Coaches preach about consistency of performance all the time. We build it into every aspect of the team that we can. Same warm up routine everyday in practice and for pre-game. Same formation every game. Same personnel in the same positions every game. We do these things to establish a comfort level for the players. Everyone in "their" position with the same role and expectations.
Remember the scene in Hoosiers where upon arriving at the site for the state championship Gene Hackman's character pulls out a measuring tape and has them measure the height of the basket? In soccer we could measure the size of the goal, the size of the penalty area or the center circle. Consistency.
So it was that I looked for arrow and stick on the defensive side of the ball and winning the ball, securing the ball with a SAFE PASS and them finding the path of least resistance to goal via playing the way they faced and allowing player movement to dictate ball movement. These things had been constants in the Spartans play in recent matches, Would they be present against an elite opponent like St. Francis?
The good news is much of this was in evidence during the first half of the match. True, the Spartans had to defend for long stretches of the first half, but they did so within themselves and within the teams defensive scheme and philosophy. The Spartans took everything the Knights had and stood firm. Lima Senior was consistent in their defensive performance.
The Spartans struggled more on the offensive side, but there were signs of consistency here as well. Those opening minutes of the match when both teams were settling in saw crisp smart possession by the Spartans giving proof that they are capable of playing their game even against an elite team like the Knights. The question then became one of whether Lima Senior could sustain consistency?
The answer to that question is yes, and no.
The Spartans took the lead in this match on one of their first forays into the Knights half of the pitch. Alex Ehora took a shot on goal from approximately 35 yards out. The Knights goalkeeper bobbled the ball and Connor Aboujaoude was there to put the rebound into the net. The Spartans led 1 - 0!
My immediate thought was, OK, the Knights just got slapped upside the head are the Spartans ready for the counter punch? Moments later Colton Fry had an opportunity to put Lima Senior on the board again when he broke free from the left flank. Unfortunately Fry's shot hit side netting on the outside of the goal.
Then came the St. Francis counter punch.
The Knights scored twice late in the first half. The first goal came off a loose ball rebound that a Knight volleyed in from a distance of 20 yards out. The second goal came from a long throw-in to the back post where a St. Francis player headed the ball into the goal. The significance here is it took spectacular goals to get St. Francis on the board and give them the lead.
The Spartans played a fairly consistent half of soccer. They were in the match at half time. Could Lima Senior sustain the effort into and throughout the second half?
The answer to that was unfortunately a resounding "No."
The Knights tacked on 4 more goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half. One of those came with a Lima Senior Spartan lying prone in the penalty area with an injury. A most unsporting goal and definitely outside the spirit of the beautiful game. The first of these four goals looked like an own goal off another long throw-in. The second came off an errant pass along the top of the Spartans 18 and the third from a loose ball scramble inside the Lima Senior penalty area. Only the fourth goal could be said to be earned by the a build up of play by the Knights.
Consistency?
Actually, yes. Lima Senior has had a pattern of playing elite level teams even for long stretches of time only to suffer through inexplicable periods of near complete breakdown that allows those teams to pull away. Last night it was the last 10 minutes of the first half yielding two spectacular goals and surrendering 4 goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Six goals in 20 minutes of playing time.
The real point of emphasis here has to be those first 10 minutes of the second half. Why did the Spartans get blitzed like that? The first goal was a bit fluky and might be attributed to poor or lack of communication among the Spartan defenders. It might well have been the tipping point in the match. In my opinion this was the point where the Spartans temporarily lost all sense of positive consistency. Individual effort went up but collective effort diminished for Lima Senior. In short, the Spartan's panicked.
Adversity is the enemy of consistency.
Therefore learning to deal with adversity is the key to being able to give consistent effort throughout a closely contested match. The Spartans are at the "learning to win" stage of development in their program. It is a process. The key is in the details of the process. Learning to focus on what they can control and doing this to the best of their ability is enough to get this team and their program over the hump. They are proving this is so over long stretches of play against great competition. They waiver in conviction and focus for brief periods in these difficult matches and that is their undoing for now.
Consistency in belief.
Consistency in trust.
Consistency in leadership.
Consistency in adhering to the system of play.
These are the things that bring consistency to performance.
As the second half wore on, Lima Senior did begin to regain some semblance of previous consistency. It came first in their defensive play and then begin to transfer to their attacking play. I am a firm believer that players are the experts in the game. Watch them play video games . They lose a life, go back to the beginning and try a different way to beat that level of play. And they keep doing this until they advance. Soccer players are like this. The Spartans eventually began finding their way again. They began slowing the Knights attack and working within their defensive scheme to regain possessions. From there they looked to secure possession with safe passes and attack in rhythm and with pace. It wasn't a smooth process, but it was and will continue to be a process. In this match it resulted in a second Lima Senior goal via a well struck free kick from Alex Ehora. Two scores against a quality side... that's progress in the process.
I'm not a big one on moral victory but am huge on recognizing progress in the process. That continues to occur at Lima Senior. Everyone recognizes the strides this program is making... and there is some frustration the process is not delivering better results faster than it is. Remember the progress already made and stay committed to continuing forward in the process.
Stay true to your defensive system. Defend to attack. Attack via the path of least resistance.
Persistency to Consistency.
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