Jackson’s “Fall Classic” soccer tournament, has lived up to it’s name by becoming a “classic” memory for the U10 Strikers. Somehow, saying that they won one, tied one and let one get away, doesn’t seem to capture the excitement and accomplishment of their achievements. The eight team U10 division was broken into two groups of four teams each. The Strikers were matched with the Green River Spurs, a team that they had met at another tournament and taken a 2 - 1 victory from. A team from Park City, Utah joined the mix, and the group was rounded out by the Jackson Hole - White team. JH had previously beaten the “Green and White” the past couple weekends and had left the Strikers excited for the prospect of being able to potentially get one back from the squad from Jackson.
First up, however, was Green River. Looking to get some early momentum, Striker captain Daniel B. won the coin toss and put the Strikers on the high-ground of this hillside soccer field. From the opening whistle it was apparent that the Strikers meant to win. The passing was crisp and the decisions by all players was flawless. Once the whistle for the half was blown, the Strikers had netted 5 goals. Three came from the trusted foot of Ethan, and Jason launched a winner from near midfield (approximately 30 yards out!) for his second score of the half. The defense proved to be a wall. Fullbacks Caleb, Duncan and Morgan allowed only a couple shots to reach the sure hands of tournament Keeper Bradley. “This was just the boost to our confidence that our team needed”, exclaimed the coaches. ”You love to see the players doing exactly what we discuss at practices and seeing the positive results that come from it. It’s fantastic reinforcement. We couldn’t be prouder of their performance. To a player, they all showed determination to win and made very good decisions. While trying to come up with an MVP for this game is near impossible, as they all deserved it, we had to award it to Jason for coming into the game off the bench and dumping in three beautiful goals. Not sure that I saw any mistakes out there. While it may be bold to say, we’d have to label this the perfect game”
With a four hour break and coming off an emotional first game: Park City proved to be a more ready and determined adversary than Lander had anticipated. The Strikers had them down 2 - 1 in the first half with goals coming off the accurate crossing of Daniel B. and finishes by Ethan and Daniel L. Down, but not out, Park City fought back to net 2 more goals and steal the match with a final score of 3 - 2. Morgan earned MVP honors by keeping their forwards bottled up on the sidelines. A couple of tricky second half shots from far out proved the be the difference in this evenly matched game. One player said that the game highlight was Coach Fabian losing his voice.
With a win in the third game, the Strikers would have advanced to the championship match. The players were wringing their hands at the prospect of beating a solid Jackson team that had beaten them twice before, all the while securing the spot in the final game. But, in the end, Jackson and Lander had played to a draw and Lander did not earn enough points to advance. Strangely, given the previous two matches against the very good opponent, the draw still felt like a victory. “Game MVP Daniel B. played a gutsy and spectacular game. He took shots at the right times with good accuracy and force; passed at the right times and with accuracy, and; left every bit of his energy on the playing field. Not sure we could have asked more of him”, stated one of the coaches. “There are always things you see during a game that aren’t necessarily reflected in the final score. Little battles that make up the larger war. For example, we challenged Caleb to ensure that their team’s star player was never alone. He did and that player didn’t get near our goal, eventhough he had scored 5 goals in their previous two games. We asked Bradley to step up as Goalie, yet again. He did and only one shot found the netting. Save after save showed us Bradley is full of courage and focus. We asked Daniel B. to take keep taking his shots on goal despite having suffered some mistimings in the previous two games. He did and he scored one, while giving their fans numerous other shots to worry them. We asked Nick to play defense during their possession and attack when we had the ball. Covering that much ground as a midfielder takes alot of heart. He did and seemed to gain more confidence from that effort.”
For the Strikers, this was a tournament to remember. One that they’ll grow from. And with appreciation for a well-run and competitive tournament, the Strikers say “thank you” to Jackson for organizing and hosting a wonderful weekend of “The Beautiful Game”.
