05 Aztecs Recap: 1st Place Finish at San Ramon Soccerfest

One weekend removed from a tough opening weekend at the Stanford Classic and no practice on Thursday due to the Air Quality Index soaring over 150, the 05 Aztecs had a lot to prove coming into their second weekend of play. To be fair, all games in the Sunnyvale were competitive indicating that a positive game result would be around the corner.

The San Ramon Soccerfest featured a Round Robin tournament play meaning each team would in our bracket would play each other once. 5 team bracket, 4 games, and the team with the most points by end of day Sunday would be declared the winner.

Our first match against Clovis saw the boys adopt a new defensive formation with 2 centerbacks instead of the typical sweeper/stopper formation we've played for years. No practice to install it, just a short explanation how I wanted the defense to play. The game was really sluggish for the first 10-15 minutes as the boys adjusted to the new defense and the thick grass but once acclimated, the boys moved the game into decisively our favor.

With Graham Kol (our regular Stopper) out for the weekend, Ryan Wunderman would step into the Stopper role full time ahead of Mason Hill and Spencer Biles in their dual centerbacks roles. Ryan W absolutely stepped it up shutting down many Clovis attacks before they got thru to the last line and like I've seen him do so well over the years, Ryan was especially good at starting the counterattack once possession was regained moving the ball into open space. Here's an example of Ryan winning possession, then smartly dribbling the ball up the field into space before delivering a thru ball:

Brady Lind would get the first score of the game (and his first goal as an Aztec) as he took a long thru ball from Ryan W played into space down the right side so he could use his speed to get past his defender and score with an absolutely innate ability to just be faster and stronger than anyone else on the field. He's one to watch every time he gets an opportunity to run in the open field. We'd be calling Brady "The Flash" by the time this game was over because of his blazing speed.

Ryan Wunderman with the assist on the first goal wouldn't stop there as he'd collect his first goal of the season later for the 2-1 lead and then the onslaught was on. What had been a tight 1-1 game for most of the first half turned into a 5-1 blowout by game's end. Leo Ricketts and Judd Phillips would combine on the remaining goals with some terrific combination and unselfish play up top. Here's Judd with a great move in the 2nd half and his shot finds the post:

In the back, Spencer and Mason would figure things out very quickly in their new roles and Chris Obsitnik, Jordan Vu, and Arman Sahi combined in a rotation on the outside back positions to shut down Clovis repeatedly. Props to Ryan Razeghi for his play up top on offense as well. While Razeghi didn't register a goal or an assist in this game, his pursuit of the ball and unrelenting pressure gave us a number of opportunities and is "the animal on steriods" type of play Razeghi promised me he'd bring every game out. Promise kept Razeghi, now keep it up!

Our second match on Saturday day was a re-match from the previous weekend vs. Marin. I was late arriving to this game as my 08 Aztecs had a game finish just minutes before this match kicked off. Coaches Mark and Pete had everything under control and the boys came out with something to prove. With the score tied 1-1 at halftime, it felt like this game would determine the winner of the tournament. To our disadvantage, while we were playing our 2nd game of the day, this was Marin's first game. Their fresher legs showed as the game went on and we would steadily lose players to fatigue and injury.

To begin the 2nd half we'd have two great scoring opportunities miss wide from short range. Seizing on the missed opportunities, Marin would add a goal from distance and then a breakaway to take a 3-1 advantage midway thru the 2nd half.

Down to one available player at that point in the game didn't mean our boys would give up though. On a beautiful cornerkick from Judd Phillips, Jordan Vu was at the right place and right time to finish with a mid-air volley into the back of the net to bring us within a goal for the remaining 10 minutes. (Uncredited assist to coach Kol for the set-up!)

With seconds left in the game Marin would add a 4th goal from distance on a goal kick that went directly to Marin (poor marking on the goal kick) and than a shot that was more luck than skill would find the net after looping over Will Garrigan's head in goal who was a late keeper substitution. This goal allowed along with 2 others from Marin in this game did highlight one area we need to be better though and that's putting pressure on players so we aren't allowing shots on goal regardless of whether they 25 plus feet from the goal. We have to do a better job of defending as a team and pressuring higher to protect our goalie. On the flipside, one of things I spoke to Collin about was owning the 6 yard box as well as the 18 yard penalty box on breakways. Collin would do well to improve his aggressiveness coming out of goal to make plays on Sunday which would be pivotal because we'd need to win both games on Sunday and get help from the other teams in our bracket if we were going to catch Marin on points.

Sunday's first match against Castro Valley was a late 1st game kickoff and I think the extra rest helped. Though we still were limited in numbers with only 3 subs for this game, the boys had their best all around game of the season. We domininated possession and scoring opportunities all game long. Leo Ricketts was outstanding once again in midfield. Brady, Judd, and Razeghi were relentless up top and our defense led by Spencer and Mason were too much for Castro Valley. Arman in his first weekend of play had his best game as an Aztec playing head's up soccer from his fullback position. What I really like about Arman is his ability to build the attack from the back by possessing the ball when he has time and then finding his midfielders. He also has the ability to put enough lift on the ball to feed a long thru ball to our strikers when the opportunity is there.

Here are some highlights from our 2-0 win vs Castro Valley:

Brady to Judd scoring opportunity:

Cameron creating the scoring opportunity first by sending a thru ball Razeghi can run on and then setting up Judd nicely for the shot on frame:

Judd setting up Leo for the shot on a goal:

Carter showing his speed and hustle to get a shot on goal just before the ball goes out over the end line:

Mason with the speed and smart decision making to foil a Castro Valley counterattack off an Aztec cornerkick:

Leo with the easy goal. Not shown is the relentless pressure by Razeghi that caused the turnover leading to the goal:

Collin doing well to come out of goal to snare a loose ball and then get the ball in play up the field. Garrigan and Cameron working on an overlap that leads to an opportunity across the Castro Valley goal. No one there but a nice sequence to get the ball from one end to the other.

Going into the fourth and final match of the weekend against San Ramon Red, I let the boys know we got the help we needed. Clovis tied Marin 0-0 in their final match (coupled with another Marin draw vs Castro Valley late Saturday night) leaving the door open to leap ahead Marin in the final standings for 1st place.

With plenty to play for the boys closed out the weekend with high marks registering the 3-1 victory. San Ramon took advantage of one opportunity for the only blemish on otherwise very well executed game from start to finish. Perhaps the most memorable moment was at halftime with game 1-1 at that point. Without Coach Pete to check-in the boys pre-game (and I was coaching the 08 Aztecs in their championship game), we forgot to check-in before kickoff. So despite needing the water break and halftime rest, we all marched over to the tournament tent to deal with formalities. The sound of the players cleats on concrete made quite the mark on my memory as we marched together to check-in as quickly as we could.

Razeghi would get us on the board in the first half with a breakaway goal. This goal happened just minutes after his first breakaway went wide by inches. Razeghi's speed and relentlessness once again paying dividends for us. Leo Ricketts would net the decisive final two goals of the game in the second half. Notably for me was the change of the velocity on his shots. At halftime I had asked Leo to put more power on his shots from distance where needed. Leo put the instructions to quick use and the San Ramon goalie had no chance on either shot. Well done Leo!

Couple more notes on players: I'd like to acknowledge Chris Obsitnik for continuing his strong overall play. Despite not feeling well this weekend, Chris has made a comittment to increasing his energy output this season and I've been holding him accountable to maintain consistency on his level of play from game to game. He was 4 for 4 this weekend. Way to fight every minute! Leo Ricketts had another phenomenal tournament. His play in the midfield changes things so much. Wunderman, Brady, and Razeghi all had stand out performances as well throughout the weekend.

After discussing with the coaches who deserved honors for the tournament game ball, there were a handful of names to choose from and we felt Jordan Vu merited the much deserved recognition. Jordan had a very strong opening weekend in Sunnyvale and his strong play got better in San Ramon. Showing no fear in winning 50-50 balls, tracking down strikers to dispossess, and helping to build the attack from the back line Jordan has really taken his game to another level this season. Throw in a beautiful a goal and he's playing with new found confidence in his abilities that really makes all the coaches so proud. This tournament game ball is a testament to playing with conviction and believing in yourself to raise your level of play to new heights. Congratulations Jordan Vu!!

Here's Jordan walking off the field with the tournament game ball in hand:

Have a great Labor Day! I do have an optional training in Teamsnap tomorrow so looking forward to seeing those who are around and can make it. The extra work we put in when no is watching does pay dividends. Congrats to the boys for the great weekend!!

Coach John