Wolverines vs. Infinity Girls

OK team, you all have to buy flowers for the Infinity Girls! That was a very talented team and we matched them well. I didn't have my stat keeper working the line but we clearly had more shots on goal and kept the pressure on them. We got off to a strong start and in the first few minutes we went right into their goal box where they fouled Gideon for a PK. It was a well placed shot: hard and low (but just inches wide)--still, "A" for effort to get into dangerous territory and earn the PK. The girls let us know that they would be playing physically and using their arms a bit more than we like to see. We are still losing too many 50:50 balls and bunching up. Our biggest offensive nemesis remains the inability to finish in front of the goal. Our defensive albatross is allowing one on one situations with our goalie (and the other teams have been able to finish those situations). We need to work on conditioning so that we can play a solid 50 minute game--we get a bit lethargic in the heat, but I love the fact our kids always want to keep playing and our anxious to get back into the fray. The best kids in the league. So the memorable moments! After our early press the girls showed they could fight and had the ball in our end--their ball control allowed them to move through our midfield and push a through ball to the wing where the striker took a good shot that Tate somehow managed to pull out of the air when I was already convinced it was over his head and in the net. Great save! The kicker was offsides, but without an official linesman we had Isaac's Grandpa, Art "Hawkeye" Heers working the line--I muttered my disgust to this poor excuse of a linesman and luckily coach Justin Larsen of the Aggies team was there to take over. He's a secret Wolverines fan and has let me know that we are the most improved team in the league--I couldn't agree more! Right after he was complementing our team our defense let a break away through and she finished with a power shot that slipped into the net :( Down by 1 we went into the half and I started suggesting floral arrangements that the kids might consider for their opponents. We had some good laughs and went into the second half where we again took control of the game and after some rebounding balls in front of their goal, out of nowhere Dylan "birthday boy" McArthur finished with a strong chip into the back of the net for his first goal of the season! Gooaaalll!!!! That kid is one of my top five favorite bleach blond blue-eyed players on the team. Can one of those kids grow a pony tail or something to help me out? Mohawk? OK, back to the game. Fired up after the equalizer we had some great crosses that went across an open goal box (just need a player sprinting to the far post to pick up the freebie goal). Someone had a shot that hit the post?! We were knocking on their door, but they wouldn't let us in. Typical girls. Then, in true spirit of the XX chromosome they lulled us into their half then got a counterattack and pushed past my last defender for a one on one that was played beautifully to the far side of our onrushing keeper--Coach Andy Parker of the Wolverines has offered to help with some goal keeping practice--he's a pro and after the game explained to Isaac how to move out on the striker whenever they push the ball in front of them, then hold ground when they have the ball back at their feet where they could shoot. Essentially the goalie is mirroring the striker. It makes perfect sense, but it helps to have it explained so clearly. Its great to be part of a larger club. The lady Wolverines, by the way, are a blast to watch (U10 playing up at U11). So, down 2 to 1 we were facing the prospect of not only having to buy flowers, but also each player was about to be required to ask for an opponent's phone number for a soccer date. This was clearly unacceptable and we swarmed their goal, and at one point their defender snatched a goal from us by doing a bicycle kick to clear the ball--my jaw dropped--that was beautiful. But beauty aside, Tate had enough and used his chest to deflect a ball back into the net to equalize the score at 2 apiece with seconds to play. Third goal of the season for Tate! Great effort. The whistle blew and we had a rewarding come from behind finish. We were the stronger team as a whole so it was good to have a dramatic finish. As with the boys Infinity team we had more shots and looked stronger, but the beauty of soccer is that a single goal can make all the difference and finesse can win over physical play. I think we are going to be in the position of underdogs the next two games, which seems to be best for us--we tend to play better against the better teams. Overall, we can match any team and with yesterday's game we have now tied every team in our league, stunning a couple of the best teams at the end of last season and start of this season. I love being the spoilers. I'll see the kids at practice today--with the cloud cover we'll do some endurance training. Thanks again to all the parents for the support. Thanks to Michelle, Jill, and Josh for running practice on Monday! Go Wolverines!