The Pride 95B "WORK HARD, WORK HARD, WORK HARD" team finished 2nd in the Aug 22-23 Oley Soccer Tournament.
Saturday, August 22
The first game was a 1-0 win against Fleetwood with a solid pass from Kyle B. to a streaking Eli B. down the inside right of the field and Eli buried the ball in the back left hand side of the goal. The team also demonstrated a solid "wall" defense by keeping their shape and getting all balls "up and out". An unfortunate injury was had by our goalie Eric H. and Connor I. stepped in a played a solid game.
The team posted an unfortunate 1-3 loss against the 2nd team from Fleetwood who did not lose a game and was ultimately awarded the championship. Our only goal was the first goal of the game from a great 30+ direct kick strike from Steven T. that stung the goalies outstretched hands back into the goal and pushed the ball to the upper left hand corner. With only 2 substitutions in the 1st half and only 1 substition in the 2nd half, the team lost some steam in the 2nd quarter and the opponents 6 substitutions caused constant pressure in our defensive zone. All that said, it was extremely exciting to see the "work hard, work hard, work hard" effort by the team in the last remaining minutes of the game..
Sunday, August 23
The third game was a 5-0 shutout against the host team, Oley Valley, in which the Pride demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship and took the opportunity to develop their passing and "running off the ball" skills. One of our goals was an "ESPN top 10 highlight" with a great cross from Mike F from the right side to a perfectly played head ball by Sean P. who was standing at the 12 and directed the ball to the back of the net. Nick P had 2 great goals, and Eli and Steven each scored a goal.
The final game was a 1-0 shutout agains Radnor. With Cody S. taking the goalie position, the defense provided an incredible "wall" against Radnors offense. The only goal of the game was a 30+ blast from Mike F. after a solid trap and shot from the left side of the field. The team posted a ton of shots, but Mike’s shot had "eyes" and found the top left corner of the goal.
All in all, the team performance was a demonstration of never giving up, learning and developing during the game some important passing and running off the ball skills and most importantly, playing together as a team.
Congratulation to everyone and we look forward to the start of the season on Sept. 12th.
Coach Mike
