We knew we were in for a battle with this team since they were also in first place in the bracket. Little did we know that our Top Gun girls wanted to make a statement about who really belongs there. The girls were mentally ready for this game, they were ready to dominate and take names later! Of course, we coaches didn't stretch them and the warm ups were rushed but I am telling you, they were ready mentally... :)
We came out fast and furious and intercepted their second pass after kick off and Shayda was off to the races down the right sideline. After that point, Top Gun completely dominated the first half play with about 90% ball possession. Their speedy #23 had a couple of breaks but always was downed by our F-18, Kalie who had about 2 strides on their fastest player. We passed the ball well but again, we started to notice the same type of formation as we saw with the Jags on Saturday - lots of D. The Tide girls (and some of ours) started to bunch up like 8 year olds until Top Gun figured out that THEY had to spread the field out. After widening the field, Top Gun started to work on their crosses from the left corner. Many nice crosses but always a few degrees off. Obviously something we will need to work on prior to our first tournament.
After many attempts, some of the girls got a bit frustrated and started to get a bit sloppy with their shots. Halley was not one to lose her composure as she calmly distributed a loose ball under tremendous pressure to an awaiting Jessie. Jessie calmly took the ball hard to the left goal post and put it in despite being pushed out every step of the way. Good close to a dominating first half since the girls definitely didn't want to hear it from the coaches that all the shots and great possessions amounted nothing but a goose egg on the score board.
Second half was very similar to the first. The tide had a couple of strong forwards but they were no match for for our speedy backfield. We mounted several very nice attacks and finally got one by way of an own-goal off a perfectly executed corner kick. That would have been a goal either way since we had a striker right there for an easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy tap in had their defender not panicked and put it in herself.
Even though we were only able to put two in, I thought our girls played beautifully. This was not a weak team, Top Gun just made them look that way. I saw a lot of great plays by all our players and even some great Brazilian style passing combos up front from Erika, Cynthia, Jessie and Eva. Our D was unbelievable today giving up absolutely nothing to a group of frustrated and desperate strikers.
Great weekend for our young Top Gun team amassing 6 goals and giving up none in two very convincing games. They have reclaimed the number 1 spot in the bracket once again and for that they will be allowed to use their fancy backpacks for next weekend's games.:) For that they also have earned an adjective that typically takes much longer to earn. They will now be known as the "Mighty" Top Gun.
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