Run Sharie, run

See Sharie run. Run Sharie, run. Sharie hurts all over. Stop Sharie, stop. And so it came to pass that Sharie played in the goal during the second half of Tsunami’s game against (909) United.

But that’s jumping ahead. Here’s how it started:

By the coin toss, both teams had garnered the minimum number of players—7. As we took the field, both teams were up to 8. During the first few minutes, Tsunami struggled with the discombobulation of unfamiliar positions—Sharie at fullback, for example. 909 U exploited our discomfort with a few early runs on our goal. Sharie, Stacie and Belinda kept most of the shooters on the outside, and Pam stopped the early shots.

You work with what you have: soon everyone was settled in the lineup and Tsunami was flowing with its usual elan. There were some amazing defensive plays: Pam sacrificed her body to the turf and several 909 U feet. Once when she was down, Belinda scooted into the net and blocked a shot with an unknown but legal body part. With her speed, Staci prevented the “shot” part of many 909U fast breaks.

The defense successfully wafted the ball into 909U territory to set up several Tsunami fast breaks. Leslie and Brittney ran down these balls as they landed deep in 909U territory, only to shoot high, wide, over, around. Neither could buy a goal, leaving it to Staci and her speed (and footwork). Dribbling forward from her fullback position, Staci left everyone from both teams in her wake as she motored towards the goal. Her shot from about 30 yards out sailed over the goalie's head and into the net, putting us on the board.

Shamed, the offense went to work, and worked the ball closer to the goal with some good passing. Suzanne had arrived, as had 909U’s 9^th player. By shooting lower balls from closer in, Tsunami set up rebound opportunities, which Diane exploited for two more goals. 3-0 and there was still time. With no subs and lots of back-and-forth runs, the teams showed signs of fatigue, and lapsed back into relying on the defense to launch missiles from the backfield into 909U’s side. Leslie still had a few big runs in her: chasing a deep left kick from Pam, she sprinted under it, headed it to herself, crossed it to herself, and fired a strong grounder through the goalie’s legs.

The second half saw more good passing by Tsunami players, but 909U was passing more effectively as well. Neither team was making it to striking range with enough oomph left to execute strong shots. As time wound down, Sharie fielded a goal-ward ball and moved to the edge of the box to kick it. Her kick was a tad shallow and—not having spent much time in the goal—she forgot to run back into the net from the edge of the box. 909U got an easy pop fly into the net, right over Sharie’s arms.

Soon after, 909U got off a real shot, and scored again. Oh no!

Tsunami rallied to defend the 4-2 score, and gave them no more chances. We had a few chances but were thwarted, and the team focused on defense. Thus it ended, the two teams tied for third place had sorted themselves out into third (Tsunami) and 4^th ((909)U).

Stay tuned for Diane’s email about next week’s semifinal game (surely against our nemesis Gang Green).

the good fight

Gang Green and Tsunami brought equal desire for a victory to last night’s game. Tsunami kept the lame knee ladies on the sidelines (Shari, Steph and yours truly) on the edges of our seats for an hour and a half of back-and-forth battle.

Gang Green dominated the first quarter, keeping Sammi and the defense busy. Sammi stopped a break-away only to have Gang Green quickly regain possession and have a chance at the goal—but there stood Leslie, who swatted the ball clear with a powerful kick. Eventually Gang Green got a shot off from near the right corner flag. It just cleared the upper left corner of the goal and put them on the scoreboard. After GG’s goal, Tsunami took possession of the game, and gave them very few additional chances in the first half. Tsunami had many chances, including a spectacular long shot from Brittney that almost went into the upper left corner (but ricocheted off the outside of the corner and out). Suzanne would have scored on a beautifully arced corner shot—but GG’s goalie grabbed it.

Tsunami dominated possession during the second half, and GG had very few shots on goal. Leslie, Patti, Belinda and Sara made it difficult for GG to get set up for any shots , and the few they got off were handily stopped by Sammi. Leslie won several foot races with GG’s forwards, averting breakaway shots. The ball seemed often in the middle in a frenzied scrum involving variously Sara, Rachel, Laura, Suzanne and Pam being shoved a lot as they scrapped to move the ball west and GG struggled eastward. Tsunami most often prevailed, and Rachel, Britteny, Diane, Suzanne and Aime had lots of shots. Unfortunately, constant double- and triple-teams inhibited Suzanne, preventing the launch of her typical rocket shots. Nonetheless, Tsunami hammered the goal.

Pam passed the ball down the line to Aime, setting up one of the best chances in the second half. Aime dribbled into open space, then crossed a perfect ball towards the goal, where someone got a foot on it (Brittney?), then Diane--standing on the goal line--almost got a head on it. But the goalie snatched it. The second best chance of the half came when the GG goalie fouled one our forwards in the box, giving us a free kick at close range. Suzanne got a good shot over their wall, but the GG goalie grabbed it.

So we left empty-handed, but not without a calorie-draining fight (over 600 calories burned, according to B’s device). Next week we meet (909) United at 8:15. The good news, however, is that Gang Green meets Cougar Express (at 4:45).

ghu

Morgue bound

Tsunami’s 9-0 slaughter of ER Bound on 29 August provided opportunities for all to shine. In baseball, a designated hitter bats in place of the pitcher in the rotation. Thus, the DH bats only as many times as the team goes through the rotation, thereby distributing the DH’s “at bats” evenly through the game. In Tsunami soccer, we have the DS, or designated scorer, aka Suzanne. Suzanne can show up for a mere half, score a couple goals, then go home to ensure her kids make their school-night bed time. At home she’s probably the DE, or designated enforcer.

On 29 August, we had eleven to start—Diane, Leslie, Rachel, Sammi, Belinda, Shari, Pam, Suzanne, Staci, Patti and Brittney. We got off to a fast start with Suzanne socking one in from the key. This was followed by a goal with some nice passing—finally put in by Brittney (I think). Suzanne scored another, and a fourth goal made it 4-0 at the half. ER Bound’s offense never gave up, so both sides of the field saw action, albeit less on defense than offense, and Sammi had very little to do during the half. Suzanne and Belinda left, leaving us with nine for the second half. Leslie took over the net, allowing Sammi to warm up in the prematurely wintery night air.

Tsunami had gravity on its side in the second half, and it was a wild ride for ER bound’s defenders. Five more goals were scored by several members of the team, the last couple with little resistance from the goalie, who finally switched positions and let someone else deal with the relentless Rachel and Diane and Brittney, being fed by Staci, Pam, Shari, Patti and Sammi. ER bound? Morgue bound seems more apt.

Tonight we meet Gang Green. They hold second place with a record of 5-1-2. We are in third with a record of 5-2-1. Let’s knock them out of second place! Be there for the 6:30 game. I hope our DS will stay for both halves.

If you haven’t registered for next season, bring your $63 to sign up.