This morning, we played 2 games with Marist. In the first game, our HEdCen Midgets A team (boys born 95-97) beat Marist 3-1. At the start of the game, Marist seemed to be taking control until our players, ALL our players transformed into a team with one mind. HEdCenites were always 2 steps ahead. We were able to penetrate Marist’s defense on both wings. Before the game, Coach Sugar and I reminded the boys on each side to work together using combination plays to utilize the space and make breakaway attacks to the wings. They did just that. James and Luigi got things going on the right side. Their runs were well-timed, and their passes to the spaces were very good. On the left flank, it was John and Edward. They did just as well as the right wingers and had very good help from Miguel Almazan, striker, and Rvin Resuma, center midfielder. The first goal was scored by James Condat who caught the goalie away from the goal and delivered a shot that went over the Marist defense, keeper, and into the net. A few minutes after, Harvy Maitem of Marist received a pass from Marist teammates and caught HEdCen’s defenders getting too comfortable at the back. He took a shot and banged the ball past Nikko’s hands. The game was tied at that point. It was then that HEdCen’s defense woke up and never let Marist score again. Rvin Resuma scored the next 2 goals which lifted HEdCen 3-1 by halftime.

I was very happy to see all of our players perform very well today in the Midgets A division. Jason played brilliantly when he relieved Luigi at the left. The game rhythm was not lost even if there changes in the positions of some players. Ackie and Troy played exceptionally well in their positions today as defenders.

We still need to make our cutting and passing more automatic. It has to turn into an instinct so I will devise some drills and scrimmages that will help them further anticipate each other’s moves and have more options in the field which may result to better decisions made by each player in the games.

Our highschoolers beat Marist 3-1 though they struggled the entire game. I think that HEdCen was more conscious of working as a team and avoiding solo plays than in the game against CSA last week but it was evident that they were very uncomfortable using the wings to penetrate the defense of their opponent. They were also out of shape. They were very sluggish and their reaction time was slow. We can work on the game movement and system of the team slowly but the players must get themselves fit or the game plan will be useless.

Coach Bernard is planning a training program to address the team’s lack of endurance but we are hoping the highschool players will be responsible enough to train together. So far, its always been 4-5 highschoolers who practice at a time. I hope after the midterms starting Friday, the highschool team will train religiously MWTh. Managing time is a challenge for a highschooler but it can be done.

I still have high hopes for our candidates because they have the potential to be a winning team and a contender for the championship. Right now, we’re far from it but we can still reach that goal in time if we start working now. We have the material, but now, we need the desire and the commitment of the players.