I believe CCH/Cooper ended up with CCH winning 3-0 but not sure about that. Cooper has a pretty solid squad from what I saw and that was without Snow in the lineup.

 

I really don't know if St. Henry was playing a mixed lineup as well and I heard they were missing some starters too. As usual, Soccerama didn't really tell me much but was fun to see some actual games.

You may be right that it was 8-0. Hard game to watch really. Connor looked really young to me.

 

Conner graduated 16 seniors from last year. They had 4 juniors and one frosh on their year-end roster, so no surprise Conner is young. Starting out with a strong St Henry team the outcome is not unexpected, but I'd think they do better as they get their feet under them and adjust to playing Varsity sized teams.

I believe CCH/Cooper ended up with CCH winning 3-0 but not sure about that. Cooper has a pretty solid squad from what I saw and that was without Snow in the lineup.

 

I really don't know if St. Henry was playing a mixed lineup as well and I heard they were missing some starters too. As usual, Soccerama didn't really tell me much but was fun to see some actual games.

 

Soccerama doesn't tell you much about how to rank the teams, especially if we are thinking season-end outcome. All teams will be very different by year-end. But I think it does tell the coaches some things about their team, such as, do they know how to play together, is the defense organized or out of synch, which individuals look overmatched and which seem to hold their own against the other team's quality players, etc. You come out of Soccerama knowing what you have to work on. Some of this is known heading into it (maybe most), but there may be glaring areas that stick out against competition that you may not have thought were so bad in intra-squad play. Also, throwing the kids out on the field gives that really competitive kid, who may not have skills that stood out before that opportunity to shine. Some kids just rise to the occasion and the coach sees it and gets comfortable with putting that kid out there and focusing somewhere else. It can be a valuable time, especially for squads that graduated a lot of starters. It's one of those occasions that allows for the coach to make some adjustments with position and personnel without it counting against them in the W-L column.

 

But, agreed, it doesn't let you know if CCH is really three goals better than Cooper.

Soccerama doesn't tell you much about how to rank the teams, especially if we are thinking season-end outcome. All teams will be very different by year-end. But I think it does tell the coaches some things about their team, such as, do they know how to play together, is the defense organized or out of synch, which individuals look overmatched and which seem to hold their own against the other team's quality players, etc. You come out of Soccerama knowing what you have to work on. Some of this is known heading into it (maybe most), but there may be glaring areas that stick out against competition that you may not have thought were so bad in intra-squad play. Also, throwing the kids out on the field gives that really competitive kid, who may not have skills that stood out before that opportunity to shine. Some kids just rise to the occasion and the coach sees it and gets comfortable with putting that kid out there and focusing somewhere else. It can be a valuable time, especially for squads that graduated a lot of starters. It's one of those occasions that allows for the coach to make some adjustments with position and personnel without it counting against them in the W-L column.

 

But, agreed, it doesn't let you know if CCH is really three goals better than Cooper.

 

 

These are all good points, for me in particular the ones highlighted.

And I'm of the belief W-L are not critical in late August/early September. This is the time to figure out your starters, positions, rotations, roles, and who you can and can not count on in crunch time.

Just from a CCH standpoint, it appears they used the game to do just what is being discussed. There were a lot of different combinations, etc. to see who worked where and who didn't work. My take on things:

- CCH defense should be solid

- Midfield is going to struggle early on but hopefully they figure it out

- Scoring goals will be a bit of an issue.

 

CCH plays South Oldham in a scrimmage tomorrow and then St. Henry in the opener. I expect that game to be relatively low scoring, maybe a one or two goal margin.

Just from a CCH standpoint, it appears they used the game to do just what is being discussed. There were a lot of different combinations, etc. to see who worked where and who didn't work. My take on things:

- CCH defense should be solid

- Midfield is going to struggle early on but hopefully they figure it out

- Scoring goals will be a bit of an issue.

 

CCH plays South Oldham in a scrimmage tomorrow and then St. Henry in the opener. I expect that game to be relatively low scoring, maybe a one or two goal margin.

 

Did any freshmen participate?

Did any freshmen participate?

 

No freshmen on the CCH side that I saw unless I missed someone. Quite frankly I can't recall the last time a frosh played w/ the varsity early in the year. I've seen a couple brought up late I the season after the frosh/JV seasons are over but that's about it. Three frosh have been moved to the JV team.

 

CCH is carrying a couple sophomores on varsity.

No freshmen on the CCH side that I saw unless I missed someone. Quite frankly I can't recall the last time a frosh played w/ the varsity early in the year. I've seen a couple brought up late I the season after the frosh/JV seasons are over but that's about it. Three frosh have been moved to the JV team.

 

CCH is carrying a couple sophomores on varsity.

 

Who are the 3 Frosh that have been moved to JV? Thanks.

Stava, Darpel and Lehman. First two are younger siblings of past/present players.

Stava, Darpel and Lehman. First two are younger siblings of past/present players.

 

Good for them and congratulations boys. I'm one that believes it is good (if the players' ability warrants it) for a boys program for 2-3 or 4 freshman to play JV and and 1-2 or 3 sophomores play varsity. Helps keep the program strong year after year.