Regarding Lexington and Riverside (the only game I was able to see); I thought that Renee Ballew at sweeper did a superb job for Riverside and saved quite a few shots. She really looked good at that position -- I'm used to seeing her in club at wing and knew she was a great athlete. Sarah Delap did her normally wonderful job at keeper; thankfully Lexington didn't give her many punts -- on the smaller field I was worried she might score by herself! I thought Riverside's coach had a great game plan and his team executed it well. Lydia Calvage did a very good job as a marking defender. And of course Austin Fagan and Sarah Jacobs at forward were quite good and when they got the ball were a danger.
These are only a few of the Riverside players that did quite well -- congratulations to them on their win in the Viking Cup.
Lexington has some tremendous athletes; what the team seems to me to need to do the most is to work on field vision and passing under pressure. As I understand it the coach has scheduled a few games with the JV boys in the past; seems like a great strategy for helping the girls get ready for an increased speed of play. If Lexington can begin playing a controlled passing-oriented style of play against pressure, they could do quite well this season. That, and a focus on executing set plays with the skill and precision that other teams do (i.e., Riverside today, Dorman last spring), seems to be continuing areas of focus for improvement.
