United Quest Blue
'85 Athena (U-14)
- Concorde Challenge Cup -
(February, 2000)
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United Quest Blue |
This page was last updated on March 05, 2000
Concorde Challenge Cup (February, 2000)
We were in the U-14 Athena Silver division (top competitive level), group B, along with the Peachtree City Lazers White, UGSA Twisters (Greenville, SC) and WGSC Herricanes Red. The tournament started with "round-robin" group play, where each team plays every other team. Standings during group play were based on the tournament point system: 6 points for a win, 3 for a tie, 1 for each goal scored (up to 3 per game) and 1 for a shutout.
The Quest won one and lost two during group play. The Quest played well in the win and had some excellent moments in one of the losses. The Quest didn't have much of the play at all in the other loss. The goal of this tournament was to play some tough competition early to get ready for our second season in Athena "B". The Quest showed promise against teams who have much more competitive experience. The Quest aren't "there" yet, but the team keeps moving in that direction.
Here is our schedule. You can click on a result to see a detailed game report.
| Date | Time |
Location | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, Feb. 26 | 9:30 AM |
Bunten Road 1 | UGSA Twisters | Won 2-0 |
| Saturday, Feb. 26 | 2:30 PM |
Bunten Road 2 | Peachtree City Lazers White | Lost 6-0 |
| Sunday, Feb. 27 | 9:30 AM |
Bunten Road 2 | WGSC Herricanes Red (h) | Lost 2-1 |
Game 1: Won 2-0 vs. UGSA Twisters
This is our first-ever game against the Twisters, who come from Upstate Girls Soccer Association in Greenville, SC. The Twisters played in last year's Concorde Challenge Cup, winning the U-13 Athena Black (2nd of 3 competitive levels) championship. (For comparison purposes, the Quest finished in 3rd place in the 3rd competitive level in last year's tournament.)
This was the Quest's first game since early November. But there wasn't much rust. The Quest looked fit and ready to play. The first half was scoreless, but the Twisters looked slightly more dangerous. Their #3 (center mid) was particularly dangerous. She was quick and strong and an excellent dribbler. The Quest gave up several corner kicks, but defended them well. (Defending corner kicks was a real adventure for the Quest last fall.)
The second half had lots of action on both ends. The Quest attack was looking more dangerous than it had in the first half. And the Quest defense was finding a way to shut down the Twisters attack. Sometimes it was the first defender who did the job, sometimes the second, but the Quest always managed to have a defender in the right place at the right time.
The Twisters moved their strongest defensive player up to forward in an attempt to generate more offense. The Quest defense held strong, so now it was just a matter of "can the Quest take advantage of the weakened Twister defense?"
The Quest's had a noticeable team speed advantage over the Twisters. Midway through the half, the Quest capitalized on this advantage.
Twenty minutes into the second half, Amanda won a ball in the center of the field, about 15 yards into the Twisters half. She started dribbling toward goal, easily passing the first two defenders. The sweeper came to challenge her just outside the penalty area, so Amanda pushed the ball into the space behind her and sprinted after the ball. The Twisters keeper stayed on her line, even though it looked like she had a chance to be first to the ball. Amanda was easily first to the ball, and now she was alone about 10 yards from goal with the keeper still on her line. Amanda calmly set up her shot and buried it. Goal Quest and a 1-0 lead!
More back and forth action followed, with the Quest slowly but surely shutting down the Twisters attack farther from the Quest goal. The Quest started to gain a slight attacking advantage.
With 8 minutes left, the Quest won a corner kick from the right side. Elisa took the kick. Jessica won a challenge in the right side of the penalty area and sent the ball back to Elisa near the touch line. Elisa faked her defender, then hit a dangerous cross toward the back post. Kaelen was there waiting. A Twister defender on the right side of the goal area tried to head it out of danger, but she mistimed her jump and redirected it into the far side of the goal. Goal Quest (from a corner kick!) and a 2-0 lead!
The Quest offense was cooking now, and in the final minutes, Elisa came close to scoring two more goals.
Final score: Quest wins 2-0. Under the tournament scoring system, the Quest earned 9 points (6 for the win, 2 for goals scored and 1 for a shutout).
Goalies: Jessica B (full game)
The Quest's defensive squad deserves credit for finding a way to keep the Twisters from getting clear shots. This was a 0-0 game for 55 minutes, and it wasn't because the Twisters didn't have any offense. Alex also deserves special mention for her effort in shutting down the Twisters dangerous #3 player in the second half. And she has the bruises to prove it!
Game 2: Lost 6-0 vs. PTCYSA Lazers White
This Lazers team is the U-13 Lazers, who are "playing up" in the U-14 division. They are from the Peachtree City Youth Soccer Association. The Lazers won the U-13 Athena "A" division during the fall.
The Lazers put the Quest under immediate pressure, and kept the ball in the Quest's end for most of the first half. Their speed of play was impressive. The Lazers played 1- and 2-touch soccer, and they had ultra-fast transitions between offense and defense. They created lots of attacks and had several shots, but their shooting touch was off.
They finally struck midway through the half. After a throw-in from the right side, a Lazers midfielder played a lofted diagonal ball into the Quest penalty area. The ball just cleared a Quest defender's head, and a Lazer forward ran onto it behind the Quest defense. Jessica came out strong, but the Lazer player shot accurately and found the far side of the net to give the Lazers a 1-0 lead.
The Lazers extended the lead to 2-0 a few minutes later on a rocket shot from about 20 yards out into the top of the goal. Halftime came with the Lazers up 2-0.
The Quest came out strong in the second half and played the first few minutes in the Lazers defensive end. This was the Quest's first sustained attacking play of the game. But the Lazers got back in gear and soon put the Quest under more pressure. They ended up scoring 4 goals to earn a 6-0 win. One was a beautiful header goal off a corner kick. The Lazers hit a corner to the near post. A player did a "flick on" header across the goal area, and a second Lazers attacker headed it into the goal.
This game was a case where the opponent was just a better team. The Quest team never gave up. But the Lazers speed of play was just too fast for the Quest to handle.
Final score: Lazers win 6-0. The shutout loss means the Quest didn't earn any points in this game.
The game had one rather amusing moment. Just like players and coaches can have their quirks, so can referees. The ref in this game was a control freak when it came to substitutions. He (properly) wanted to be sure the original player was leaving the field before the sub entered. Midway through the second half, as a Quest player left the field to sub out, Jillian entered. But she was apparently a second too early for the ref's taste (having misread his subtle hand signal), and he quickly issued a yellow card for this transgression.
This raises the Quest's card history to three yellows and no reds in three years. The first yellow card was back at U-12 for delay of game on a goal kick. The second was at U-14 for a brief "you pushed me, so I'll push you back" event in midfield during The Atlanta Cup. This speaks very well for the Quest's commitment to sporting play. The team has risen from Athena "D" to Athena "B" during this time, but it's done so through a mixture of skill and determination (and some timely good fortune), never through intimidation or rough play.
Game 3: Lost 2-1 vs. WGSC Herricanes Red
This is our first-ever game against the Herricanes. They are the top U-14 team from the West Gwinnett Soccer Club. The Herricanes played in the Athena "A" division during the fall, but they were relegated into Athena "B" for the spring.
The Quest came close to scoring in the opening seconds of the match. Alex sent the kickoff to Rachael, who got behind the Herricane left defender. Rachel passed to Elisa, who sent a pass across the goal area. But the Herricanes were first to the ball and cleared it out of danger.
The Herricanes came to life and began to control more of the play. They were first to loose balls and seemed to do everything a bit quicker than the Quest. They took a 1-0 lead on a throw-in play. A Herricane midfielder was open on the right side just outside the penalty area. Her teammate found her with a short throw-in. She made a touch toward goal, then hit a beautiful high shot into the top center of the Quest goal. This was a nice shot, but if the Quest had been more alert, the Herricane player would have never been open to get the shot.
The game wasn't totally one-sided, though. The Quest worked the ball into the Herricane end on several occasions and forced the Herricane keeper to make some saves. She struggled with control of the wet ball. Quest forwards were right on top of her on a couple of bobbles, but she was able to regain possession before the Quest could put a foot on the ball.
Halftime came with the Herricanes leading 1-0.
The Quest got off to a quick start in the second half, immediately attacking the Herricane goal. But the Herricanes withstood the early attack and again gained more control of the play. They took a 2-0 lead on a low corner shot. Big J made a valiant dive to try to block it, but the ball was just too well-placed.
This was "character test" time. Would the Quest fold or would they start showing their competitive spirit?
If you've followed the team, you'd expect the latter. Sure enough, the Quest got fired up and began to play attractive soccer. The Quest started working the ball from defense to midfield to the forward line with quick, accurate passes, regularly getting the ball into the Herricane defensive third. The Herricanes countered this by hammering long clearances upfield. But the Quest won most of the clearances and started new attacks.
On one attack, the Quest found Amanda open on the right side. She did a little of her normal magic: she dribbled toward the right, then sharply cut the ball inside her defender and headed toward goal. When the Herricane sweeper came toward her, Amanda hit a perfect low centering pass to Meagan. Meagan plays mostly as sweeper, but she's an excellent shooter and she calmly sent a first-time shot past the onrushing keeper into the goal. Goal Quest, which cut the Herricane lead to 2-1 with 15 minutes left.
The Quest continued on a roll for another 5-10 minutes, but weren't able to find an open shot. Fatigue started to hit in the late stages of the game, and the Quest attack began to fade. The last few minutes were pretty even but uneventful, and the Herricanes held on to take a 2-1 win.
Final score: Herricanes win 2-1. The Quest earned one point for the goal. But the loss to the Lazers yesterday had already eliminated the Quest from championship contention, so points didn't matter any more.
The Herricanes have several seasons of Athena "A" experience. They earned the win, but the Quest showed they could compete with them. This bodes well for the Quest, who were only recently promoted into Athena "B."
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Created: 02/06/00 Revised: 03/05/00 |
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