Laura Moynihan - We Thank You

This past weekend the Rockets Varsity squad traveled to Uihlien Soccer Park in Milwaukee to compete in the 15th annual Catholic Memorial tournament in honor of Laura Moynihan. A mother of four, Laura Moynihan began her involvement in soccer in 1977 on an administrative level, establishing the first girl's soccer league in the state of Wisconsin. She then started the first Olympic Development Program for girls in the state and served as the Director of WI Girl's ODP for 8 years. In 1983, she moved into the coaching ranks and continued to move girl's soccer forward until she passed away August 1, 1992 at the age of 47. Laura ended her career as the Head Coach for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's team.

The tournament attracts top talent throughout the state, and sometimes Illinois. Our Rockets faced Evanston (a strong team from IL) in the first round of play on Friday evening. Though the weather was warm and comfortable the wind was nothing short of amazing - kicking into the wind would kill a ball mid-flight and launch it something fierce with the wind at your back. Both teams took advantage of this offensively, each scoring 2 goals in their respective halves with the wind at their back. Evanston struck first with a deflection goal midway early in the first half and followed with a power shot nearing the end of half. Neenah came out strong and in control the second half of the game and executed their game plan well. We had a really balanced attack initiating from the back field which lead to our first goal by Vienna Behnke of a buetiful run made by outside back Taylor Zehren. Tay is also accredited with the assist on the play. Our second goal came a short while after on a set piece direct kick also finsihed by Vienna.

Though we had many chances the Rockets couldn't capitalize in the remaining minutes of the game and we were headed to a shoot out. This is something we haven't really put much focus on in practice and was a good experience for the team as a whole - though we didn't come out victorious we learned a lot about how successful we can be when we stick to what we've worked on and execute it together.

To all the teams' delight we had a surprise visit from our 'gimpy' teammate Laura who just hours before underwent her second knee surgery - this time to repair a meniscul tear in her same knee. Laura's commitment is bar-none, we appreciate her willingness to stay with us during her road to recovery.

The team set off to noodles immediately after the game and enjoyed some carbo loading for our two games the next day. 12 mac 'n cheeses later we headed back to the hotel for a light night, showers and video before heading to bed.

The next morning we woke up and headed out for a bagel breakfast and a light jog before heading to the fields for our two games of play. The morning brought a light drizzle but the temperature was warm and we were hoping the rain would hold off just a little longer. NO such luck, after a very WET 45min warm-up we took the field against Muskego. Only 4 minutes into the game we got a score from senior captain Michelle Jenkins of a beautiful ball played by Amanda Canner...and maybe 20 seconds later the game was called due to nearby lightning. At this point we were in a downpour everyone ran to the bus in hopes to wait out the storm and get back on the field. After close to an hour of waiting we headed into the indoor facilities to learn the tournament had been canceled from that point on. Disappointed we headed back home to enjoy our pre-planned team picnic with the parents in the lovely confines of the Neenah High School Fieldhouse Concession Area.

All in all it was a good trip, unfortunately we didn't get to play through all the games but the girls were working hard and making our style play work to their advantage...we were really starting to turn the corner. We only hope this momentum continues to build heading into our home game on Tuesday against Appleton East at 7 pm!

HEY CHICAGO, whaddya say?

This past Sunday some of the varsity girls took a trip down to Chicago to watch the WPS Chicago Red Stars Inaugural Home Opener at Toyota Park. The weather was all but cooperative but the girls were troopers and made the best out of a not-so-ideal situation.

With the rain and wind making conditions consistently terrible we opted out of gallivanting around downtown and headed to Woodfield Mall in Schaumberg. After lunch the girls were sent on a scavenger hunt through the mall - the winners get a 'get out of fitness' card for a portion of our next power hour. This got the g irls motivated! Winner hasn't been determined yet, but from what the coaches have seen thus far it should be good competition. The girls were asked to pose in prom dresses, hats, sunglasses, on the indoor playground, and many others. Though we had a few warnings, thankfully no one was arrested by a mall cop!

After an ice cream stop we headed to the field. The weather was still pretty miserable but we were all bundled in our Rocket-Red parkas...and better yet, our seats were under an awning so we kept dry the entire game! The game ended in a 0-0 tie but there was still plenty of good soccer watched.

With the exception of the players looking like 'highlighters' in their fluorescent uniforms everything about their game was professional - tactful runs and precision passes even in the inclement weather. It was good for us, as a team, to see BOTH the Chicago Red Stars and Sky Blue FC were in a flat four zonal system. This gave us all an opportunity to see the benefits of playing with this shape. Although no goals were scored there were many good opportunities and hard strikes at goal which made the game exciting and worthwhile...though some of our players may argue the highlight of the soccer part of the trip were the $1 hot dogs at the park!

All in all it was a good trip spent with good people, we'd like to something similar in the future with hopes of better weather and not having to return at 11:30 pm on a school night!

Player of the Game...the GOALPOST

After 98 minutes of soccer Freshman Devinne Bahr finished a scramble ball in the box off a beautiful corner kick by Keli Muchowski to sneak a victory past the visiting Fondy Cardinals.

The game was intense with Fon Du Lac scoring twice, early, off a bicycle kick and penalty kick respectively. But our Rockets didn't let down, with strong aggressive play from sophomore Zoe Esslinger and strong possessive play from senior captain Michelle Jenkins the Rockets dominated the remainder of the first half and fought back to tie 2-2 at half-time. Our first score came from a set-play ball sent in by Michelle and was finished nicely by sophomore Vienna Behnke. Shortly after the Rockets possessed the ball up from the defensive back on the right side of the field connected with our midfield who then played a beautiful ball to our outside runner, Zoe who took Fondy's last defender 1v1 and finished a well-struck ball in the far corner. Both fantastic plays starting with an confident and controlled attack from our defensive backs. I'd be kidding us all if I said the rest of the game carried such poise and excitement in the Rockets behalf. Neenah started the second half decent, possessing the ball through the mid-fielders but could never connect to other runners or even worse of to our left side of the field. I'm not exaggerating when I say 90% of our play in the second half was on the right side of the field in the middle third. The Cardinals capitalized on our lack of control and pace putting more pressure on our defensive line. After 10 minutes in of ineffective play the Rockets showed signs of hope with a possession sending our outside backs and wings through to the top of the box but poor decision making led to wasted scoring opportunities. The second half proved to be quite frustrating for the Rockets, players and staff and though Fon Du Lac didn't give us too much of a scare it was disappointing to not have taken the momentum from the first half and capitalized in the second.

Now we head to overtime and our never-ending story of being consistently INCONSISTENT continues. An issue we as a team need to address and solve quickly if we want to continue to be successful throughout the season. Though it looked as though Neenah was going to take quick control in the first 10 minute overtime our girls continued to have mental breakdo wns and gave up the ball in the middle third of the field. We lost our defensive shape and our most important asset, our communication. Fon du Lac again took advantage and pressed their attack leaving our keeper in three separate 1v1 situations to goal. Fortunately Mary Beth was focused and ready to step up as she made two phenomenal saves in the closing minutes of the first overtime. Fon Du Lacs third attempt ricocheted hard of the far post - another lu cky break for our Rockets. With two-minutes remaining the Fon Du Lac goal keeper went down with an injury causing C oach Winkler to send in his back-up keeper heading into the second overtime.

The second overtime was similar to the first, I wish I could say Neenah came out ready to dominate but for some reason we couldn't get our defensive and midfield lines to connect without losing possession immediately. Our few opportunities were left with wasted crosses or weak shots right to the keeper. There was a possession which could have proved to be a beauty, Michelle Jenkins connected with Zoe Esslinger up top who laid off a perfect ball to Vienna at the top of the box, unfortunately we couldn't capitalize and got caught on our heels as we watched Fondy on another 1v1 counter attack with our keeper. Junior captain Mary Beth Spoehr literally saved us a few more times before our Rockets won a corner kick on the right side with a little less than 2 minutes remaining. Keli Muchowski sent in a fabulous ball, senior Whitney Heemstra and sophomore Vienna Behnke each got a head on it but it was freshman Devinne Behnke who 'cleaned up the garbage' and put the ball away to seal the win for the Rockets.

Though elated to have another tally in the Win column in this tough FVA conference the coaching staff recognizes we have a lot of work ahead of us as we start getting into our busy part of the schedule. Our focus is to start putting all the pieces together and playing a complete game - consistently and effectively. We hope to see progress as we enter our third conference match away versus Oshkosh West on Tuesday, April 21 at Titan Stadium. Hope to see you there!

Under the Lights...

I'm not sure if it was the mass amounts of pasta, fruit, and cookies; the Rock Band rock-out session; the intense game of Catch Phrase the night before, or simply the excitement of opening conference play at home under the lights but whatever it was our Varsity girls came out strong and struck early in our 2-0 win over the Appleton West Terrors.

Vienna Behnke (assisted by Michelle Jenkins) and Sarah Wunderlich each scored in the first 25 minutes of the match to set the tone for the game early on. Our defensive line really held their own and with their collective effort lead the Rockets to our first conference victory. These last few days we've talked as a team about trust; trusting the new system of play, the coaches, and most importantly, each other. Going into our home opener last night we emphasized the importance of trust right up to the point where we took the field; all the credit to our team for truly incorporating that concept into the game.

From a coaching perspective we're delighted with the "W" but recognize there is still a lot of soccer to be learned. Our goal is to play all 80 minutes of the game with intensity and pace, maintaining shape and playing in control - this week we'll really need to work on keeping form and focus for the full 80 minutes. We'd also like to see stronger and consistent play-making through our midfield.

Becoming great is a process and as coaches we're never going to stop working to get even better. We're eager to take the pitch tonight in preparation for our next match Tuesday April 14th at home versus the Fondy Cardinals and continue on our journey together, as one...

Keep a Smile in Your Heart...

The Neenah Girls Varsity Team opened its 2009 season, with a tough 4-0 loss to Whitefish Bay, at the Scott Procknow Celebration Tournament Friday afternoon at Ameche Field. The tournament, hosted by Kenosha Tremper was held in honor of Scott Procknow, a Neenah alumn and Tremper coach who's life was taken in drunk-driving car accident in 2007.

"Our girls took the field for the first time in a new defense and starting formation - a transition/adjustment period is expected. We aren't hiding behind that as an excuse though, the Blue Dukes played excellent soccer and had a strong attacking line...in this game we were simply outplayed."

After watching a bit of the Eisenhower vs Tremper game the team headed back to the hotel for some food and fun. The three Keepers definitely DOMINATED charades and our own version of 'pictionary'.

Neenah returned to the field on Saturday morning much more confident and composed in their play. The Rockets won 5-0 versus New Berlin Eisenhower,

"We took some time after our first loss and talked about our defensive shape and our offensive possession. We emphasized the need to trust the new system and each other and really commit to the style of play. The girls did just that on Saturday morning, they came out and made it work - though it wasn't the prettiest game at times it was inspiring to see everyone committing to the change and playing together as one."

Goals were scored by Krista (DeCoursin), Stephanie (Nau), Sarah (Wunderlich) with an assist from Michelle (Jenkins), Taylor Zehren with an assist from Sarah (Wunderlich), and Vienna (Behnke).

After our second game Scott Procknow's parents came to talk to the team and thank us for our participation. It was neat to hear all the wonderful things Scott stood for and all he did for his students and the game of soccer. This was a nice reminder to the team about why we were there and as Mr. Procknow requested, we all left with a smile in our hearts...

The Varsity girls start their conference play tomorrow (Tuesday April 7th) with a home opener versus Appelton West at 7:00 pm at Rocket Memorial Stadium. The Terrors have found success their first games out - this should prove to be a good FVA match. The Rockets are headed to my house for some spaghetti dinner carbo-loading before tomorrow's game...this may be a disaster waiting to happen :-)

JV and Freshman Teams Deliver a 1-2 Punch in First Conference Game

With only one outdoor practice under their belts the JV and Freshman teams took the field against the Fondy Cardinals in their first conference match of the 2009 season on Thursday. Both teams came home victorious with JV winning 2-1 and Freshman 3-0.

The JV squad got their goals early in the game; scoring for the JV squad were Freshman Lydia Fahrenkrug and Sophomore Morgan Ansems. Freshman Midfielder/Forward Liz Verkuilen lead the Freshman team in scoring with her three goals.

Coach Hendries and Coach Karin were both pleased with their teams' effort and balance of play and are looking forward to their upcoming home game (Monday April 6) versus Oshkosh West!

THIS IS THE START OF SOMETHING NEW

Sporting an impressive combination of skilled returners, bright young talent and a fresh coaching staff, the 2009 Rockets are excited to build on our tradition of success. With the introduction of a new coaching staff into a well-established program an adjustment period is expected but the overall athleticism, commitment, passion and competitive nature that these player’s possess will be the core to our success in the FVA.

The Rockets are poised for another successful season. Says senior captain, Michelle Jenkins "We’ve lost a few key players from last season, however, we worked hard during the off-season to improve our strength and fitness. We will have to rely on our returning players to the lead the team and motivate the younger players. If our returning players do that, we will accomplish a lot this season."

Our team coming in is healthy, athletic and is very motivated to have a successful start to the season. Our goal in is to get ourselves sharp, to get ourselves fit and to get ourselves prepared so hopefully we hit stride somewhere in the middle of the season and become the team to beat by the end of the season. After 3 months of off-season training and the first two weeks of season spent predominantly indoors these girls are very excited for their first match versus Whitefish Bay at the Kenosha Tremper Procknow Tournament Friday April 3rd at Ameche Field.

We welcome you on our journey...