U16 Boys Tournament Game
U16 Boys Tournament Game:
The first tournament game for the U16 Boys Red Team proved to be a close encounter with both teams having the chances to snag a winner as the game ebbed away. From the start of play it was obvious that it was going to be a close game with chances coming at both ends. The game was a physical encounter; however, the challenges were hard, and fair. We opened the scoring with one of the best goals I have seen scored in a long while. Matt Simon picked the ball up on the right wing and from that moment he did everything correctly. From a tactical perspective his run was perfect. He made a diagonal run across the face of the penalty area dragging the defenders along with him. At the same time, the Ambassadors’ goalie positioned himself correctly at the near post; however, Matt’s reverse shot was technically perfect. He placed it to the inside of the far post and although it did lack a little weight, the placement was perfect and the shot unstoppable!
From that point on the game went back and forth. With around ten minutes to go they equalized, and with the greatest of respect, the goal was no where near the quality of ours. We needlessly gave up a throw-which resulted in the ball bouncing around the area. We had one chance to whack it away, but the opportunity was lost and one of their boys tucked it home. Although we did not win the game it certainly was most enjoyable game to watch. With only three subs all the boys had a great workout and they all played smart entertaining soccer. However, I have to note that Michael Piccone and Griffin Sukel were both absolutely brilliant in defense. Both of them had cracking games thwarting many of the Ambassadors’ attacks. On a side note, after the Indoor Nationals I appropriately called Griffin “Sherman” as he reminds me of the famous WWII Sherman Tank; powerful and indispensable!
Good job to all the boys.
