1/26 Rosemount vs Eden Prairie U13

Today's game started off well.  3 minutes in we worked a combination to get the ball into EP's end, but we lost possession to their left defender.  As the girl turned to clear the ball, Blitz jumped in front of the clear, blocked it, looked up and fired the ball home for a 1-0 lead.  Two weeks in a row we were off to good starts.

We were playing well and controlling the game but 10 minutes in EP tied the game off a long shot and a rebound. 

Three minutes after EP tied it up, we went back in the lead off of our best goal of the game.  Bella won the ball in midfield and looked to go forward with the ball.  As she looked up she realized that nothing was on so she turned back and kept possession of the ball by playing it to our left back, Mallory.  As Bella turned Mallory backed up to give herself space and time so she could hit a long diagonal pass to our Right Mid, Britt, who was cutting in from the far side line.  It was just what we had worked on in training this morning.  Britt received the pass between their defenders and finished off the break away for a great team goal.

18 minutes in EP tied the game again straight off a corner that the girl was somehow able to create an angle to drill the shot on target.

The second half showcased both team's goal keepers.  EP's had a couple of nice saves on two breakaways and numerous crosses.  Mack made three outstanding saves for us on shots from about 10-15 yards away.  The great thing about all of Mack's saves was that she was able to parry the ball away to the side on each of them so she did not give up any rebounds.

Seven minutes from time Britt scored her second goal of the game off of a punt from Mack that went over everyone and put her in on a breakaway.  EP's defense had done an outstanding job all game of winning our goal kicks and punts, but I kept telling our forward and outside mids to always anticipate that the ball will get through just in case we got a chance.  This was our one chance with this all game and it was outstanding that Britt was ready and capitalized on the chance.

Two minutes later EP tied the game for the last time on another long range shot into the far corner.  It was a fun game that ended tied 3-3.  This is our third tie of the league and we have come away from each of the three ties with having very good chances to take full points, which is a good thing. 

We have ended each game very strong and we've had a number of chances to win late.  We are the team putting the pressure on the other team so I am confident that the more close games we get in during the spring and summer seasons, the more comfortable we will be in these games and we will start to come away with good results.

MVP's
-Carly for her "mad skills" at left mid.  She took girls one on one and she is really starting to understand how to make runs and get into very dangerous positions.
-Blitz for her non stop energy, hard tackles, and the first goal.
-LK for her all around great play.  She took girls on 1v1 and had a lot of success, while playing simple and making great plays on defense.