ICC Girls Soccer Scrimmage

I caught most of the ICC-Red Hook girl's soccer scrimmage today minus about 10 minutes in the third period. Unless there was a goal during that time the final was 1-0 ICC.

All in all it was a pretty physical contest with some sloppy play at times, but overall solid action. The finishing in the final third of the field was a struggle for both teams. As I said earlier, finding natural goal scorers is always the hardest thing to do.

I figured ICC would have pretty good team speed as they have in the past, whether it was lack of conditioning, the fact that it was early season, or maybe Red Hook was just a pretty quick team the Riders didn't blow me away with their speed. Although their toughness was a pleasant surprise.

Haley Ooms was quick, active and skilled at sweeper which is always good to see from the leader of your defense. I like Shana Barry too. She's got good size and a great foot, reminds me a little of former Chatham player Emily Brown. If Barry can get a tough mean streak in her like Brown had, watch out!

The team at this stage, and it is still a very early stage, seems to lack an identity. Are they a long ball team? A team who methodically moves the ball up the field with quality passes? A tough minded defensive squad? They need someone to step up and take control of a game like Watt has done so many times over the past few years. The player doesn't have to be as skilled or saavy as Watt, just someone needs to take control and make a big play.

It was just a scrimmage, there were certainly positives and negatives. Without having seen any other teams and without having reviewed my notes on last year I'd think it's safe to assume the Riders will be in the top half of the league, probably in a battle with Maple Hill for the league title.