Down.....Set....... *whistle*
The first faceoff was a clean win for us, not a bad way to start. We moved the ball down the field and got everything settled down by working the ball around the outside perimeter. There was a comfortable feeling already taking over, even after the first minute and the guys seemed excited to be playing and even more so to deploy their newly acquired skills that they had learned over the previous 1.5 months.
A few more passes, a pick here and there and the game started to open up for us in the offensive zone. A few guys had some early open looks, but nothing found the back of the net. The confidence at this point was building and you could feel it, I mean even the 30 or so fans that turned up were started to get a bit excited. You could tell that the guys had raised the bar and the expectations of the team were somehow nothing less than a victory for this game against Basel. I don't think the guys wanted to settle for less...
A few more changes of possession happened, our defense stood tall, and then finally after about 9 minutes of play there was a quick play from up top to a down low cutter by the crease and the ball flew past the goalie, top right, for a quick 1-0 score. There was a big celebration on the field as this team wasn't really known for it's scoring capabilities prior to this game. (3 or 4 goals total the entire season up to this point)
Herzogenbuchsee seemed to get a huge lift from that first goal and it never seemed to let up. The next faceoff was a clean win again, in fact I don't think Basel had won a single one the whole day? Today wasn't about Basel, it was about the Iroquois H'buchsee boys showing themselves that they were better than what the 2 previous years had shown, and the score quickly showed it. After one quarter it was 4-0 in favor of the Iroquois. That was equal to their entire years total with all the other games combined.
The next 2 quarters went by extremely fast with only a few penalties from each side creating the stoppages. I just kept telling the guys to keep giving it 110%, don't stop, every ball is ours and we were going to make sure we didn't give them a chance to get back into the game. Perhaps it was a bit much to tell them to keep putting them in the net, but the guys earned the right in my eyes to show what they could do, to show what they had learned.
9-2 after 3 quarters, the guys could feel the upper hand that they had at this point. All they had to do keep up the same intensity and hang on for one more quarter and they would have their first victory of their clubs existence. A pretty good feat for a group of guys that just thought this sport looked cool a couple years earlier and decided one day to buy some sticks...
The last quarter was a good one and hard fought, but it was obvious what the outcome was going to be as Basel slowly got out-hustled to the ground balls and in turn watch their chances to win the game slip away.
*whistle* game over... end score 14-2 in favor of the home team. Happy faces all around, hugs, handshakes and a job well done.
Finally I felt a big relief and deep breath find it's way out of my lungs. The first test was over, but it was just the beginning...
(To be continued)
Posted in:
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coaching,
fun,
guys,
happiness,
intensity,
lacrosse,
people,
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switzerland,
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Thursday, September 10, 2009
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1:06 PM
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