Tall Trees Champions

Last year, the original TopGun team won their 1st trophies with 1st place at the Palo Alto Tall Trees Tournament. This year TopGun White continued the legacy


" Newly formed Top Gun White 97G won their first tournament at the Palo Alto Tall Trees Tournament on September 25-26, 2010. Top Gun White won their bracket decisively then went on to win the semi-final and final games by way of PKs. Unbeaten in the tournament, Top Gun defeated two bronze team and two silver teams to bring home their first trophy as a team."

2-0 v Aptos Tide

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.

4-0 v. MTH Jaguars

Not much fan fare for this game since we knew early on that we would be up against a desperate team. Shortly after the whistle blew, we figured out that their game plan was to contain our offense and try to not give up too many goals. They certainly were successful the first half as they stacked their D like no tomorrow. It seemed like they were playing a 8-1-1 formation! Top Gun kept the ball on their side the entire first half but failed to put the ball in the net. This is mainly because we brought our game down a few notches and played their game... desperate, kick-ball style of soccer.


Second half Top Gun finally figured out that they had to spread the Jag's defense out to create some lanes to attack. Our mid-fielders started to move the ball around the perimeter of the shooting zone and sure enough, we started to see more light towards the goal. Cynthia started things off for us by weaving through the 4 layers of D to create her own lane and finished strong with our first goal. Next we attempted cross after cross, all of which were good but just not quite perfect. After our 29th attempt, Yovanna's right foot volleyed one in from about 16 yards out to make it 2 to nil. Momentum was now on our side and the girls started move the ball and create holes like we coaches knew they could. Jordan proved that her hamstring was not hurting anymore by hustling extra hard to put #3 in. Shortly after, she intercepted a pass and beat two defenders to put the nail on the coffin with her second goal of the game. Four to nil, game over!


Our defense was absolutely impenetrable and started playing up and pressuring with our strikers. For most of the second half we had 8 players up against their 8 defenders. Good thing we had a big field to work with! Again, our keepers were very lonely back in the box the entire game - trust me, it is not supposed to be timeout for you guys... : )


This game taught us that we still need to be disciplined and play our game even with opponents that have wacky, desperate game plans. We need to learn to control the tempo better so we can play "our" game, but this can only be learned with more games. Second half was a joy to see and much more fun to watch even though the refs were "off-side" happy. Nice work by all to take control of the game and start to finish with a bit more conviction. Great work by our two Santa Clara stars, Jordan and Lauren to play at 110% the entire game.


We were now tied with the other first place team, Sunday's game would be pivotal to the standings since we'd be facing them. Stay tuned for Chapter 4 of this ever evolving story...

5-0 great start for our new team

What a game for our new team! With a short and busy pre-season, the girls only had one scrimmage under their belts but they certainly did not disappoint in the season opener. Nice convincing 5 to nil victory to set the tempo for the rest of the season.


The girls came out fast and furious since they saw that the Force were sharp and disciplined during their warm-ups. Our first goal came by way a perfectly executed set-play that they worked on just last week. Shayda was in perfect position to be the recipient for the "22" cross from Paola and finished strong to score the first goal for Top Gun White. After our first goal, our offense started to hum like a finely tuned engine. The mid fielders, Celine, Jessie, Lauren and Jordan did excellent work to move the ball around to set up many nice opportunities for our strikers. After what seemed like 10 respectable attempts we finally found the back of the net twice in short order. Very nice finishes by Eva and Lulu to make it 3 to nil.


Our defense was absolutely impenetrable with Kalie at stopper and Erika/Yo and Paola/Hallie on her wing. Our sweepers, Eva/Megan didn't have too much pressure but when they did, the Force strikers had no chance. Our keepers Jessie/Annie/Erika will eventually be challenged but on this sunny Saturday, it was not to be.


I left after half time but did not miss the spectacular goal by Megan. Finally, Cynthia closed out the game with one of her own to make it 5 to nil. I am sure the defense did very well also since I heard that the Force came out much stronger the second half.


Great start to the season as this new team is starting to gel. We coaches were very pleased with our girl's performance especially since it is so early in the season. The defense is solid so now we can focus our attention on creating opportunities and finishing. What was equally pleasant to see was that our goals came from all four of our strikers as well as one of our mid-fielders. This obviously shows that we have many weapons up front and the team will not be reliant on one key play-maker.


Thanks for all that came out to support the new Top Gun team as they start their journey in this new league. We have a goal of winning the bracket this season so every game will be important. This first game for this young team proves that we have the right foundation to grow into something very special. Let's see what the rest of the season brings us.

West Valley 1 TopGun 1

We knew this game was going to be tough since this team also blanked their Saturday opponent. After a bit of confusion early on with the field situation, we finally figured out where we needed to be and where all the ditches were. The girls were a bit tired and slow during warm-ups but they turned things around quickly once the whistle blew.

The first half was dominated by our Top Gun girls as they owned time of possession by at least 70%. They had many great opportunities and some very nice shots but luck was simply not our side since none of the shots converted to goals. Our defense did great work to keep their forwards frustrated and only gave up two shots. Unfortunately, one of the shots from about 25 yards out somehow made it past the outreached arms of our keeper.

At half time, we talked about what worked and what didn't and came up with a game plan to attempt to take their sweeper and keeper out of the plays. Since they play their sweeper deep and their keeper up, it was not likely that we could set up for break-aways. We knew we had to start taking more accurate outside shots. Our strikers took several nice shots including a missile from Eva that hit the cross bar. We also had a very nice opportunity with a direct kick from 20 yards out just barely missed. Great try by Paola! Finally with a great series of passes, the lane opened up for Eva and she delivered a spectacular shot for the equalizer.


The final whistle blew just as we were gaining momentum but that's the way the cookie sometimes crumbles... We played tough against a respectable team with a very strong defense. We were tested in all areas which obviously exposes some holes that we coaches can work on. The next time we meet this team, we will be much better prepared. Overall, our Top Gun girls played smart and executed their set plays very well. I was pleased to see Halley take the ball coast to coast and take a beautiful shot while playing fullback. I was pleased to see Lauren play sweeper, which is new to her, with dominating authority. Lastly, I was pleased to see Lulu fight hard to set up our only goal.

Thanks for coming out to support our Top Gun girls in our second campaign of the season. We WILL improve as we continue to gel as a team so please continue to provide all the off field support that I am sure you all do for your all-star player. We are now in first place in our bracket so I am pleased to say that the girls will be allowed to bring their fancy, matching backpacks for next weekend's games. :) Hopefully, we will maintain our position when our fancy team jackets arrive as well... Go Top Gun!