- Jonas Heller
Game review – mens team
better late than ever, we want to share the gamer report from the match Maastricht/Aachen vs. Kaiserslautern with you…
Sometimes it is in your head and not in your legs – Tough loss against Kaiserslautern
Sunday the 1st of November , our players from Maastricht traveled with the Aachen team to the away game in Kaiserslautern. A sunny November day promised best conditions for a tough Lacrosse game. The opponent was not to underestimate and every player was prepared for a hard game and fourteen players in yellow jerseys started motivated after the face off. Within the first minutes it became clear, that our defense would need to work hard – 1:0 for the Kaiserslautern Lumberjacks after 1:32 minutes. The team from Aachen/Maastricht had trouble getting their head in the game in the first quarter and three consecutive goals from the Lumberjacks marked a 4:0 at the end of the fourth quarter. The team captains did their best to wake up their team, pointed out the strength of individual opponents (e.g. Lumberjack’s #9 with 1 goal and 2 assists in the first quarter, a pattern which would continue during the game) and tried to calm down hectic offensive movements which resulted in unnecessary balls which were thrown away. Having the mind cleared, the second quarter started.
Apparently the captain’s speeches had some effect, the first goal for Aachen/Maastricht after one nice rotation in offense. 4:1 for the Lumberjacks. Nearly every face-off could be won on the X, even though some wings plays still lead to possession for Kaiserslautern, leading to the 5:1 for the Lumberjacks. This did not lead to a demotivation, our team started to communicate and play some decent Lacrosse. 8 minutes later, the Aachen/Maastricht squad managed to get up to one goal – 5:4 including one goal of Lama Harry in his first game for our team. Some shoots hit the posts, there was quiet a potential for a higher score in the seconder quarter and the spirit of playing together seemed to be found again. However, it was only half time.
The team appeared awake and motivated to continue playing as in the second quarter, which was clearly won from our side. The Lumberjacks, in particular #9, had other plans – 3 consecutive unassisted goals followed by fourth assisted goal marked the end of the third quarter 9:4. The mindset of the second quarter magically vanished away and many unnecessary balls were thrown away or lost during transitions. In the fourth quarter, motivation and legs were both not completely present and the Lumberjacks ended the game with a 13:4 victory.
The leanings drawn from this game show that mindset and mental presents can make the difference. The team, most of the time during the game, was not focused enough to compete against the strong team from Kaiserslautern. Positively it can be said, that we had two first time goals (#20 and #77) from our team and the second quarter clearly showed that the potential to compete against the better teams in our league is there, it simply needs to be present for more than one quarter.
Congratulations to Kaiserslautern. Next Sunday, the Aachen/Maastricht squad will play in Aachen versus Cologne/Bonn. The first team of Aachen will play against Cologne before and there will be a BBQ and beverages afterwards. Join us for some nice Lacrosse!