"Hall Pass" - The Official Ironmen Blog of Ryan Hall

I am sure many are aware of the result this past weekend. What a big time win for the guys to pull out a 10-8 overtime win in Detroit. If you didn't get to watch the game let me tell you that the team looked and played great. From start to finish they played hard, focused, and as a team. You can definitely tell there is a sense of urgency throughout the team. We dominated the game controlling the ball for much of the match. As in any game, there are still things we as a team can work on and this game was no exception. We had several power play opportunities in which we didn't capitalize and need to in order to put games away early. On the flip side, when Detroit went on the sixth attacker we need to be able to put the ball in the back of the open net when we get a chance and not allow Detroit to tie the game with a minute left in the match. Never the less, the team pulled out a much needed win that propelled us with in 2 1/2 games of first place.

This win has set up for another huge game this weekend as the team returns to Detroit for the second week in a row. We are building a confidence now winning 3 out of our last 4 games that could be very dangerous for other teams. The day this team starts clicking on all cylinders is the day the rest of the league should just call it a day and go home. If we can pull out another much needed win then we are only a game out of first place behind Milwaukee with all the momentum in the world.

There was a different buzz this week in practice. Unlike previous weeks, you can really tell that the team is feeling confident about our play yet we are not content. Players (other than myself) are healthy and growing more comfortable with one another everyday. It was also productive week of practice. We focused on the areas I mentioned earlier and also on our fitness. With a full week before our next match, coach decided it was a good time to work on some fitness early in the week and taper the training sessions from then on to allow us to recover.

On a side note, a familiar face was back in training this week. Tim O'Neil was here and training with us. For those of you who don't know him, Tim played some games last year in an Ironmen uniform. We actually go back several years where we played two years of outdoor in the A-league together for the Syracuse Salty Dogs. He is a great player and hopefully he cant make an instant impact on the team. Enjoy the upcoming weekend and look forward to talking with many of you soon!