Comments on: East Bay Boys Soccer Notes: Dougherty Valley, Rankings, Standings, Stats

By: Curious Observer

Curious Observer — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 00:21:50 +0000

Also let me add that after D.V.’s first goal Piedmont sliced up D.V. in three passes and moved the ball from the keeper to the outside left mid and scored. The next three D.V. goals were all goals that the keeper gave up big rebounds and should of punched them away. D.V.’s #7 and #12 are phenomenal players and were tough to play but Piedmont’s #21 shut down #12 for a majority of the game. D.V.’s center backs are also very strong players. They are not an easy team to beat.

By: Curious Observer

Curious Observer — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 23:58:46 +0000

About your these comments and records. First of all, O’dowd was without their Senior Keeper, two senior strikers, which are academy players, and a strong sweeper that game, against Dougherty Valley. They were forced to start with a sophomore keeper and a forward as a center back. Hence two of their goals were scored on such inexperience. The second half of that game was dominated by Bishop O’Dowd possession wise.

Second you have Piedmont with a tie, which was a scrimmage game against Tennyson. And Piedmont’s loss to Dougherty Valley was another game that lost most of it’s luster before the game happened. Piedmont was missing their starting keeper Scott White, sweeper, outside back, and outside midfielder Keisuke Ohtaka. Dougherty Valley beat a weaker version of the Piedmont team that beat Kennedy and St. Mary’s.

By: love the game

love the game — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 21:40:18 +0000

Global soccer,

Was at this game too, and thought that the game for SRV was pretty bad all the way around. SRV forwards had wide open shots in front of the goal and could not hit the net, SRV mids held the ball too long, and the defenders played ok but lost focus in the 87th minute. Overall the SRV touch was not there either, I do not think you can blame one or two players. On the Acalanes side, they did not play enough diagnol balls and had good possession but no idea what to do in the attacking third. Also kudos to the Acalanes goalie who was in the right place at the right time when SRV did take some good shots. Referee was not the best

By: GlobalSoccer

GlobalSoccer — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 18:31:27 +0000

The SRV-Acalanes game was ugly in terms of futbol. Overall, I thought SRV has a more complete team but didn’t take advantage. This is the 4th game where I have seen SRV’s mids disappear in the game. I believe someone previously posted that both mids (Guisti/Melara) were good. They have not shown in big games.

By: OlDHAALDad

OlDHAALDad — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 16:21:54 +0000

This is getting a little silly but one last comment. Track ovals have set deminsions, you can’t change the straights away or the curves and still be in compliance, none of your times would be able to count as records. I have never argued that Richmond has not increased the size of their field but I have a hard time believing they did so at the expense of their track program. My prior post dealt with the difference in width between Richmond and DLS which is significant and I would agree the rest of the EBAL is narrower. I’m not sure by how much, maybe 3 to 4 yards but not 5 but I’m spliting hairs here.

By: The Sweeper

The Sweeper — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 07:09:08 +0000

OlDHAALDad,

Assuming that American football fields are uniform at 53.3 yards wide (160′) and 120 yards long (and they are per the NCS), look again at the Richmond soccer pitch on Google. The track oval is wider and straights are shorter (curves start earlier). The soccer pitch width is more than 10 yards wider on each side, meaning 73+ yards wide. Pace it off as I did last year and you will see that this field is wider by 5+ yards, but not quite as long as MV, SRV, FH, AV. Not a trivial amount and a good home field advantage for a ball control team.

This field width creates a playing advantage for a ball control precision passing team such as the Oilers, and the shorter field length negates team speed advantages. You can appreciate the subtleties of the field if you see several matches there.

By: The Sweeper

The Sweeper — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 01:34:00 +0000

Here is the secret to beating SRV. Commit 2x the fouls, get 4 minutes of extra time, confuse the ref and score in the 6th minute of extra time, with 7+ minutes of total extra time added. If you keep adding time, eventually someone will score. The officials did a decent job of calling this chippy match, but did not properly manage the added time. The Don’s keeper does deserve kudos for his play, but it should have been a tie.

By: OlDHAALDad

OlDHAALDad — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 00:52:13 +0000

One final word on field width and then I’ll shut-up about it. Richmond’s field is wider by about a yard or two on both sides than all the EBAL fields except DLS where the difference is more like five to seven yards on both sides. Because they are out of real estate DLS has had to incorporate fan seating within the track oval on the home side. This leaves just about enough room for the linesman to run on that side of the soccer field. Check them out on google earth.

By: fyi

fyi — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 23:48:34 +0000

SLZ has da potential to take it all the way thiss year with a magnificant squad

By: OlDHAALDad

OlDHAALDad — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 22:18:43 +0000

Acalanes 1 SRV 0 in extra time. Not a well played match by either side, lots of yellows and a soft red, referee was a little weak but not the worst I’ve seen. The match got a little chippy in the second half but Acalanes hung in there even though I thought SRV was the stronger side. The Dons got a good ball into the area and it pinged around in there like a pin ball before Acalanes knocked it passed the keeper. SRV had three set pieces awarded against the second string keeper at the very in of the game but couldn’t push one in. BTW the Acalanes starting keeper is out for the year, pretty serious injury against Dublin. I guess we’ll be hearing some DFAL “Crowing” next week.