February 26th and 27th Weekend Update

U14 Boys and Girls National Finals:

Although the U14 boys and Girls did advance into the finals of the Indoor National Championship, they unfortunately lost all three preliminary rounds.  Coaches Billy and Derek clearly informed me that had the team played at a consistent level they could have fared much better.  In the first game vs Elkhart Flames (Indiana) we gave up a 5 goal lead before we started to play; however, a five goal margin is just too much to pull back; even so, the games ended up 7 -4.  Mikey had a hat-trick, and Thomas had 1, with Rachel pulling off over twenty saves!  In the second game we lost to  Erie FC 7-3 with Joey scoring a hat-trick.  The third game was similar to the other two.  We gave up softish goals and then got back into the game. We lost 8-4 with Rachel and Laith both recording a brace of goals each.  We missed Kotaro and we struggled at times; however, when the team got going they matched up well.

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U17 Boys

The U17 Boys lost 5-4 in a close match against Excalibur and played without a keeper for the third consecutive week.  This weekend Joey volunteered to play in nets, and although he will admit he is not the ‘Second Coming’ of goalies, he played well enough and made some decent saves.  The Cobra goals came from Nicky and with a brace each.

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U19 Girls’ Ohio Elite Showcase Results

Metro Rapids 0            Cleveland Cobras 0

Team Dayton 0            Cleveland Cobras 6

Cleveland Cobras 2             Westside United 1

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The showcase players had a tremendous weekend with two wins and a draw.  Owing to a lack of available defenders, we decided to play a 3-5-2 and the players adapted to the game-plan impeccably. The girls played incredibly well all weekend and although it was not the case, they truly deserved to win all three games.  During our first game which ended up in a 0-0 draw we hit the bar, hit the post, and unfortunately, hit the goalie with numerous shots.  We totally outplayed the Metro Rapids; however, we could not find the back of the net no matter how we tried.  We decided to stay with the same formation for the second game, and from a tactical perspective, it was perfect.  Team Dayton played with a 4-1-4-1 and as they did not change their team shape or their game plan we soon exploited them.  The goals came from Jasmine and Kori with a brace each, and Jordan and Alyx with single goals.  Assists came from Kori with three, and one from Rachel; two of Kori’s goals were unassisted.  Although we beat Dayton comprehensively, they were really not that bad of a team.  They continued to play with an unusually high restraining line throughout the game, and once the Cobras had worked out how to beat it, we scored frequently.  Amanda recorded her second consecutive clean-sheet and made numerous fine saves during both of the games.

Saturday night was spent celebrating Kayla and Leah’s birthdays, an event well planned by Colleen with cake, good food, drink, and a great deal of merriment.  Sunday morning’s game against Westside United, a team from Indiana, proved to be the most competitive of the showcase.  The game flowed from end to end, and to be honest, Westside looked the more dangerous during the early stages.  Once again Amanda made some excellent saves and we did have a little luck going with us.  As the game progressed the Cobra girls began to find avenues through the opposing defense and we eventually took a 1-0 lead.   With a beautiful through pass, Kori released Amber on the left wing where she beat a couple of defenders before playing a square ball across the face of the goal for Syd to knock in at the back post.  Unfortunately, we gave up the lead with a couple of daft errors which allowed Westside back into the game.  We slowly found a way to dominate the game, and once again it was a run by Amber which resulted in the winning goal.  Amber, beating the offside trap, left the defenders in her wake as she attacked the goal.  She went to go around the keeper, only for the keeper to trip Amber which resulted in a penalty kick.   With the game on the line, Jordan coolly scored from the penalty spot with an excellently taken pen.  Two wins, a draw, and a weekend of fun playing footie outside in a fun showcase with absolutely top-drawer facilities--great job girls!