U14 Girls eXtreme went undefeated over the Labor Day Weekend and took second place at the Sonoma County Classic

Sept. 10, 2009 - The weekend started with a 3-0 victory over the Healdsburg Spirit. Julia Butterfield quickly over powered Spirit’s defense and had three quick chances just inside the penalty area but was unable to find the back of the net. Jordan Hudson made numerous crosses and Maddy Cook, Tarryn Johnson, and Gabby Rosales peppered fine shots on goal but the back of the net remained elusive. Kayla Thompson finally got the scoring rolling when she curled a corner kick inside the far post. The flood gates opened and Sierra Montano scored twice with assists from Tarryn and Lindsey Bock. A rock solid defense led by keeper Angelica Bravo, Inessa Bartholomew, Stacy Larson, Ramona “Mo” Sovereign, Claire Nishikawa, Lindsey Pope, and Alondra Cortes not only maintained a shutout but allowed just three shots on goal.

Saturday evening had us faced off against Marin FC. Our speed and ball skills forced Marin FC to play a tough physical match that resulted in Marin FC receiving fifteen fouls and one yellow card. The persistent fouling interrupted the rhythm of play and made goals difficult to come by. Even when Jaime Padilla took a hard foul just outside the penalty area, eXtreme could not convert on the free kick. eXtreme didn’t score until late in the match when Marin FC handled the ball in their own penalty area. Sierra went to the spot and confidently put her chance passed the diving keeper and into the corner of the net. Unfortunately with just minutes remaining Marin FC converted a controversial free kick from just outside the penalty area which ended the match at 1-1. We started the tournament down a player with Natalie Robinson (who still traveled with the team!) injured from a previous match. eXtreme would end this match down two more from our backline with Inessa in the emergency room after a hard defensive tackle and Claire with an injured ankle after being hacked from behind.

Sunday morning had us matched against the undefeated host team, Sonoma County Alliance. Sonoma quickly converted a short corner into a goal. Within minutes eXtreme fought back and brought the match even when Kayla beat her defender and started a break-a-way at midfield and finished the run by beating the leaping keeper with a shot in the upper left corner. Sonoma started the second half strong with nine shots on goal, but nearly all were from outside the penalty area. Coach Nate Kropp, seeing an opportunity, moved Sierra out to the right wing. His move was quickly rewarded with our best goal of the tournament when Sierra beat several defenders and made a tough, strong, run down the right side. She finished her run at the end line and made a perfect cutback cross to the waiting Maddy who’s one touch shot beat the keeper near post. Soon after, the match was put away when Lindsey Bock fed an outstanding pass to Kayla who scored with a right footed lob over the charging keeper.

That left the tournament in our hands if we could secure a victory in our final match against La Fenice. While eXtreme dominated the match and limited La Fenice to just two shots inside the penalty area we were unable to capitalize on one of our fifteen opportunities and tied the match 0-0.

The Tournament scored matches 3 points for win, 1 for tie, 0 for loss. There were no points awarded for goals or shutouts and the winner was determined by points alone. With Sonoma winning their final match they finished with 9 points and eXtreme finished with 8. Interesting to note if a more common scoring system was used, like at the Suntan Classic, eXtreme would have taken first place.

Although the girls were disappointed with the 2nd place finish, they should be proud to have played so well especially considering injuries, weather, and field conditions. In four matches and 240 minutes of play they were the only team to go undefeated, they allowed just 2 goals on 38 shots, had 2 shutouts, and scored 7 times on 59 shots. Great Job eXtreme!