2002 Nationals

2002 USYSA NATIONALS The Lightning 84 White and 88 White teams are at the Nationals in Maryland. Each day, I will bring you updates of what's happening. Sorry, no pictures. That will have to wait until we get back. The updates will most likely not go up until pretty late at night, but I hope to be able to give you some insight into how things are going. For a quick check of scores, the USYSA web site will be your best bet. They will probably post scores within a half hour of the end of each game. McD

Sunday, July 27 Finals We are on the way home. It is about 9:20 PM. We should be landing in about a half an hour. Only a few of the 84's are on this flight. Several were able to get out earlier. All of the 88's except two are with us. Of course, I'm guessing that's not what you really want to know about. But I am also guessing that you already know the score of the U18 Girls Final. It's no secret, we lost 4-1 to the Colorado Girls' Soccer Academy. The game was fairly even at first. Much more than when we beat them 1-0 on Wednesday. Twenty two minutes into the game, Colorado scored from a cross. They scored again just before half time. Keri Pendergrass narrowed the score in the 55th minute, but Colorado came right back in the next minute and went up 3-1. Krisitin Stewart was fouled in the penalty area, and a golden chance came to narrow the score once again. Allison Graham's penalty kick was saved by a fully outstretched keeper, pretty much killing the glimmer of hope at a comeback. The fourth goal was in extra time when we had everyone committed forward. Colorado countered on a breakaway to get the goal. The week has been a good one overall. A bit dissapointing in the end, but a very good experience for both teams. For the 88's it was a taste of what they are capable of. Just making it as far as they did has opened up whole new avenues for them. They look to the future and the hope of getting this far and even further the next time. For the 84's, it was their last dance together. At this point they will go their separate ways. Their youth soccer career is over. Some may come back next year to play U19, but the chance of them all getting together is very slim. It has been a thrill to watch them, especially for the past four years. This team has set the standard for all of our girls' teams in the club. I wish each and every player the greatest success in the future. I hope you have enjoyed these reports. I hope I get the chance to do it again next year! Friday, July 26 End of Round Robin The 88's played at 8:00 this morning. We were in a must win situation against the Slammers which were holding the number one spot. We also figured out (but did not tell the players) that if the game between Bethesda and Team Chicago went the way we expected we would have to win by two to advance. As we left the hotel it started to drizzle. As we got closer to the fields, the rain was heavier and heavier. It slowed at times but never stopped. The entire game was played in a steady rain. We went with a direct attacking style of play. In the 15th minute, it finally paid off as Kelley pounced on a misplayed ball in their penalty area and took it in 1v1 to score. About 5 minutes before half time, we had a couple of miscues of our own as an air ball was misheaded and mishandled, allowing one of the Slammers' forwards to head it into our goal. The game was tied 1-1 at half. Second half was a hard fought battle. Slammers got more defensive as we threw more into the attack. The Bethesda/Chicago game was tied 1-1, meaning that we only needed to score one goal to advance. We had a few chances but were not able score. We were also a bit lucky at times to keep the Slammers from scoring. Unfortunately, Bethesda scored another and we were not able to get a goal. We ended up tied 1-1, putting The Slammers and Bethesda into the final. We finished the group in third place. Both third and fourth place teams were awarded Bronze medals. It is a bit disappointing not to make it to the final, but overall it has been a very good run and a great experience. The team will probably go to a movie this afternoon (Austin Powers, babyyyyy). Tonight, it's the 84's turn to play. The 88's are planning to go and make lots of noise. Don't know if they can match the 85 Gold (we miss not having you guys here) but they'll try! More tonight after the 84's game. Late Friday Night What a game! The 84's went into the game with Bethesda Fury needing only to lose by one goal. If they did that, They would play Bethesda in the final. If they won or tied, they would play Colorado. Losing by more than one goal would put them out. They played the game in a very defensive mode, purposely not going forward much. This totally frustrated the Bethesda players. They needed to win the game, but could not break through to score. As they got more frustrated, they committed more fouls - some bad ones too. Fouls led to yellow cards, and two of the yellows led to reds. By the end of the game we were playing 11v9, but still only attacking occasionally. The score held until the end. The 0-0 tie put us in the final at 1:00 PM on Sunday. We will play Colorado. The bad news from the game is that Jada Stewart is hurt. She may have re-broken her foot which she had first hurt during the high school season. He does not expect her to be able to play on Sunday. For the job she does, this is not good for the team. It is also very disappointing for Jada since she had to miss the Region final as well. I don't think you'll get another report for tomorrow's "day off" - you never can tell though. I'll try to do a wrap up on Sunday night when I get home. You can also expect pictures in a week or two - sorry, I do have a regular job and I'll be spending a lot of next week catching up on what I have missed this week while I'm here. Thursday, July 25 Second Day of Games The 84's were up bright and early today for their game at 8:00 AM against Busch SC. Unfortunately, I was not able to go - someone had to stay with the 88's. I'll give you what I know of the game. If I can more information later I will add it. They were up 2-0 at half time. In the second half, they gave up two goals and had another shot hit their post. In the last eight minutes of the game they scored twice to win 4-2. Despite their two wins, they are not guaranteed a spot in the final, but their chances are good. The 88's were totally outplayed today by Bethesda Eclipse. The first goal we gave up was from a corner kick early in the game. That held until half time. In the second half we did a little better, but we were still not controlling the ball enough. Not until we gave up a second goal did we really begin to play and pressure their defense. Injury time we gave up a breakaway and they scored their third. As well as we did yesterday, we did that badly today, losing 0-3. All is not lost. A win tomorrow will put three teams with six points. Then it will be down to goal difference. Wednesday, July 24 Let the Games Begin! Back to the game day routine we followed in Little Rock. Get up early in the morning (7:30 in this case) and go for a morning jog before breakfast. For the 88's, there is also always a team meeting two hours before game time. We had to be at the fields and hour before game time in order to sign the roster. They do that to make sure that the players are who they really say they are. The 88's played first against Team Chicago Brazil. 'Bonesie', Katie T and Brittany have their thoughts on the game: For our first game at Nationals, we came out with all our hearts. Kelley scored early in the first half and Bonesie got a kind of lucky goal later. By the half we were in the lead 2-0. We felt confident going into the second half. Bonesie locked it up near the end with another goal. We won 3-0. It felt awesome! To give a little more detail, Kelley O'Hara scored in the 11th minute Christy Barrow had the assist. The play was set up initially by a Tannah Castro free kick. The second goal came in the 31st minute. Brittany Schneider played an early ball to spring 'Bonesie' Jacobsen on a breakaway. The keeper got to the ball first, but her attempted clearance hit Bonesie and bounced in the air back toward the goal. Bonesie followed the ball and tapped it in the goal from about two yards out. For the third goal it was Bonesie again in the 66th minute. Malorie Rutledge passed her the ball just outside the area. The sweeper stepped up to block the passing lane to Kelley, but instead of passing Bonesie shot. The ball rose over the keeper then dipped just under the crossbar. The 84's game was a nail-biter all the way. The Colorado Soccer Academy dominated possession for most of the game, but were unable to find the net. Jada Stewart was exceptional in defense and Kristen Rutland had a good game in goal. On the other end it was Kristin Stewart who won a ball in the penalty area and dribbled three defenders (including "megging" one of them) to get in 1v1 on the keeper. Instead of shooting, Kristin played the ball to her right fro an onrushing Melanie Schneider to bury in the open goal. That was all they needed as they hung on for a 1-0 win. Game two is tomorrow. The 84's play Busch Soccer Club at 8:00 AM while the 88's play Bethesda at noon. With wins tomorrow both teams have a chance to set up a date on Sunday for the final. Tuesday, July 23 Opening Ceremonies Practices were light this morning - set plays after a good warm up. Only an hour long. Coaches, managers and state reps had to go to a meeting at 12:00. It was good as meetings go. For one thing, it lasted less than an hour (for the coaches anyway). The biggest business was selecting colors for games. They went through the list for every round robin game for the entire three days and had the teams give what colors they will wear. The visiting team got first choice. There were at least two games where one team said black, the other said blue and it was not questioned - it will be interesting to see how they look when they get out on the field. The other good thing about the meeting was the food provided. It was pretty good. For the Opening Ceremonies the teams assembled in the Discovery Center for the Parade of Champions. Just as we were getting ready to go, lightning was spotted nearby. A quick decision was made to move everything inside. The spectators who were in the stadium were brought in. The parade was scrapped, but the teams were still introduced. Personally, I liked it that way since we did not have to stand in the heat outside. At the close of the "business" part of the ceremonies, they showed a video with clips from games at the various regionals. We got several features, good and bad. For the good, the Lightning Cheering section was featured. There was also a clip of the 88's warming up right near the beginning. The 88's got a few other features from their final against Tennessee. Unfortunately, one was Tennessee's goal. It was a pretty shot, but not something we really wanted to remember. The most notable feature of the 84's was a header by Keri. It did not score, but was well played. They showed it about 3 times in a row. For more on the Opening Ceremony, I got some of the 88's to give me their impression. Here's what I got from Aubry, Caroline, A.J. and Malorie: The ceremony was moved inside because of the weather. After introducing a bunch of people, they served barbecued chicken and ribs. It started to rain while we were outside eating. When we went back in they had games and a band. We played human fussball, laser tag and they had this thing where we enjoyed being velcro'd to a wall. The day was a blast! Games start tomorrow. 88's are at 12:00 PM, 84's are right after at 2:00 PM. Check back for the inside scoop tomorrow night. Monday, July 22 Leaving Atlanta - eventually. We boarded the plane at 6:25. We backed away from the gate. We sat. Between the weather and planes in front of us, we could not leave. The airport was shut down, the plane was hot and we couldn't get out of our seats. We finally took off at 8:20 - we were supposed to arrive at 8:30! We are now scheduled to get there at 9:45. Considering the 88's have a 8:00 AM practice, this is not good. Got to pack it up - we are starting our descent. Some hours later: we're in the hotel. It's late. 88's practice in the morning at 8:00 AM, the 84's at 9:00. More tomorrow!