Mass Young Gunners - Generals vs. NEFC Metro West

 Young Gunners 2012 - Generals

Mass Young Gunners - NEFC Metro West  vs. Generals

Thomas Prince Fields - Princeton, Ma

Sunday, October 24, 2021

Continue the Progress

The Gunners started off the season having minimum time playing outdoor soccer as a team, being thrown into a very competitive league against teams who had a season or two together. The past three games have been hard fought and in the reach of either team until the very end. The Generals started off a bit slow, giving up two shots from outside the box that were very high and out of the reach of our keeper. They continued to put pressure on NEFC throughout the half, creating a few chances, but spent much of the game in our own defensive half. Our strongest chances came from being out wide on the wings and moving off of the ball to open space, but required more consistency from the team. The half ended in favor of NEFC with a score of 3-0. 

Half-Time Adjustments

NEFC clearly had a size advantage over the Generals, but this has been the case for most of the games throughout the season. At times, size is blocked out of the players minds as they battle for every loose ball and win individual battles with strong aggressive tackles. This was not the case in the first half with 80% of the challenges being won by their opponent just by running through the ball. The second half turned out to be a better showing of what type of soccer they are capable of playing. Movement off the ball, winning challenges and being goal side occurred more often and they were able to put a few dangerous attempts on the keeper. The first half was too much to overcome and the game ended at 3-0. 

Players of the Match

Player of the match goes to Markens Benoit and Alvynn Trotta. Markens Benoit opened up the game for the Gunners throughout the game. He was often switching from left and right back to left and right midfield, each time staying focused on his defensive responsibilities and being an option for his teammates. His aggressiveness and ability to run through loose balls was also a major contribution and opened up the game for some offensive attack. A key part of the offense for the past few weeks has come from Alvyn who continues to make runs sideline to sideline which gives an option to build out from the back in the defensive third. Once Alvyn receives the ball, three choices typically occur and he’s been choosing the correct decision at a high success rate. His go to move is to put his head down and attack the defender straight towards the goal. Recently he’s been using his midfielders to pass back which gives a chance to switch the field, and recently he added a through ball to our attacking midfielders to his arsenal. His play at striker has been unselfish and a great asset to building a team game.