Recent Events

Well this is the first chance I have had to report on the final games for the boys. Hopefully you have checked the brackets and know the bottom line. Here is a bit of a recap with some color added.
When we left off we were drying out from a wet first round. Evan was still confidant even though he was facing the Auburn team that had given them a drubbing early in the season. Ian was happy to have won his first game and looking forward to his next game. For this game I got to watch Ian play. This turned out to be a good thing since Auburn picked up where they left off and put a hurting on the Rangers. Evan takes a bit of solace in the fact that the Auburn team is a tournament team that has been playing tournaments for several years. Also that Auburn university attracts foreign faculty...two players are Brazilian, and two European. So it goes but it was a hard way to start their tournament. In the meantime Ian and company took care of business against their opponent easily winning 6-0. Ian played the first half a keeper and much of the second half as a forward. He did great in both positions and had many breakaways and shot the were just barely wide often banging off the post.
Sunday we would have two games each so we tried to get to bed early so we would be ready.
The early games were both good and both ended in 4-0 wins for both clubs. I watched Evan's team and they looked more like the team I was used to seeing. Evan was much more aggressive and controlled the middle of the field the whole game. He scored twice and his team shook off their bad feelings about the tournament. Unfortunately Auburn and Arsenal both won their games so their hopes of getting a medal were dashed. They did however look forward to their final game against their Birmingham neighbor Hoover to secure third place. Ian's team could secure themselves at least second place and a medal with a win in their game. Once again Ian and his team played great. Ian made some really spectacular stops often laying out and diving to swat away a certain goal. On offense he got a score when he capitalized on a penalty kick that he was awarded after being tripped in the box.
This set up a really great final game for Ian's team. The team they faced was also undefeated and held a one goal lead in goal deferential. Ian's team would need a win to win the tournament.
I was got to watch this game although I missed Evan's win against Hoover. They did great against a good club and Evan got a score. Ian's match was a real slug fest. Both teams were good and well matched. Ian got lots of action around his goal and did an amazing job at keeper. He had a couple of really good punts that could have been scored as assists if his receiving teammates had made their shots. The half ended 0-0. we got an early goal at the start of the second half. Ian stayed in as keeper, his coach wanted the extra defense. Unfortunately Ian had an errant punt go to a boy on the other team who passed it across to a player for a score.
Ian's team was on its heels more the second half and the ball was constantly to close to the goal for comfort. Another ball got through, barely under Ian as he dove for it. Ian was a bit upset when time ran out but he quickly came around realizing that they played great and would still get a medal.
It was all around a lot of fun and excitement. I took lots of pictures, most of the good ones were of Ian. Both games I watched of Evan were in bad conditions, raining or really cold. Michelle took some video so I will post that when I can. They both had great seasons and we are sorry to see it end. Next up is basketball. I'll keep you posted.