In my last post about the team I posed this question: will the Crushers be able to take the next step and compete with the travel teams? The question was answered this weekend!
When the last indoor season ended, the Crushers were beating house teams and other AYSO teams. However, they were losing rather convincingly to travel teams. After eight weeks of focusing on ball control, defense, and passing, the Crushers began their second indoor season with two games against travel teams. While they lost the first game 3 to 4, what impressed me is that they played with a new found confidence and determination.
We played the Hacksaws in the first game. The Hacksaws are a group of kids from Paw Paw, Michigan. Their team is comprised of several good soccer players and the rest of the kids are boys that excel in other sports like football, basketball, or baseball and who wanted to play soccer in the winter. They are a very aggressive team that plays a rough, but clean style of soccer. They are the team no one likes to play because, win or lose, they will give you a tough game. But they did give the Crushers some motivation when they started making fun of the fact that we have girls on our team. When the young ladies on the team heard this, they were fired up.
During our game, the Crushers gave up a quick goal early. I will have to admit I was worried that a rout might be on. But like I have said before, if nothing else these kids are fighters. The Crushers settled down and began to play hard. Our defense was outstanding. The boys who were laughing about playing girls, were not laughing when those girls put them into the wall or put them on the ground. The first half ended 1-0 Hacksaws. It was quite fitting that the Crushers first goal was scored by Dallas (read about Dallas in the Meet the Team section). Greta, another young lady on our team stole the ball along the boards and passed it to Sonic, who passed it to Dallas, who made a move and used some of her speed to get past the only defender. Ultimately, she beat the goal keeper with a low shot on the left side. The teams traded goals in the second half. Taz scored on a direct kick and off a steal that lead to a break away on the goal keeper. The keeper never had a chance.
Ultimatley, the game was decided on two plays. First, one perfect shot against our keeper, the Professor. The ball was kicked high and while on the way down, it crossed behind the cross bar of the goal. The Professor's hand missed the ball by less than an inch. It was a great shot. The second play was a shot taken by Taz that bounced over their keeper's head. Their keeper turned after the ball went over his head, and made a brillant diving save pushing the ball to the side. Again, a play decided by inches. All in all it was a great game, played by evenly matched teams. It was fun to be a part of.
In the second game we played a travel team from Marshall, Michigan. They were a GOOD team. As it turns out they tied with two other teams for second in their WYSMA outdoor travel team league. We had one thing we had going for us. The Marshall Team played a game right before our game. This game started with us scoring the first quick goal. Taz took the kick off, made a pass to Sonic who took a solid shot from the left wing, beating the keeper on the far side. It was a great soccer play to watch. The teams traded goals with the Crushers remaining tied or in the lead until midway through the second half. In the second half, Taz, one of our Captains, got leg cramps and had to sit out for a while. It was 4 to 3 advantage Crushers when he left the game. As I have mentioned before, Taz is the heart of this team. With Taz out, the Marshall team, to their credit, took advantage of his absence to take a 5 to 4 lead late in the second half.
In past games the Crushers would have accepted the loss, but not on this day. On this day the Crushers responded to the challenge. First, as soon as Marshall scored their 5th goal, Taz demanded he be put back into the game. When Marshall took the lead, their play grew rougher, again not dirty, but no one was getting any free run at their keeper. Taz was back in the game for only a few minutes, when he took possession of the ball. Three moves later, the ball was in the back of the net. Taz struck again. The score was 5 to 5.
The play intensified. With less then five minutes to play, Taz made a pass to Sonic. Taz was tripped, but no call was made. Sonic took the pass, and made his own pass to Izzy (another of our male players), Sonic was taken down. Just before Izzy took his shot, the whistle blew. Izzy ripped a beautiful shot past the keeper. BUT NO GOAL. The ref called the foul on Sonic. To all the coaches out there, let this be a lesson. As the game became more physical, I started to complain about the lack of calls to the ref. When Taz was fouled, I yelled again. When Sonic was fouled, well how does that old saying go . . . be careful what you wish for . . . . I finally got the call, but it nearly cost us the game.
One of the things I love about Taz is that he is a smart player, who knows the rules of the game, and keeps his head in the big moments. While people, including players and coaches, were yelling about the call and the no goal, Taz ran over picked up the ball. He asked the ref where to place it, waited for the whistle, and immediately took the shot. While so many of us were concentrating on the call, his head was in the game. He kept playing. He scored the winning goal before some players on the other team even knew what had happened.
A few tense moments later, and the game was over. The Crushers had won 6 to 5. I know I talked about Taz allot in this game. But make no mistake about it, this was a team win. Our keeper, the Professor, made several outstanding saves to preserve our lead or maintain the tie during the game. Some were one on one plays where he was the only player between Marshall and a goal. The full backs, our defense, played hard. Instead of the Professor saving the defense all the time, there were several times in this game where they saved him. It was a hard fought game and good win.
Have the Crushers taken the next step? Have they started competing with the Travel Teams? It seems the answer is YES. It is early in the season. We have four more games against four more tough teams. But I think the team as turned a corner.
GO CRUSHERS!
No comments:
Post a Comment