1 v 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - Guess which way they play the best

Here is the game:

• Same game as the last article.
• Line soccer on a small field.
• One team has only one player.
• The other team has 1 - 5 players.

Here is the paradox: The girls do better maintaining possession when they're solo. When they have teammates, they do worse. They invariably get careless with the ball and make bad passes. When they're solo, they keep it close, make some moves, screen the ball; in other words, they do great.

This is a puzzle which I'm going to have to think about.