2019 Virginia Public GLAX

[NFG4CHS]

Mark your calendar, place your bets for 5/3/2019 @ Woodson! May be too close to call at this stage so my only bet for that day is warmer weather, a great game and Chick-fil-A.

[UnderArmourOdor]

...or so it seemed Monday night at The Pat. It was so cold [Editor: How cold was it?] So cold...when the Highlanders entered all my mind saw was White Walkers moving across the turf with the Night's King taking the Draw! McLean has a top shelf goalie who made some solid saves and a host of young players. The Cavs came out running and got the first four goals before McLean got on the board and then the next seven to put it out of reach getting the clock running in the first half. It got colder in the second half and a little raggedy as the subs entered for both squads. It ended 14-3 and so the Game of Thrones begins again.

[Badlands]

McLean has a top shelf goalie who made some solid saves . . . .

Definitely one of the best keepers in the area. 20+ saves last year against Langley.

[Dr. Tact]

It ended 14-3 and so the Game of Thrones begins again.

So was that the kick-off for the season? Robo's still in scrimmage mode...

[UnderArmourOdor]

I saw the Herndon Westfield game last night. With one of Herndon’s captains and starting midfielder on the sidelines for a tweaked foot, Herndon beat Westfield 23-8 with a running clock the entire 2nd half

Hmmm...I wonder if Westfield is contemplating if passing on the Herndon Coach when they had a chance is going to work out??? 23-8...the Dawgs will have to really grin in the handshake lines to compete for the "Sportsmanship" crown again. 23-8...were there loads of injuries...band concert...science fair...It's Academic practice...mulch sale...hostage situation on the bus????

[UnderArmourOdor]

It ended 14-3 and so the Game of Thrones begins again.

So was that the kick-off for the season? Robo's still in scrimmage mode...

doc t is right, just being overly dramatic after the cold on Monday as someone dropped me the final season GoT trailer https://www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/sea ... lsrc=aw.ds
If anyone was on the field at 7:30 last night it had to be worse! I think the VHSL kick-off date isn't until next Monday.

[shotclock]

So I have been out and about...on the trail as they say. I went to the Valentine Shootout, St James and the Fall Ball. Agree tough to tell on some teams (missing because of college recruiting) but commitment to win was clear with some teams and there is no beating good coaching. I have seen in person Woodson and Langley both have really great squads and their coaching is the best Bill Lewis simply wants it more than anyone else he takes his team to Florida and plays private schools so they have better competition (American Heritage, SSSA and BI), Langley seems to be following in their foot steps rumor has it Langley will spend spring break in Florida at a tournament and they have added Kristen Gaudian (JMU National Champ) as their assistant coach. So I think those two are the top of class and there is no clear favorites to take them on from what I have seen so far.That being said Yorktown and Madison are the best of the rest from the results in the fall. Yorktown led by Jenny Trann (CoY in 6A North) has a young but feisty group that has veteran leadership on defense and some strong returners on offense. They will miss Calvo but they beat a good West PO team in the Fall tourney in a Braveheart and have had early scrimmages against Riverside (4A State Champs) and GMason winning both from what a little bird told me so it seems they may make a claim for the crown. Madison is always well coached and while they lost a lot from last year they are really tough to play at home and have such a winning tradition. The rest in my opinion have some flaws and while anything can happen I only see West Potomac as a potential threat. Dr. Tact and UAO look forward to seeing you on the trail. Giddy up laxers!

1 - Woodson
2 - Langley
3 - Yorktown
4 - Madison
5 - West Potomac
6- Robinson
7- Oakton
8- Herndon
9- South County
10-West Springfield

[Rental_Unit]

Freedom South Riding will be at the Hornet's Nest tonight for a scrimmage. Last year's went to the Hornets on a night it rained sideways, and I'd imagine coach Chen has them looking for a repeat. This Herndon squad returned 9 or 10 starters, so it will be interesting to see the difference coach Chen makes. Some of the pre-season top 10 polls didn't include Herndon, and the ones that did have them at 5 or 6. Definitely not getting a lot of respect at this point, but looking forward to seeing if this team is as good as I think it will be. What's the scouting report on Freedom South Riding?

[Dr. Tact]

So I have been out and about...on the trail as they say. I went to the Valentine Shootout, St James and the Fall Ball.

1 - Woodson
2 - Langley
3 - Yorktown
4 - Madison
5 - West Potomac
6- Robinson
7- Oakton
8- Herndon
9- South County
10-West Springfield

I think the Winter small games are hard to judge what the team will look like in Spring...In the top teams it is evident that they are good, but some of the historically mid teams, I cant get a good read. West Po and West Spring both impressed me in 7v7 tourneys.

I cant argue with your Woodson/Langley read...Good teams. Bill was COY for a reason. Not sure that Yorktown is #3. I love Coach Tran and I am an alumnus of Yorktown, so, my heart is with you, but my head says no....Can't see them top 3.

Madison....are they good or great?...been mostly good for the last 4 years...but I dont think they will be winning the title.

West Po...again, not sure. I liked what I saw from small games, but do they have the high level median talent level across the 15-16 players that will play full field that will beat a Woodson or Langley or Robo for that matter?

Robo...one big question....Goalie. I think the returning Defenders (not the goalie) could arguably be the top unit in the public schools....we will see what the new coaching change will bring to a team that had a definitive rebuilding year last year...does it continue or are the Rams back?

Herndon... this team is getting alot of hype. Can they make noise? Cant wait to see them in person.

Headed off to George Mason to watch the Robo scrimmage...temps are starting to drop

[Dr. Tact]

Robo - Mason ended 11-9, I think. Robo jumped to a 5-0 lead and I think it was 7-2 at half. Mason won the second half 7-4.

[NFG4CHS]

Finished up dinner at Artie's and decided to take on the games at the local high school--grab the Ahi Tuna salad and ozzie rolls my friends. Enjoyed a great precursor game and thought the main event would have had the same outcome but left at half after realizing that paint dries faster than Purple's defense (should have followed first instinct and watched Robo/Mason); kudos to the Rebels' coaching staff for working with the pool they have and getting the best out of them. Was going to catch Cougs/Hill game but apparently that started earlier in the evening (heard Hill had no problem) so my drive continued up to see Herndon/Freedom. Overall was a very good game but did not expect to see what I did. Final outcome was 16-10 but thankfully Freedom got some garbage goals towards the end and looks like Herndon pumped the brakes or it may have been worse. Any details in first half? Herndon found the last piece of the puzzle to have a very successful year and while they may not have the pool to grab the players that Robo and Woodson do, I think they do have a top 5 team in our unofficial polls. I don't see them getting past Woodson, Langley, Robo or Madison and not because one school may have better coaching (all good coaches), it's just that the larger schools have the more consistent feeders. Still think it will be Woodson/Robo but looking forward to the rest battling. Any games next week that are must see? Gotta hit the games that have Chick-fil-A.....

[UnderArmourOdor]

They cancelled the JV @ 6 so Varsity could start then due to the cold. Pen frozen at start of game but it was 7-2 at the half. FH has good starters but the bench isn't deep and Cougs looked better in second half and got the last three to end it down 7-12. Cougs have two goalies that looked fairly equal. I was surprised that the Herndon swarm was all over the defending state champs from Freedom 16-10...looks like Chensanity is back this year. Here is a shocker Fairfax Rebels up 6-1 on the Herndon Coaches former flock in Purple. Rebels took the dogs off in the second half and Chantilly came back to tie it 10-10. Fairfax looks like on the way up...means the parents & some cheese spines in the school have pushed another team in the opposite direction.

[helmetssoon]

Herndon will be an interesting team to watch. They were very young in 2018. Seven regular starters were Freshman or Sophomores.

4/23/18 - Centreville 14, Herndon 12
5/21/18 - Herndon 13, Centreville 10

4/27/18 - McLean 14, Herndon 12
5/29/18 - Herndon 15, McLean 9

The rapid maturation of the 2018 Herndon squad gives an idea of their potential. Two seniors who received meaningful playing time graduated. Remainder of the team returns. They were dominated by Langley in regular season, district and regional games. Crushed by Woodson in the states. So there is big gap still to be closed for the Hornets. But it will be fun to see how much of a challenge they can be to the traditional local powerhouses.

[VALaxer]

Made the trip over to Rolling Road last night to see West Springfield take on C-ville. Wasn't sure what to expect, after hearing that the new sheriffs at Buford T. Justice downed Wildcats earlier this week. Judging by the sideline, WS looked like they may not have had a couple of their girls dressed for the scrimmage. C-ville came out like it was 2018 and their warm bus had hit up the Burke Center Parkway Chik-fil-a on the way to the game, as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first few minutes and it briefly looked like it could become a long cold night for Sparty. However, the handwarmers must've then kicked for the Spartans as they promptly rattled off 9 straight goals and dominated the last 20 minutes of the first half, despite some strong play by the C-ville goalie in the half (7-8 saves, some long clears). Looked like Coach P was getting full rotations going, including all 4 of his varsity freshmen some good PT, in the 1st half. Heard the Westies JV scored 20+ in their game, so sounds like Coach Puhlick has some young talent to have Rolling Road rocking in the future. With the game 9-2 at the half and no concession stand open (strike 1), no running water for toilets (strike 2), and no thermometer above 30 degrees (strike 3), this poster invoked the A.L.E. theory at halftime, so I am not sure how things ended up, but it seemed like the competitive portion of the evening was over.

[shotclock]

Dr. Tact love your insight but Coach Tran has a high lax IQ bunch over at Yorktown and they don't make mistakes. They play as a team they are not selfish and she has built a great team chemistry. My prediction come the end of the season you will be cheering for your Patriots in the playoffs. BTW Patriots took Mason 17-6 after losing by 1 last year and a second year of Chef Tran already has this soup spicy! The questions are on offense can they get the big goals when they need them? Will see on Robo they had a revolt last year from the parents not sure it was the coach that was the problem if you get my drift.

[Dr. Tact]

Dr. Tact love your insight but Coach Tran has a high lax IQ bunch over at Yorktown and they don't make mistakes. They play as a team they are not selfish and she has built a great team chemistry. My prediction come the end of the season you will be cheering for your Patriots in the playoffs. BTW Patriots took Mason 17-6 after losing by 1 last year and a second year of Chef Tran already has this soup spicy! The questions are on offense can they get the big goals when they need them? Will see on Robo they had a revolt last year from the parents not sure it was the coach that was the problem if you get my drift.

I would love it (repeat love it) if Jenny T can compete with Langley and Madison -> WTW.....Really like her as a coach and a person. So, not gonna go all in on Yorktown until I see a few game results, but I enjoy your optimism...And I will say you told me so when they go deep in Regionals.

As far as Robo and last year's upheaval, I cant really comment in an open forum on anything and I would be very careful of what I said privately. Let's just say that it was unfortunate and now it is water under the bridge - we have hope for the team and the new coaching staff. It will be different than the last few years, but that isnt always a bad thing...I will tell you, that while there are a fair number of graduating seniors, the future is bright there with a stellar freshman/soph class.

[Dr. Tact]

Dr. Tact love your insight but Coach Tran has a high lax IQ bunch over at Yorktown and they don't make mistakes. They play as a team they are not selfish and she has built a great team chemistry. My prediction come the end of the season you will be cheering for your Patriots in the playoffs. BTW Patriots took Mason 17-6 after losing by 1 last year and a second year of Chef Tran already has this soup spicy! The questions are on offense can they get the big goals when they need them? Will see on Robo they had a revolt last year from the parents not sure it was the coach that was the problem if you get my drift.

@ Shotclock - Just noticing your user name....I am really struggling with two things this year watching HS. With an older daughter in college, I have really come to enjoy the shot clock and complete full movement on whistles....Self start without the free movement is just kind of lame, but....crawl before walking.

[shotclock]

Hope springs eternal and the shotclock cometh just like a clock ticks. Makes everything better and forces the cream to rise.

[Dr. Tact]

Hope springs eternal and the shotclock cometh just like a clock ticks. Makes everything better and forces the cream to rise.

Nice!

[VALaxer]

Anyone have any reports or update from the playday that was scheduled at BI on Saturday Woodson, Langley and Madison were listed as participating on the list I saw.