On this cold and blustery day Corwin’s soccer coach finally managed to get the boys vs. girls game to do. For once the girls had a better turnout with 3 or 4 extra players while the boys had only one even with grabbing an extra girl (Ema) from her indoor soccer practice.
I managed to miss the early part of the game because Alice waited until moments before the kick off to announce that she was extremely thirsty, just seconds from a fatal collapse due to dehydration. I think the girls scored a goal then but I was unable to confirm or refute it conclusively.
Overall the boys play was off, but the girls did well. They had much better field dominance throughout most of the game which let them make a lot more scoring attempts. That paid off with a 5-2 victory on their part. On the other hand, one of the girls scored 4 of those goals in a single 7 minute period early in the second half. Mara scored the other goal, with a very persistent attack that took 3 or 4 attempts but she wouldn’t let it go and in the end overwhelmed the goalie.
The first goal by the boys was an excellent side shot by Brian. The second was bizarre. One of the boys booted the ball toward the goal from just past midfield just to get it in to position for an attack. But somehow the girls were zoned out and the ball just bounced on by them and was half way to the goal before the goalie realized it was going to go in. But it was too late by then. Given that it made the score 5-2 instead of 5-1, the girls didn’t take it too hard.
Corwin didn’t play particularly well either. He was cold and tired, having endured the tests of the morning. He actually fell asleep in the van on the way to the game. Still he got a few good kicks in (like this backwards kick that despite what it looks like, actually went the right direction and staved off an attack) although he was bedeviled in the first half by girl #9 who was quite fond of driving in on Corwin’s side of the field for her attacks. #9 is the one who scored the four goals, so she’s not too bad of a player. She scored one goal by taking on three of the better boys and beating them so I don’t feel too bad about her breaking past Corwin most of the time. But she’s not super-human — although she started out with short shorts she eventually put on some sweat pants.
Still, a win is a win and the girls won decisively.