US Club Soccer Washington Cup Final

What a finish. After winning our bracket, we had to wait while Crush finished their business. Going into Sunday morning, Crush had finished their games Saturday PM. Meanwhile, Nemesis had to play a game early Sunday morning, they needed o post a shutout as well as score six goals to come out ahead of Crush. Well they didn't. Nemesis won 5-0 and forced the tournament director to go through all of the tie-breaker possibility. Most points - even, head to head-tie, Goals Against - tied, Goals For-tied, even differential - tied. Crush had to be called up to travel to Starfire to shoot PK's to determine the winner.

Our game against Crush started immediately after they won PKs. We had some pretty good opportunities throughout the game but couldn't convert on them. We led the game 1-0, with less than 10 minutes to go when Crush put the ball in during the scrum following a corner kick. We looked like we slowed down in the final few minutes and the game ended 1-1.

Straight to PK's. Alexa was put into keeper service. Both teams scored on their first attempt. Then a miss or two by both and then Alexa came up big on a couple of shots.

This save even things out.

But the following save was the biggest.

Day 1 the aftermath

Greetings from Lake Oswego. 2 games played today, and we finished second in our bracket.

We entered the tournament with two guest players, Kai and McKenzie. Maud's back from Europe so we're well manned up for the warmer weather.

Our first game was against the Kaizer Hotshots, the final 0-1. It wasn't an overwhelming ugly game, nor a pretty game, we just sort of sluggish, and the other team was a bit better. We didn't seem to have too many opportunties and we managed to dodge a few bullets as they keep driving deep into our end.

It was notable that girls on the other team was big.



The second game was against the OSA Legends. This particular team was lessed skilled than the Hotshots. But they were just as big.

Most of the game was on their end of the field. We had numerous corner kicks but never were able to convert. The opponent seemed to lack some knowledge of the game witness the pushing the goalie did on our players during corner kicks and througout the game. In the second half their defenders plays a handball resulting in a PK. The other team tries to build a walld in the box, against a PK from the spot??? Unfortunately Kaylene was unable to convert the kick. A few minutes later McKenzie puts the ball into the net! Final 1-0, good guys (us).

Down South - Mt Hood Challenge

Whew! What a drive.... terrible traffic coming into Tacoma today. It didn't clear until the Nisqually delta area. What normally takes 50 minutes worth of driving took us 2 hours to get to Olympia. sheesh.

The girls are getting settle in the hotel, lots of giggling going on as they are racing up the hallways decorating the doors.

Meanwhile we're watching an "interesting" Sounders game right now... haven't seen that many cards shown in a long time...

First game is at 11:40, let's see what happens.

Home at last...

Well we're home now. Our contingency plan like a few others was to visit SeaWorld on Monday, I think some of us would have like to have been playing soccer on Monday (Semi's at least) but judging by the shriek-factor, the girls really enjoyed SeaWorld. And judging from some of the photos below, so did some of the parents!




It was during our day that we've founded something to battle over and a new set of bragging rights for future EFC vs NW Nationals games, it will be referred from here on as the "Patrick Cup".

A special thanks to our guest players, they truly blended in well with the EFC regulars and made this a fun trip. And a big thanks to their parents for their support!

The Patrick Cup, the history:

A trophy of dubious distinction was won by a darling little girl (Laura) when she showed great skill in a fairground contest (shooting baskets). The contest was held far, far from home (SeaWorld) and the return voyage was wrought with peril (they flew coach). Fearing great labors to bring home the trophy her meanie father (Neil) schemed to rid himself of the trophy. An opportunity arose as the darling little girl befriended another darling little girl (Kaylene). In a gesture of friendship little Laura offered the trophy as a gift to her new friend much to the fiendish delight of the meanie father. The little girl proudly displayed the gift to her dismayed father (David) who immediately declared that this gesture was not a loving act of kindness but a savage plot by the meanie dad and in future sporting encounters an act of revenge would be delivered.

Thus was the origins of the Patrick Cup. The winner of future soccer games between the teams of NWN and EFC will be given the opportunity to pass on the trophy to the loser, who will then be entrusted to provide adequate care for the trophy until their next encounter where the results will dictate whether it passes from their hands.

Sunday

Aiiyiyiyi......
The game against the Hawaii team didn't have the outcome we had hoped for, but that's youth soccer. In earlier games the Blitz shown speed and perseverence, and did again today. We worked hard throughout the game but couldn't make enough opportunities for ourselves.



The Blitz put one into the net fairly early in the first half. That seem to create a sense of urgency in the girls and we battled harder through the remainder of the first. The second half we continue to work hard but have very few opportunities. A hard tackle by our defender in the box leads to a PK which the Blitz converts. A few minutes later a Blitz corner kick is hit towards our keeper who is unable to secure and the game ends 0-3.

We were pretty mmuch out of it after Saturday mornings loss but the girls seem to work hard throughout the tournament. Good job!

One more thing...

Apologies in advance, photos and updates will be delayed today because after the game against the Blitz we are heading to the beach! And hey, no wishing for sand in my eye!

Sunday's game vs Blitz

Today's game against the Blitz should be entertaining. We were rooting for them yesterday pm when they played the Blues but now..... They are similar in size as us but have a lot of energy and will run.

Saturdays pictures

So if your waiting for pictures your going to have to wait some more but there is a bunch of good ones. (ed. - I've added some so bleah to you K_ _ _ !)

The first two games were played at field 18 right next to the horse stables. Peew! Horses are beautiful animals but there is always a stink!

Post Saturday games

A lot to write about as Saturday was a full day. First game ws against some SoCal team, the Blues? To many of the dang teams. The game started with our girls looking a bit flat, and a step slow. Coach is trying her best to get the girls energy going but nothing is going to happen instantaneously. The Blues have a couple girls that look pretty dangerous and in the middle of the first half the put a shot low that gets past our keepers outstretched hands.
We're down 0-1. From then on it goes back and forth. JoJo gets a good looking breakaway and the SoCal keeper comes out to challenge, JoJo gets a foot on it to power off the shot but the keeper takes it in the gut and delects off. The second half continues with back and forth play, a couple of our girls go down hard and have to be helped off the field. In the final minutes the SoCal team gets another attack going and drives a shot towards goal, our keeper manages to get a hand on it to deflect it up and it hits the bottom of the crossbar and down. The ball bounces around the box while our girls try to clear it out. At least three girls try to get it out and finally its swept clear.

Finally the whistle blows, Blues 1, Eastside 0.

The second game is against the Surf, the host. This one proves to be another physical game and there are sevefal girls that are bigggg. Some how the manage to score on fairly early in the first.
We're still looking a tad slow and the Surf manufactures a second goal before the end of the first. In the sdcond half we're working hard to create something but are unable to get many opportunities in the center of their end. The game was another physical game with numerous knock downs, fortunately our girls don't get hurt and we stay above the agressive fouls. The final is Surf 2, Eastside 0.



Back at the hotel for dinner and coach gives a reward to the girls for hard play and not giving up, pool time! She also makes a special appearance in the pool! It was especially fun since the hotel setup a movie screen and served popcorn and fixing's for 'smores! Yeah!





And finally, we've got a special message for one of our teammates who couldn't make the tourney (click on the video below).

Pictures from Friday

Here's motivation, to do your best to play the best...


Frenchie had the girls at the field for a bit of a talk and a couple photo ops.



Here's the layout at the souviener store. It's quite the operation. Anything from pre-wrap to shoes, Surf Cup T's to authentic replica Arsenal jerseys. No one walked out without dropping a few $$'s.

Dinner at the hotel was the typical carbo load, pasta, salad and bread...

Tobey - hard at work.

The hotel were staying at is pretty nice, plenty of areas for the kids to roam. It looks like there was 2 weddings in progress and a couple of other functions going on. I hope the wedding shots don't show a couple little faces peeping out of the background....

Friday - the day before....

Having a heck of a time getting our broadband connection up. Dang computers.

The girls got a chance to wander out to the fields today to look around. The grass looks really fast. It's cut short and the ground seems to be fairly firm.

We'll see how things go. Kick off is at 9:10a

Thursday - Recon Mission

Well coach beat everyone down here and did some reconnisance this morning. She's pumped and ain't shy about it.

Here's some pictures she sent out... It looks really nice.

We made it down here this afternoon, flying into Long Beach was pretty much pain free. It's a small airport using a former military airfield. The infrastructure is pretty basic. The terminal building are really just trailers, no fooling.

There was one hitch, we flew in on Horizon and the particular airplane we flew in was the one that WSU charters so it was painted up with Cougar colors.... Oh so painful.... (I'm a Husky...Go DAWGS!)

Getting the rental car was a plesant experience, we managed to snag a VW Beetle. Yahoo!

Happy travels everyone, see you tomorrow.

T minus 2 and counting

Tuesday - nothing happening. The girls had a good time at the pool party Sunday following the second game, so much so that it's suspected that they were focused on the party halfway through the second game. Coach got annoyed and had some running for them afterwards.

Enjoy the pool girls, it'll be awhile before coach let's you back in.....

In a funny twist of fate, two of the players guesting were playing against us last summer at Chinook Cup. We all had a good laugh when we found out that one of our favorite pictures of the year was also one of theirs. I'll dig it up and post it soon....

Eastside FC - G98R Trip to Surf Cup Countdown

The countdown to Surf Cup has begun.

The team's application to Surf Cup was accepted this spring and now the team has been focusing on getting ready for the big dance. Coach has been setting up several different friendlies with U12 teams so we can get used to playing 11v11 against strong opponents. In the two different tournaments we've entered we've played up. Lots of preperation, and the girls are looking real good.

Since the team was formed with 9v9 play, we're needing a couple more players to fill up the roster. Also we're missing one of the players due to a planned vacation so we'll have to keep her updated on the progress via this blog and email...

More to come.

Day 3 and beyond....

It's good to be back home but it's much earlier than we planned. Wednesday's game was bright and early, 8am kickoff. Pleasant temps and no wind.

The girls faced off against the Clash, and even before kickoff we had a little oopsie, as one of our girls left their jersey back at the hotel... Fortunately the Clash pulled out their jailbird jerseys and problem solved.

The girls seemed pretty focused and we kept the ball on their end of the field for the majority of the time. Pretty much an anticlimatic game, we got on the board with a free kick that the keeper misplayed, it went through her hands... ouch... The second goal was off a corner that a few girls put their bodies on, in the end it was really hard to determine who put it in as it seemed to dribble across the line.

We did get a scare near the end of the second half as Tara was streaking down the sideline with a defender on her hip, feet got tangled and they both went down hard. With both on the ground, coaches huddling over them, the paramedics visited the field. Fortunately neither one was hurt, just some hard knocks.

After the game everyone kicked in the alternate plans, flights home, rebooking hotels in LA and the like.

It was good seeing the State Champs play one last time together, now it's time to roll up the sleeves and get ready for a new season!

Day 2 notes...

The second biggest gripe I've got about this event, after the location (Lancaster, why Lancaster????) is T-shirts. The souvenier t-shirts go for $20, but they don't seem to have enough, even on the 1st day. We were warned about getting them early as they sell out. They weren't kidding. Stupid money grubbers....

Lancaster is in the middle of the scrublands. As Megan and Jordan will testify... watch out for the prickly bushes!

Day 2

arrghh.... 10:00am game, the girls looked a step behind. Ended up dropping game 2 to Las Vegas Premier, 0-2. The game started with some inital promise, with a couple looks at the goal, Rachel has a nice header toward goal, but the Nevada keeper makes a nice stop to prevent the goal.

Maddie had a nice shot on goal but hits the cross bar. Nevada starts shooting at our goal a few times and things are getting nervous. They finally get on the board on a 2v2 attack, our keeper tried to clear the ball but it's blocked by the Nevada player and she dribbles it in for the goal.

The second goal was scored on a nicely placed free kick by Nevada, upper right corner. On the play Sarah gets a card, but it really looked like it was a 50-50 ball, just the collision looked pretty spectacular.

In the second half we start pressing hard but the Nevada team keeps putting the ball up over the top, hoping to put us away...

Nevada ends day two with 2 wins, 6 points, Cal North ends a win and a tie 4 points, so we're pretty much out of it.

Monday PM - end of the 1st day

The EFC teams had a good day, the G96R, B94R and the B92R all won their first games. The G95R team tied 0-0 vs. Mustang Fury.

A quick recap from a few of the players:

Today’s game was tough: the wind was strong, the ref had challenges, and Mustang was physical and violent. Plus, they won Regionals last year so, as you can guess, they had some skills. But, we hung in there despite #11… (see pic)
Anyways, the defense stepped up and we ended up with a tie. So, ya, that’s it…The End.

From our defense:
They were very feisty players, and how the ref didn’t see all the cleating and shoving from the back I have no idea… ha. #11 slid cleats up into our goalie and the ref didn’t call it, even though it was inside our box. Plus, the ref ejected our coach for getting a little bit mad about how one girl on Fury kicked our defender in the face.

update: (ed comment - not sure what exactly happened with coach, but the girls will be ready for tomorrow's game with or without the coach)

The game started out in the sun but the cloud cover quickly blew in by mid-1st half. The temperature dropped, or so it seemed, we were all bundling up on the sidelines.

The wind seemed to really carry the ball, on throw-ins and

on the punts especially. The 1st half the wind was in our favor but we never got a good look at the Fury's goal. Mid field play and the defense of both teams limited the number of looks.

The second half we were working against the wind, the girls continued to work hard but the Mustangs seemed to have several quality looks but fortunately their shots seemed to get carried away by the wind. A big push by the Mustangs in the last 5 minutes and a spectacular save by Corey to prevent a shot blasted to the right post preserved the draw.

Monday - EFC G96R

Up early Monday morning, the '96 girls played at 8a vs. WSA, the Washington Wildcard. They fell behind 0-1 mid-way through the first half, but 2 quick goals in the final 5 minutes of the half to surge ahead. The second half they pressured hard and were rewarded with two more goals. 4-1 final.