Jordan's Perserverance Gives HMHS Group 2 Title

EWING, Nov. 21, 2009 – When senior Kathleen Jordan blew a chance to win the state championship in the 2nd minute of the first “golden goal” overtime, Haddonfield fans weren’t worried. They knew it would just make her more determined.

Jordan broke free and took a clear shot on the goal from about 15 yards out. A goal and Haddonfield wins the State Cup. But Jordan’s shot clanked off the left post and play continued. No problem. Less than five minutes later Jordan used her speed and strength to win a ball after a shot was blocked, and crossed it to sophomore Kate Johnston who was wide open in front of the net.

Johnston had plenty of time to set for the ball – and probably to check her e-mail while she was at it – and easily put it in the back of the net for a thrilling 2-1 win and Haddonfield's fourth state championship since 1997.

"I didn't know why they didn't mark me,” Johnston said to the Courier-Post, “but I had missed a shot like that beforehand. I was like, ‘This time I have to put it in.' I just did it calmly and didn't rush it. The goalie was coming at me, but I didn't want to hit it over, so I had to set myself to get it down."

“That was awful. I should have put it away,” Jordan said after the game to the Inquirer’s Marc Narducci of her first miss.

The match was played before a nice crowd on a cool night in The College of New Jerse's football stadium. Haddonfield generally had the better of the play against a good Mahwah team in the first half, but could have been on the short end of the score at half had keeper Tina Davis not tipped a long shot over the crossbar.

Just 1:26 into the second half, midfielder Sarah Dudek beat her defender and took a shot from the left that bounced off Mahwah keeper Emily Secor and Jordan took advantage to put the Bulldawgs up, 1-0. But nine minutes later the Thunderbirds followed up two corner kicks and a throw-in with a cross from the right side by Nicole Lee that Kristyn Tremblay headed in for the equalizer.

Haddonfield had one last chance to win it in regulation, but Secor fell on an Emily Grabiak corner kick from the left with 6 seconds to play before anyone could put it in the net.

Haddonfield used 14 players in winning the Cup. Mahwah went the whole way with its starting 11.

The Bulldawgs have not lost since the second game of the season when they were defeated, 2-1, by Williamstown. They have won 21 straight since a scoreless tie with Haddon Heights on Sept. 17. The program was co-champions in 1997 after a scoreless tie with Morris Catholic in Group 1, and co-champions again in 2005, this time in Group 2 with Pascack Valley. They won the title outright in Group 2 in 2007 with a 1-0 victory over Pascack Hills. In 2006 River Dell edged Haddonfield in the Group 2 final.

The championship was followed by a Haddonfield tradition – a parade through town and over Kings Highway to the high school with fire engines and a police car escorting the team bus. It sounds hokie and small-town, but having ridden in the parade two of the last three years, I can tell you it’s pure magic. I was amazed at people standing outside their homes on Warwick Road, and along Kings Highway waving to us as the sirens wailed and parents blew their horns. And I saw some young girls in soccer uniforms watching, thinking no doubt, “that will be me some day.”

Some day it will be.

NCAA's on Web-TV

Pretty cool, watching girls from the Xtreme playing in the NCAA Sweet 16 on a webcast from Williams College.

Earlier today, Brenna Rubino played for TCNJ as it upset host Williams, 1-0. Now I'm watching Rowan battle Ithaca. No score as the first half is nearing an end. Then I have to head up to TCNJ Stadium for the Haddonfield game - state Group 2 final.

This is not exactly ESPN, but the video quality, despite an occasional freeze-up, is surprisingly good, although the audio is not. The announcer is presumably a college student and not doing a bad job, although when TCNJ scored, he did not bother to tell us which team scored, what the score was or the time left. (It came in the 65th minute.)

There is one camera, on the teams' side, at midfield, so I'm seeing alot of my former players, Nina Fragoso and Linda Sierra, but they're in the play alot.

Halftime and it's 0-0. Gotta run up to the HS game.

"Hand of Gaul" - FIFA Made the Right Decision Denying Replay

Ireland probably won’t invade France, but there’s quite an international incident over a non-call in the World Cup qualifier between France and Ireland Nov. 18 in France.

Despite Ireland’s wails that it was robbed by a referee’s non-call – and it was – FIFA got it right by refusing to order a replay.

The stakes were high: the winner of the two-game aggregate would go to the World Cup. France had won, 1-0 in Ireland, but now Ireland had a 1-0 lead in the 113th minute. France scored when star Thierry Henry flicked the ball with the outside of his right foot to William Gallas, who headed it in for a 1-1 tie, but a 2-1 aggregate win for the French. (Had the goal not been scored and the game ended 1-0 for the Irish, a shootout would have taken place to determine the World Cup berth.)

What none of the game officials saw was that Henry, charging inside the 6 from the left, patted the ball with his left hand about waist high, knocking it to his foot. No two ways about it, hand ball. Henry admitted it. "I have never denied the ball was controlled with my hand,” he said. “I told the Irish players, the referee and the media this after the game." But the referees didn’t call it.

The Irish were incensed and demanded a replay. Even Henry agreed it would be fair. "Naturally I feel embarrassed at the way we won and feel extremely sorry for the Irish who definitely deserve to be in South Africa," he said in a statement issued on his behalf on Friday.

"Of course, the fairest solution would be to replay the game but it is not in my control. There is little more I can do apart from admit the ball had contact with my hand leading up to our equalising goal and I feel very sorry for the Irish."

Irish captain Robbie Keane, who scored his team's goal in Paris, responded by issuing his own statement.

"On behalf of the Republic of Ireland players, I would like to thank Thierry Henry for his statement," he said.

"As captain of the French team, to make such a statement took courage and honor, and all of us recognize that. As captain of the Republic of Ireland team, I would also be happy for a replay to happen in the interest of fair play so that whichever team qualifies, can do so with their heads held high.

"We can only hope that the French Football Federation might accept the wishes of both captains in the best interests of the game."

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) board met on Friday and issued a statement saying said it had called on the French federation to "join with it and the captains of the French and Irish teams... to request a replay from FIFA that would protect the integrity of the game worldwide and the pride of the French national team."
Ireland cited a match from 2005, when Uzbekistan and Bahrain were competing for a spot in the 2006 World Cup in Germany. FIFA ordered the match replayed after the referee incorrectly Bahrain an indirect free kick after a player encroached the penalty area before Uzbekistan, leading 1-0, successfully took a penalty kick. The referee should have ordered the penalty kick to be retaken.

Former French star Arsene Wenger, Henry's former manager at Arsenal, jumped into the debate and agreed that a replay would be the fairest solution.

"France has to say 'yes it was a handball and we offer a replay'," he said. "It is embarrassing to qualify the way we qualified. We want to beat Ireland properly and that didn't happen."

Wenger, who agreed to replay an FA Cup tie against Sheffield United in 1999 over an issue of fair play added:

"Thierry Henry is not the problem. He played here for 10 years and has always been super fair. He has come out and said 'I made a mistake, I touched the ball with my hand'.

"Football and sport in general is full of heroes who have cheated 10 times more than Thierry. "A player of his stature has a massive pressure on his shoulders and if somebody has to do something for Thierry, it is French football and France as a country, not to leave him out there alone against the whole world."

The replay is not going to happen and it shouldn’t. Despite pleas from the government of Ireland as well as the FAI, FIFA said today the result would stand.

''The result of the match cannot be changed and the match cannot be replayed,'' FIFA said in a statement. ''As is clearly mentioned in the Laws of the Game, during matches, decisions are taken by the referee and these decisions are final.''

FAI in Dublin responded by petitioning its French counterpart to ask FIFA to change its mind, but the FFF said the decision by soccer's governing body's is final.

''The result of the match can therefore not be modified, nor the match be replayed,'' the federation said in a statement, adding that it ''understands the disappointment and the bitterness of the Irish players, leaders and supporters.''

Soccer’s Law 5 states, “The decisions of the referee regarding facts connected with play, including whether or not a goal is scored and the result of the match, are final.” If the official realizes he is incorrect after consultation with his assistant referees or the fourth official on the sideline, he can change his mind only if play has not been restarted or the game is over.

While a replay would seem to be fair in light of Henry’s own admission, it is a different situation than the 2005 Uzbekistan-Bahrain game or the Arsenal-Sheffield 1999 FA Cup replay. In the Uzbekistan-Bahrain match, the mistake was a misapplication of the Laws of the game rather than a judgment call (or non call). Wenger offered the Sheffield replay when one of his players scored the winning goal after he intercepted a teammate’s throw to United after the ball had been kicked out to stop play for an injury, violating unwritten soccer etiquette.

In this instance, the mistake was the referee’s judgment, or lack thereof, during the course of play.

At least one Irish fan appears to have accepted the ruling. Roy Keane, a former star of Ireland’s national team who is now the manager at Ipswich Town in England, was critical of the Irish federation and the Irish team on Friday.

“I’ve been amazed at the commotion that’s been going for the last few days,” the often cantankerous and frank Keane told reporters at a news conference before his club’s weekend match. “I think we’re on about Henry’s handball — of course he handled it — but I’d focus on why Ireland’s defenders didn’t clear it.

“I’d be more annoyed with my defenders and my goalkeeper than Thierry Henry. How can you let a ball bounce in the six-yard box? How can you let Thierry Henry get goalside of you? And as the ball bounced in the six-yard box, I’d be saying ‘where the hell’s my goalkeeper?’ “

Ireland were robbed. No doubt about it. But it happens. And as long as humans referee the sport, it will continue to happen. To allow replays of games for mistakes of judgment would set a dangerous precedent. Would players be pressured into “admitting” calls in their favor were wrong? How certain would it need to be that the botched call changed the result? (If Henry’s hand ball had been called and the game ended 1-0 for Ireland, there would have been a shootout. How can we know that Ireland would have won that.)

Soccer’s flow and its human element sets it apart from other sports. Let’s keep it that way.

(Quotes from different articles in the New York Times.)

32 are In: World Cup Field Set

More than two years after they began, the long qualifying rounds have ended and 32 nations are ready to vie for the World Cup 2010 in South Africa. I'd like to say Coach P's Blog will be there covering it next summer, but our budget won't go quite that far, so I'll be watching on TV.

The brackets will be set in a drawing on December 4.

Here are the qualifying countries, alphabetical order:

Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Brazil
Cameroon
Chile
Cote de Ivoire
Denmark
England
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Hondurs
Italy
Japan
Korea DPR
Korea Republic
Mexico
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Paraguay
Portugal
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Switzerland
United States
Uruguay

Here's the address for the official World Cup web site: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/tournament/index.html

Elizabeth Lambert's Side of the Story

While she says she has "so much regret," notorious collegiate soccer hatchet woman Elizabeth Lambert of University of New Mexico also claims that some of her actions were in the heat of the moment and/or shown out of context in the widely-viewed You Tube videos.
Today's New York Times carries the first interview with Lambert since her activities came to worldwide attention. As most people know by now, Lambert was seen kicking, tripping, pulling down and punching opponents throughout a 1-0 loss to Brigham Young in a Mountain West Conference tournament game on Nov. 5.

The interview with Jere Longman, is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/sports/soccer/18soccer.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Lambert&st=cse. As always, Longman presents a superb and balanced account of the incident and gives Lambert every opportunity to tell her side of the story. Her coach, Kit Veltra, and the referee who allowed the mayhem to continue unabated, Joe Pimentel, have not been heard from, and I still would like to know what they were thinking. Interestingly, Lambert does not think Pimentel lost control of the game but said that if he had shown more yellow cards or a red car, it would have been a different game.

(Photo above by Rick Sobelli, Jr. for the New York Times)

State semi-final not even close: HMHS 4, Cinnaminson 0

"Either way this looks like a one-goal game," wrote Marc Narducci in this morning's Inquirer. Not.

The Haddonfield girls totally dominated, outplayed and whitewashed a good Cinnaminson team, 4-0, in in tonight's state semi-final at Washington Twp. H.S. This is the same field where the Bulldogs outplayed Rumson last year only to be stoned by the hottest goalie in the state (and one of the best HS keepers I have ever seen) and lose on the last round of a shootout. Tonight they found the net and then some.

In fairness to my friend Marc, no one expected a blow-out. "And to think I had them practicing penalties," said an exuberant coach Glenn Gess afterwards.

Even before midfield Sarah Barrett put Haddonfield on the board midway through the first half, the Bulldogs controlled play. While the Cinnaminson keeper was not forced to make one tough save after another, as is often the case in a blow-out, Haddonfield kept the ball in the Pirates' end most of the time. Less than four minutes after Barrett's goal, Emily Grabiak made it 2-0 with 15:40 to go.

Cinnaminson picked it up a bit early in the second half but still mounted no serious threat. Their best chance came on a strong shot that curved wide right with 28 minutes left. Had they scored there they would have been down only a goal. Instead the Bulldogs roared back and two minutes later went up, 3-0, on a nice shot from the left by Kristen Ferguson.

It was over, but Kathleen Jordan added the exclamation point when she flicked a ball over her should past a startled Cinnaminson keeper with 14:10 left in the game.

On to the state final Saturday at TCNJ against Mahwah.

More On the Lambert Incident

Good article in today's New York Times by Jere Longman, one of the country's best soccer writers in my opinion, about the infamous Liz Lambert of the University of Mexico in a play-off game against BYU. (See, post below.) To refresh your recollection, Lambert punched several opponents, tripped others and yanked one to the ground by her ponytail. Despite this uncontrolled mayhem, she received only a yellow card late in the game.

I was glad to see the comment by Tony DiCicco, who coached the U.S. women when they won the World Cup in '99 and now coaches the Boston Breakers of WPS, wondering where the referees were and what Lambert's coach was thinking. I raised the same questions. “I’m put off by what she did, I’m put off that the refereeing didn’t seem to recognize this, and I’m put off a little by the coaching,” said DiCicco in the article.

Longman's thoughtful piece explores deeper issues than the competence of the game officials or the New Mexico coach. It raises questions about women's soccer and women's sports in general and states that the Lambert incident and its Internet aftermath "has spurred a national debate about sportsmanship, gender roles, double standards regarding aggressiveness and news media coverage and the sexualized portrayal of female athletes."

UNM game: Where Were the Refs?

By now 95 % of the world has seen the video of University of New Mexico roughneck soccer player, Elizabeth Lambert run around the field like an out-of-control truck, taking down opponents with feet, legs and fists in full view of the referees in a conference tournament semifinal against BYU on November 5 in Provo, UT.

Just in case you missed it, here is one video clip of Ms. Lambert punching one opponent in the back (after getting an elbow from her) and taking down another by the ponytail.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMAtxuCpsMU&feature=popular

But there’s more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHPWDQw3J4Y

Once the mayhem hit the Internet – and this morning the networks as well on the Today Show - the principals did what anyone would expect: they clammed up and ducked behind flacks and press releases.

"I am deeply and wholeheartedly regretful for my actions," said Lambert. "My actions were uncalled for. I let my emotions get the best of me in a heated situation. I take full responsibility for my actions and accept any punishment felt necessary from the coaching staff and UNM administration. This is in no way indicative of my character or the soccer player that I am. I am sorry to my coaches and teammates for any and all damages I have brought upon them. I am especially sorry to BYU and the BYU women's soccer players that were personally affected by my actions. I have the utmost respect for the BYU women's soccer program and its players."

"Liz is a quality student-athlete, but in this instance her actions clearly crossed the line of fair play and good sportsmanship," said Coach Kit Vela, who still left her in the game for the full 90. Vela then took the courageous and tough action of suspending Lambert for the year – after the season had ended with the Lobos’ 1-0 loss to BYU.

Then we learned that Coach Vela, who is paid to lead young student athletes, would also hide behind the paper of a press release. Mark Smith reported in the Journal that UNM sports information director Greg Remington said Vela was unavailable for further interviews. When asked why Vela didn't address Lambert's actions after the game - which was telecast on the Mtn. on Thursday - Remington said "I don't believe she was aware (of the incidents) … It was only when the video was brought to her attention (that she became aware of it)."

Hmm … I thought coaches were supposed to be watching the game they were coaching. If Vela had been doing so, she would have seen at least one of the five hard fouls committed by Lambert. Any one of them could have brought a red card.

The top Lobo, the athletic director, joined the rush to hide from the media.

"Liz's conduct on the field against BYU was completely inappropriate," said UNM Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs. "There is no way to defend her actions."

Of course not. But that was all we heard from Mr. Krebs. The Albuquerque Journal reported on Nov. 7 that he refused to comment. Of course he did. A reporter can ask questions. A press release can’t be questioned. Besides, apparently Krebs was busy mishandling a scandal involving the school’s head football coach.

After watching the ESPN story (link above) and seeing the flagrant fouls, my thought was, “Where on earth were the referees?” Lambert was finally shown a yellow card late in the game. How one of the three officials could not have seen these fouls, most of which were in the midst of play (as opposed to off the ball).

The best coverage of the incident I read was from Randy Hollis of the Deseret News in Salt Lake city, excerpts of which are quoted below:

So who's the meanest, dirtiest, nastiest, cheap-shot-waitin'-to-happen athlete you ever saw? Former NBA bad boy Dennis Rodman, who once kicked a sideline cameraman, had a well-deserved reputation for committing all sorts of on-the-court (and occasionally off-the-court) crimes. His one-time Detroit Pistons partner in crime, Bill Laimbeer, was a renowned thug at times, too.
There have been some truly bad characters in the NFL, guys like Bill Romanowski, Conrad Dobler and Jack "The Assassin" Tatum, whose vicious hit paralyzed Patriots' receiver Darryl Stingley — a hit which Tatum never apologized for — and turned Stingley into a quadriplegic. Pro hockey has its share of tough-guy-wannabe goons like Marty McSorley and Todd Bertuzzi, who were each suspended for assaulting opposing players.
But this week, my vote goes to ... yes, you guessed it ... Elizabeth Lambert.
Who? You know, Lizzy "Tizzy" Lambert, that mean little University of New Mexico soccer player who put on such a distasteful display during the Lobos' loss to BYU in the Mountain West women's championship tournament a few days ago.
Lambert's overly aggressive antics have been all over the airwaves and watched by thousands on YouTube the last couple of days, and for good reason.
During the course of the game, Lambert yanked BYU's Kassidy Shumway down from behind by the hair, violently elbowed another BYU player in the back — in all fairness, that one was in retaliation for the Cougar player's own elbow contact moments earlier — and proceeded to kick, slap, shove, push, trip, tackle, punch and generally wreak havoc and commit all kinds of mayhem on her opponents throughout the game.
This is not to say that BYU's players were completely blameless in all this. After all, soccer is an intense sport in which there's plenty of physical contact, so players' emotions often come to the surface. But they have to know where to draw that line.
Lambert, though, crossed the line — by, oh, about a hundred miles or more — and did so repeatedly.
Amazingly, despite all her dirty deeds, all Lambert got for her efforts was a yellow card, which begs the question: What in the world were the officials watching during this fierce match? How did she get away with all this unnecessary roughness?

Feed Your Head

Logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead. Grace Slick turned 70 last week. Pele hit 69 the week before. Just goes to show we all age. Go ask Alice. I think she’ll know.

Platini's Effort to Reform European Soccer

Interesting article in the New York Times on Oct. 31 about Michele Platini, the former French international who is now head of UEFA, the Union of European Footbnall Associations. According to the article, by Rob Hughes, "His ambition is to level the playing field between rich teams, those with television contracts and billionaire owners, and the small fry who rely mostly on fan support."

Read the full story here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/31/world/europe/31platini.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=Soccer&st=cse

Tough One For Rowan

GLASSBORO, Nov. 3, 2009 – A #4 national ranking and half of the starting team being named first team all conference did not help Rowan tonight as it dropped a tough 1-0 decision to Stockton in the semi-finals of the NJAC tournament.
The Profs outshot Stockton, 25-5, and dominated corner kicks, 9-1, with 8 in the 2nd half. But the only stat that matter was goals scored and that went to the Ospreys on a low shot inside the right post by Laura O’Shea in the 59th minute.
It was a great night for soccer: crisp fall evening with a full moon and a nice crowd. Most of the first 15 minutes was played in the midfield and neither team had a real goal-scoring opportunity. In the 2nd half Rowan began to dominate and just three minutes in Stockton keeper Maria Dorris dove to her left to make a save. She couldn’t hold the ball, but no one from Rowan followed the shot and Dorris easily recovered.
After the Ospreys scored, Rowan picked it up, but couldn’t solve Stockton’s tactic of packing the box. There were a number of opportunities in the air but the Rowan women kept heading the ball up instead of down. Dorris was forced to make a number of tough saves, tipping over a shot by Linda Sierra with 24:45 to play and making a diving grab on a shot by Evynn Wright with 1:48 left. Perhaps the best chance was by Rowan’s top scorer, Jess Babice, who worked her way from the touchline into the box and took a clear shot from about 15 yards but over the bar.
Stockton moves on to play TCNJ in the conference final Friday night. Rowan waits until Monday to learn if it will receive an at-large NCAA bid, almost a certainty given its national ranking.
Tonight Rowan won every statistical category except the one that counts the most.