Big Game against Montclair

See you all tomorrow at Montclair. Have the boys there by 2:45 PM so I can get them warmed up, stretched out and ready to play.

The game is a Fortunato field:

10 Essex Ave, Montclair, NJ 07042‎

If the game is cancelled I'll post immediately on the website so check before you leave.

Here are the directions from Wayne:

7.

Turn left to merge onto US-46 E About 4 mins

go 3.1 mi

8.

Take the ramp to New Jersey 3 E/Lincoln Tunnel

go 164 ft total 8.0 mi

9.

Keep left at the fork and merge onto NJ-3 E

go 0.4 mi

10.

Take the Grove St exit toward Montclair/Paterson

go 0.2 mi

11.

Turn right onto Grove St About 7 mins

go 3.5 mi

12.

Turn right onto Chestnut St About 1 min

go 0.2 mi total 12.3 mi

13.

Take the 3rd right onto Essex Ave Destination will be on the left

go 230 ft

10 Essex Ave, Montclair, NJ 07042‎

Also, vote quickly about changing next Saturday's game to 3:00 PM.

Excellent play today

We played a tough team, ten players to fifteen, and held them to a tie for all but the last fifteen minutes. We played physically tough and smart, scored some great goals, had some excellent saves and great one-on-one wins. With a full team we could have beaten these guys. I'm very proud of you all!

Sorry about the morning drill to change locations. Thanks to Jake Belli for checking the website to find out that the opponents had changed the field without telling us. Coaches on the opposing team are below our contempt for the way they behaved. This is the same team that cancelled without telling us and gave us so few options for the reschedule.

I want to call out a few of our boys who played really well today. Joel who made some great one-on-one saves and never let them get a rebound goal. Jack was all over the field as a strong sweeper. Jake Belli coming in and playing tough offense and defense with the big boys really helped to keep this game cose. Roberto was doing great winning balls in the midfield and dribbling past opponents once he had the ball. Jake Samieski had a great goal and kept his head even after some aggregious refereeing against him. And Franco had some excellent runs at goal in addition to the one he put in.

Everyone played the best game we've seen all season. This was one of the top teams in the division and we almost won it. If we'd had a few extra boys and played the way we did, this game would have been a rout for us.

Jerks from Ironbound changed the location again without telling me!!!

First they cancelled the game without telling me, now they changed the stadium without telling me.

Here's his last e-mail to me:

Sure – Riverbank Park in Newark.

Luckily Janice checked the Northern counties website this morning and saw that the field had changed.

Here's the new directions:

From Garden State Parkway: Exit 145 to Route 280 East,
to Exit 16 (Harrison/Newark) down ramp, left at second light (Harrison Ave),
right at F. E. Rodgers Blvd,
go past Wendy’s, Path Station, cross bridge into Newark,
left on to Market St, go past Park, Police Station,
bear right at light (Ferry St), quick left on St. Charles St.
field is at the middle of the block, parking lot on the RIGHT after field

It feels to me that they are hoping we'll miss the game. Tell your boys what they've done to us and get them fired up this morning. I want them to crush this team!

Great Win!

(This post was originally written after our first win in September. I forgot to post it until now. Sorry it's out of order)

It was great to see our team finish the game the way they played for the first 50 minutes. For the first two games we played great but, due to a lack of substitutes, we allowed our opponents to score four goals against us in the last 10 - 15 minutes.

This time we had an advantage. We picked up three boys from the U-11 team which allowed us to have substitutes for the first 55 minutes and then, when Justin and Damien made it from their earlier game, we had fresh players for those last crucial 15 minutes.

Franco scored a great goal and Joel was like a brick wall in defense .There were only a few times when we left men open but Joel made the crucial saves.

We can play in this flight and, with a couple of extra players can compete with anyone our age. I am working with a couple of parents of boys to join the team and am trying to get Jack's twin brother, Liam up to skill level to be able to join us in the spring.

This weekend is the Parsippany tournament where we can hone our skills and figure out how to finish the season strong. I'll know tomorrow when the games are scheduled. The U-11 team will be playing there also so we may borrow boys again to get us through the short times without Dario. Jake will be back for the tournament.

Don't forget to vote on the make-up game.

Great Win again!

With only ten players we pulled off an exciting win today. Everyone played to their utmost potential and played as a team. From the very beggining there was focus in the warm-ups, a team cheer for Patriots initiated by the boys, and focused execution of soccer fundamentals. I pulled David back to help us in defense and he kept that side strong.

The opponents scored an amazing long-range goal that Joel might be able to save next year when he has grown a few inches but not yet. Then we came back with two excellent goals to put us on top at the half. We made some defensive adjustments to deal with their speed in the middle and ended the first half feeling confident. The few mistakes we made, not following our men on free kicks, for example, were covered up by stellar defense by Joel.

Then they scored another amazing long-range goal that just fit under the cross-bar to tie it up. But with some excellent couter-attacks, we added two more goals to pull the game out of their grasp. Then a fifth goal and I finally felt comfortable pulling David back into forward. He proved it to be a good move by attacking relentlessly, making good friends with the crossbar and almost scoring twice.

Their third goal was unimportant because the game was decided by then. My thanks and respect to all the players who did a great job. With the way we played today, we can beat anyone in this league. Let's be sure to bring that intensity tomorrow to our 11AM game in Ironbound.

Also, let's consider having lunch as a team following tomorrow's game. I'm taking my family out for pizza following the game; anyone who wants to join, let's do so and at least celebrate today's win even if we don't win tomorrow.

Thanks, Josephine and Janince for all the work on the fundraiser.

Josephine collected all the money for raffle tickets and baskets and did a lovely job putting together our team basket:

*Sylvania 7" LCD screen portable DVD player

*carrying case that can latch on to seats for viewing in car

*headphones

*2 DVD movies

*Soccer photo frame

*Soccer decal/ snacks

Also purchased the basket, cellophane, bows & tissue paper to put everything in.

Julio has a Futsal season he wants to invite the boys to

Here's an e-mail from Julio about the futsal program he is setting up for the the teacher's convention days in November (10th and 11th):

Just a reminder about the Futsal Camp in November..  Please keep in mind that space is limited and I am getting applications every day...Let me know if you are interested,OK?  Also I will be sending the Winter Camp SSA Brasil this week, which starts in December and ends in March.

Contact Julio for an application form.
What's futsal? That was my question. It's the only official indoor soccer league sanctioned by FIFA and it reinforces outdoor skills unlike normal indoor soccer with balls bouncing off walls. Check this website for details.

Game four

It's nice to have a home game and get a chance to pull in some younger players to act as substitutes. Add to that, the fact that the ref allowed Jake to play, we started the game with four subs. What luxury!

But the boys didn't seem like they were ready to play. Starting with their dumb starting cheer, they allowed out opponents to put up four easy goals. We kept being trapped offsides and left men open in front of goal.

At half-time Julio got them settled down and thinking seriously about winning the second half. We did so, scoring three goals to their two. I'm proud of their comeback and would like to see that kind of intensity in the first half as well as the second of our next games.

Tell your boy to take it seriously during the game and realize later that they had fun playing a good game of soccer.

Practice location changed for this Friday

Since Schuyler has Teen Canteen tomorrow night we are moving the practice to a field that is rarely used, Captain Kilroy Park, behind my house. Type in 'captain kilroy park wayne, nj' into google or check the map on the calendar for the location. For GPS directions, type in the intersection of Concord and Coventry and drive to the end of Concord, then left into the park.

Dinner Dance

Just a quick note about the way we pay for the soccer team's expenses. You all paid $400 to register your child with Wayne Soccer Club. Out of that money comes expenses like field permits, referee fees, tournament reimbursement and training costs. Unfortunately, this will not cover everything. So the club hosts a few events to try to raise money. They have sponsorship on the website but their big fundraiser every year is the dinner-dance.

We have a certain expectation placed on us to support this fundraiser. We must fill at least one table with parents from our team and sell two books of raffle tickets per child. More is better. If we don't do this, we need to reimburse the club from the funds we raised with our $400 per child. Any more money we raise goes into our fund. 

Because I have no help, I am using our trainers to cover game day coaching as well as two training sessions per week. This costs money. I can tell you that I will be asking for more money in the spring to cover the shortfall. There will be less shortfall if we all go to the dinner. So please buy a ticket to the dinner and join Kathy and I for a fun evening. I'd like to take the opportunity to chat with you all about how the team is doing and what direction I want to take them. I'll also listen to any advice you have. So come on out and deal with Josephine Sirni on getting tickets and selling raffle tickets.

Thanks,

Bruce

Third Tournament Game

It's tough to win a game when you are playing 9 players against 14. Always two players short on the field and no substitutes. But it didn't help that we were playing against coaches who don't teach their children sportsmanship. I was very upset with the other coaches and it cost me a yellow card. I thought the referee could have done his job at controlling the other team. It didn't help when he made calls against us that should have gone the other way .

Either way, the game was decided at 7:45 when we started with only nine players. I know there were injuries and religious holidays and football games. but you guys knew about this tournament for months and could have let me know earlier that you were unable to attend .

Let's get together at practice and work out our issues with set plays. Then we'll have the whole team except maybe Dario for the next game. The season is back and we intend to win.

Tournament

I was concerned at how well we would do at this tournament given the two major disadvantages we faced going in: Two injured players and a religious holiday robbing us of needed players. But we have been doing OK. Friday's game, although I wasn't present was close and could have been won if we hadn't made a couple of crucial mistakes on defense.

This morning's game was exciting as we pulled to a two-goal lead at the half. Joel made a couple of brilliant saves and Franco placed an exciting goal literally into the back of the net. Zaeem and Danny combined to knock the second goal in.

The other team's response was a great breakaway for their first goal followed by a carom off one of our players that unfortunately went in.

I was very proud that our team took to heart the advice we game them before the game and reinforced at the half: "Stay on your man during the set plays, especially after the ball has been kicked." We missed this once during a free kick from the 30 yard line. We all stayed on our 18 yard line when the ball was kicked to Joel. Luckily he handled the shot cleanly because one of their forwards followed the shot and was standing in front of Joel unguarded ready for the follow-up. That didn't happen again in the second half.

Tomorrow's game is at 7:45 AM again. Please be there by 7:00 AM so that we can get warmed up and set the line-up. There is way too much confusion when players arrive right before and after the game starts. Today we started two players short.

Parsippany High School field #26 located behind school
GPS Directions to field 309 Baldwin Road
Or use the directions below:

• From Route 287: Exit onto Route 80 East. 
• From Route 80 East: Pass Route 287 interchange. Merge right onto local lanes for Lake Hiawatha/Whippany exit.
• After about 1 mile, take first exit for Beverwyck Road.
• At top of exit ramp at light, make a left onto Beverwyck Road. This will bring you to a traffic light for Route 46. Get into left turn lanes and make a left onto Route 46 West.
• Right after you pass Outback Steakhouse, about 2/3 of a mile, you will make a right onto Baldwin Road.
• Parsippany High is located on the right after about 1 mile. 

First Tournament Game

Please be at the field by 5PM Friday afternoon for the first game of the Parsippany tournament. Leo needs to check the team in early. Because of Yom Kippur we are missing some players so there may be no subs. Remember that the games are short and it doesn't matter if we win or lose. So let's focus on good passing and shooting and do the best we can.

Here's the map and directions:

Map: Jannarone Park #39 Turf Field

From the North going Rt 287 South Take Exit 42 towards US-46.

At traffic light turn Left onto Parsippany Blvd/US-202.

At traffic light turn Right onto Rt 46 West and follow directions for Rt 46 West.

Rt 46 West to Lackawanna Ave. (first traffic light passed R&S Plumbing Supply Store), right before traffic light is U-turn for Lackawanna Ave.

Cross over Rt 46 onto Lackawanna Ave. You pass TGI Friday’s restaurant on your left.

After TGI Friday’s, bear left onto Walsh Dr. Stay on Walsh (stay to right when road forks) to the end as it ends at Cranberry Rd.

Straight ahead is a newly constructed road; drive up the hill. The field is at the top of the hill.

See you all Saturday morning at 7AM for game two.

Parsippany Tournament

We have our schedule. Click on the link for details. I'll also add this to the calendar and the links off to the right.

I am flying in from Texas late Friday night so I need someone to take all our paperwork to the field and get us checked in. I was hoping Roland could do that since he is familiar with the procedure.
I'm also hoping Julio can do the game day coaching at least on Friday. I will be verifying this with them on separate e-mails.

These are early games but our opponents will be getting up just as early. Please make sure your son gets an early night before both games so he isn't too tired. He should probably take a nap during the day as well to recover.

We're not likely to get any volunteers to beef up our ranks for these early games but I'll ask anyway. Hopefully some of Rene's boys will help us in our Friday game.