03/28 Weekend Recap

Opening Weekend!!! Pumped to be back with beautiful soccer weather here in CO.

Men’s Team

Our Men’s team started us off this weekend with an away game win against CF REM. With a 1-0 result, they hit a couple of posts too, and the score probably should have been 4-0. The team played well and showed chemistry throughout the match. They established a "press & possess in their end" rhythm very effectively, and there was a lot of buy-in to that mentality amongst the team. Collin Miller hit home the lone goal from a loose ball just outside the box.

From the Men’s team coach: '“The group showed many collective strengths for the first game of the season. Now it's time to build on success and continue inching forward - the work, the fun, and the journey have just begun!”

Paul Hogan was named Player of the Match

Women’s Green

Next was our FC Denver Women’s Green team against SDW Lady Renegades. FC Denver Green played a strong first half, conceding only 2 goals and responding electrifyingly with a set piece kicked by midfielder Sami Roybal and kneed into the back of the net by midfielder Lidia Battaglia. The second half brought in more attacks by the Lady Renegades, making it difficult to pick up momentum and respond to advancements. Savannah Watts had 13 saves on her first cap with FC Denver. In the end they lost 1-9 and defender CJ Munro was named player of the match.

Masters

At the same time FC Denver Masters faced off against GAM United FC Blue. The most decorated FC Denver squad made its return after a year and a half off. It was a predictably uneven match with a new squad and such a long layoff. In the first half, after dominating possession and not being able to convert a few quilt edge chances. Masters went down in the 35th minute on a quick counter. However after the break, the Masters again, had the better run of the play and was able to even the score after some nice buildup and a great back post finish by B. Little. Ten minutes later and after another great team move. John Lee was able to rocket home a cross from Carlos.

From the Master’s coach on the goal: “Early goal of the year favorite. The goalie really had no chance and was heard mumbling prayers that he didn't get hit with the shot. The game was put away by Riggs who broke free on a through ball, preceded to break a guy's leg. Really! And finish his chance with a rocket in the corner. Riggsy being Riggsy. A great start to the season as Masters begins their campaign to return to dominance.”

John Lee was named player of the match.

U-23

FC Denver U-23 then kicked off for the first time with this new team against another team on a full field. The snow stoppages did not help the U-23s, leaving them with some room for improvement tactically and situationally on the field. The Rovers were a very good team, stocked with experienced players, who play well together, and it was always going to be a difficult game.

From the U-23 coach: “It’s never fun to lose, but I think this was a good eye-opener for this young team to understand that stepping into the next level, last year‘s results matter to teams that already have established playing styles and that are stocked with better players. Having said that, there were many good moments of the guys starting to understand how to connect with each other in transition. Even with the score line as it was, it was great to see you guys still trying to build on their game, rather than simply give up. Individually, we did not stick to things that players were assigned. 1V1 defending was very poor, and personal responsibility for recovering in defensive transition and breaking in transition with numbers in the counter was not great. So we will work on those things and build from the lesson of playing against Rovers, a team has a great culture and a clear identity of a playing style that they have built on for a while.”

Legends

The Legends faced AC Colorado and had the majority of both possession and goal scoring opportunities, but a 1-3 result. AC Colorado sneaked in a goal on a counter attack with 10 mins left in the first half. The Legends came out strong in the second half and created 3-4 chances within the first 7-8 mins including a PK where Tyler was fouled and Brady converted. With 35 mins left in the second half and the game tied 1-1, the keeper received a red card for a foul well outside our box. They played the balance of the game with Austin in goal -- who came up big a few times. AC Colorado got lucky with an own goal that bounced off of at least 3 of our players, and then had a one-on-one with Austin. Although they played a man down for most of the second half, the Legends kept the ball and created a ton of opportunities, with AC Colorado keeper coming up big on multiple occasions.

From the Legends Coach: “All-in-all, we're unhappy with the result, but happy with the effort and what was a dominant performance (save the scoreboard).”

The player of the match was Alex Brand.

Women’s White

A strong start to the season, FCD Women's White came out with vengeance against their rival FC Boulder. The theme of this game was composure under pressure, and the team’s movement off the ball led them to dominate the entire match. No surprise here the first goal was scored by Katie Marcheso off of a free kick from Nikki Graf. An essential early goal that changed the energy of the game and put FC Boulder on the defensive. Then in her first FC Denver match Shelby Wilson scored in the 30th minute from a through ball from Sara Spaulding. After the half ended at 2-0 FC Boulder came back with a new energy and while they possessed for the first few minutes it was short lived, and they were silenced by a 3rd goal from Cat Devitt finishing it from the top of the box. The rest of the game was possessed by FC Denver with FC Boulder’s only goal coming as a fluke miss hit from our keeper and an easy pass into the back of the net. Overall a great start to the season for our Women’s White team.

Players of the match were Katie Marcheso and Sam Harder in her first game with FC Denver.