The U12 Crush traveled to West Des Moines to face a team that beat them 8-2 at their last meeting, but the Crush was coming off a three-game winning streak and were determined to keep the streak alive. The Crush would step up to play one of their best games of the season. The first goal would come within 13 seconds of the WDM kickoff: Taylor Whipple went on the attack to win the ball and took it directly to the goal, when the WDM defense shifted she passed to mid fielder to Jessica Payne who made a perfect pass to the far post where Lindsey Kamerick put it in the back of the net with a left footed shot. WDM was stunned by the Crush’s aggressive play. The Crush would continually attack the goal, dominate the WDM forwards on the defensive end. Keeper Maddie Roberts jumped on all balls that entered the goal box. Whipple would capitalize on the next scoring opportunity created by Jade Gibson stealing the ball at mid field. Then Katy Rick would score the next two goals: one from a penalty kick over the keeper’s head and another after beating three defenders and again chipping the ball over the keeper’s head. After four unanswered goals WDM would put one on the scoreboard from a long shot, but the Crush had more to give. Jessica Payne would score off an aggressive play, stealing the ball and taking it to the goal. The half would end with the Crush leading 5-1.
In the second half, the Crush changed formations to try to keep WDM from making a come back. Defenders Ashton Goodhue-Nolte, Amanda Hardin and defensive midfielders Gibson, Sierra Andreas, Morgan Fox, Taylor Nelson and Emily Loomis proved they are one of the best defensive squads in the league with the help of keeper Victoria Carra as they would shut down WDM for the entire half. The game would end with the Crush earning a huge victory with a score of 5-1 putting them in a tie for the top spot in the division. Players of the game were Rick, for pulling off the most moves, and Goodhue-Nolte, Andreas, and Taylor Nelson for their tremendous defensive play
The U10 Dragons traveled to West Des Moines for a road game, and the offense started out strong with Jack Van Veen, Zach Phillips & Dylan Reed taking on a tough WDM defense. The Dragons had several scoring chances as the forwards worked well together weaving through the defense and passing to the open man. Reed finally got one to the back of the net on a quick pass from Van Veen. Dragon defenders Mathew Hintz and Tyler Baker did a great job in the first half by controlling the ball and working together to get the ball up to the offense. The pair got in front of the WDM forwards to slow down their attack on the Dragon goalie, Konner Fisher, who was quick like a cat in the goal moving side to side to cover the net. Fisher made some great saves in goal and let in only two in the first half. In the second half, the Dragon offense went back to work pushing the WDM defense back with their ball skills and speed. They had several shots on goal against a tough WDM goalie. Reed put one in the corner of the net with the help of great passing up the field by Van Veen and Baker. Hintz and Fisher slowed down the WDM offense with several deflections. Simon Clark came in as goalie to finish out the game, making tremendous saves against some tough shots. Hintz and Fisher quickly worked the ball up the field and got it to Baker, who moved the ball up to VanVeen,who found Reed upfield for a quick score. The WDM offense came back quickly several times, but only put one passed Clark in the second half. That would be as close as WDM would get to the Dragons. Clark started another attack off a goal kick to Hintz and Baker, who got it passed mid field to Fisher, who used his foot skills to perfection to move the ball up to Reed. Reed moved the ball down the right side before centered it across to Van Veen for the go ahead goal. WDM tried to attack one last time however Simon pounced on the ball and was picking it up and WDM kicked it in for a score. The goal was disallowed because it was under the keeper’s control. It was a great win for the Dragons because of ball movement and teamwork. Final score: 4-3 win. The Dragons are 2 - 3 this season.
The u10 Pink Panthers are on fire this season,winning last weekend against Soccer South 7 to 5. This Saturday’s game, they faced West Des Moines and placed another game in the win category, score 10 to 1. The ladies continue to improve with each game, not only with individual ball skill, but overall team play. The team emphasized their skill by mastering a formation change just before game time, changing the midfielder to a stopper to provide extra defensive coverage to first-time goalies Amber Kettering and Janetta Dawson. A highlight of the game was watching defender Hannah Ryan connect repeatedly with forward Becca Reece for attacks down the left side line.
The U8 White Tigers tackled another opponent on Sunday and were as hot as the temperature outside. The offensive action consisted of goals being scored by Megan Sievers, Ashlyn Highland, and Cameron Mesecher. On defense April Jackson and Kirsten Brown kept various goals from being scored. The play of the game was a corner kick sent in my Megan Sievers to Kirsten Brown who had a good shot on goal and was just wide of the goal.
The u8 Killer Cougars used their Sunday, October 5th game to concentrate on an outside-in attack on the goal. Each member of the team worked hard to take the ball down the sideline, deep into the offensive end of the field, and cross the ball into the goal. All the Cougars - Carson True, Samuel Overton, Jack Wilson Jonathan Kamerick, Wyatt Kruse and Logan Niehaus - scored goals in this game and made assists. The Cougars also played tough defense, keying many scoring attacks.