Training Notes: October 14, 2014

After earning its first win in Houston on Oct. 12, the team returned to the RFK training field to prepare for its final home match of the 2014 MLS Regular Season (Saturday, October 18 vs. Chicago Fire - buy tickets). Missing from the training field was Luis Silva, who picked up a hamstring injury in the match against Houston and will be sidelined for 4-6 weeks. Also missing were several United starters from Saturday’s match as they were inside doing a light workout.
One addition at the training field was Chris Rolfe. The midfielder, who has been sidelined since suffering a broken arm in September, participated in the team's drills today in a non-contact role.  
In usual fashion, the Black-and-Red began practice with a game of 5v2 keep away, before moving in to dynamic stretching. Then, after the first of several water breaks, the guys performed an agility drill, in which the squad was divided into two lines, and had to sprint in place before being passed a ball to volley back to the server.
Once the players had built momentum, the team spread out along the right flank of the practice pitch to work on passing. With the premise of the drill being to get everyone touches on the ball, the players showed quick movement and rhythm while executing ground-level one-two touch passing. The exercise required players to dribble the ball to the nearest yellow dummy (six total), before passing to a teammate who continued in the same direction.
Afterwards, the players divided into two groups of seven to run yet another fast-paced passing drill. The guys distinguished themselves with blue and yellow pinnies, leaving a healing Chris Rolfe as the neutral player in red. The first passing exercise required the players to complete four, clean consecutive passes for a goal, while the objective of the second was to finish 21 one-touch passes for the ultimate victory.
As the drill was in motion, Goalkeeping Coach Preston Burpo worked with his keepers on short-range saves at the opposite end of the pitch. Once the keepers were warm, they joined the team for the remainder of the day.
Keeping the energy high, the guys then separated into two groups of six for an intra-squad clash on half the length of the pitch. Still separated by blue and yellow pinnies, the teams played four five-minute games. After the first three, the day’s series was narrowly led by yellow (2-1), with a 7-2 scoring advantage. However, the final match ended in a stalemate, 2-2, with Alex Caskey and Jared Jeffrey scoring for the blue side, while Samuel Inkoom and Conor Shanosky scored for yellow. Jeffrey looked like he was going to win it for the blue team, but his final strike sailed over the crossbar.

To finish today’s session, players cooled off with post-workout stretching and a final water break.