Well, we knew it was going to be tough. Opening the tournament with the number two team in the state is never easy. We just never got it going with Santa Clara Sporting Green. We played much better in the second half, keeping them to one goal. But the damage was already done in the first half, losing to a great team 4-0. As coaches, we felt our second game was a better match up. Playing the number 8 team in the state - Elk Grove. We rarely see our team play out of sync with each other. For some reason they struggled from the start, getting down two goals to Elk Grove in the first half. As coaches, we knew the girls just needed to settle down and play controlled soccer. Coming out strong in the second half and finding the net early, we knew this was the turning point for our team only to have the goal called back by the referee, why? We still aren't sure. You'll rarely ever see me complain about referees, but this was one instance that the referee took the game personal. With a chip on her shoulder the whole game, we never got any momentum. Do we blame the referee for the lose? Of course not. Like we told the girls after the game, "This is not the last time that we will see these types of referees." We would have never been in this situation had we just put balls in the back of the net (oh, we did but they took it away). Nonetheless, we should have taken care of this team early, and we didn't.
The great thing about this weekend was Sunday's game. Our girls ended their season with a dominating showing against a very good team. The girls did everything right, and very few things wrong. As coaches, we couldn't have been prouder. With a win over Modesto Ajax, our weekend ended 1 win 2 loses. But hey, we're on a winning streak. And what a win. Next up SOCCER PARTY............AND PICTURES (little preview at the top of the page)