Summer’s over
Not quite the finish that we had hoped for... We ended up losing the last two games to finish fourth. In the semi-final we played Croatia and battled in a close game that we just could not finish. Going down the stretch Croatia once again scored the big 6 on 5 goals that we just did not seem to be able to score. It was an interesting game as we were only up a man 6 times - compared to the night before against Romania when everything was an exclusion - it seemed like we could not do anything to get an exclusion against Croatia. In fact, we only had one chance in the final quarter as Croatia earned three in the final quarter. The final score was 11 - 9.
In the bronze medal game we played Spain for the third time on the trip. They jumped on us early and scored three unanswered goals before we woke up and started to play. We tied pulled back to within one in the fourth quarter but just seemed to run out of gas as we could not close the gap. The final score was 12 - 9. My biggest disappointment in this tournament was our defense which averaged giving up 12 goals per game. This is a big contrast to the Beijing Olympics where are defense was so strong and we were giving up just 6 goals a game.
Our 4th place finish does qualify us for the World Championships next year in Shanghai and for the second year in a row we will be ranked in the top four. I really believed that the team was going to come through and win a medal at a couple of these tournaments this year. Serbia looked good. They won both the World League and the World Cup. In fact, at the World Cup in Romania they beat Croatia 13 - 7 in the final.
Our defense was disappointing and our 6 on 5 was not that great either. We definitely have some things to work on as we get ready for next summer. We can qualify for the Olympics in London one of three ways next summer. The first would be to win World League in late June. The second would be to win a medal (top three) in Shanghai at the World Championships and the third was is to win the Pan American Games which are in Guadalajara, Mexico next October.
There were many frustrations on the trip but all in all it was a time for us to go through some tough times and grow together. I had some great one on one meetings with many of the guys and I will continue to meet with the team when I return from Europe. I felt like we learned some things about each other and we will continue to grow. This is a process and we need to integrate some of the younger players into our system fast. Many of these younger players are behind - mainly just in getting experience in big games.
Sorry I was not too consistent with my blogs this summer. Now that we have passed the two year mark to London, I will try to be better about that as we go forward.
Thank you for all of your support and see you at the pool soon.
Coach
In the bronze medal game we played Spain for the third time on the trip. They jumped on us early and scored three unanswered goals before we woke up and started to play. We tied pulled back to within one in the fourth quarter but just seemed to run out of gas as we could not close the gap. The final score was 12 - 9. My biggest disappointment in this tournament was our defense which averaged giving up 12 goals per game. This is a big contrast to the Beijing Olympics where are defense was so strong and we were giving up just 6 goals a game.
Our 4th place finish does qualify us for the World Championships next year in Shanghai and for the second year in a row we will be ranked in the top four. I really believed that the team was going to come through and win a medal at a couple of these tournaments this year. Serbia looked good. They won both the World League and the World Cup. In fact, at the World Cup in Romania they beat Croatia 13 - 7 in the final.
Our defense was disappointing and our 6 on 5 was not that great either. We definitely have some things to work on as we get ready for next summer. We can qualify for the Olympics in London one of three ways next summer. The first would be to win World League in late June. The second would be to win a medal (top three) in Shanghai at the World Championships and the third was is to win the Pan American Games which are in Guadalajara, Mexico next October.
There were many frustrations on the trip but all in all it was a time for us to go through some tough times and grow together. I had some great one on one meetings with many of the guys and I will continue to meet with the team when I return from Europe. I felt like we learned some things about each other and we will continue to grow. This is a process and we need to integrate some of the younger players into our system fast. Many of these younger players are behind - mainly just in getting experience in big games.
Sorry I was not too consistent with my blogs this summer. Now that we have passed the two year mark to London, I will try to be better about that as we go forward.
Thank you for all of your support and see you at the pool soon.
Coach
posted by Dr. Terry Schroeder at
8:50 AM
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