Vegas Soccer with Gage (Pa1rt 2 of 2)

 

The final group stage game was against Pateodores Soccer Club 2010B White.  It was a lunch time game, so we first had a pretty late breakfast and brought some snacks.  We ended up taking care of business here and won 3-0.  Based on goal differential, we ended up winning our group with 6 points and moving on to play the next morning.

We decided to celebrate that evening and took the guys for an early night walk along the Strip.  These guys were psyched, but I think us chaperones were a bit nervous.  We had to keep them corralled with one of us up front and one in the back the make sure we didn't "lose" any along the way. 

Here is Gage as the night lights are just starting to come out...which also meant that it was about time for us to get these boys back to our hotel before the true Vegas nightlife starts to kick off in earnest.

I am not sure that we expected to be here or not, but the next morning we squared off against CDA Slammers 2010B White in the Semi-Finals.  It was a really hard fought and physical game, but we came out with another win 1-0!  However, this is where things kind of started to go south.  When the logistics were originally planned a few months out, we were assured that no games would be played Sunday afternoon.  As it turns out, the finals match that we were scheduled to be in against Empire Surf 2010B Academy was scheduled for 1:30 pm that afternoon.  With out flight being at 4:00 pm, it wasn't feasible to get the game in and still make the flights.  We tried to petition the tournament to move the game up a bit just so we could get it in, but that didn't work.  We let the CDA Slammers take our spot in the final and joked with them that if they won, we would be expecting the trophy in the mail!  They did actually end up winning, through penalties (4-2) after tying 1-1 in full time.  

It seems like we should have at least had a reasonable chance to win that game too, given the final outcome, but we were proud of the team's effort.  We did have some injuries mounting through the weekend that would have made it hard, and we lament to chance to celebrate hoisting a trophy up, but what a great weekend of soccer!  Lots to be super proud of.

Vegas Soccer with Gage (Part 1 of 2)

 

We just arrived for a Vegas soccer trip for Gage's team (2010 B ECRL) with Edge and I was able to come along as a chaperone again.  This is a pretty fun group of guys and generally not too rowdy, so hoping for a good weekend.

We stayed at the SpringHill Suites by Marriot in Las Vegas which is about two blocks off of the Strip towards the North end.  Vegas is one of these destination places for youth soccer tournaments but always pretty difficult to keep teenage boys focused and under control this close to City That Never Sleeps.  We did get them to bed and here we are heading out the next morning for the first game.  We played OV Toros FC 2010B and ended up coming through with a clean sheet win 2-0 to start the day.

The hard thing with these tournaments is that you never quite know where the fields are in the city when you book hotels and you never know the times you will play.  These games were actually over in Henderson which is about a 25–30-minute drive away from the hotel.  We were treated to a nice sunset as the boys were arriving for their second game under the lights.  

Here is Gage, obviously overly excited for me to be taking a picture of him again.  He's got a few fingers lightly banged up but is playing some great soccer with his team.  The second game was against Future FC (CAS) B10 NPL.  They ended up losing their second game 1-0 in a tight match but are playing some good soccer.  There is one more scheduled match tomorrow and then we will see where we stand in the group play to move on to the final games.

More Soccer Games

 

Here is Gavin playing in the icebreaker tournament held by Broomfield Soccer Club each spring.  What's kind of nice is that even though he is playing for Colorado Edge we get all these games in our local backyard.  Can't complain too much about that!

For the finals match they march both teams out and they get a nice formal introduction before continuing on.

Here is Gavin playing a bit as an outside Center Back for his team.

I don't recall what the final score was, but they did end up winning their final match and took first place.  Sometimes, Gavin has a been a bit hot and cold with his soccer career as he sometimes seems like he likes it and other times it is hard to tell.  However, I think everyone loves to win and it was great to see him so excited and proud to be able to wear a champions medal.  His coach is also in the above picture, which is a story in and of itself.  We think the guy is like 23 years old and likely just barely old than these guys that he is coaching.  I think the team liked him, but Gavin would quite often come back from practice and tell stories about the coach asking them what they wanted to do on any given practice.  Either way, I guess it works, great work team!

One final picture of Gavin with his medal and holding the first-place trophy!  Awesome job, Gavin, we are so proud of you and your effort here...especially overcoming having heart surgery during the season.