The snowy cold weather didn't seem to matter last Friday as the soccer action heated up indoors.
The five teams at the girls' U15 youth soccer league met on Friday, Jan. 2, to compete for the annual Old Boot indoor tournament.
This was the sixth annual tournament, and all teams came out to have fun and get a touch of the ball.
The round robin of 12 games started slowly as the teams settled in after a layoff since Dec. 6. The first three games were draws with only two goals scored. The drive was there, but not the timing. Then Becky Flumerfelt's team banged in three for a 3-1 win and the rest got the message. Only two more draws in the remaining nine games and good goalkeeping were the reasons for close games.John Sheehy's Magnificent Seven won the round robin and carried on with a semifinal 1-0 win over Becky's girls, to move into the final.Dave Nanson's seven players had started to roll in their last round robin game, and they took that into their semifinal game with Dani Thompson's team. Nanson's girls cracked in three picture shots for a 3-0 win and a slot in the final. The top teams played a tight game, but Nanson's scorers were spot on as they scored a very nice goal for a 1-0 win and the Old Boot trophy.
Special mention is needed for the strong and aggressive goaltending by Carlee Benner. Her leadership was the catalyst for Sheehy's team. The shooters on Nanson's team, as a unit, were a force to be feared.
This year's tournament showed that the quality of play in the U15 league has really improved. The skill levelwas very encouraging.
Nanson has his team playing a crisp passing game and all the girls now know how to kick a ball correctly. Eight from this team will move up to the U18 league in the coming years. I bet some U18 coach is going to have a good nucleus for three years. An excellent job of coaching, Dave - you can be proud of the way the girls are playing for you.
Mother Nature gave us a good day on Friday, but that night and Saturday morning she was not in a good mood. The snow made travelling difficult, and so the U18 girls' tournament had to be postponed. We have something to look forward to next December, now don't we?
