Coyotes Ice Polar Bears in Season Opener

On a beautiful day for soccer down at Heartland Soccer Park, Team Coyote emerged from their winter dens ready to rumble.  The first game of the season found the Coyotes matched up against the Polar Bears, and it looked as if the canine pack caught the snow bruins still groggy from winter hibernation....or...do polar bears hibernate?  Whatever the case, the Coyotes looked fresh and ready, while the Polar Bears looked disarrayed and caught in the headlights.

Even the newest members of Team Coyote got into the game and played well...given that 3 of the young 'Yotes had never before played a game of soccer!  Addison did a great job at the Defense position in the first quarter, getting her leg on a couple of balls, stopping the Polar Bears from advancing down field.  In the 4th Quarter, Addison did a good job of protecting the goal as Goalie...even though the team kept the Bears from taking too many shots on goal.

Tyler and Brock both did great jobs on defense, and both did very well at the Striker position in the 3rd quarter...given that neither of them had ever played the positions before yesterday.  GREAT JOB young Coyotes!  You were tested early, and proved you are ready to learn the game....and with more practice and experience, there is no doubt in this coaches mind that you will all do great this season!

The Polar Bears were seen licking their wounds after the game from the good old fashioned whooping that the Coyotes laid on them.  The first quarter started off tentatively for both teams as they felt each other out and got into the flow of the game.  The two teams traded punches, but neither one could find the goal ending the quarter 0-0.

As the 2nd quarter got underway, so did the Coyotes...as Rebekah, Kendrick, and Matt began dominating play from their Striker positions, keeping the Polar Bears totally on defense as the 'Yotes peeled off 5 unanswered goals to take a 5-0 lead into the halftime break.  The downside was that our young defensive players didn't get a lot of action or opportunity to block any shots on goal, as the Bears were unable to get into position to even attempt any shots on goal!  The Coyote offense was tenacious and unrelenting, constantly attacking the ball and preventing the Bears from even crossing the center line for most of the quarter.

The 3rd Quarter started with the Coyotes fielding 2 of our newer inexperienced players in the Striker position, with the more experienced 'Yotes in the Goalie and Defense position, so the newer players could get exposed to offense.  As I pointed out above, those newer players did a GREAT job, and got right into the flow of the game, attacking the ball and again, keeping the Bears confused and dazed.  The Polar Bears did manage to slip one past the 'Yote defense and Goalie and the quarter ended with the Coyotes holding on to a commanding 5-1 lead.

In the 4th Quarter, the Coyotes continued the pace as they took shot after shot on goal, but the Bears defense continued to stiffen, keeping the Coyote kicks out of the net.  Again, the Polar Bears found the back of the nets one more time, but it was too little too late...as the Coyotes held on to a dominating win 5-2 over the Polar Bear team.

Overall, this coach is proud of our team!  They came out kicking and attacking and did not let up, keeping the pressure on the Bears all game long.  GREAT job, Coyotes!  All that being said, we still have lots of room for improvement, and we will work on some things in practice this coming week.

Here are the Stats for Game 1:

Strikers:

Akil................................1 shot on goal
Kendrick........................4 shots on goal, 1 goal, 1 assist
Matt...............................8 shots on goal, 3 goals
Devin.............................1 shot on goal
Rebekah.........................3 shots on goal, 1 goal
Nick..............................1 shot on goal, 2 assists
Callie.............................2 shots on goal

Goalies:

Callie...........................1 save

You can clearly see from the stats how dominating our Coyote offense was yesterday!  I don't think the Polars Bears managed to take more than 5 shots on goal, 3 of which went wide and out of play.  GREAT JOB COYOTES!!!  Keep it up....next week, we play a more seasoned team, and so we need to keep on top of our game and practice hard to prepare.  Both Coach Joseph and I are proud of the way you ALL played yesterday, and look forward to a good practice this week.