The best part, though, was in our last game, where all three goals came from players scoring their first-ever club goals. That’s a special moment for them, and for us as a team.
Way to go Lucia, Elena, and Oakley!!!
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The Loss
In terms of results, we’ve been running through our division. Winning has its benefits — it builds confidence, momentum, and unity. But winning doesn’t always make you better. In fact, we were starting to plateau.
That’s why I’ve been scheduling friendlies against teams that are supposed to be stronger than us. On Sunday, we played an LSC Gray team that was better. The scoreline said 5-0, but that doesn’t fully reflect the difference.
The first issue was my formation. It wasn’t suitable for the size of the field or the skill set of our players in that space. On a large turf field, I should have lined us up with three across the back and four across the middle — a setup that would’ve suited our strengths. I switched to that in the second half, and while we still had some lackluster effort from our midfield, it evened things up a lot.
Their goals came from distance — both outside the 18, both bangers, one nearly upper-V. That’s not about being outplayed, that’s about us not stepping to the ball and instead watching to see what would happen. That’s a mindset issue more than a fitness one, and it falls on me as coach. The good news is: it can be coached.
Before the match, I told the girls they’d get tired if all they did was try to go forward all game. We needed to let the ball do the work. They’ve grown tremendously as players, but old habits from recreational soccer creep in — kick it to the best player and watch what happens. That’s why I’m not a huge fan of middle school or even some high school soccer: it encourages that style, which stunts development. At the competitive level, it’s about problem-solving, patience, and playing as a unit.
That’s why I’m grateful we played LSC. We lost 5-0, but what we really lost in was our use of space, our patience on the ball, and our team defense. None of this has really been coached yet — we only just started practicing attacking movements this past Thursday — so the experience was invaluable.
Had we played that same team on a smaller field, our athleticism might have closed the gap. But it would’ve hidden what we needed to learn.
We needed to see the importance of ball control. Of accurate passing and moving off the ball. Of anticipation, winning the 50/50s, and knowing what to do before the ball arrives. And I needed to see that this team is capable of trying a new formation — and learning from a loss.
We saw all of that.
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The Response
And here’s the best part.
In our loss, we weren’t the more physical or aggressive team. But in our second game of the day — which we won 3-0 — you would’ve thought our girls were bullies. Not in a dirty way, not in a mean way. But in a way that said: we learned something today.
They applied what they had just experienced. They stepped harder, won the ball, and supported each other all over the field. It even raised a few eyebrows from the opposing parents.
But for me, it showed what this group is capable of. They took the lesson from earlier in the day, and they immediately translated it into their play. That’s growth. That’s development. That’s the kind of weekend you want as a coach.
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The Takeaway
Ball control remains paramount. But equally important is anticipation — seeing the game before it happens. And when we anticipate well, we must reward that effort with accurate, timely passes.
More than anything, though, this group of girls loves each other and plays for each other. No outcome, win or loss, can outshine that.
