U5 blowout

Unfortunately the Orange team was several players short this week so the game was not very competitive for the Green Goblins. We used the situation to make sure that all of our players got lots of touches and McKenzie, Luke and Kendra took advantage and scored some great goals. Karolyn carried the ball (dribbled it) for a good 20 seconds over about 30 yards. It was a real breakthrough day for everyone.
The Hero of the day was Kaleb who helped the Orange team out by playing goalie for them during the last quarter. Owen, Nate and Camden were unstoppable when on the field and scored a bunch.
We will have practice Tuesday night. Then next Sunday is our last game this session.
See you then.

May 31st: U9 Doubleheader Effort!

Obviously we didn't get a win but I couldn't have been much more impressed with the effort we saw. With only one sub on the bench the kids ran for two games and gave it everything they had. Special kudos to Erin and Paisley for giving it their all and getting us a pair of goals. Great work by Liz and Justin too on offense and Nicholas in goal.
See you Tuesday night.

May 31st: Camden Goes Crazy!

Camden Schwartz ran off an amazing four goals in today's game. He was on fire! We had excellent goal coverage from Kaleb too. One of Kaleb's clearing kicks missed the opposite goal by inches. That would have been the longest goal in the history of U5 soccer. Owen had two goals himself and had to deal with some flying elbows. McKenzie really came alive this game too and, after making a beautiful steal, came within inches of putting the ball in the net. Kendall was in the thick of things a lot this game as was Luke.
At this weeks practice I'll be trying to keep things a little more casual. Feel free to come onto the field with your camera if you want to get some action shots. See you Tuesday.

U5 May 16th and 17th

Great games both days. Thanks to Mrs. Lighthall for covering the bench for me in Saturday's game. See you tonight at practice. No games this weekend.

Schedule notes

Don't forget that U5 has a game this Saturday at 9:35 AM and then a game Sunday at 1:00 PM. Also, pardon my typo on the original version of the U9 schedule. There is no game on the 19th. We will have practice that evening though.
Tuesday's practices were great. See everyone this weekend.

May 3rd U5 game

Despite being down two players we had a great game. At first glance it looked like the other team had a real size advantage on us but our kids handled it wonderfully. Nate and Owen were unstoppable when in together with three goals, one for Owen and two for Nate, and with an assist by Nate on a goal by Luke. From the bleachers you may have seen Luke a bit red-faced and upset but he really had a great game. He's right at a stage that I've seen a lot of players go through, including Nate and Owen not long ago. He really works hard to get to the ball but due to his size he can't always beat the older kids to it. So he gets frustrated. But he kept running back in there and his tenaciousness paid off with a goal. If anyone got pictures of that or any of the action please forward them to me.
Our second quarter line was anchored by Kaleb who proved to be untouchable in goal. We had very strong kick-offs from Karolyn and Maddie with Maddie's leading directly to a goal. Kendall had four (four!) touches this week. Two of those touches were one after the other with Kendall deciding to put off her obligatory wave to Mom and Dad until after the second one. That's a big deal.
We will practice Tuesday but there will be no game next weekend because of Mother's day. Happy Mother's day Moms. Remember that we will make up that game by playing games the following weekend on Saturday and then on Sunday.
Special thanks to Ben Lighthall for leaving the building to get the snacks. That's dedication.

May 3rd U9 game

Despite the lopsided score this was a good game for us. Our offense, led by Paisley, Erin and Avery, showed great improvement in terms of thoughtfulness and patience. I saw many good efforts at passing and I heard lots of talking amongst the players. I still need to work more with our midfielders on getting back on defense and on helping to contain the ball in the other side's half. Also we'll be working on playing a less passive defense. Nicholas did a great job in goal, he just had to face too many shots.
We will practice Tuesday but remember our game this week is on Saturday, May 9th, at 9:00 AM. Try to be there by 8:45 please so we can get good and warmed up.