Road Trip 2 for 12 Nation Soccer – Game 4
Road trip # 2 for the season for 12-Nation team took place on Thursday, October 12. Once again HUGE THANK YOU to Super Manager Ms. Toner for organizing transportation for the players and a HUGE THANK YOU to the parents who drove to the game at Polyvalente A.-J.-Savoie in Saint Quentin. Absent 3 players: Eita, Salva and Stephen the team was enroute to the final game of the short regular season. All remaining 17 players made the trip for a 5:00 p.m. kick-off.
The coach considered a line-up proposed by Captains Zizou and Lorenzo along with JP. Reasoning with absence of defender Eita, the group agreed not to disrupt the defense too much. Both teams would be in the playoffs, with the winner benefitting with a home game on Sunday, October 15th.
12 Nations Soccer is creating a bit of a buzz because of the large number of newcomers and the interest in promoting the welcoming nature of Saint Mary’s Academy as a great example of a community school family.
Warm-up was again a little shaky with only 13 at the field, people are wondering “who got lost again?”. But eventually, Zizou, Lorenzo, Issa, and JP arrive.
To the game – another natural grass surface makes for an interesting game with the uneven surface creating barriers to fancy footwork. The team went with a stable starting lineup to see if we might be able to get the first goal. In the 8th minute SMA was awarded a penalty when Obey was fouled in the penalty area. Lorenzo stepped to the penalty spot but failed to convert and put a shot off the post. He vowed to make up for the miss. In the 15th minute, Zizou, the Roadrunner, found some space on the right side and with a pressuring defender, was able to drive the ball to the left of the advancing goalkeeper 1-0 SMA.
In the 19th minute, Christiano was shown a yellow card for a foul on a Saint-Quentin player. In the 28th minute, Lorenzo made good on his promise and sent a blistering shot off the crossbar that deflected down and into the net. Everyone played. We’re seeing improvements with Tyson using his speed and Benoit finding space to be open. Steeve and Taisiia channeled their inner pitbull for defending and really threw off some of the bigger Saint-Quentin players. If you cannot shut the opposition down be that pitbull and keep them off their game! This is what was needed, and others followed their lead. Garrell continues to improve in only his 2nd game looking for a place to support his teammates. Dimi is a changed player from Game 3. Maybe it’s the Canadian autumn air 🙂 He protects and defends, be it with his fearless headers or clearing the ball from danger. We love his YOU SHALL NOT PASS approach! He and JP never left the pitch. Keep up the great work! Sookie gave a fierce performance which needs to be mentioned. From throw ins to defending against some pretty big opposing offense she never faltered. Never give up! Never surrender!
Saint Mary’s took a 2-0 lead into the half.
The half-time chat has the team feeling pleased with the performance, but aware that, all too quickly, things can slip away. Gab came up big in goal, committing his body to stop some dangerous attacks by the very physical Saint-Quentin team. Noah got run over much like happened to Sookie in game 3 and a foul was called against our opponent. Undaunted, Noah bounced up and continued to play. Other injuries occurred in the hard fought second half. Leg cramps and a hard ball to the stomach for Zizou and Obey blocked an elbow with his face!
Horland skillfully worked the ball around defenders and created some interesting opportunities for the team and is building confidence with every game. All the work on passing and finding space is starting to pay off.
Alex, Dimi, JP and Sookie shared defensive duties with support from Christiano and Obey. Late in the game Lorenzo moved Dimi forward and took on defensive duties pushing Dimi into the midfield – a good idea Lorenzo!
Coach Kevin often talks about a 1 goal game and the level of engagement it brings for players, coaches and fans. Zizou had a least 5 good chances to add to his goal tally that would have locked up the game, but perhaps he was planning for a tense finish to excite the spectators. Please Zizou take pity on those watching and their fragile hearts and nerves. ok? In the 63rd minute, the A.J. Savoie Dragons put a nice shot out of the reach of Gab and cut the SMA lead in half making it 2-1. “Coach you now have your one-goal game.” Like many games the leading team might have had a bit of panic set in, and the chaotic closing moments had the Dragons pressing for the tying goal. A tie for SQ would have given them a home game in the playoffs because they had previously beaten the Eagles and SMA had only 1 point from a previous tie against Carleton North. In the end, SMA took 3 points with the win and secured 2nd spot in the division.
Post-game celebrations included sandwiches and snacks. The players had a good ride home, rides home after a win are always shorter, aren’t they? and very likely had sweet football dreams Thursday night.
Go Eagles!