Game 1 - September 5, 2009

Today we were visitors against Coach Hugh Gentry's team, the Cobras. Palani Judd ref'd our game.

The kids did a great job with the sportsmanship, and everyone played hard. Evan and Ryan were out for this game, so all of the kids had to play 4 quarters.

Keaton was team captain, and Casey was co-captain. We were the visitor team. The Cobras had some big kids on their team! But we started out strong and set the pace for the game. We were fouled hard during the first quarter, especially by #3 from the other team, but our kids stayed positive and didn't retaliate. Kudos to Keaton for getting tripped and fouled and then going back after the ball and keeping it in his control. Casey had excellent ball control and his assists were outstanding. Together, Casey and Keaton made several attempts to score.

Kaelan played some outstanding Goalkeeper during the first quarter and revealed that he is very strong in that position. Pohaku and Jeremy played a hard line of defense which stopped the Cobras from scoring, and as the biggest kids on our team, their size alone was no match for the Cobras. But never mind size, their skills in getting around the ball were excellent too!! Pohaku managed to use his skills to keep opponents away from the ball, and Jeremy did some hard running. Jeremy, you really surprised me with your speed!!

During the second quarter, both Kaelan and Shane scored goals that brought us up 2 to 0 as we went into the half. This was due in part to the hard work and speed of Pohaku and Jeremy, who filled out the forward and mid positions to penetrate the wall of Cobras.

Trey doubled up on forward for the 3rd and 4th quarters because we had only 7 players, and 8 forward positions (2 per quarter) to fill. Trey's and Keaton's speed managed to keep the ball on the Cobras side of the field for most of the 3rd quarter. The Cobras couldn't even get the ball out of their own Penalty Area! Keaton's foot skills were also key in moving the ball back from our side of the field to the Cobra's side. Jeremy again used his speed and quick thinking to keep the ball forward.

During the 4th quarter, Shane and Trey drove deep into the Cobra territory, with strong assists from Pohaku and Kaelan. Though Casey was suffering from a headache, his playing didn't reflect it! He played harder than at practice! Shane took a lot of great shots during the fourth quarter. And Trey - there was no one on the other team that could match your speed!!

Though we gave up one goal during the 3rd quarter, our defense managed to keep the Cobras from scoring to maintain our lead of 2 to 1 until the end of the game.

At the end of the game, player #11 from the other team was exhibiting poor sportsmanship during the handshake, but I gave him a warning before he went back to his side.

Overall, our kids managed to stay in position, and everyone had some great passes and assists. And the defense was outstanding. There were a few instances where forwards were doing the throw-ins and corner kicks, so we need to work on having midfielders take care of those at practice. But overall, it looks like Extreme will be a strong force this season!!