Final Soccer Game Excitment

By Chris
I can't believe Teresa hasn't posted this yet.

Last night was our final soccer game of the season. We played a team that beat us in the first game of the year, so we really wanted to win. Teresa laid out the lineups again, after the 7-0 victory she led them to Saturday, I wasn't touching that! It was great again. We were tied 1-1 late in the fourth quarter. Ben had been playing pretty good all night, just missing on a goal earlier from the side. In the last quarter, Ben stole the ball from the other team near the goal that we were defending, dribbled all the way down the field, breaking out of a pack of players, controlling the ball and outrunning the pack!! He took it to the goal box, took a hard shot and scored, just as time expired. We won 2-1! There wasn't even time for the other team to kickoff. We were all very excited. You could hear everyone screaming on the videotape that Nick was shooting, and Ben was running around, all smiles. It was pretty neat. Ben scored our first goal of the season and the last. The team was very happy. Kristian, as usual, shut them out when she was playing goalie, and was key playing defense and keeping the ball away from their best player, which we had challenged her to do. She has no fear! All the kids really got better as the season went on, which is what it's all about. It's neat to watch a final game where everyone is trying hard, and doing things they never would have done earlier in the season. It's mostly about confidence, and I think all of our kids got more confident all year. For the second game in a row, we let the littlest guy on the team play goalie. He begged for the longest time, so Teresa practiced him there then let him play there the last two games. He was lost when he first started. Now, he was playing goalie, the most stressful position to me. He didn't allow a single goal, and had several saves. Last night, he took a big kick rigth in his midsection and saved a goal. It hit him so hard that he cried, but he didn't move or flinch as the ball slammed into him. He had to go out of the game to get some comfort, but he was so happy with himself. He went back in, and dribbled in a pack a couple of times with kids twice his size! I was amazed. Teresa is responsible for that. She played him in the goal, and showed confidence in him, which he ate up.

Next up is basketball season. Ben is too young to play, but Kristian just made the cutoff, turning 7 in October. So, I'll coach her basketball team. Seven-year-old girls basketball!! Should be interesting. Practice starts after Thanksgiving, with games in January.