Soccer season starts

by Ed Rozmiarek

Another soccer season started with a bang this weekend as Kevin's team was in a local tournament. Kevin is on a new team this year called the Revolution. They have only had a couple weeks of practice but they played well this weekend.

Our first game was at 8:00 Saturday against the Tri-City Cavalry from Killeen (about 30 minutes north of Austin), not a great time to have a bunch of 11 year olds trying to concentrate on soccer. The boys were a little ragged but got several good shots on goal. They were unlucky in that two shots bounced the post or crossbar and ended up losing 0-1.

Warming up for the first game of the tournament.

A close call on a corner kick, but no goal.

The second game was against the Lonestars (the team Kevin was on last year). This game went much better as our team dominated game and kept the ball in the other end of the field for a good part of the game. Kevin was pretty bored as goalie in the first half as he only touched the ball once. We notched our first win 2-0 but is could have easily been 4 or 5 to 0 as again the ball found the posts more than the back of the net.

Defending the goal against the Lonestars

Kevin (12) gets some field time in the second half.

The last game of the day Saturday was to be at 5:00 but thunder storms rolled in a little after 4:30. The fields were flooded and the games moved to Sunday. So at 10:00 on Sunday, we played a team from south of Austin called the Fusion. A hard fought first half saw the Revolution take a 1-0 lead into half time. The Fusion tied the game midway through the second half, the our boys returned the favor soon after and held on for a 2-1 victory and a slot in the semi-finals.

Lots of good shots on goal in the first half, but only one goes in.

A late game penalty kick but saved by the keeper.

The semi-final game was against the Dripping Spring Stars, the winner of the other bracket. The Stars walked though their bracket winning all three preliminary games without having a goal scored on them. This was definitely our toughest game as the Stars controlled the ball a good part of the first half. After making a couple of tough saves, the Stars were able to get one in by midway through the first half. Then, just before half time, a high shot from outside the box was just to high for Kevin to get to and the Stars took a 2-0 lead in to half time.

Kevin makes a diving first half save.

6 Inches taller and Kevin would have had this one.

Our boys came out fighting the in the second half and put a lot of pressure on the Stars. We had two breakaway opportunities that were stopped by good play by the Stars' keeper. However, after making a tough save, their keeper ran out of the 18-yard box before kicking the ball. This gave us a penalty kick which Joey placed into the upper corner of the goal bringing the game close at 2-1.

The rest of the game was back and forth. Late in the game, we got another chance with a quick breakaway. Fernando (?) was able to get around the Stars' keeper who was playing way too far out of the box. Fernando was then able to walk the ball into the goal, tying the game with less then a minute to go and sending the game into a penalty kick shootout.

Playing tough in the second half.

Starting the penalty kick shootout.

The shootout started off close as the first two boys on each team made their shots. Things were looking up for us when Pablo was able to save the third shot for the Stars and we took a 3-2 lead. Unfortunately, the Stars' keeper was able to make a save to set up a 3-3 tie with one shot left a piece. Our final kick sailed over the crossbar while their final kick was good giving the Star's a 4-3 victory in the shoot out. A tough end to a hard fought game but a promising start to the season.

You can see more pictures in the Fall 2004 soccer album in our photo gallery.

Posted by Ed Rozmiarek at August 22, 2004 8:56 PM