Pan Am Update 11/24/11

Today we played a scrappy Brazilian team that did not roll over easy. They were able to slow down our offense and keep the game close but that is all. We were never behind and we played just well enough to win. Honestly, I was disappointed in our effort today. We took Brazil lightly and that is always dangerous. I have no one to blame but myself. They guys were not ready to play mentally. We were up 2 - 0 and 4 - 1 but kept allowing Brazil to hang close. At the end of three quarters we were up 5 - 4. At that point, Ryan Bailey stepped up and scored two nice goals in a row to help us put them away. Tim Hutton also had two goals in the game and Peter Varellas, Layne Beaubien, JW Krumpolz and Jeff Powers each scored one. Merrill Moses went the distance in the goal today.

We had a long meeting tonight and spoke about our focus and our intensity. We did not play with any urgency and that is something that we need to get back. It is amazing how there really is such a small difference between winning and losing. If you don’t come with your best stuff then you give the other team a chance, no matter how much better you are then them. The other negative about today’s game is that we gave Canada some hope. And in sports as in life, hope tends to go a long way.

Tomorrow is a new day and a time to change the tide. We will face Argentina, who gave Brazil a good battle. You can bet that we will come ready to play. A win tomorrow puts us in the semi’s against Cuba who lost today to Canada 15 - 10. The semi’s will be played on Thursday with the final on Saturday. We are three wins away from that Olympic berth that we came here to win.

See you at the pool.

Coach