Nike Classic Cup Round 2

  Blue vs LF Utd #15 RII

This was another game that I was looking forward to since LF was another very good team.  We had played them last spring and beaten them 3-2 in a very close game with an exciting finish.  Details Here  They had one dangerous forward and they played very well as a team.  I knew that they would be hard to break down defensively.  

The entire game was really even.  We had one really good stretch of play that started with Bella (CD) nutmegging one of their players with her pass from the corner of our box to the outside of the field.  You could see her setting up the meg and our U13 boys team was right there on the sideline that the pass went to.  As the pass was completed they started cheering wildly.  We were then able to string together about 8 passes in a row going all over the field.  A minute later we were able to do the same thing.  It was really exciting to see the girls realize how well they can move the ball when they are playing well.

Both teams had a couple of very good chances but both their goalie and AJ came up with a couple of big saves and the game ended tied 0-0.  This result left us in control of our destiny going into the final game.

White vs Windy City Pride 42

The girls were excited to play an 8:30pm game under the lights for their final game of the day.  Right away in the game Windy City showed that they had some skill on the ball and they possessed the ball pretty well against us.  For the first ten minutes they were all over us.  After about ten minutes our mids and defenders really picked things up and began to play really well defensively and the game began to become more of a back and forth battle.  Both teams had a couple of chances in the first half but nothing went in.

At half time we talked about the same things that we had gone over at half time of the first game.  We really needed to win the 50/50 balls and then use our skill to keep possession of the ball.  

The second half started and it was like we were a completely different team.  We dominated everything and we only let Windy City out of their half a couple of times in the entire half.  Everyone was playing well but we weren't able to put anything up on the scoreboard.  

With ten minutes left Ricky (CD) played a long ball that bounced just outside of their box.  Hannah rushed onto the ball and as it was bouncing up inside the box, Windy Cities goalie decided late to come charging out.  Hannah got her head to the ball a second before the goalie got her hand their and the keepers follow through completely took Hannah out with a solid punch to the nose.  Unintentional from the goalie, painful for Hannah, and a PK for us.

Sprout stepped up to take the penalty but her shot missed wide.  Still tied 0-0 in a game that we needed to win if we wanted any shot of making it to the championship.  About a minute after the PK I told LP (CD) to go up to forward and we were going to play with 3 defense, 3 mids, and 4 forwards and go for the win.  Our mids and defense had been doing such a great job with winning all the long balls I felt confident that the extra forward would give us that little extra that we needed to score the goal.

Just as LP was moving up Ricky played another ball through to Hannah, this time on the ground, and Hannah took a touch and was able to dribble wide of the goalie, avoiding another punch in the nose, and slot the ball into the empty net.  Nice finish.

The girls were able to keep the pressure on Windy City for the rest of the half and we finished with a 1-0 victory.

After an exciting day at the fields (9am-10pm straight) between all the teams I was ready to get back and have a nice steak at Shula's Steak House in our hotel to celebrate.