Team 2 - U8, Tim Hortons - U8, 2009 (Listowel Minor Soccer)

The final two games of the regular season were against Elma #1 and Elma #2.  The team worked really well together in both these games and came out on the short end with a pair of 2-1 losses.  Not bad for having lost 9-0 and 10-0 to these teams the first time we played them! The team hustled after the ball and did not give the opposition as much time as in our previous matches with these two teams.  A few miscues led to a couple of the goals by the Elma squads, but there were also many good scoring opportunities that were thwarted by some strong defense and goaltending in both these games.  The forwards managed to put away a couple of the scoring chances we had and we actually managed to stay in these games for the vast majority of them.

The coaching staff was extremely impressed with the teams ability to play with two of the top teams in the league.  It proved to us that they have the ability to play a strong game with any other team in this league and we are hoping that this strong play will carry over to the playoffs and the tournament.  We believe in the kids and think they can put together a couple of wins in the tounament and have a chance of winning the "B" Championship.

We are looking for a strong finish to the season which would make the season ending party that much more enjoyable.

The Coaches 

Games #7 and #8 were against Elma #1 and Elma #2.  I am unsure if it was the heat or the school trips on each of these Tuesday's but the results were not pretty.  The squad suffered losses of 9-0 and 10-0 respectively.  Aside from a few players, there was a lack of effort and running after the ball in each of these games.  The goalies (Austin/Dakota and Matthew) in both games were left at the mercy of the opposition but did make many magnificent saves to keep the scores at what they were.  School was done after these two games, so the coaching staff was expecting more effort in game #9 versus Palmerston #2.

After a short practice (with 6 players and rain) of working on some one on one and concentrating on defence the team travelled to Palmerston for their Tuesday game.  The rain managed to hold off for the game which was a good thing as the team came out and played one of the best games of the year.  They gave up an early goal about a minute in but managed to get together and play hard the rest of the way.  The final was a 1-0 loss but the team played more aggressively going after the ball and showed a ton more spunk than the previous two weeks.  The defense (Liam, Austin, Coral and Dakota)played a strong game in shutting down the opposition and moving the ball forward and any opportunities that Palmerston did have were thwarted by some strong goaltending by Nich.  The forwards (Nikki, Desmond, Justice, Donavan, Kody and Matthew) also played harder on the ball which resulted in a few scoring chances that we just couldn't put away.

The coaching staff was impressed with this effort and hope we can continue to build on this heading into the final two games.  If we see this effort against Elma #1 and Elma#2 we will see a much better result than the first two games against these teams.

See you at practice!

The coaches! 

The first half of our season is completed with our record standing at 1-4-1.  The more important thing is the fact that the kids are continually improving and playing better soccer each and every game.  Now we are looking forward to the second half of the season and where we are going from here.

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