Semifinals: Navy 3 - Marines 1

We did not come out as strong as we would have liked. We were able to get some early looks at goal but narrowly missed the mark on several occasions. To make matters worse we suffered a rare defensive lapse. Our outside back headed a bouncing ball back towards our keeper, however, our keeper was already on the move towards the ball and it slipped by him and into the back of the net. We were down by 1.

We kept pushing forward and eventually earned a corner kick that paid dividends. Nate Gavin sent the ball in, Scott Cook re-directed it towards the goal and Mike Tuddenham ran through the box to nod it into the goal. Game tied.

Scott Cook and Tudd teamed up again later in the half. The Marines kicked the ball out of bounds near their 18 yard line. Tudd picked up the ball for a long throw in found Scott Cook in the box, who finished with another header. Navy up 2-1.

The Marines continued to push forward but were not able to threaten with much other than off balance shots from outside the 18 yard perimeter. Late in the game, we grabbed an insurance goal with another of Tudd's long throw ins. He tossed it into the box where Brian Dunne flicked it onto the foot of Josh Meier who tucked the ball in from the 6 yard line.

The Air Force beat the Army 2-0 after the Army went down to 10 men with a red card in the second half. We will face them in the Championship tomorrow afternoon.

Unfortunately my cameras memory card was full, so I wasn't able to take any footage. However, it did snap on still photo of Mike Tudd sliding in on their winger.

Navy 0 - Marines 0

We followed a similar schedule to yesterday by gathered in the coaches room for pre-game discussion and then making our way to the the field for warm ups and stretching. With our wins over the Air Force and Army we had clinched the number one seed for Sunday's semi-finals and the Marines who had already lost 2 games had the number 4 seed, so we would be playing them on Sunday regardless of the game's outcome. So essentially, the game did not matter except for bragging rights and momentum into the knock out round. All in all our game against the marines was relatively uneventful and probably not the most entertaining game to watch as a spectator. We created some early chances throughout the game, mostly during the early minutes and later minutes, but were unable to find a significant passing flow. No one was able to find the back of the net and we ended in a 0-0 draw.

Mike Tuddenham sat out during the game in order to rest his injured back, but was able to grab some great action shots.

Navy 1 - Air Force 0

We gathered in the Coaches room to go over the scouting report and pre game strategy. We discussed how we would match up against their dangerous players and how to try and maintain control of the game against a team that played a similar style to us. The rain had stopped and the sun was out but the field was still sopping wet. We ran through our usual warm up and made our way to the field for kick off. We matched up very evenly against them, with both teams content sharing the possession and allowing each other the defensive third to pass around in. Kyle pushed through their defense numerous times on the right wing causing one defender to fall down with a chop Christiano Ronaldo would be proud of.

About midway through the first half we won the ball in the midfield, Dunne floated in a perfectly weighted ball that did not skip too far behind the defense on the slick surface. Jesse ran on and neatly put the ball past the charging keeper. 1-0 Navy. We continued sharing possession until the referee called for half time.

We were able to push forward a little bit in the second half but ultimately fell on our heels for the remainder of the game. Air Force pushed their defense high and threw their outside backs forward as much as they could. We delayed their attack and pushed the pressure outside where it was absorbed by our outside backs, G, Bobby and Meier. Clint and Cook, who were playing sweeper and stopper cleaned up everything else. We were able to counter a few times as their pressure continued to mount, but we were not able to find the net. During one of our counter attacks Jesse was running onto a high through ball next to a defender and rolled his ankle. We stopped play and hoped he would be okay as we watched him helped off the field. We were not able to build much of an attack but were able to stave off theirs, tightly holding onto the 1-0 lead.

After the game we went our separate ways for dinner. Some went out to eat, some stayed in and cooked.  Jesse returned from the hospital with the diagnosis of a sprained ankle. A group of us joined him in his room to eat stew and lasagna while watched the world series.

Navy 2 - Army 0

It was a rainy day. The field was wet and muddy and the conditions were only getting sloppier as we watched the Air Force beat the Marines 5-1. We warmed up, went over some pre-game strategy and took to the field. It took us a solid 15 minutes to get used to the conditions. The ball seemed to pick up speed as it skipped on the soaked bermuda grass. The first half was fairly even. There were a lot of turn overs and misplaced passes by both teams throughout the first half. We traded decent chances on goal, with the Army coming away with a close break away in the dying seconds of the half. Our keeper Ron was able to gather the low shot.

                                           First Goal

We were able to poses the ball better in the second half. Early in the half, Brian Dunne found the ball in the box, touched it around the keeper, and finished near post. We continued to maintain possession fairly well through the rest of the half. The wet conditions made it difficult to string together the fluid passes we were able to in some of the scrimmages, but we were able to put together some creative play. Brian Dunne found the back of the net for a second time after picking up a poorly played ball by the defense, lifting his head up, and calmly putting it in the back of the net with his left foot.

Dunne and a little post goal dougie

We held onto the lead the rest of the way through and ended the game with a 2-0 win. After the game we had a get together with the other teams. We shared hors doeuvres and met this year's tournament director before heading back to our rooms to get some rest before our game against Air Force the next day.

Last days of Camp

We finished up camp with a day of rest. Below are some random pics that I have from camp that I have not included in previous posts.

Nelson "Papi", chatting in the breakroom

Jesse getting ready for the Rangers game

Mike "F.C." sporting the Arsenal love

James finding the cooler

Van ride to a scrimmage

Jesse looking at a serious meal

********************** ***************SPOILER ALERT*****************************









We have won both tournament games we have played so far. We beat the Army 2-0 and the Air Force 1-0. Details and videos to follow :)

Last of the scrimmages

We had four scrimmages near the end of camp to help improve our as the tournament rapidly approached. We played two back to back 60 minute games against the Allied Forces club team here at the Naval Air Station.

Pre-game strategy

Walter on the move

We dominated both games. It was obvious our work over the previous days had paid off; we were more organized and more fit. We strung together some very creative attacks and were able to play simple soccer, which is rarely easy to do. We won both game by numerous goals. Garnett (G) had the goal of the match by cutting around two defenders before finding the side net from the corner of the box.

Allied forces try to clear to ball

Scott Cook nods it away

The following day we had a morning training session and then took the vans to play the Honduran team for a second time. The first time we met, the Hondurans won by numerous goals. This time around we were a much more prepared team. We took control of the middle of the park early and significantly cut down their opportunity to dribble into space.

 Kyle warming up

Ron warming up

Nate getting to the ball

The game was fairly even, but we came away with more opportunities to score. Unfortunately the final score sheet didn't indicate that. We ended up losing 3-2, however, their third goal would not likely have been a goal with a different referee staff running the game. Ron, our keeper collected the ball after he saw the sideline referee call off-sides and gingerly passed the ball to the spot of the violation. In a lack of communication, the center ref never saw the sideline judge call off-sides so he never stopped the play. Moreover, a Honduran defender picked off the pass and walked it into the goal unchallenged as both teams stood around dumbfounded. There was a small follow-on argument but we ended up not pushing the issue as the final score had no real relevance. 

Half time strategy

Overall, it was great to see the marked improvement that we had made since our first scrimmage with the Hondurans. 

We had our final scrimmage against a part Air Force, part civilian club team. This was our second time playing against this group. It was obvious we were the stronger side from the beginning. We were a bit tired from the scrimmage with the Hondurans the night before however, we were still able to dictate most of the play and pass out of tight spots without giving them many opportunities to shoot. The final result ended as 2-0 in our favor.

Tudd making a successful far post run

After the game we enjoyed some beers and soda with the visiting team and headed back to the Navy Gateway to order some pizza and take advantage of having the rest of the day off.

Round 2 with foam rollers & Navy Seal workout

We made our much needed second appointment with Wendy Strawbridge at the NAS Pensacola fitness center. We rolled out our leg muscles with foam rollers and PT sticks. We used two tennis balls tapped together to roll on the bottom of our feet.

This was useful makeshift tool as it could be used to roll out other muscles like calves and even back muscles. We also spent a significant time stretching and hitting some yoga poses that left us feeling much more nimble that when we arrived.

Demonstrating the warrior pose

After our morning session at the gym we had a night training session. We continued to work on our transitions and how to keep our defensive shape when we turn over the ball. After practice we went out to New York Nicks, a local sports bar to watch the USA vs Ecuador soccer match. The soccer game was less than thrilling, as the US fell to Ecuador 1-0 in what looked to be a lackluster effort by the US squad. We still had great time, as we got to hang out as a team and the coaches picked up the tab!

Beautiful night for soccer

The next morning a member of the Navy Seal & SWCC Scout Team came to practice to run us through a workout. We worked a circuit consisting of push ups, lunges, sit ups, sprints, jumping jacks, stretching, and squats; spending a minute at each station and doing a set of half field line grabbers before moving to the next station. We ran through the circuit twice and were pretty spent by the end of it.

Listening to Seal scout

After the workout we gathered in the pavilion and the scout discussed Navy special operation with us. It was an informative session and those of us interested in the seal program or other special operations had a great opportunity to get some first hand knowledge.

That evening we had another training session. We broke up into three teams and took turns scrimmaging each other and a local German club team.

New Orleans

This last Friday we traveled to New Orleans for a soccer-culture weekend extravaganza. We left around 1000 and pointed our vans towards the Marriott Residence Inn. We made a pit-stop for lunch at the BBQ shed, which had featured on the show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. It turned out to be a great stop, some of the best BBQ I had ever had.

Leaving with full stomachs

Some more BBQ ambiance

After checking in and enjoying some down time around the hotel we made our way to the Tulane campus. The Tulane club team was fairly skilled and had some good athletes. A very quick Tulane forward got free in our final third and surprised us with a quick goal just a few moments after kick off. It took us a solid 15 minutes to figure out the speed of the play and the way the ball bounced on their turf field. Once we did, the game shifted in our direction. The final score line ended as 2-2; Tim was man of the match with a header goal off of a corner kick and a cool right footed finish inside the box (he's left footed). We were the better team but we didn't get the result we deserved. There is still plenty of work to be done.

Futbol-ing

After the game the Tulane players were curious about what we did in the Military so we gathered around, introduced ourselves, and gave a quick sentence long description of our duty station. They seemed genuinely interested and it was a good to hear everyone on the team speak about their lives away from soccer.

Tulane on the left, All Navy on the right

After the game we cleaned up at the hotel and headed out for a night out in New Orleans, most of us jumped between Bourbon and Frenchman Street. Florida was awaiting a college football beat-down by LSU so there were plenty of Gator and LSU fans around pumping up the environment.

Going out

The next day we picked ourselves up and drove to New Orleans University for an afternoon scrimmage. There was a brief field malfunction (see picture below) so we shifted to a different campus location and played on smaller size field. In order to accommodate for the smaller field we divided up into three teams and took turns playing against each other and the university players. After a number of short games we thanked the U. NO players and pushed ourselves with a sprint workout.

Prairie soccer 

Sprints

After the game a few of us went out for some dinner. We found a small quintessential New Orleans restaurant, with live jazz saxophone, and enjoyed some great dinner and drinks.

Man on the sax

The next day we checked out of the hotel and made our way to the University of Southern Mississippi. We played on one of the widest fields I have ever played on. It was apparent from the start of the game we were the better team, and we got a deserving result. We won 5-1 and were able to pass around them most of the second half as our fitness once again prevailed. After discussing the game we loaded into the vans and headed back to Pensacola.

Scrimmage-tissue sandwich

University of West Florida Alum

We traveled to the Pensacola Futbol club again, but this time got to play on one of their stadium fields that was luckily in great condition. The UWF alum were probably the best all around team we have faced yet. They were fast, technically good and could threaten with quick passing and long balls. We matched them well during the first half but as the game drew on our fitness tipped the scale in our direction. We were able to keep our composure and cover our marks better than them during the second half  and managed to absorb most of the procession. The final score ended up being 3-3. Tudd scored twice and Dunne scored once and assisted Tudd on his second. Kyle had a breakout game playing out on the right side and ran past the defense pretty much every time he touched the ball. All-in-all we had a great time matching up against a skilled team and came away with a significant confidence boost.

Suiting down after the scrimmage

Tissue Revitalization

The following morning we headed over to the NAS gym and participated in a group stretching and foam rolling session led by a Navy physical therapist. There were some painful howls when we rolled out our IT band's, quads, and the tissue on the outside of our legs just above our knees.

Rolling our calves

I think we made an good impression on the physical therapist when James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" came on the radio and a number of players who will go unnamed, broke out into a sing along ballad. Scott was man-of-the-stretch match as he knew all of the yoga poses and was complimented on his knowledge of the warrior pose.

Nate, rolling away

Allied Forces Soccer Team

After our session at the gym we had a day of rest before taking on the Allied Forces club team that night. A team consisting of local Floridian military members. We played at our training fields on the NAS, so no travel was necessary. The Allied forces were in shape and very fast, but their technical ability was not quite as good as the UWF Alum, we dominated play for the majority of the night. We scored early and remained ahead as we tallied a number of other goals throughout the night.

Discussing tactics before the scrimmage 

                     courtesy of Diane Martinez

Diane Martinez, a team friend of the Allied Forces snapped some great pictures during the match. They are posted below. 

Scott battling for a header

Mike FC taking it to the touchline

 Brett lining up to strike a free kick

Allied Forces on the left, All Navy on the right