Lightning “bolts” to Soccer Zone Championship.
By Coach Paul Knight
Lead by tournament MVP Michaela Pope, Portage Lightning U13G went undefeated through 3 qualifying games conceding only a single goal and scoring 9 on their way to a tournament final against a difficult to break down Michiana Echo team.
Dubbed “The General” by Coach Knight for her years patrolling the Lightning midfield, Michaela has settled in “up top” in Coach Le’s preferred 4-4-2 formation with primary strike partner Lesley “the Blonde Bomber” Lurges.
It was Lesley who got things going with a late first half goal against the U-14 Battle Creek Fire on Saturday in game 1.
With Morgan Jusick adapting well to her new role between the posts the Lightning played some very attractive possession soccer in front of her. It was Morgan who really turned the game around when, with the Lightning up 1-0, she made a brilliant save of a well struck penalty and gave the team an emotional lift going into the halftime break.
The Lightning came out quickly in the second half with Lesley grabbing her second moments into the contest. The Lightning quickly assumed control and looked very comfortable with speedy Laura Segraves and rock solid Ashley Kirby paired together in the heart of the defense and sturdy defensive efforts from Katie “Moonie” Moon, Madeline Galer, Rebecca Townsend and Claire Abdo as they rotated through the outside back positions.
With fresh off the plane from China and returning veteran, Hannah Nelson and the teams best header of the ball and solid second half goal keeper Kailee Tange forming a fortress in a holding midfield role and Sylvia Knight, Sydney Fillar, Olivia Grennan, Haley Schroder and Jenna Beffel delivering dependable efforts across the park, things really began to click.
Pope added a third midway through the half and Lurges completed her hat trick shortly after. Coach Le and Coach Knight were pleased with way the team was playing but they had no idea that the best was yet to come.
Always advocates of “changing the point of attack” by moving the ball laterally from one side of the field to the other, the coach’s applauded a move which began wide on the right, moved the ball across the field with crisp passes “into feet” bringing it way out to the left drawing most of the Fire defense out along with the ball in a series of 5 passes before pass number six found Sylvia Knight all alone with the ball at her feet 10 yards out.
Recalling her game and tournament winner during the Portage Classic back in June, Sylvia calmly slotted the ball with the inside of her right foot into the corner for goal … number 5.
Game number two matched the Lightning against eventual final opponent the Michiana Echo. The Echo feature, Diana, a speedy defender who many of the girls remembered from seasons past. Diana covers a lot of ground and presented the front runners with a pace they had not seen so far this season. Breakaways were out of the question against the Echo so the Lightning settled into a nice passing ball control rhythm.
Understanding that the ball moves much faster than a player can run the Lightning pinged the ball around the park with great aplomb before Leslie grabbed her fourth of the day giving the team a slim 1-0 halftime lead.
Michaela bagged two more of her team high seven goals for the weekend in the second half before the Echo pulled one back just before the final whistle.
With two games and two victories under their belt, 16 very hot, tired and unpleasantly aromatic 12 year-olds departed the Portage Soccer Complex thinking about what Sunday would bring.
The heat and physical exertion from Saturday was there for all to see as the Lightning took on the 0-2 Battle Creek Fire U-13’s. The game was choppy and unattractive but sometimes that is just the way soccer can be. Michaela and Lesley always looked dangerous and the arrival of newcomer Amanda Jackson for games 3 and 4 gave the team an extra sub to try and make it through another very hot, tiring day.
Morgan made a terrific reflex save on a point blank bullet of a shot, getting wacked on the head in the process before Michaela buried one in the roof of the net at the other end and the team pretty much hung on for a hard fought 1-0 victory. The team and its fans all agreed that they had made pretty hard work of a game that most observers would have tipped them to stroll through based upon Saturdays performances.
Onto the final and a rematch with the Echo. Having seen us barely 24 hours before the Echo coaching staff made a few adjustments. Diana sat way deep behind a wall of defenders and gave Michaela, Lesley and other forwards Sylvia and Kailee barely any space to maneuver. Anything which did manage to squirm through was quickly swept up by Diana and delivered to safety.
The game see-sawed back and forth with the Lightning not really able to make any real dent in the Echo defense. Claire, Morgan, Laura, Madeline, Rebecca, Hannah, Moonie and Sydney rotated adroitly through the back four and as a result the Echo did not really record a solid shot on goal. With Morgan and Kailee both looking increasingly comfortable in goal and then switching with each other at the half into the holding midfield role the Lightning surged into the second half with lots of “huff and puff” but not much of the creativity we had seen the day before.
Olivia was a constant threat out wide and Amanda, Jenna, Sylvia and Haley put in dependable duty in midfield.
Michaela finally broke through with about 7 minutes to play and found herself with a sweet ball delivered into her feet which she promptly buried in the back of the net.
Things changed instantly and the Lightning began to flow as if it was Saturday all over again.
Michaela broke through again and was taken down in the penalty area. “PK” (also Coach Knight’s initials) which reminded Michaela that penalty kicks are not about power they are about making your mind up early and picking a corner to pass the ball into thus she did just that for goal number two.
The team was flying now and a nice move on the left featuring multiple players culminated in Leslie whipping a beautiful ball into the box for Michaela to complete the team’s second hat trick of the week end and bring home the silverware.