United Quest Red
'89 Athena (U-10)
- 2000 Canterbury Cup -
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United Quest Red |
This page was last updated on June 25, 2000
This would be the Quest's first "real game" experience against boys teams. The Quest was in the U-10 Boys Premier "Brazil" division, which consisted of six teams divided into two brackets.
Bracket C |
Bracket D |
|---|---|
| United Quest White | Norcross Fury |
| Rome Arsenal White | United Quest Red (Athena) |
| IAYMCA (Alpharetta) Eagles Red | Brookwood Steamers Red |
Teams played a "round-robin" schedule of three games, one against each opponent in their bracket and one "cross-over" game against a team from the other bracket. The two bracket winners advanced to the championship match on Monday. Bracket standings were based on the tournament point system:
- 3 points for a win
- 1 point for a tie
- 0 points for a loss
- 1 bonus point for a shutout
- 1 bonus point for each goal scored (maximum 3 bonus points per game)
Here's our schedule. You can click on a game result to see a game report.
Date Time
Location Opponent Result
Saturday, May 27 11:30 AM
Canterbury 6 Rome Arsenal White Won 3-2 Saturday, May 27 4:30 PM
Canterbury 5 Norcross Fury Won 6-0 Sunday, May 28 2:30 PM
Canterbury 6 Brookwood Steamers Red Lost 3-2 (2000 Canterbury Cup - U-10 Boys Premier "Brazil")
Game 1: Won 3-2 vs. Rome Arsenal White
The Arsenal had a 7-2-1 record in spring league play in the U-10 Boys Premier Bronze-1 division.
There's always a certain amount of doubt when a girls team plays a boys team. Doubts about speed, athletic ability, physical play, you name it. The Quest knew that they needed to get off to a strong start in order to eliminate any doubts and prove that they really did belong.
The Arsenal took the field with a girl as their center defender. That's a key position. If a girl is playing as center defender on a boys team, she's obviously earned her teammates' respect. And this means that the Arsenal weren't going to overlook the Quest just because they were girls.
The Quest came out on fire, playing with passion and skill. The Quest won loose balls and settled quickly into their possession passing game. The first 10 minutes were played mostly in the Arsenal's half of the field.
The Arsenal kept one player forward, while the rest of the team concentrated on defense. Several Quest chances failed due to the mass of Arsenal players defending in their own penalty area.
When a team plays this type of "bunker" defense, one way to counter it is with long shots over the defense.
On one Quest attack, the Arsenal defense cleared the ball up the left side. The Arsenal's lone attacking player was in the center, so Rachel ran onto the loose ball unchallenged from her right defender position. She realized that this was a "dream ball." She took advantage of the treat by hitting a first-time shot from 20-25 yards out. She lofted the ball over the defense toward the upper 90. The Arsenal keeper raced into position, then jumped high and got his fingertips on the ball to parry it over the crossbar. This was an excellent play by both Rachel and the Arsenal keeper.
The Quest started to show some signs of fatigue and the game shifted into an even contest. After dominating play but failing to score, the Quest scored off a quick counter-attack. In the 20th minute, Daniella won a ball deep in her own end and played a quick long pass to Kristin at midfield. Kristin beat her defender and took off on a breakaway. She dribbled into the Arsenal penalty area, made the keeper commit, then slotted the ball into the right corner. Goal Quest and a 1-0 lead!
The Arsenal come right back and won a corner kick right after the kickoff. The Arsenal begin to take control as the Quest appear to fade in the heat. The final minutes of the half were played mostly in the Quest end.
After a few minutes of putting pressure on the Quest, the Arsenal scored two quick goals to take a 2-1 halftime lead. Their first goal came in the 22nd minute after several missed clearances by the Quest led to a loose ball at the top of the goal area. An Arsenal attacker darted to the ball and knocked it into the goal to tie the game. The Arsenal took the lead in the 24th minute on a corner kick. An Arsenal player sent the kick to the near post, and a teammate got a foot on it to knock it in before the Quest could react.
The Quest regrouped and held on until halftime. The Quest make good use of the halftime break and got some much needed shade, rest and water. The refreshed Quest team then got off to a good start in the second half.
Michelle had moved from keeper to forward, and she created some early trouble for the Arsenal defense. Slowly but surely, the Quest began to control more of the play. The big question was whether the Quest would be able to score.
Throughout the year, when the Quest needed a goal, Allison has always been ready to take on the responsibility. Today was no different.
Allison received a pass in the left midfield area, then took off on a long diagonal dribbling run across the center into the right side of the penalty area. She was moving away from the Arsenal goal now, and Kelsey was coming in from the right side toward the goal. The two of them had an understanding, though, and Kelsey backed off to let Allison continue her run. As she dribbled toward the right side of the penalty area, Allison turned and hit a hard right footed shot back across the goal into the far left corner! All of her momentum was going away from goal, yet she still found the far post. Wow! Goal Quest and a 2-2 tie!
This goal served as an energy pump to the Quest, and they turned the pressure even higher on the Arsenal. In the 18th minute, the Quest won a penalty kick on the right side. Katie took the kick and hit a beauty, lofting the ball into the middle of the penalty area. Michelle took advantage of her long legs and hit a first-time side volley to knock the ball past the frozen Arsenal defense. This was another "Wow!" goal. Goal Quest and a 3-2 lead!
12 minutes remained. In the first half, the Quest has started to fade around this time. That was the first half. Things were different now. The Quest players seemed to get stronger, while the Arsenal players were beginning to wilt. The Quest kept the ball in the Arsenal half for most of the remainder of the game. The Arsenal suffer an unlucky break when their center defender had to leave the game after a hard collision with Amy as both went hard for a loose ball. (The Arsenal player was able to return later.)
The Arsenal had a few attacks, but the Quest defense was shutting them down early, well away from shooting distance. After Michelle's goal gave the Quest the lead, there were only two nervous moments for the Quest:
- The Arsenal had a free kick in the Quest end and put it on goal, but Kristin was in perfect position and handled it cleanly.
- The Arsenal sent a "hopeful" long ball up the left side. Nobody was within 20 yards of the ball. Kristin came way out of goal to clear it with her foot, but she whiffed! Fortunately, she had time to recover and she connected on her second attempt. Maybe she was practicing a new step-over fake?
The game ended with the Quest winning 3-2 in an exciting game. The Quest controlled the first 15-20 minutes, then lost the momentum, but came back with a very strong second half to earn the win.
Goalkeepers: Michelle (1st half), Kristin (2nd half). Michelle had a lot of action in the late stages of the first half. Kristin had to make a couple of saves, but didn't have a lot of action.
Rachel won the Rock for an inspired performance. Rachel has been a steady player all year long, but she raised her game to a new level today, totally dominating her attacker. She also had a long-range shot headed into the upper 90 until the Arsenal keeper made an excellent fingertip "parry" save. And Rachel showed her cool when she remained unfazed after suffering a total shoe blowout late in the first half. We thank an unknown Quest player for donating a used pair of shoes in Rachel's size to the shoe exchange room. This saved her dad from an emergency trip to the TSI Soccer store. Great job Rachel!
The Quest earned 6 points for this game (3 for the win and 3 bonus points for goals scored).
Game 2: Won 6-0 vs. Norcross Fury
The Fury had a 9-0-1 record in spring league play in the U-10 Boys Premier Bronze-1 division. The Quest had a definite size advantage over the Fury team. The average Fury player was about the same size as the smaller Quest players.
The Quest were late breaking from the pre-game huddle, and had barely taken their positions when the whistle blew. It showed: the Fury took the opening kickoff and shocked the Quest by almost scoring on the very first play. The Fury quickly worked the ball into the Quest penalty area. A Fury player beat Quest goalie Michelle around the outside, then crossed the ball through the goal mouth. But no teammates were in position to knock home an easy goal. What a close call right off the bat!
The Fury kept the pressure on the Quest for the next 10 minutes. They controlled more of the play. Their players swarmed after loose balls and applied quick and intense pressure whenever Quest players had the ball. The Quest weren't as sharp as normal, partly due to the Fury's excellent high-pressure defense.
As the first half developed, the Quest started to gain more solid possession and create some attacks. Kristin was at forward and had a couple of chances, but wasn't able to finish. She came out for a breather midway through the half. Stacie shifted from her usual defender position to the forward position.
Two minutes later, Melanie played a ball to Christina. Christina made a nice run toward the right side to get behind the Fury defense, then she hit a perfectly placed low cross into the center. Stacie looked like a seasoned striker as she took one controlling touch, then turned and hit a hard, low shot to beat the Fury keeper. Goal Quest and a 1-0 lead!
The floodgates looked ready to open. In the remaining minutes of the half, the Quest could have scored a half-dozen goals. The Fury keeper made several excellent saves, while there were a few near-misses too. Two of the close calls are worth mentioning:
- The Quest took a corner kick from the right side. The ball went high toward the near post. The Fury keeper came out to block it, but the ball deflected off his fingertips and bounced in the middle of the goal area. Kristin had made a "center" run, and her run carried her past the deflected ball. She turned around (her back was to the goal now), saw the bouncing ball, then dropped backwards and hit a bicycle kick off the crossbar ... incredible! Her presence of mind to try the "bike" was the story here. If she had scored, that would have been icing on the cake.
- A few minutes later, there was a loose bouncing ball in the middle of the field. There were three Fury players surrounding the ball. Amy came out of nowhere and nodded the ball forward with her head to create her own breakaway. The Fury keeper made a gutsy play to block her shot. Once again, the real story here was a Quest player seizing the moment with a daring and creative play.
Halftime came with the Quest now dominating play, but only leading 1-0. If there was any suspense, it soon vanished.
Michelle again made the halftime switch from keeper to forward and made an immediate impact. Daniella sent her a pass in the middle of the field in the opening minute of the second half. Michelle turned toward goal and easily beat two Fury defenders to create a breakaway. It almost looked unfair how easily Michelle beat the defenders. Michelle calmly finished with a low show to give the Quest a 2-0 lead.
(Michelle deserves a special mention here. In the fall, when she had similar situations, she tried to rip the net off the goal, and often mis-hit the ball due to over-swinging. She's gotten over this habit and has now evolved from a "shooter" into a "finisher" in these situations. Good work Michelle!)
The floodgates were officially open now. The Quest scored four more goals on their way to a dominating 6-0 win:
- Amy scored her first goal with a nice left-footed shot off an assist from Michelle.
- Michelle scored her second goal after setup work by Amy and Allison.
- Amy scored her second goal (another left-footer!) after stealing the ball from the Fury defense.
- Melanie delighted her visiting grandparents by scoring the Quest's final goal. Kelsey started the play with a skillful piece of dribbling and ball control on the right side against two Fury defenders. She then passed to Christina, who was making a diagonal run through the penalty area. Christina hit another pinpoint cross through the goal area, and Melanie was in perfect position to blast it home.
The game ended with the Quest winning 6-0. The Quest overcame a very slow start, then after finding their game, they dominated play.
Goalkeepers: Michelle (1st half), Kristin (2nd half). Michelle had some action right away. She and Kristin both had to make a few saves.
Stacie won the Rock for her versatile performance. She played her usual excellent game at outside defender. She got a rare first-half stint at forward and scored the Quest's first goal. She also played a smart and patient center defender role in the late stages of the game. Great job Stacie!
The Quest earned 7 points for this game (3 for the win, 3 bonus points for goals scored and 1 bonus point for the shutout). After two games, the Quest has earned 13 points. A win in tomorrow's game against Brookwood will earn the Quest a slot in the championship match. A tie may do the trick, but we won't know for sure until Brookwood plays its second game (Sunday morning).
Game 3: Lost 3-2 vs. Brookwood Steamers Red
The Steamers had a perfect 10-0-0 record in spring league play in the U-10 Boys Premier Silver-2 division.
This game would determine which team advanced to the championship game. The Quest and Steamers were tied with 13 points each, but Brookwood was ahead in the "goals allowed" tiebreaker. This meant that the Quest would need to win to advance, while the Steamers would advance with either a win or a tie.
It was obvious early that the Steamers were the best team the Quest has faced this year in a "real" game. That's exactly what the Quest hoped to find when they entered the boys division.
The game was an interesting contrast in styles. The Quest's game is a mix of possession passing and 1v1 attacks. The Steamers play the ball quickly out of the back to their center forward, who plays 1-touch passes wide to try to spring their quick midfielders.
The first half was pretty evenly played. The Quest had some promising chances, but the Steamers keeper raced out of his goal to snuff them before the Quest could find a shot. The Steamers had several good chances, but Michelle was in peak form and made several saves, a few of them being excellent scrambling saves to stop what looked to be sure goals.
Midway through the half the Steamers took the lead on a nice goal. The Quest quickly recovered, though, and soon answered with a goal of their own. In the 17th minute, Melanie won the ball on the right side and sent a pass to Amy, who was making a run from the center. Amy found Allison with a pass at the top of the penalty area. Allison faked right, then cut left to beat her defender and create space for a shot. She made the most of her chance by hitting a perfect low hard shot to the far right corner. Goal Quest and a 1-1 tie!
The first half had been a well-played match between two excellent teams. It turned out that it was just a hint of what was to come.
Michelle made her customary halftime switch from keeper to forward, and once again, made an immediate impact. In the very first minute of the half, she beat the Steamers defense, but her shot hit the goalpost! A Quest player was first to the rebound, but a Steamers defender raced into position to block her shot.
This first-minute excitement set the tone for the rest of the game. Both teams were fully committed and put everything they had into the game.
The Steamers scored first and took a 2-1 lead when they knocked a loose ball home after a scramble in front of the Quest goal.
Several minutes later, the Steamers won a direct free kick near midfield. This was a classic case where the situation didn't look dangerous until the ball was struck. The Steamers player fired a cannon shot, and his kick found the upper 90 of the Quest goal. Wow! Someone once asked what you can do about shots like that. The response: "applaud!" This awesome shot gave the Steamers a 3-1 lead.
What did the Quest do about it? They raised their game to a new level and began to dominate play.
After some close chances, Allison was fouled in the Steamers penalty area to earn a penalty kick. This was your classic "high pressure" situation. But Allison stayed calm and she slotted the ball into the goal. Goal Quest to cut the Steamers lead to 3-2!
This goal fed the "fire up Quest" engine, and the Quest took total control of the game. Attacks came in waves. The Steamers dropped everyone except one player back deep to defend. Whenever they were able to clear the ball out of danger, the Quest would win it back in midfield and start another attack.
The Quest come tantalizingly close to scoring several times:
- Allison beat the keeper on the dribble but a Steamers defender saved the day with a last-second slide tackle to block her shot.
- Michelle beat the defense and was getting ready to shoot from close range, but another last-second tackle saved the day.
- Another Quest attack led to a loose ball in the Steamers goal mouth. Allison and Michelle scrambled for the ball, but the Steamers keeper was able to pounce on it.
Now the Quest were facing not one, but two opponents: the Steamers and the clock. The Steamers were on their heels desperately clinging to the lead. But the clock was making its steady march forward to the magic number 30 (as in 30-minute halves).
The Quest kept attacking, but the clock finally ran out. The Steamers held on for a 3-2 win in a thoroughly entertaining game. This game was a great example of the best of youth team sports: two sets of kids giving everything they have, playing hard but fair, everyone on each team working together. What a game!
A famous football coach (Vince Lombardi) once made an interesting comment after a tough Packer loss. He said something along the lines of this: "We didn't lose today. We just ran out of time." This thought describes the Quest's effort today.
Quest games usually draw family members and friends, but rarely any "neutral" spectators. The layout of Canterbury Park is such that field 6 is the closest field to the concession stand and clubhouse. This is a high traffic area, and people coming and going often stay a few minutes to watch the action on field 6. Traffic was even higher than normal because of the tournament situation, so the number of spectators was easily triple the normal amount. Many of these spectators went out of their way to compliment the Quest girls on their skill, heart, intensity and high level of play. That's unusual, and it's definitely worthy of one last twaid abling!
Bracket C |
Bracket D |
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| United Quest White (12 points) | Brookwood Steamers Red (19 points) |
| IAYMCA Eagles Red (8 points) | United Quest Red Athena (15 points) |
| Rome Arsenal White (8 points) | Norcross Fury (0 points) |
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Created: 03/06/00 Revised: 06/25/00 |
Overview