REPORTS FROM 2010 NATIONALS
Friday, July 23
Once again the girls started off well, completely dominating play. Things turned quickly however, when the McLean Dragons (VA) got a breakaway and scored only 9 minutes into the match. Buoyed by their goal, the Dragons quickly upped their tempo and hit the post on another attack. The rest of the first half remained a back and forth affair with no more goals scored.
Lightning regrouped after half time and two minutes in Carli Shultis beat a coupe of McLean defenders and played a dangerous ball in front of the goal. Holly Tomlinson was there to slip it past the keeper and equalize the score. A little less than 15 minutes later Jewels Strickland curved a high ball in behind the defenders. The McLean goalkeeper came out for it, but Carli got there just before her, heading it over her and into the goal. She paid the price since the goalkeeper could not stop and collided with her, but the goal stood and Lightning was in the lead!
The Dragons threw everything forward for the last few minutes of the game, bringing out a couple of fantastic saves from Kaitlyn Stroud and a ball cleared off of the line by Courtney Reddig. Shortly before the end Holly Tomlinson secured the win with an outside shot to the far upper corner of the goal. Final score: 3-1 Lightning. The win gave them a third place finish.
As most of the players head off to college, the AFC Lightning club would like to wish them all lots of success in their future ventures. These girls have served as an example to many others, not just with their sensational run this year, but with their perseverance over several years. It has been a joy to watch this team grow and thrive year after year.
Many of the players are already planning to come together for a swan song next year as U19’s. Let’s hope it happens so we can enjoy their play one last time.
Thursday, July 22
The girls started off well today, going ahead 1-0 in the 15th minute on a goal by Carli Shultis. Laguna Hills Eclipse White (CA-S) came back with goals in the 34th and 41st minutes to take a 2-1 half time lead. With Lightning looking for the equalizer, Laguana Hills scored in the 64th minute to make it 3-1 then added two more in stoppage time for a 5-1 win.
Tomorrow the girls will play against the McLean MPS Dragons (VA) for third place. the dragons have also lost their first two games, both by score of 1-0.
Wednesday, July 21
It was a tough game against Eclipse Select 91/92 (IL). Despite controlling much of the first part of the game, Lightning 92 White gave up a goal late in the first half. This boosted Eclipse’s confidence as they scored two more in the second half and went on to win 3-0. As this is the round robin phase and the two top teams of the four will go on to play in the final, all is not lost. It does make the task that much more difficult as the girls must now win their two remaining round robin games in order to advance.
Tuesday, July 20
Today was the players luncheon. All 60 teams have to take part. Games start tomorrow. As well as daily reports, we will try to give updates during games on Facebook (no guarantees). Pictures will be available at http://www.photosbymcd.com/albums/nationals10.html
REPORTS FROM 2010 REGIONALS
Friday, June 25th
The U18 Region III Champions, AFC Lightning 92 White, will be honored at the WPS All Star game on Wednesday, June 30th. The game will be played at the Atlanta Beat’s stadium in Kennesaw, GA. Kickofff is at 7:30 PM.
Wednesday, June 23rd
Two first half goals by Mandy McCalla were enough for the Lightning 92 White team to come away with a 2-1 victory over Dallas Sting. The first was the result of a corner kick followed by lots of tackles and blocks in the penalty area. The ball came loose to McCalla, who placed her shot in the far corner of the goal. The second goal was set up by a magnificent run down the right side by Carli Shultis. Her cross came back to McCalla, who hit a hard shot just under the crossbar.
In the second half, Sting were able to get one back from a breakaway, but Lightning gave them little else, hanging on for the 2-1 win.
As Region III Champions the girls will now travel to Kansas in July for the National tournament. We wish them luck!
See pictures from the games at http://www.photosbymcd.com/albums/regionals10.html
Tuesday, June 22nd
It took until the second half of extra time, but Carli Shultis finally scored to give the Lightning 92 White a 1-0 win and their second consecutive trip to the Region Finals. Despite dominating the game for long periods of time the Lightning girls were just not able to put a goal in against their semifinal opponent, RSL Florida Elite (FL). RSL played very tough defense and only occasionally mounted much attacking pressure. Lightning goalkeeper Kaitlyn Stroud had to make only one difficult save for the game.
It was a hard fought game, but the girls will be playing tomorrow morning at 8:30 AM against Sting (NTX) for the championship.
Our other teams did not fare as well today. The U19 boys lost 1-0 to Andromeda 91 (NTX) while the U14 Girls run was ended by Lonestar (STX) 3-0.
Overall, the State of Georgia had 12 teams in the semifinals, of which 6 are advancing to the finals.
Monday, June 21st
It’s on to the semifinals for all of our teams!
With game times adjusted to beat the heat, it was an early 7:00 AM start for the 96 Girls Elite for their quarterfinal games against Solar (NTX). The girls got off to a good start when Nikki Brandley scored from a breakaway only three minutes into the game. The lead was short lived however as Solar equalized seven minutes later. It was a back and forth affair with both teams creating chances. Near the end of the first half Lightning had a free kick just outside the Solar penalty area. Solar defended well, but cleared the ball to Kenzie Winters who shot from outside the penalty area putting the ball just inside the post.
In the second half the 96’s defended their 2-1 lead successfully. The defense and midfield did a good job of shutting down Solar’s attacks. A few excellent saves by goalkeeper Ashley Fleck also helped prevent any more goals being given up.
92 White bounced back from yesterday’s defeat to post a strong 3-0 win over Dallas Texans 92 Red (NTX). In the first half Carli Shultis took on the Texans’ defenders on a run down the right side. Her low cross beat the goalkeeper and was met by Courtney Reddig who shot into the empty net. In the second half the Texans seemed to be running out of steam. With about 10 minutes to go it was Shultis again who made a run around three defenders and almost unexpectedly shot low into the far corner to put the team up 2-0. Mandy McCalla followed two minutes later with a beautiful shot into the far upper corner. For last few minutes the Texans applied pressure but were not able to penetrate a solid defensive wall out up by the Lightning girls.
The U14’s will play at 8:00 AM on Tuesday against Lonestar 96 Red (STX) in their semifinal while the U19 Boys and U18 Girls both play at 10:00. The U18’s play RSL Florida Elite (FL) and the U19’s play Andromeda 91 (NTX).
Sunday, June 20th
The U14 Girls beat TNFC Impact (TN) 4-0 this afternoon giving them second place in their group. Nicole Brandley scored two while Amy Brewer and Abbey Reddig had one each. They will play in the quarterfinals against Solar 96 (NTX). The game has been moved to 7:00 AM.
The U19 Boys won by a score of 3-1, putting them in the semifinals against Andromeda 91 (NTX). That game is on Tuesday. The boys have tomorrow off.
The U18 girls lost 3-0 to Challenge (STX). They finish second in their group and will have a very tough quarterfinal game at 11:00 on Monday against the Dallas Texans (NTX).
It was very hot today with a heat index of over 102°. At the height of the afternoon they were taking three water breaks per half. Tomorrow’s games have been moved to earlier in the day - 7:00, 9:00 and 11:00 to try to escape the afternoon heat.
Saturday, June 19th
AFC Lightning 96 Girls Elite had the early game this morning and got their tournament back on track. Six different players scored to give them a 6-0 win over NWAL 96 Strikers Black (AR). Goal scorers were Amanda Bartholomew, Nicole Brandley, Amy Brewer, Jane Howell, Molly Moroney and Kylie Ruffule. Our girls must win tomorrow in order to advance.
It only took three minutes for the 91 Boys Elite to go up 1-0 when Danny Hojaij converted an early penalty kick, but what seemed like it would be an easy game against the Coral Springs GunStorm (FL) turned out to be anything but. After Eric Lawrence added another goal about midway through the first half, the Lightning boys soon came under heavy pressure from Coral Springs. It took two incredible saves by goalkeeper Tyler Beadle to keep the score sheet clean. In the second half Coral Springs was awarded a penalty kick which was missed wide and high. It was not until stoppage time at the end of the game when Lightning finally conceded a goal but still won the game 2-1.
The under 19’s now lead their group and need a win or tie to put them in the semifinals on Tuesday. Due to weather problems this afternoon, their Sunday game has been moved up to 2:00 PM.
AFC Lightning 92 White had a similar score to the 91 Boys Elite, but the game was a very different affair. The girls applied a lot of pressure very early on in the game. Five minutes into it Mandy McCalla chipped a ball over onrushing the Brentwood 92 Premier (TN) goalkeeper. Holly Tomlinson ran on to it and was able to bundle it into the empty goal despite pressure from a defender. At that point the game became a stalemate. Brentwood packed it in and frustrated Lightning’s efforts to score more goals.
In the second half the Lightning girls increased their efforts to score. Despite the game being played almost entirely in the Brentwood half it was not until the 73rd minute of the game that a Carli Shultis header finally resulted in a second goal. In the last few minutes of the game Brentwood was able to get one back but the game still ended 2-1 in our favor.
The win guarantees Lightning a place in the quarterfinals on Monday. Their Sunday game has been moved to 6:00 PM. They will face group leaders Challenge 92 (STX). They need a win to win the group.
Friday, June 18th
Today was the first day of games and our teams came out with a mixed bag of results.
The U14 Girls lost to a very good Dallas Sting team, 3-0. Coach Chris Mahaffey described the Sting as the best team he has seen in this age group, both athletically and skill-wise. The girls can still advance with wins in their next two games. Tomorrow they will play an 8:00 AM game against NWAL 96 Strikers Black (AR) who lost 6-0 today to TNFC Impact (TN).
The U18 Girls romped to a 9-0 victory over Gulf Coast United (MS) on goals from Carli Shultis (3), Mandy McCalla (2), Kristyn Thacker, Erin Emerson, Courtney Reddig and Jordan Sink. Tomorrow they play Brentwood 92 Premier (TN) who lost 7-0 to Challenge 92 (STX).
The U19 Boys were also winners, notching a 2-0 win over KnoxCrush 91 Blue (TN) on goals by Andrew DiLallo and Caleb Kernan. Their game tomorrow is at 2:00 PM and will be a critical one against Coral Springs GunStorm (FL) who also won today by a score of 3-2.
Thursday, June 17th
At the opening ceremonies Kristyn Thacker was one of the winners of a brand new Jabulani soccer ball - the official match ball of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The balls were given away as part of a juggling competition.
All the players are here and ready for the games to begin tomorrow. When looking for scores, remember that the games are being played on Central time. Look out for a nightly wrap up of the day’s games right here!
