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Fall 2009 - Game 3 My Lucky Thirteen
Okay, maybe we haven't had much luck this season. But, as I said to the girls before the game, I think two things about luck. First, you make your own. Second, I am the luckiest coach in ODSL. Why? Because I have all of them to be proud of. And this match made me exceptionally proud. For some reason, I just felt good and optimistic this morning. Our season had started in a disappointing way, but I liked the Avalanche attitude that I saw all week, and I thought it meant something special was brewing. Somehow, though, the first minute of the game seemed to be a continuation of the last match. The Revolution proceeded to march down the field and score before the fans even had a chance to sit down. Amazingly, though, that seemed to charge the Avalanche up. Just five minutes later,  Steph punched in a goal and the match was back on. For the rest of the first half it was all even with both teams getting good chances to score and defenses coming up large. Kaitlyn was excellent in goal making several great decisions and stops. And the defensive group of Ashley, Shelby, Jennie, Goosie, and Dana kept bending but not breaking.Special kudos have to go to Emma, who played the unfamiliar and difficult position of stopper. Throughout the match she made it tough for the opponent to get any kind of build up centrally.The midfield was makeshift yet solid. Holly and Emily did a nice job of controlling the pace of play and pushing the ball through to the forward line. This was especially difficult because the formation forced by absence included only two attackers who had to cover a lot of turf to make anything happen. Alyssa, Taylor, Allyson, and Kaitlyn were exceptional up front and managed to put real pressure on the Revolution defense throughout the match.
As time ran out, however, the Avalanche found itself on the short end of the scoreboard once again. But I won't remember what the score of this game was for very long. What I will take away is the grit and determination my team showed. They fought back, they never gave up, they worked hard together and for each other, they cheered from the sidelines, they got hungry, and they nearly pulled off the victory. How sweet was that? So, you see, they're not the lucky 13 at all. I am the lucky 1. I get to coach the Avalanche. Think snow! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
