WVIAC Soccer Rewind 9/14-20

WVIAC Soccer Rewind (Games of 9/14-20)
9/20/2009

Men's
Sunday, 9/20:
Rob Vincent and Darko Karamatic scored goals to lead Charleston past Pitt Johnstown 2-0...Paul Silvestrone found the back of the net twice in a three-minute span of the second half to lead Wheeling Jesuit past homestanding Urbana 2-1.

Saturday, 9/19:
Josh Wentz and Derik Swope had the goals as Pitt Johnstown opened up a road swing with a 2-1 win at Concord...Davis & Elkins owned a 32-1 edge in shots in a 7-0 whitewashing of 10-man Salem International...Alderson-Broaddus slipped past WVU-Tech 1-0 in overtime...Jon DeLuca had ten saves in Seton Hill's 3-0 victory against Shepherd...West Virginia Wesleyan battled to a road, non-league 1-1 deadlock with Lake Erie despite playing two men down for the final nine minutes and one man down for almost 83 minutes.

Thursday, 9/17:
Varney Vincent tallied the game-winner in the 89th minute as Concord rallied for a 2-1 win against visiting Ohio Valley.

Wednesday, 9/16:
Billy Wilson scored on a header after playing a ball from Hans Moses to give Wheeling Jesuit a tense 2-1 double-overtime win at West Virginia Wesleyan...Davis & Elkins had a 10-4 advantage in shots on goal, but visiting Gannon left Elkins with a 3-1 Atlantic Region victory...Charleston outshot #15 Slippery Rock 13-7, but couldn't find the back of the net in a 1-0 road setback.

Tuesday, 9/15:
Division I Marshall posted a pair of goals in the final 25 minutes to pull away from Ohio Valley 3-0...Seton Hill scored six in the opening half and cruised to a 9-0 win over Salem International...Shepherd had a 12-6 shots advantage, but couldn't convert in a 2-0 setback at the hands of Bloomsburg...Concord jumped out to a 2-0 halftime lead, but dropped a 3-2 decision to King...Pitt Johnstown's Derik Swope struck in the 20th minute, however Lake Erie took a 3-1 decision.

Women's
Saturday, 9/19:
Davis & Elkins pushed their win streak to six with a pair of second half goals in a 2-0 win over Pitt Johnstown...Kara Houston gave Wheeling Jesuit an early lead, but Urbana scored the final three goals in a 3-1 victory...Alderson-Broaddus blanked former WVIAC member WVU Tech 2-0...Briana Hines netted both Shepherd goals in a 2-2 deadlock with Lake Erie...Sharon Lapinsky found the back of the net twice, but Charleston fell 3-2 at Ohio Dominican.

Friday, 9/18:
Four different West Virginia Wesleyan players scored in a 4-0 blanking of Seton Hill...Katie Cuviello and Gemma Nortcliffe both tallied a pair of goals in Concord's 8-0 win at Ohio Valley.

Wednesday, 9/16:
Casey Coles accounted for the match's lone score during a 1-0 Shepherd win over Shenandoah...Megan Beal scored off a Luci Legaspi pass in the 80th minute as Davis & Elkins slipped past local rival Alderson-Broaddus 1-0...Kara Houston led the way with a hat trick and an assist in Wheeling Jesuit's 7-0 success at Ohio Valley.

Tuesday, 9/15:
Bethany slipped past Seton Hill 2-1 despite Alysha Alaimo's 77th minute score for the Griffins...King snapped a scoreless tie in the 119th mintue to get by Concord 1-0.

Monday, 9/14:
Kara Houston accounted for both Cardinal scores as Wheeling Jesuit upset #24 Kutztown 2-1. Read more on this article...

WV State Soccer Making Strides

Here is an article written in the Charleston Gazette talking with WV State Director of Coaching and Marshall Head Men's Coach, Bobby Gray. Here is the link

I totally agree with what Coach Gray states, even though I have only been in the state for about `10 years now, and really only 7 of those years were spent working with youth soccer, we are definitely making strides. As a college coach you see the level of play (I have a much better view of the female side) has become much improved over the years.

In recent years the number of games won at the Region 1 tournament has increased, as too have the showings by the WV ODP teams over the years. Just this year we were leading ENY South and tied a very very good Connecticut team.

As long as they coaches in the state continue to look out for the greater good of the game of soccer and the development of the kids things will only continue to improve.

. Read more on this article...

US Men's National Team - Tale of Two Halves

Wow.. been a while since I have posted about the Men's National Team.. Last I did it was the three day stretch were they were smack by Costa Rica and struggled to get a win against Honduras... since then they entered the Confederations Cup in South Africa.

They opened with a loss to Italy 3-1, followed that by getting smacked by Brazil 3-0.. then came the game last Sunday against Egypt. The US needed to win by three goals and Brazil had to beat Italy by three goals.. Somehow by the grace of the soccer gods, thats exactly what happened..

So on to the semifinals, and a shocking win over the World #1 Spain 2-0.. Next up, a rematch with Brazil..

The 1st half was a dream setup.. 10th minute goal by Clint Dempsey.. wow, I thought to myself what a great start, then came the Brazil pressure as they gained numerous corner kicks... Then in the 27th minute off a Brazil corner came a 2v2 break out as Donavon would play the lead pass out left to Davies who would then slot a beautiful left footed ball in front of Landon. LD would chop the ball to the left with his 1st touch turning the Brazilian defender as he flew passed and then would slot the ball perfectly in the left corner for a 2-0 lead...

This however was were possession ended for the US and all they would do is try to hang on. Brazil would score 45 seconds into the 2nd half.. then again in the 72 and 84 minutes to win the Confederations cup 3-2...

Disappointing loss, but definitely a great showing for the US...

Click Here for More Read more on this article...

US Soccer ODP Region 1 Tournament Draw

The ODP (Olympic Development Program) Region 1 Tournament pools are posted and all I can say is wow!!!..

Year in and Year out, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, Eastern NY South and Eastern PA and Connecticut are usually the best Girls state ODP teams. Well the West Virginia 94/95 Girls team drew three of those six, getting much up with ENY South, New Jersey and Connecticut. We have a fantastic group of girls, who are going to have to play at an extremely high level for us to be succesfull. I am excited at seeing what kind of talent Region 1 holds again this year.

Click here for the full schedule of the boys and girls Region 1 Tournament Read more on this article...

How Do You Motivate Athletes Under This Circumstance??

So here it was, the final tune up practice my 1994 Girls ODP team before we head to the region 1 tournament next weekend.

We had 13 girls at training, out of a possible 17.. For WV this isn't to bad at all. However you could tell from the onset that this was going to be a struggle to keep them focused and motivated.

Off those 13 girls, 7 play on the same club team. A club team with a very loud, hard, demanding coach. I am on the absolutely opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to a coach. I am way laid back, as some will tell you, almost to a fault... but that is who I am.. I really have to work hard to develop good relationships with the girls so that they feel a level of personal hurt when they let me down, as opposed to motivating the girls out of fear.

But with this group, they are clearly the top 7 players on the team.. I only see them but once a month.. and they know they will play.. So my questions is how do you motivate a group of kids on a day like yesterday when they were tired, whiney and just being 14 year old girls. They have no fear of being cut or of losing playing time..What would you as a coach do?? Read more on this article...

Dan Tudor - The Parent Trap

Read more on this article...

My Crazy Double Life - Part 1

Today was my final day of work at Glenville State College, bringing the end to two years at the school, but most importantly bringing an end to the crazy ten month run working at both Glenville State and Alderson-Broaddus. Click the link for a little refresher http://tinyurl.com/lwb3mr.

Am I surprised I made it?? No not at all, I knew it would be stupid and insane, but I also knew that it was do able. While thing weren't perfect, there were many other external factors to blame besides me and my two jobs.

I will be moving to AB full time in the fall. While I am extremely excited about the opportunities there it is still extremely difficult to leave a place with such amazing people and a working environment that allows me to do what I feel is right and needed.

Over the course of the next few weeks I am going to highlight each of those ten months and post them on the blog. Read more on this article...