Last weekend the Crushers had 2 games. One, a friendly vs. Avon U14s and the other a league game vs. Farmington Valley. It was going to be a test in any case.
In Avon the girls played a bigger, talented Avon team to a 1-1 draw. Some players were asked to play extended minutes and/or out of position during the game and each of them responded with a tough, confident performance. The effort from beginning to end was great. Once again this week, they went down 1-0 after dominating early possession. Their response was not to hang their heads but to redouble their efforts. In the second half the Crushers scored an equalizer and most importantly had Avon “on the back foot” throughout the half. Avon has a very good team, but the Crushers were taking the game to them right to the final whistle. Through their effort they created several more opportunities to score than Avon did… narrowly missing on several chances. A draw (I think we talked about this) can be a downer in some cases… this wasn’t one of those cases.
On Sunday the Crushers faced Farmington Valley for their second league game. In their previous 2 games, Farmington Valley had scored 12 goals and allowed only 1. This looked to be another tough test for the Crushers and it was. Farmington has a strong team. They are very physical and can score from distance (more on that later). From the opening whistle, once again, the Crushers put their opponent on defense. With a strong prevailing wind driving the ball downfield toward Farmington’s goal, the Crushers started well and never let up. Their efforts were rewarded with a 5-1 lead at halftime. The second half was tougher – now they were battling the wind to get into the offensive third of the field – but for the most part, it was more of the same. Several girls battled with tough opposing players throughout the course of the game, working hard and frustrating them for the most part. In the end it was a 5-2 result for the Crushers in a game that wasn’t really that close in the run of play. Both goals for Farmington were scored from 25-30 yards out… and make no mistake, they were impressive strikes… but in terms of consistent pressure in the Crusher defensive third – it simply wasn’t there. Their offensive flow was disrupted at midfield and the Crushers would take back possession.Team defense prevailed.
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At the end of the game Sunday, we talked to the girls and complimented them on their efforts over the weekend. They are truly spoiling us at this point. They made Sunday’s game look easy and that was purely because they were all willing to put in such a strong, consistent effort. Farmington was not an average team… but the Crushers effort made them look fairly ordinary. Trust me, that was no small feat. In practice and in games these girls have been willing to work extremely hard and it is paying dividends. This weekend brings another league game and a chance for the Crushers to show the coaches that they are dead serious about winning the league title and Cup this spring.
“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”― Stephen King
