Team travels to farmland - but it's a drought

We set a new distance record this weekend when we traveled to Western Regional Park to play in the Coed Classic. Talk about far! The fields were surrounded by farmland. They were so far we had to go in the Goleros bus (6 of us in Jackie's Honda Pilot). Let me put it this way. If you lived in Olney, you'd still have to leave early in order to get to the field on time!

Our proud tournament run is over. This time, we failed to advance out of the opening round. That's OK, because, in a way, this tournament was just as much fun.

We entered the Intermediate Division in order to try to raise the level of our game. It was the right move. Overall, we struggled in the midfield and in finishing. We hit the cross bar probably 5 times in just 3 games.

In the first game versus the Drifters, we had some defensive miscues early on, letting in a steady stream of 4 goals, three of them being scored by a single goateed striker. The Drifters' defense was horrible, but we couldn't keep possession of the ball long enough for a shot. We only had a few shots in the game; on one of them, we scored easily. At the half, we were facing 3-goal deficit though. We improved our defense in the second half, but still had no answer in the midfield. We lost 4-1.

In the second game versus Code Red, we started off cautiously in order to shore up our D. The problem again was in the midfield. Plenty of people but no rhythm. Anna kept us in the game with some stellar saves. I had a slide tackle in the box (a lusty challenge!), but no one saw or remembers this play! In the second half, we finally yielded a goal. We would have yielded another one if not for some stellar defense by Carlitos - including a well-executed professional foul. At the end of the half, we pushed everyone up, leading us to concede a second goal as time expired. We lost 2-0. We knew then that we would not advance.

Some players decided to "reflect" upon the losses by going to Carlos' place, and then the Clarendon Ballroom. There were several hangovers and - strangely - two toe injuries!

On Sunday, we were in the mood for a fun game. It says a lot that we showed up in force to have fun - especially given that the game was so far away. In this match versus DWASP (Drunks with a Soccer Problem), we won easily. DWASP showed great sportsmanship. They had several strong women, but lacked some striking ability. We nearly scored on the opening volley, and finally put one in before the half. We added another one in the second half, and then began having some fun as we loosened up on the field. Your Captain is seriously bummed and sorry for bungling the Most Beautiful Pass of the Season by Jer (a bending cross to my head at the 10 yard line).

Anna had a nice tournament in net.

We celebrated by watching the U20 game at Carlos' place. Good stuff everyone. I'm really happy with the way we played and our attitude. After the Team X game, it was nice to play for ourselves and not so much for a result. Thanks to Mike, Rebecca, Ally, and Carly for joining us.

Notes: 2007 Coed Classic, 3rd place in our group. 4-1 loss to Drifters (Jon (NK)), 2-0 loss to Code Red, 2-0 win versus DWASP (Chris (Jon), Chris (Jen), Yellow card to Megan). Overall goal differential: 3-6.