Colonels move on to the regional final on Saturday at 5 pm. Goals by Litzler, Lamb and a late score by Hildreth. CCH struggling offensively.

CCH put 2 defenders in Snow's back pocket all night. Kind of shocked that coach Roberts, as some may say, "stooped to this level". But I say kudos to him. Great strategy and obviously produced the result they wanted. I think someone said they'd throw two men at him all night.

Do we know who covcath plays in the regional finals?

Do we know who covcath plays in the regional finals?

 

Ryle or Dixie. Game underway right now. 2-1 Ryle, 10 min remaining.

Do we know who covcath plays in the regional finals?

 

Winner of Dixie vs Ryle, which is going on now.

It may have looked like CCH man marked ASnow, but actually they didn't . Most of time, he was the only man up top, so CCH was able to guard him with their normal defense. Since he was in the middle most of the time, Darpel as in his hip pocket....

 

Snow is the real deal.....quality, talented kid that doesn't talk or take cheap shots.....he just plays very good soccer........asking anyone to go 4 against 1 all night is a big thing to ask....

"CCH wins this easy. Cooper's defense is very shaky and CCH's back line is too good for Snow to beat all 4 of them. Unless Snow gets one off from distance or a set piece Cov Cath gets a shutout win 3-0."

 

Where's my offer from ESPN?

CCH put 2 defenders in Snow's back pocket all night. Kind of shocked that coach Roberts, as some may say, "stooped to this level". But I say kudos to him. Great strategy and obviously produced the result they wanted. I think someone said they'd throw two men at him all night. ��

 

Not sure what you were seeing, to me it was more a case of good team defense limiting his chances, I think he was only able to get off 3 shots. With only one player to contend with it was usually one of the "Ben's" that was on him since he was usually in the middle. On the few occasions that he had the ball on his foot, in an attacking position, I thought they did a good job of converging on him. It also seemed like the next closest defender was always dropping back a little deeper just in case he got free.

Correct, no man marking of Snow just good team defense by CCH. Too many good athletes on that back line for CCH for one player to get through them. I thought the key in many respects was in the midfield as the CCH midfield dominated the Cooper midfield and they were unable to get the ball to Snow up top with any regularity. Cooper was in a defensive posture for much of the game, even after falling behind relatively quickly 2-0 and never quite opened up and put numbers forward. I thought the decision to leave Snow up top and not move him to midfield allowed CCH to have their way in that area and mount attack after attack. Day/Wessels both played well in the middle and the back four I don't believe allowed a shot that was actually on goal. Snow got off a couple from distance that were high and/or wide and then had a good opportunity in the second half that a Colonel defender blocked.

 

With that said, there is plenty to work on still for CCH but time is short. The passion, the energy and the work rate was lacking for the Colonels up top IMO. Only a 3-0 score line against a team that was totally dominated does not bode well against a much better defensive team in Ryle.

Interesting to read the game summaries since I couldn't make the semi finals last night. Figured Cooper would have problems getting the ball to ASnow in areas he could create scoring opportunities. Sounds like Cooper pretty much left him on an island up top all alone Vs 3-4 defenders. Did Cooper ever try to mix it up, put another player up top, drop AS back behind a target forward or back into the midfield?

 

Is CCH really struggling scoring or is a typical case of regional play where everything tightens up? Typically scoring is always down come this time of year, the underdog teams tend to go more into defensive mode, put 9-10 players behind the ball, hope for a tie/shootout.

Based on the BGP game summaries, Ryle only beat Dixie 2-1 and one goal from each team off a pk. Was this another case of Dixie parking 10 players behind the ball?

 

In the finals the team that plays more aggressive, attacks will likely come out on top. Sitting back and defending all game will in most cases cause you to loose 1-0.

CCH still didn't look sharp against Cooper. Best part of their game was shutting down Snow and maybe that was the key to ensuring they got past Cooper. Not a very good soccer game to watch, really. Hopefully CCH and Ryle raise their play Saturday and the winner is able to maintain elevated level of play for a deep run in states.

Interesting to read the game summaries since I couldn't make the semi finals last night. Figured Cooper would have problems getting the ball to ASnow in areas he could create scoring opportunities. Sounds like Cooper pretty much left him on an island up top all alone Vs 3-4 defenders. Did Cooper ever try to mix it up, put another player up top, drop AS back behind a target forward or back into the midfield?

 

Is CCH really struggling scoring or is a typical case of regional play where everything tightens up? Typically scoring is always down come this time of year, the underdog teams tend to go more into defensive mode, put 9-10 players behind the ball, hope for a tie/shootout.

Based on the BGP game summaries, Ryle only beat Dixie 2-1 and one goal from each team off a pk. Was this another case of Dixie parking 10 players behind the ball?

 

In the finals the team that plays more aggressive, attacks will likely come out on top. Sitting back and defending all game will in most cases cause you to loose 1-0.

 

It did not appear to me that Cooper changed things up the entire night. To receive the ball, Snow would often have to drop deep into the midfield and then there was nobody up top to play the ball to relieve the pressure. As I said, it appeared to me that Cooper was playing defensive all night, even down 2-0. The best player on your team needs to have the ball and last night, that meant dropping him into midfield to get him touches. Cooper never did that.

 

Regionals or not, CCH is struggling offensively IMO. It's a combination of things at this point really. A lot of nice build-ups last night that ended in very poor quality balls played into the center or poor quality shots, etc. Cooper's keeper made a few nice stops as well. Again, passion, energy and work rate.........I wasn't seeing it last night.

CCH still didn't look sharp against Cooper. Best part of their game was shutting down Snow and maybe that was the key to ensuring they got past Cooper. Not a very good soccer game to watch, really. Hopefully CCH and Ryle raise their play Saturday and the winner is able to maintain elevated level of play for a deep run in states.

 

I agree, they did not look sharp or as sharp as they can look. I didn't see Ryle play so I don't know how they looked. For CCH, I just don't get the sense that many people realize that they are not firing on all cylinders like they were early in the year.

I've never seen a team criticized so much for winning. It's the postseason. Survive and advance. That is all that matters, whether it is ugly or not. There are so many factors that influence a performance in the postseason. Lighten up.

I've never seen a team criticized so much for winning. It's the postseason. Survive and advance. That is all that matters, whether it is ugly or not. There are so many factors that influence a performance in the postseason. Lighten up.

 

There is nothing wrong with expecting excellence from a team fully capable of producing it. If they were a mediocre team I'd be happy with the victories and rightfully so but being happy just to win games for this team is not enough if they have higher goals.