Victory!

After a very long drought the U10 Red Devils got a win! The team we were facing was playing its second game of the day and showed some signs of fatigue early on. The Devils took advantage of that and from the start mounted an overwhelming offense that paid off early with three goals in the first half, two from Luis and one from Bryce. Luis was really showing some amazing ball handling skill today and was able to work in to take all of his shots from very close range. Bryce was also handling the ball with great confidence and the goal he had in the second half was a blistering left footer off of a perfect cross from Luis. These guys can be a dangerous combination.
We had excellent work in keeper from Gabriel during the first half (we will be working on his punting skills, though). He made a lot of very good stops and showed some great composure several times by collecting the ball outside the box and bringing it back in to pick-up. The real highlight of our defense in the first half was the emergence of Samantha as a very strong center fullback. Samantha played very aggressively, stepping up into the open space to get to balls before the other team could gather themselves and as a result she had a string of amazing clearing kicks, blasting the ball out of our end and just completely denying the other team any scoring opportunities. She had great help from Keegan and Chase both of whom played aggressively and smartly.
This was a really fun game to coach as I saw each player, without exception, begin to step-up their game and play better than perhaps they even thought they could. Payton came in for Luis in the first half and showed great patience in moving the ball forward and had some good chances. Blayr discovered her inner midfielder and played with real soccer IQ, anticipating where she needed to be and getting into the right position repeatedly. Blayr and Helen made a fine team in mid and we'll probably use that line-up again. Easten also was solid in midfield in the first half, frequently getting involved in the offense and then streaking back to cover on defense but in the second half, playing up, he showed speed I didn't know he had, relentlessly driving the ball around the corner to make one good crossing pass after another. Easten's partners during this barrage were Chase and Keegan who were also relentless and consistently in position to take shots. It was thrilling to see the energy that the three of them had in the closing minutes of the game. Like sharks smelling blood in the water they just knew there was a goal opportunity there for them and they kept pounding the goal box till the buzzer sounded.
Erin and Sam showed up late (my fault) but played beautifully the entire second half. Erin worked hard in midfield keeping the ball in the other team's side and Sam was our strong fullback in that half, sweeping everything out of the box. Our second half keeper, Payton, was only challenged a few times. Jake had something to do with that too as he played very aggressively in fullback for most of the half. He doesn't always look like he's paying attention but then when the ball comes into his end he dashes into the fray fearlessly and stubbornly pushes the ball away from the goal. I hope all this energy will carry over to practice and to our remaining games. Great work Red Devils!