It was a victory by the U10 Carlisle Pink Panthers over a very tough defensive Grimes team on Tuesday April 13th. The score was 8-2. Goals were made by Kassidi Freel (4); Ceora Leclaire (3) and Aricka Lambson (pictured celebrating after her goal, right). Aricka played goalie the first half and Kennadie Arpy was goalie the second half. Both girls made several amazing saves and did an awesome job! Alexandria Mckibbin and Rebecca Reece played offense and showed great team work. Abigail Molina, Janetta Dawson and Samantha Mcphee played great defense with great blocking and tremendous passes to their teammates. The girls are off to a great start this year. They are 2 for 2. Their first victory was over West Des Moines 9-4 on April 10.
The u9 ThunderCats started out the season on the road at Soccer West The ‘Cats won the game 6-3, but the impressive feat was the passing from the feet!
For the past three weeks, the theme has been passing. Good passing starts with heads-up dribbling so you can spot the open player in open space. The first three goals - by Michael Comstock (2) and Nate Rowray (left) - came off beautiful crosses by Carson True, Nate and Michael, respectively. The fourth goal was scored by Carson when the keeper flinched to cover Jonathan Kamerick open on the keeper’s left. Carson drilled the ball near post for the score. Later, Hunter Oppedahl scored on a solo run to from just outside the penalty box to the left post. Michael finished off the scoring by drilling a shot into the net off a pass from Jonathan. Jack Wilson returned after a season off to play a fast-paced midfield position, often setting up the wings for successful crossing passes. Hunter and Nate played tough halves in goal, and only let in three goals off the foot of a strong Soccer West forward. Samuel Overton, Wyatt Kruse and Zack Hougland played stellar defense, constantly punching the ball out of trouble when Soccer West mounted an attack.
The u14 CRUSH opened the season playing Urbandale again, but this time it was at the visitor’s field. Last season’s match ended in dramatic fashion as the CRUSH came back from behind to tie the game. Then at the last second, the CRUSH were awarded a penalty kick, but the Urbandale keeper would make a heroic save and ended the hope of a come-from-behind victory. This time, the CRUSH had a different challenge: they were playing with only one substitute and two other players were nursing injuries.
The first half started amazingly fast as the CRUSH took control and put Urbandale on their heels. Carlisle outplayed their opponent in every aspect of the game, especially with their physical play and hustle. The CRUSH would strike first with a perfect cross from Katy Rick to a wide open Jessica Payne who put the ball in the back of the net. Urbandale would tie the score with a long shot over the keeper’s head. The CRUSH seemed to get another burst of energy and continued to challenge the Urbandale defense as one of the defenders picked up the ball to avoid a sure goal. The ref awarded a pentaty kick for the hand ball. Katy stepped up to take the kick to redeem herself for last season’s game ender, and put the CRUSH in the lead. She would not disappoint, beating the keeper with a hard shot down the middle. Urbandale stuck back with a loose ball goal at the end of the half to tie the score.
The question now was could the CRUSH keep up the feverish pace with only one sub? And another challenge: just minutes into the half, two players would need to come out with injuries, putting only 10 players on the field. And two other players were playing with a bruised calf and a sore ankle. The CRUSH would not give up, however, and continued to challenge the Urbandale defense. Urbandale scored three times in the half, mostly from breakaway goals down the middle. But you would never guess the CRUSH had a three-goal deficit as they played with heart and determination, fighting and scratching for every possession. The CRUSH coaches were extremely pleased with the opening game performance and by the team’s ability to dig deep and leave everything on the field. The CRUSH are sure to have a winning season if they continue to play with such heart and skill.
Players of the game were Katy Rick with a goal, an assist and unending hustle, and Amanda Hardin for outstanding defense and physical play.
On Sunday, April 11, the u12 Wildcat Warriors showed up ready to play and excited to see how they matched up against the Soccer South girls. The Warriors went down 1-0 early as one of the many talented shooters on Soccer South’s roster fired a sniper-style shot into the side panel from about 15 yards out. Carlisle’s Natalie Harter put in a nice unassisted goal at the seven-minute mark to tie the game, 1-1, that would last until the fifteenth minute. That, unfortunately, is where Soccer South’s surplus of fresh legs came into play. The opponent had five subs to Carlisl’es one, and when they started using them, Carlisle fell behind. By the end of the second half, Carlisle gave up four more goals, three of which came from 15 yards out or further.
Halftime was a time for Carlisle to focus on the things talked about in practice; not bunching up around the ball, playing solid containment style defense and moving the ball down the field with well-placed passes. Out-numbered in the subs category, Carlisle kept the second half close only allowing one more goal from another long, well-placed shot. Carlisle finished the game on the wrong side of a 1-6 score, but the score doesn’t come close to reflecting the level at which the Wildcat Warriors played. These girls are in for a great season. To end on a high note, goalie Elyse Overton put on a wonderful display in goal, ending with an astonishing 21 saves! Way to go Wildcat Warriors!wesome