Defense Carries U-9 Select Girls Soccer Team

The Fair Lawn Girls U-9 Select Soccer team was narrowly edged by Rutherford for the division title in Northern Counties Soccer Association play this fall, but head coach Rob Manspeizer said he couldn’t have been more pleased with his team.

“To me there was a great sense of satisfaction that, hey, I’m a part of this,” Manspeizer said of his team’s 7-1-1 season. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would be this exciting, this intense and this gratifying.”

The sensational select squad, an all-star team of 8- and 9-year old town girls, finished second in league play, and actually defeated league champion Rutherford (8-1) in their only meeting. But the league’s lack of a playoff system worked against them, as Rutherford was crowned champ for its better overall season record.

“It’s still a fantastic year,” Manspeizer said. “When I think back to how the team was in August…to how we played later in the season, it was just such a tremendous improvement by all the girls.”

Manspeizer, who was new to select soccer coaching, actually sent team parents an email before the first game warning them things might get ugly because the girls had barely had a chance to practice.

“I had a lot of reservations about how we would do,” he said. “And then as soon as that ball was dropped, I mean, boom. Most of the play was in the other team’s end, and I was like, ‘Wow, they’re playing fantastic.’

“I told them after the game, ‘You guys have impressed me so much that I have goosebumps,’ Manspeizer chuckled. “I rolled up my sleeve and showed them my goosebumps all over my arms, so they all made fun of me.”

While the team was strong from front to back, Manspeizer emphasized defense, and it was the team’s defensive tenacity that kept them in every game.

“In my mind, soccer has always been about defense,” Manspeizer said. “I guess I’m a soccer purist.”

The team shut out its opponents in six of nine games, didn’t surrender a goal until their fifth game of the year and finished with only five goals against on the entire season – half the amount of any other team.

Manspeizer said he didn’t have trouble getting the girls to buy into a defensive-minded system, even if it did mean having to sacrifice some offense.

“I’m sure if you asked a few of them now if they’d want to score three goals a game, they’d all say, ‘Yes, of course, coach. We want to score.’” Manspeizer said. “But I think they liked that defense-first philosophy.”

Mia Adler anchored the mighty defense from the center spot. She was flanked on either side by a combination of Olivia Lombardo, Remi Bass and Rachel Moskowitz.

“Mia’s played soccer for a long time,” Manspeizer said. “She knows the game and she was vocal out there. She was clearly a leader in positioning the other girls and talking.”

Manspeizer’s daughter, Alexa, provided the team’s last line of defense, volunteering to play goalie after no one else on the team was willing.

“And she ended up really loving playing goal,” Manspeizer beamed. “She had the kind of mentality where, if a goal was scored, her upbeat disposition wouldn’t change. She would say, ‘Okay, that won’t happen again,’ and she would get ready.”

As a result of their defensive focus, the offense rarely put up more than a goal or two each game, but when the U-9 girls did get on the scoreboard, it was often thanks to the foot of center midfielder Emily Cevallos.

Cevallos led the team in scoring and teamed with Adler to control the center of the field in most contests. The team’s other midfielders around Cevallos were Jennie Cirillo, Sophia Pickett and Ella Sullivan.

Maya Berger and Omer Nativ headed the team’s front line.

Manspeizer, whose trusty assistants were Steven Moskowitz and Joshua Pickett, said his coaching philosophy is to let the game be the teacher.

He said he offers instruction at practices, but once the whistle blows he doesn’t overload the girls with information, which he thinks they appreciate.

"Let them play, let them have fun, but most of all let the game be the teacher," said Manspeizer, explaining his formula. “I may yell instruction about positioning or bringing a girl up for a corner kick, but otherwise you won’t hear a peep out of me."

Manspeizer said he'll be taking a break from coaching this winter, but he's already been recruiting for next year's team and said he would love to return to coach them if asked.