Lightning U-13 Girls play “Premier” level soccer!
By: Coach Knight
Unbeaten in their first 8 the Portage Lightning U-13 girls boldly entered the “silver” or second flight of four at the Capital Classic in Lansing September 19th & 20th.
Undaunted by the level of competition, the Lightning would face three premier level teams in succession in their first real opportunity to test their mettle against the some of the best teams they would see all season.
First up the Lightning faced the Ann Arbor United “A” team. Ann Arbor United came out strong and clearly had most of the early possession. It was evident that the elevated pace of the game and the limited time the players had to settle the ball and try and knock passes around would prove to be an issue all weekend.
However, if there is one thing our girls can do (actually there are many) it is defend. In the last six games the Lightning had only allowed two goals. Highly dependable goal keeping from Morgan and Kailee, lots of speed at the back in the form of Laura and Hannah, an indomitable player in central defender Ashley and three of the better outside backs we have seen so far this year in Madeline, Sydney and Claire.
While United clearly seemed to have a possession advantage, the Lightning were insistent that they that they belonged on the field. Industrious efforts from front runners Michaela and Lesley kept the United defenders on their toes and reliable midfield play from Sylvia, Olivia, Kailee, Moonie, Amanda and Jenna offered support.
Ann Arbor scored late in the first half on what most observers would classify as a dubious penalty kick at best. Undeterred the Lightning pressed on and played a fine second half and actually had the equalizer in the back of the net through a brilliant effort from Michaela on a sweet through ball from Lesley with 3 mins to play but it was pulled back for offside. The call was one of those where really nobody would have complained if it was not called as it appeared to be that close.
Next up, The Fusion and more premier level soccer. The Lightning owned most of the possession and were unlucky to come off the field at halftime down 1-0 to a goal that came totally against the flow of the game.
The Lightning pressed hard in the second half and had the ball at the feet of some its better finishers multiple times in front of goal but it was not to be.
Sunday morning and four or five players battling a bug of some sort, the Lightning played their third premier team (also called The Lightning as it would happen). In a well fought effort which once again showed that the Lightning are stingy and rock solid across the back, the girls picked up their first point of the weekend in a congested and choppy 0-0 draw.
Another great weekend of the beautiful game comes to a close with the coaches, the girls and the awesome fans confident that, with quite a bit of work still left to do at practice, some really good football resides in our future.
WMYSA select teams beware!
Undaunted by the level of competition, the Lightning would face three premier level teams in succession in their first real opportunity to test their mettle against the some of the best teams they would see all season.
First up the Lightning faced the Ann Arbor United “A” team. Ann Arbor United came out strong and clearly had most of the early possession. It was evident that the elevated pace of the game and the limited time the players had to settle the ball and try and knock passes around would prove to be an issue all weekend.
However, if there is one thing our girls can do (actually there are many) it is defend. In the last six games the Lightning had only allowed two goals. Highly dependable goal keeping from Morgan and Kailee, lots of speed at the back in the form of Laura and Hannah, an indomitable player in central defender Ashley and three of the better outside backs we have seen so far this year in Madeline, Sydney and Claire.
While United clearly seemed to have a possession advantage, the Lightning were insistent that they that they belonged on the field. Industrious efforts from front runners Michaela and Lesley kept the United defenders on their toes and reliable midfield play from Sylvia, Olivia, Kailee, Moonie, Amanda and Jenna offered support.
Ann Arbor scored late in the first half on what most observers would classify as a dubious penalty kick at best. Undeterred the Lightning pressed on and played a fine second half and actually had the equalizer in the back of the net through a brilliant effort from Michaela on a sweet through ball from Lesley with 3 mins to play but it was pulled back for offside. The call was one of those where really nobody would have complained if it was not called as it appeared to be that close.
Next up, The Fusion and more premier level soccer. The Lightning owned most of the possession and were unlucky to come off the field at halftime down 1-0 to a goal that came totally against the flow of the game.
The Lightning pressed hard in the second half and had the ball at the feet of some its better finishers multiple times in front of goal but it was not to be.
Sunday morning and four or five players battling a bug of some sort, the Lightning played their third premier team (also called The Lightning as it would happen). In a well fought effort which once again showed that the Lightning are stingy and rock solid across the back, the girls picked up their first point of the weekend in a congested and choppy 0-0 draw.
Another great weekend of the beautiful game comes to a close with the coaches, the girls and the awesome fans confident that, with quite a bit of work still left to do at practice, some really good football resides in our future.
WMYSA select teams beware!