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Fall 2009 - Game 5 Team Spirit is Thriving
Once again, our girls got behind early afer giving up a goal just ten minutes into the match. Rather than get down or lose motivation, however, the team clawed their way back into the match and actually had the momentum for most of the first period.  Caris, Tyla, Emma, and Sammy were playing particularly well and aggressively at midfield, and Taylor, Alyssa, and Allyson gave the team a real boost when they came in fifteen minutes into the match.As a result of all of that hustle, the score was soon tied, 1-1, as Anna knocked home a twenty-yard free kick. When you're having trouble scoring, those set pieces become vitally important, and the young stopper continues to take advantage of those opportunities. As has happened frequently this season the Avalanche defense was under nearly constant pressure. But Ashley, Jennie, Goose, Dana, Shelby, and Anna did their best to thwart the Comets, and keeper Kaitlyn asserted herself time and again. An unlucky goal scored in stoppage time of the first half, put the team down 2-1, but not out.
In the goal in the second half, Shelby picked up where her counterpart left off. The young keeper made several very smart and aggressive decisions and a couple of excellent last minute stops. She gave up a goal late in the game, but it would have taken an amazing play to stop that one. So the story sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it? It's not really. You just have to look a little harder to find the bright spots than you did when wins were easier to come by. Although none of us are happy with our results so far this season, the girls are unified and play hard for each other. Their passing is improving, their defensive positioning is getting better, they are playing faster than they did even a week or two ago, and they never, ever quit. The path to excellence sometimes means not being the best. It sometimes means not being even close to the best. I can assure you, though, these girls are learning how to play with the best. This experience will pay off. Maybe not soon, but soon enough. Think snow! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
