SLUH 13 - Chaminade 1

Direct quote from a senior: "That was not a good game."

Usually losses are hard to deconstruct as many little things add up to the loss and it's hard to draw broad themes to reason why the loss occurred. This loss is not one of those losses. This loss can be pinned on one thing: passing.

The Red Devils played hard and were in the game for a half, but in the end, poor passing led to their demise. SLUH played excellent passing lane defense. They pressed hard and wouldn't give the Red Devils any easy passing lanes. Rather than working to create lanes, the Red Devils often forced passes which led to many steals and counter-attack goals. Conservative estimates put the turnover ratio at 3 turnovers for every 4 possessions. Personally, I think the ratio was higher. In order to beat good teams, you need to take care of the ball. Just like in football, the team with the fewest turnovers usually wins.

Things that went right:

• Half-Court defense - when we made SLUH set up, they did not score. We play great team defense in the half-court.
• The 2nd Quarter - 1-1 was the score in the second quarter. I believe everyone in the building believed the entire game was going to go like the second quarter went. I believe we can replicate that second quarter for an entire game against this team.

Things that went not so right:

• Passing - we need to take more pride in our passing; how it was delivered (was it too hard, too soft, did it skip, was it catchable), where it was delivered (was it too high, too low, too close or too far away) and if it was the right pass for what we are doing offensively (who was driving, who was open, did the pass lead to a positive play or did I just get rid of the ball)
• Counter-attack defense - we let the SLUH attackers leave early for offense and we were playing catch-up too much. We need to anticipate when our opponent is going to leave for offense.
• Movement on offense - we basically run a motion offense and there was not enough movement. Our goalie had to hold the ball too long on too many possessions and when the ball would come down the pool, we were content to watch the 2M work for position, rather than drive weak side or look for back door/pick opportunities.
• Shooting aggressiveness - it was improved from the Kirkwood game, but the boys need to pull the trigger when they are open

Goals: Watkins - 1
Assists: Meara - 1
Steals: Entwistle - 2, Watkins - 2, Faust - 1, Glauber - 1, Hoette - 1, Meara - 1, Rose - 1
Kickouts: Entwistle - 1, Rose - 1
Saves: Lauber - 8

Player of the Game: Watkins - 1 goal, 2 steals

Next Game: FLORIDA!