With both teams coming off wins and with coaches knowing that they may see each other again, US Youth Soccer Region IV's San Juan Spirits and Region I's FC Stars played a tactically smart and technically impressive game that resulted in a scoreless tie.

While the Spirits team had more of the play, it was the Stars who actually put the ball on frame more often without being able to shake Katelyn Rowland's net.

Technical ability and comfort on the ball was in evidence everywhere as the ball rarely left the playing field. Because of defensive prowess, the ball also never entered the net despite the best efforts of the Spirits' Haley Washburn and the Stars' Haley Dowd who provided the offensive spark for their respective teams.

With defense the order of the day, the best defensive play came from the Spirits' Mandy McBroom who corrected her own mistake with a spectacularly timed tackle against Rebecca Robinson at the point where Robinson's foot was already making contact with a ball only a few yards from the net.

This game will also be remembered for the control displayed by the coaching staffs, Jason Dewhurst and Ginger Baker for the Stars and Peter Prieto for the Spirits.

While many coaches of Under-14 teams tend to coach every move, and often allow their own emotions to become the focus of a close game like this one, the three coaches of record today displayed remarkable composure, letting their players figure out on their own how to get themselves out of trouble. Dewhurst, who had taken the Under-14 Girls FC Stars to the national finals just last year explained, "My philosophy as the DOC and a coach is that we prepare teams the right way; we make sure they're ready on the technical side and tactical side. Technical, physical, and mental readiness comes from our training sessions, team meetings and classroom sessions, and then we say to them: you're going out there, we don't want you looking around at us asking us for what to do. You've got to sort the problems out, and then at half time we'll talk about and give advice on how to fix your mistakes."

The Spirits's Prieto takes a similar approach: "We have two words that we have been emphasizing all year long, at every meeting and they are 'focus' and 'filter'. We focus and filter everything else out. I have always told them that soccer is a simple game that's complicated by the strength of your opponent. So we don't coach every move. What we do is we actually have a briefing before every game at the hotel. Tactics, corrections from the night before, and so on. We'll take this match and either talk about it tonight or tomorrow. I mean they are already under enough pressure in the game, especially at this level, with both teams being so good that you just can't any more pressure."

Because his team responded so well to his implementation of Dewhurst's philosophy, the Stars' Baker was happy with the outcome and especially with the girls' effort. "Against a very very good team, they couldn't have tried any harder and they couldn't have given any more."

I know of very few parents whose hearts would not be warmed were their children's coaches to take this particular page from the Stars' and the Spirits' coaching books.