Woodbridge Strikers U17 Girls Wins 3rd place at the Sahlen's Soccer Tournament
Buffalo, USA

Once again I am happy to say that the Buffalo Tournament was a success !

Especially the fact that we all made it home after that Snow Storm that we caught on the I-190 on our way home .. I've been driving for 30 years and I have never been in anything like that Must have been an American thing, because once we crossed the Peace Bridge , it was clear

We entered the Sahlen's U-18 Soccer Tournament for some International Competition ... and we definitely got the competition we were looking for.

The rules were a little different for 11 vs. 11. I called it Outdoor play with Indoor rules ... We adapted accordingly ... Games were straight 40 minutes with no half time... if the ball hit the ceiling, it did not matter who kicked it, they made it a drop ball

The first game was scheduled for 9:30 am against Caledon  
Results: Woodbridge Strikers 2 - Caledon – 0

Right off the start the girls took control of the game, Caledon found out quickly that this U-17 Team was not to be taken lightly .... We were moving the ball well, pushing it to the outside, and crossing the ball in ....

In and around the 15 minute mark, Brittany Verge went for a 50/50 Ball inside the 18 yard box with one of their Defenders, and she was the recipient of a bad hit to the Ankle, which I just found out caused a Hairline fracture...

Briyyany was out for the rest of the tournament. The first goal came from Nikki. She had possession of the ball and took the shot from the left side of the field that went over the goalie and in the top shelf, far corner.

 

Their Goalie had no chance ... We began to have a lot more opportunities, with shots on net, without any luck... some of the shots were either high or wide and their Goalie would make the save .. In and around the 25 minute mark Julia received the ball on the left side of the goal took the ball in the 18 yard box and instead of shooting, she crossed the ball beautifully in front of the Keeper to Romina who was running in and scored the 2nd goal ... At the 27 minute mark I switched our Goalies and Meaghan went in to replace Kat. All the girls worked as a Team and did an exceptional job to beat Caledon

At 11:00 am we played our second game against the Rochester Rhinos

Results: Woodbridge Strikers –0 Rochester Rhinos – 4

The Girls learned very quickly that this Tournament was not going to be a walk in the park ... They went into the game a little cocky and flat compared to the game before ... They started just barely managing to retain possession of the ball ... Rochester came in strong and never let up ... We held for about 20 minutes before they scored the first goal ... We regained composure and built on our intensity but it was not enough ... the few times that we actually had an opportunity to score, Rochester Defense shut us down ..... Rochester picked up their play, putting more pressure on what was becoming a difficult game to retrieve ... At the 30 minute mark we replaced Kat with Meaghen once again, to give her the opportunity in defending against a Competitive Team ... Our girls were being overworked, and this was exactly the Competition that we were looking for .... Unfortunately it was not a positive result; however it was positive in the reaction of our Girls in how they reacted to this said game. We all agreed that this was the level of play that we all needed to achieve ... First to the ball, solid passes, motivation, Heart, ultimately our Motto   " GO HARD OR GO HOME "   We finished our preliminary run in Second place, in our division  ..

At 12:30 pm we played for 3rd place against the Second place Team in Division 2; The Team was V.F.
Results: Woodbridge Strikers –2 V.F. –1

We started this game with Meaghan as the Goalie. Our girls went in knowing that they needed to make up for the loss they had suffered in the last round ... They came in strong, but once again Competition was just as strong, and the game was going back and forth ... .It could have been anyone's game ... V.F. had an opportunity on a break away to score their first Goal, but Meaghan challenged her and shut her down ... Our girls had many opportunities also to score after that, but failed to reach their mark ... We switched our Goalies again at the 30 minute mark ..... We were definitely playing better, but the other Team was not going to allow us to succeed ... The game ended in a 0 -- 0 Tie

This took us into Penalty Shots ...  The rule at this Tournament regarding Penalty shots was a 1v1 rule ... First to score one over would win ...regardless of the amount of kickers ..

V.F. was first to kick Kat was the keeper... V.F. took a beautiful kick to score their first penalty kick  Kat went to the right side, but the ball went right under the crossbar and Kat had no way of being able to stop it .... It was a nice penalty Goal

Kiwi went in to take our first penalty kick ... .The pressure was obviously on .... You could actually feel the intensity ... or maybe it was just me ... but in any case Kiwi takes the shot and score's a beautiful goal on the left side of the goalie ... The keeper had no chance ...  The score is now 1 -- 1 and once again we are tied ...

V.F. sends in their second Kicker ... Kat once again goes in ... V.F. takes the shot and Kat does not hesitate to make the safe. Talk about intensity

Victoria slowly walks over to the ball, looks back to the Team, gives us a nervous smile, does what I call the Armandinho Penalty Kick walk back, and let's the ball rip right into the right top shelf of the net to win the game 2 -- 1

With this, the Tournament was over on a good note ... We have finished out first International Tournament in 3rd place

Congratulations ladies

It was unfortunate that due to difficulties with our District, Kassondra was unable to play .. I am extremely sorry that this has happened and I will ensure that we do something to make it up to her. We all missed her

I also received a call from Ian McConvey, stating that Charlotte had influenza and would not be able to participate in this Tournament ... We are all hoping for a speedy recovery .... We also missed her  ..

It was very unfortunate that Brittany Verge came so far to get hurt, and I know that we are all hoping for a speedy recovery for her also, to get her back into our line up ..

Sara Spano was also unable to attend due to her knee injury, we are also hoping for a quick recovery .. We also missed you ..

And Heather, who was away on a trip and was unable to attend ... we also missed you ..

Taking this opportunity to thank The Coaching Staff for all their support..... Rino, Ann and Mirella that were at the game and ensured that everything went smooth right to the last minute ... and Joe Parolini that due to other commitments was unable to attend, however did call on a constant basis to know how things were going. A special thanks once again to Julia and Meaghan for coming out and supporting our Team with their talent. The Two of you did a Fantastic job, and I would be proud to have you come out and play with us again.

Also to all the parents that came out to support the Team ... It is greatly appreciated not only by the Coaching staff but especially from the players, for YOU are their Fan base

Last but not least, to all our Girls that participated in this Tournament, and those that were unable to attend, a big Thank-you from the Coaching Staff for your DEDICATION AND HARD WORK ... Remembering that

" EACH FINGER AFFECTS THE STRENGTH OF THE HAND "

Congratulations, once again are in order

Carlos Da Rocha
Woodbridge Strikers

U-17 Girls Coach