Early exit

We sent a trim squad to compete in the Coed Classic on July 19-20. It was our fourth appearance in the Columbia, MD tournament. Read about past exploits here, here, here, and here. We used a base of Goleros players plus some new blood to spice things up.

But we weren't spicy. We went 0-3, failing to clear our group for the second year in a row. The rec division was mighty competitive this year - especially in the North division with all the NOVA teams. That being said, we were capable of beating them all - we just didn't jell until it was too late.

We opened the tourney with a 3-1 loss to Flying Pigs, which has been known to field a good team. Three years ago, we lost to them 2-1, but man we were a ragged squad then. I'm pretty sure we beat them two years ago. We were a defensive disaster this time around, and the midfield was absent. Alec made at least 5 outstanding saves, sparing us a nasty loss. Our goal was a last-minute run all the way to the goal line by Adrian (who had the assist?).

Next, we played the familiar Capital Crew. Only they weren't familiar; they were good and sportmanlike. We lost concentration on one play and gave up a breakaway. Then we couldn't sink one of our own. 1-0 loss. It was frustrating but we were outplayed.

Coed Classic, July 2008

On Sunday, we still had a slim chance to advance if we won, didn't give up goals, and Capital Crew lost by 2 goals. Unfortunately, we gave up 2 goals in the first half on defensive miscues so it became an exhibition pretty quickly. We played our friends at AC/DC, who have four players that developed in our system: Carlos, Anna, Jen, and Georgie (no transfer fees were ever

obtained). We really had them on the ropes in the second half when we showed inspiration and aggressiveness. Chris scored midway through the half after shredding the defense and placing one just past Anna's reach. It's too bad we couldn't sink another one - to our credit, though, AC/DC did have to resort to a series of intentional fouls to preserve the win (2-1).

He was on a mission

She was pretty darn good

Well, it was fun but we're now riding a 4 game losing streak in all competitions. Hopefully, that will motivate us for the fall season. Thanks to Lance, Ashley, Turner, Alec, and Lexie for joining us at the tournament! You guys did a great job.