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Blog Reports from Crossfire Teams @ Regionals
Check on the action yourself at http://championships.usyouthsoccer.org and see photos here.
Crossfire 90 P. Lombard:
Monday June 18: Game 1 in the books with a 1-0 win. Thanks for all the supporting calls and messages before the game. We sure needed it today. This was really a must win for us against a solid Utah team. If we can come through with a win over Alaska tomorrow, then we’re through and can play loose in game 3 v. Cal South. Outside of the 103 degree day, our biggest hurdle has been illness. Some combination of stress from early school finals, a virus, improper eating, and a migraine have resulted in 4 chunk blowers and some other queasies. On the plus side, our rental houses are awesome and we bought an inflatable pool for ice baths post game. This may sound sick but 58 and drizzle does sound so bad at the moment.
Tuesday, June 19:
Game day 2 in the books: 2-0 win over Alaska
This was actually a bit disappointing, because we missed so many great chances and the CalSouth Slammers (tomorrows opponent) also won 2-0. This means a tie tomorrow with the Slammers sends us to kfm to determine 1st and 2nd for the bracket. Either likely pairs us with the Surf or the Mustangs in the quarters, so pick your poison - both great teams. We are happy to be through after 2 games, and playing well without 2 of our captains (both center defenders). Erica Dejong (ED) tore her ACL in the Portland College Showcase last January, and Lucretia Lee (Lulee) tore hers at National Team camp in April. These 2 captains have been the heart and soul of our very stingy defense since U12. We miss them terribly, but Erin Kearney (E) and Kiara Williams (Ki) are doing an awesome job stepping into new roles. With only one captain left on the field (Molly Lavin - Lav), the players voted E and JC (Jaqueline Conforto) as new field captains while Ed and Lu take up coaching and motivatio n duties from the side. Our new keeper to the team (Nicole Eddings) can’t play at this regionals, but is here doing a great job handing out profiles to college coaches, motivating all and getting our keeper Kenisha warmed up for the games. Attached are some pics of the dreaded post game ice baths (300 lbs of ice addeds to the little pool), pic of baking scones at the houses, and the van rides. Game pics will come soon. See ya!
Wednesday June 20:
Day 3: We did it! 1-0 win over the Slammers.
This was a huge win. The Slammers are consistently a top team in the country to beat, with quite a few national pool players. We ended up giving ourselves a much better road in the loser out games. We now face a solid FC Portland team (who beat Surf today) instead of the red hot Mustangs from NCal. Until tonight we had faced the Slammers 3 times with 3 draws. The first time they won the shootout in the semi at the ManU Cup and went on to win the trip to . The second time we won shootout in the semi at last years regionals and went on to win. The third was a tie last September at the first ever Nike Women’s Friendlies. The first half tonight was hard fought by both teams. In the second half, the Slammers started to bring it, but we held fast. Almost midway through we had a 40 yard set piece. Dino (Ashley Correa) pasted it low through traffic. Many deflections later, the ball squirted through toward the keeper, but Chipper (Heat her Thomas) slid to touch it by for the goal. After that the Slammers threw the kitchen sink at us, but we bunkered and scrapped until the whistle blew. Day off tomorrow, but we’re waking up early to get ready for our new quarter final time of 7am. We’d been sleeping in with our 7pm bracket games. Our quarter was scheduled for 1pm, but it’s supposed to reach 109 degrees Friday. We’d much rather wake up early!
Pics of the big win Thursday over the Slammers posted here
Friday June 22:
Quarters - Crossfire 90 Lombard
A bitter defeat today. FC Portland topped us in kfm. We really forgot to show up until the 70th minute. Down 0-1 at that piont we started to play. We created quite a few great chances and finally scored from one of many corners with seconds left on the clock to send it to OT. Rejuvenated, the OTs were ours. A great trickler across the goal mouth that we just couldn’t get to in time, and a breakaway goal called back as we tipped a ball out of the sliding keeper’s hands. Normally solid in PK’s, we went 0 for 3 while Portland tucked their’s away. After some tears and a dip in the pool, the players vowed their revenge and to work extra hard toward that goal. Congrats to a great FC Portland team, and best of luck! Keep it in the NW.
Saturday June 23: We cheered the 91’s in their semi win, and the 93’s in their valiant semi loss. We’ll be out in force for the 91’s tomorrow at the final, and riding the NY/NY coaster tonight - Vegas Baby!
Go Crossfire!
Crossfire 90 Flory:
Saturday June 16th: Got in to Vegas Saturday morning. The team went out together for lunch right by our hotel as soon as we got in. Staying at a very nice Marriott just off the main strip. The players took in the sights of the strip on Saturday night, just walking around the more famous hotels. They all went on the N ew York roller coaster and had a great time. The temp was around 110 yesterday.
Sunday June 17th: The players trained at UNLV at 9:30 to 10:30. Had a great session getting used to the heat. The team then walked around UNLV with Ex-Crossfire coach Chad Brown. We then went to the movies in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day taking it easy.
Tuesday June 19: Tuesday morning. We all feel sluggish. Weather is very hot. Hit 105 yesterday. Monday the boys trained for about 1 1/2 hours from about 10:45-12:15. They were practicing set plays and corner kicks. Beautiful headers into the goals. We figured if they could pull off a couple of plays like they practiced, we would see some very good soccer. Then they went to the movies and watched the Fantastic Four- the Silver Surfer. Some of the guys thought it was not very good but Rudi and Gregg loved it....... obviously not the
Las Vegas type entertainment they were hoping for! Then back to the hotel for smoothies and chicken Caesar salads and PBJ, etc. Rested until they left for the field about 5. Traffic looks like
Bellevue- lots of construction and slow moving.
Fields are pretty nice. Grass is low and somewhat fast. No shade. Boys had canopies, benches and water. The sun was still out by game time at 7 so heat was a factor. Nice wind. When the sun went down it cooled nicely (95!?) and the intensity of the heat was less.
Our boys started out fast and strong. Dominated the first 15 minutes of play. Many shots on goal and almosts. The
Hawaii team was fast, furious and went to the ball. We slowed down and began to show some signs of heat. With the heat each half had a 2 min water break half way through and that was helpful. Our boys should/could have been ahead by several goals at half.
Came out good at end of half. Second half was more even. We continued to be the dominant team however we struggled at times. HI had some good chances, with one scramble in front of our net where we had about 4 times when the ball could have gone into our goal. Zack got his hands on it at least 3 times and Robo finally cleared it. We were feeling the gut wrench on the sidelines. Trying to pump them up.
HI had 2 yellows. The ref was quite good. Watched the physical play and played to the advantage. No major injuries on our part I believe.
Our goals came from excellent finishing and drive from JC. First goal- about 10 minutes left in the game. crossed a great ball, Johnny dribbled in from the right corner, got it back a couple of times and dribbled through several players, slipped the ball just by the goalie on the right corner. YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH. That settled us down and we were pumped. Parents were breathing sighs of some relief. But the game was not over. We did not want a tie game. And the HI team was not giving up by any means. They were a scrambling, FAST, first to the ball team that wanted very much to win this game. They were good.
Second goal was very soon after the first. Goalie had the ball, Johnny charged to the ball, goalie kicked it and it deflected off of JC, who took the ball one on one to the goalie and sent it into the net. Great job by Johnny. The team was pumped and celebrated together! HI did not give up. Pushed even harder. But we did not let up. Game over. Crossfire wins! 2-0
Guys were drained. We were drained. Tonight they play at 9:00pm. Sun will not be a factor. Will be hot, some wind and much easier to play soccer in and watch!
The boys went to watch the first half of the U-17 boys play. They are doing a good job with the water and Gatorade (was provided to the team by Gatorade as a Crossfire sponsor with a large cooler!). Great action pictures by Jake Lansche on the Crossfire90 Flory website under photos if you want to see some of the plays. Onto another win! Cheers!
Crossfire 93 Schilperoort:
Hello Redmond!
Sunday June 17: 7:30 PM, last team meeting before the first big game on Monday. Meeting was actually pretty short. Coaches and Team in Manager’s room, Parents across the hallway socializing and throwing off good vibes. Team meeting breaks up, girls get 9pm curfew. Most are off to dreamland pretty quickly.
Monday June 18: 4:30 AM, Rise and Shine! Well, perhaps just rising is good enough…. Showers, breakfast, then break out of the hotel in multiple vehicles, and arrive at the field. Sun is relatively low and soft, but the heat is already on its way. Girls get a good crisp warm up (perhaps there’s a little shine there after all – at 6am in the morning!) Warm up crosses and headers look good, Coaches are relaxed, players look relaxed and ready.
Tweet, tweet! Ok, captains out, ref chats done, team cheer, BREAK! Teams are now head to head ready for the starting whistle. Crossfire begins, and is immediately on the attack. Things look a bit disjointed for us to start, and New Mexico is quick and scrappy, pushing us back on our half a couple of times, before our girls turn up the heat. We begin to drive deep into NM’s have on several attacking runs, before finally, about a third of third of the into the first half, the right forward (#21) drives up the right side for the third or fourth time, blows by the defender, and fires off a low cross right in the path of a charging offensive midfield. The left winger (#14), puts a right foot on the ball at an angle under the goalie’s right hand, and SCORE!
A few minutes later there is the obligatory water break. Immediately after the water break, and right after Crossfire puts in subs, NM picks up the pressure. NM is pressing hard, and their forward (#20), is a real threat. She’s persistent, fast, and is intent upon putting the ball forward. Crossfire has several nervous moments (at least that’s how we parents felt!), but beats back the offensive strikes. NM drives once more hard toward the center, gets a good bounce that is in a dangerous area between one of their charging forwards, and Crossfire’s goalie (#13), but she gets to the ball first with a confident decision to go forward, and covers it well. Ultimately, there were no real shots on goal. Then half time.
Second half begins, and NM is pressing hard right off the bat! Deep drives into our half, lots of center of the field one-twos. The back three are pressed hard, and one particularly worrisome drive up our right side has to be headed off just in time by our right defender (#10), as she jets across from center to right half at a backward angle, and snags the ball from the NM forward. More of this follows, with a lot of mid-field banging, our center mid (#22), is all over the center of the field, with wingers (#1 and #9) joining and looking to play the ball forward. Our sweeper (#17), just as she was in the first half, is threatened several times, but plays the ball forward to mid-field. Mid-field continues to feed, and our left and right forwards manage several stabs toward the goal. The right forward goes on a run, gets about a foot and a half of space at the top of the 18, and fires the ball. There is a hopeful bend to the shot, but it hits the side netting. There are more stabs at the goal, but with little result.
After another round of subs, and then a water break, we’re back at it. NM gets several corners, but other than that, no real shots on goal again. More center mid-field battles yield a ball forward, eventually, to the center forward (#4 at the time), who plays the ball through a couple of NM players into the an opportune area being charged by our then right forward (our right winger #12 who was moved to forward for the latter part of the second half). She manages to control the bouncing ball somewhere between the 6 and the 18, continues the drive forward, body surfing off the desperate defender behind her, and just clips it over the stretch of the goalie coming forward to cut off the angle. Ball bounces into the net, GOAL! Crossfire 2, NM 0.
More scrappy play, more threats by NM, but no production. Crossfire is not able to add to their lead, despite several more runs.
Girls retire from the field with the 2 and 0 victory.
Coach after game chat follows, then back to the hotel with the possibility of a movie after showers. Go Crossfire!
Tuesday, June 19:
Crossfire got to sleep in on Tuesday morning, but the trade off for this was a late morning game time for their battle against Surf White, which was anticipated as their toughest in-flight match.
Pre-game arrival was scheduled for 10:30am, for the 11:30am game. Girls began at the “West 20”, which is the official warm up area for teams playing at the Bettye Wilson Complex. They spent a short time there, and then migrated over to field 2 for a few short drills, and settled down to wait for the Emerald City game to complete.
The wind was definitely a factor, and Crossfire began by going with the wind to the North. The wind, along with a lot of fast play, kept the ball down Surf’s end. In fairly short order, during a center mid-fielder battle around the top of Surf’s box, the ball was fed out to the left forward (#4), who then popped the ball back just across center to the right center-mid (#22), who side footed it with her left foot for a looping shot a goal. Surf’s goalie missed the high ball to her right hand, and the shot dropped in for goal.
Crossfire 1, Surf 0.
Crossfire spent the remainder of the first half looking for a second goal. They moved the ball well in spurts, but Surf was resilient, and resistant to the pressure. There were several more shots on goal, but no goal, despite a lot of effort by the girls in the wind and heat. Half time hit, and they trotted off the field to shade immediately.
Second half began with a bang. Surf shot on goal from the kick off, taking advantage of the wind. It was a bit of a surprise, but it did not yield results. Crossfire opted to keep their 4-4-2 line up, leaving their right forward back in center mid, and also moving their center forward (#11) back to stopper. The defensive push was on.
Following the aggressive posture of the shot from kick off, Surf continued to play deep ball offense, with runs up both sides, coming at Crossfire hard and fast. There were a couple of runs by surf up our left, and up our right side. Several minutes into the second half, there was a run up our right side into the corner, with a cross sent just over our goalie’s head. It dropped just at to the goalie’s left side, and was driven home by a sliding kick in from a charging surf player, who nearly slid into the goal post for her trouble. Crossfire 1, Surf 1.
From this point on, it was a battle against a determined Surf Team, the wind, the heat, and exhaustion for the Crossfire girls. They played nearly full time defense, against more deep-ball offense from Surf. They repelled attack after attack, and cross after cross, and shot after shot. About two thirds of the way into the second half, the extra center mid (#21), made a run up Surf’s left flank, after starting deep in our own backfield. Around the center line, she attempted to cross to the left forward (#9), but the ball was deflected. She picked up the rebound, and continued the charge up Surf’s left flank. She ran into trouble up near the corner, and Crossfire was unable to capitalize.
Surf kept up the pressure, and within a few more minutes, they generated another un up our right side, into the corner, and then crossed it just in front of the goal. A surf player popped up, and headed it into the goal back in the opposite direction of the flow of players. Crossfire 1, Surf 2. This was a clear let down for Crossfire, but after a couple of substitutions, they kept up the counter pressure, generating a few runs at Surf’s goal. One run in particular, driven by mid-field pressure from Crossfire, saw the ball punched forward, just left of center into Surf’s box, and drew out the goalie to defend. The ball bounced off the goalie, deflected off a pressuring Crossfire player, and it squirted off to the goalie’s right into an open space. Our left forward (#9), saw the opportunity, pounded out a quick semi-circular path to line up for a left footed strike into the open goal, but at the last moment, the goalie streaked across in a fantastic recovery effort, five yards out from the net, and the shot bounced off her chest. It popped out further to her right, was captured by a Surf player, who’s clearance was blocked by Crossfire #9, in a great effort to keep the chance alive. Crossfire #14, charged up to support, there was a melee around the ball, but it was finally cleared.
The final few minutes of play did not yield any further advantage for either team. Surf Wins! Good try Crossfire!!
The girls fought hard, and had many chances to win, or tie. They’re still in the running. If they beat Utah on Wednesday, they should place second, which puts them up against Colorado Rush (most likely winner of that bracket) in the quarter finals. Lots of rest, followed by determined play, should see them through the next day’s challenge.
Wednesday, June 20:
The third and final preliminary game is at 8:30. The girls appear a bit edgy, but are otherwise ready to get on the field and get the job done.
Coach again calls for the team to show up an hour before the game, and when they do, there is trouble getting into the warm up area due to locked gates. An enterprising parent finds a way for some of the girls to squeeze through a partially open gate, and then throws their bags over the fence to them. Shortly after managing to actually get to the warm up fields, Crossfire is tracked down by the referees to do a check. This is a bit unusual, given that check ins are done on the field of play. Two other enterprising parents work together to hustle the player cards from the scheduled field, over to warm up, to address that challenge. Interesting beginning, but onward we go.
Ref chat to captains, presentation of teams follow, some goofiness from both teams as they run off the field, and do their cheers. Finally, we’re ready to PLAY!
First half: Right off the bat, it appears that Crossfire is struggling with ball play and exchanges. There is not the usual rhythm they exhibit. The girls are deflecting attacks, and getting the ball up the field, but there is no production near
Utah ’s goal, and the ball returns to our end to quickly.
In short order the game appears to have descended into boot-ball, with Utah doing their best to complete their attacking runs, much to frequently for the poor parents on the sideline. Substitutions follow, with some small position changes, but we still don’t seem to be able to find our rhythm. Despite this, we continue to repel attacks with some consistency, and our center mid-fielder (#22) is putting out boundless energy which buoys up Crossfire’s offensive aspirations. Thankfully, half time arrives…..
Second half: More substitutions, and a few position changes. A few examples are that the right forward (#21), who was moved back to mid-field in the first half, is moved back to sweeper, our normal sweeper (#17) is moved to center mid, and our center forward (#11) is moved to right defender. Immediately, the team seems to settle down. Defense picks up a more regular rhythm of repelling attacks, and playing the ball forward, the mid-field contingent is receiving the ball and transitioning to forward movement, and we are mounting more attacks on goal. I guess this is a reminder that these girls are talented, and can play multiple positions. And, sometimes, just having them exchange positions, can pick up the performance. This is especially useful given the impact that the heat has had on the girls.
The momentum continued to build for Crossfire, despite renewed energetic attacking from
Utah . There were one or two close calls, but much fewer than the first half. Then, finally, following a deflection of a Utah attack, the ball is played from our right side, deep in our defensive zone, up to center mid-field, then over to Utah’s right side, where after a couple of one-two passes, it’s controlled by our center mid (#22), who charges up Utah’s deep right side.
Utah is caught a bit unaware, and the goalie decides to come out to cut off the angle. At just the right moment, as she is just ahead of their defenders, she clips the ball over and past the goalie with a beautiful shot for GOALLLLL!
All Crossfire players, parents, and coaches, find their voice, and breathe for the first time 25 minutes. Lots of high-fives, back pounding, and hand shaking followed. With only a few minutes left in the game, Crossfire picks up the pace, and make several more sound runs on goal, looking more and more like themselves with each passing minute. One additional opportunity, in particular, presented itself at the top of
Utah ’s box, where our center mid fielder (#17) had the ball at her feet, with a chance to double the lead. She took one cut, then one more, prepared to fire the ball, and then was swarmed by three desperate
Utah defenders as they recovered in time to prevent the shot. The score remained Crossfire 1,
Utah 0.
A few more minutes of reliable defending followed, and the game ended. As I said in the early report, it wasn’t the prettiest, but it was a victory nonetheless! Go Crossfire!
Colorado Rush is next.
Friday June 22:
Early Report: Girls came out very game to play, set up in their usual line up, and attacked from the beginning. Colorado responded with a relaxed and intentionally pace measured defense. Ultimately it paid off for them as they took the first goal. Crossfire 0, Colorado 1.
After continued attacking, Crossfire’s #22 scores again with a hard left shot off the hands of the reaching CO keeper. Crossfire 1, Colorado 1.
In the second half, before the water break, a steadily attacking Crossfire (despite the heat), continues transitioning the ball forward. Crossfire’s #21 and #14, combine as they did in the first game, as #21 flies deep into the CO’s left corner, and fires off a ground hugging, back angled, cross, with #14 charging up the center to perfectly left foot a shot in past the Goalie. Crossfire 2, Colorado 1!!
Coach changes to a single forward up front, and thickens up our mid-field. Crossfire continues to transition the ball forward whenever possible, but cranks up the defensive effort, deflecting, denying, and repelling, determined attacks from CO. In one transition forward, #22 took the ball forward in an attacking run, and was taken out by the CO goalie charging outside of her box. The referee red cards the goalie! The free kick does not score, but Crossfire keeps up the pressure, and continues to repel attacks.
End Game – Crossfire Wins!!
Full Report:
The Girls came out very game to play, with a little extra desire to win against Colorado given their battle from surf cup a while back. The set up in their usual line up, and attacked from the beginning. Colorado responded with a relaxed and intentionally pace measured defense. They maintained a strategy of knocking the ball around, as their parents encouraged them to “stay steady”. Ultimately it paid off for them as they took the first goal. Crossfire 0, Colorado 1.
Our Crossfire girls had a serious look on their faces after Colorado’s score, but they seemed resolved to deal with the challenge. An hour before, they had witnessed their GU15 sisters come back from a 2-0 deficit, so they were inspired by that effort. They got back to work with renewed intent.
After continued attacking, with a noticeable improvement in the effectiveness of their forward transitioning, the ball is played from our right side over to CO’s right side into the waiting feet of our center mid-field. Crossfire’s #22 takes the ball forward with a determined drive, and scores again with a hard left shot off the hands of the reaching CO keeper. Crossfire 1, Colorado 1.
In the second half, a steadily attacking Crossfire (despite the heat), continues transitioning the ball forward. After several minutes, and before the water break, there was a push from a CO player near our box with no call, immediately followed up by a collision between one of our girls and a CO player, which yielded a free kick for CO. The girls clearly objected to this (J), and after the free kick missed – beautiful stop by a hard working Crossfire Goalie (#13) - there was an immediate counter attack. Backfield to mid-field, mid-field to CO’s left side, then Crossfire’s #21 and #14, combine as they did in the first game, where #21 flies deep into the CO’s left corner, and fires off a ground hugging, back angled, cross, with #14 charging up the center to perfectly left foot a shot in past the Goalie. Crossfire 2, Colorado 1!!
Coach changes to a single forward up front, and thickens up our mid-field. Crossfire continues to transition the ball forward whenever possible, but cranks up the defensive effort, deflecting, denying, and repelling, determined attacks from CO. Our back three (#10, #17, and #8), working the game with no substitutions through most of the game (tough, tough play), continued to deny CO’s attempts to capitalize on their attacks. In one transition forward, #22 took the ball forward in an attacking run, and was taken out by the CO goalie charging outside of her box. The referee red cards the goalie! The free kick does not score, but Crossfire keeps up the pressure, and continues to repel attacks.
End Game – Crossfire Wins!! This really was, in every sense of the phrase, a TEAM effort. A hard fought win for the girls. Personally, I couldn’t be more proud of them, and I’m sure all the parents feel the same.
Saturday June 23 - Well Redmond, this early report is going to be a bit brief for the moment. Our girls scored first after an obstruction call in favor of the right forward (#21), and an indirect kick, which was touched to our center forward (#11), and blasted into the top of the net.
The Mustangs scored in the second half to tie it up, and then scored again from a shot just to the left of our Goalie’s outstretched hands, and just inside the post.
Crossfire 1, Mustangs 2. Pretty heartbreaking really, but the girls played hard to the end. More to follow, but I think I’m going to take a moment or ten to precipitate in my fermented, hop based, beverage. Holler at y’all later!
Well Redmond, this early report is going to be a bit brief for the moment. Our girls scored first after an obstruction call in favor of the right forward (#21), and an indirect kick, which was touched to our center forward (#11), and blasted into the top of the net.
The Mustangs scored in the second half to tie it up, and then scored again from a shot just to the left of our Goalie’s outstretched hands, and just inside the post.
Crossfire 1, Mustangs 2. Pretty heartbreaking really, but the girls played hard to the end. More to follow, but I think I’m going to take a moment or ten to precipitate in my fermented, hop based, beverage. Holler at y’all later!
Follow up: After taking some time to lick my wounds, console my kid, and analyze the game, I’m back with a few final comments.
Ultimately, I believe it is accurate to say that Crossfire had the power to win, or lose, this semi-final game. They took the lead early, and looked strong in defense, with spurts of offense that threatened to increase their lead. It wasn’t until the second half that the game got away from them, and even then, it was very possible for them to tie the game, and take it into over time. They just couldn’t quite get there. The offensive gas tank was nearly squeezed dry.
These Crossfire kids are a sight to behold. They won a state championship while everyone expected them to do so – a very difficult task. They traveled to Oregon, played teams two years up, and took that championship, after playing five games in 30 hours. They trained in sweats nearly every practice before Regionals, and flew into the heat to do battle. After all that work, and fight, they came up short in the semi-finals, heat-drained, battle-weary, and in my view, still looking like Champions despite the loss. That’s a lot of heart. They went down swinging, and, they’re not done yet…..
To their credit, they were talking non-stop about what they could have done differently, and what they can add to their game. Moreover, they are chomping at the bit to get to Surf Cup, and take another shot at those California teams. I like their attitude, and their fire. All hail to the Mustangs, and Surf White, they are very tough teams. We’re a better team now after the experience of playing them, and we will meet them again. Vegas, or no Vegas, I wouldn’t bet against them……….Go Crossfire!
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