Monday Morning Report: March 22

It was a disappointing weekend for AC D.C. Things can only get better this spring, right?

We played a brand new team to WISL on Saturday for our season opener, which means that no one knew what to expect from this opponent, and the refs were warned by the league to call the game extra-tight. As all season openers impart, there was a sense of "new beginning" and excitement in the air. Too bad I didn't heed Matt White's warning and got stuck in DC marathon traffic for an hour-and-a-half and was late for the season friggin' opener!

At least I was able to warn off several of our guys not to do what I did, and they all got to the pitch before I did. Much to my excitement, we were up 2 nil when I arrived. I didn't see the goals, but one was a brilliant finish by Parham and the other a hand-ball PK by Ramon.

After that, our offense really didn't get into gear. It was really unfortunate that we gave up a garbage goal near the end of half. "Split milk" and all, it would have been a very different game, going into the second half with a solid 2 goal lead.

If I were to pick out one flaw throughout the game, it was that we gave up the ball too easily in the middle of the pitch. It's true that our opponents closed down our ball-handlers speedily, but we should have a near-telepathic understanding with each other (play for each other!). Our ball-handler should know, almost without looking, where his outlet is. A lot of times, that is on the wings, so our wingers must get into better position to receive the ball, and decompress the middle.

As it was, we kept giving the ball away in the middle of the pitch. In such situations, no matter how strong our defense is, we will give up more goals. We gave up the levelling goal just after Parham got his red-card for a B.S. "second yellow." Robb made a heroic save to keep up level, but the biggest disappointment was that we gave up the losing goal with one minute to go, and the refs had a huge hand in it by not making the clear offsides call.

But stop blaming the refs. We were just not good enough offensively to keep possession and play the game on their half. Allowing them to attack again-and-again, the end result was almost inevitable.

A theme for this season is "play for each other." That means many things, but first, it means make runs and make space for yourself, to receive the ball, to help out the teammate with the ball. It also means communicating, so they know their environment: when to control, when to clear(!), when to take it up themselves.

We'll do better next game.

Sunday's futsal game was a "throw-away" make up game because of the snow. Ugh. Not even worth describing. Outdoor is the game now. Yippeeee...

Aging Captain

For all you do for this team....hauling kegs, sending evites....we say:

Happy Birthday, Matt!

Hope you had a good day.

Monday Morning Report: Mar 15

Boy, you think I got enough flak for missing a report last week?

ACDC was in action in both indoor leagues this weekend. The Fairfax squad didn't do so hot since our game followed a men's team practice directly. We were tired. The sad part is that we lost 5-2 to the Little Urban Archievers, who are always imminently beatable. They sent out a lot of their WISL players, so kudos to them....they beat us.

Sunday futsal was our redemption. We won 8-4, keeping our championship hopes alive. With many players out of town, Robb played in the court and scored multiple goals. Perhaps a new point-man in the making! Georgie was a wall.

Our WISL season starts next weekend. This is a pivotal season cuz, with the new league scheme coming up in the fall, our result this spring season will determine where we place in the new structure. Let's go out and win our first game!

ACDC Spring Season - Co-Ed & Mens

ACDC Men - First game to be played Saturday March 20th.

ACDC Co-Ed - For anyone who is wondering, Larry with SLeagues has not yet posted the schedule. Tenatively, it looks like our first game might be Sunday April 4th. More to follow.

Start running and start getting mentally prepared.

Monday Morning Report: March 1

Wow, one year anniversary of the 5-a-side tournament! That feels like a long time ago.

It was a relatively quiet weekend for ACDC. The Fairfax group was dormant, so we only had a futsal game on Sunday. We played much better than last time, and Robb was a wall. Laura scored two and Jeff did as well, and I don't remember where the other goals came from. We won 7-2. Because of the snow, futsal will now have week-night games as well, so we'll have those to look forward to.

If you're wondering why there's no 5-a-side tournament this year, it's simply because of timing. We have two indoor squads this year and the WISL season starts in 10 days. So there isn't enough time to make a tournament. We are looking into doing so in the summer.

WISL will start 3/13, weather permitting. Hurray!