Seaside Classic

Last weekend, Emily and her summer team played in the Seaside Classic in Rhode Island.  We love this tournament because the weather is always great and there are so many GVSA teams to watch between games.  The girls won their first game 5-2 and tied their second game 1-1 - the goalie for the team they played against in the second game was spectacular and single-handedly kept them in the game during the second half.  The girls then lost their first game on Sunday morning, to the only undefeated team, which meant that they could not win the bracket.  As they were scheduled to play another team from their club for their final game - and with temps heading toward 100 - the coaches decided to report a 0-0 tie and send everyone home, as the game could be played under safer conditions in the future.  Emily was sooooo disappointed, as were a few other girls.  We decided to stay and watch some of her teammates' siblings and, out of the blue, received a text from her coach saying that the 06 boys had no subs and the girls should play for them.  Although they were nervous, the girls took to the field and made an immediate impact - either because the other team underestimated them (and only for the first few minutes) or because they were simply better players.  All three girls came close to scoring and they had a great time playing two extra games.

Refueling.

Stretching after several hours of down time between games. 

Early Sunday morning carpool to Rhode Island. 

Our fearless girls. 

This is a very cropped photo - I moved my camera to watch the play because I was certain she was about to score her first header goal. Alas, she did not. 

This goalie was hearing footsteps the entire second half and did not like it one bit. 

I will give the boys (both on the GVSA team and the opponents) some credit - they seemed completed unaffected by the arrival of the girls.  They treated them as equals, passed to them as teammates and defended them just as hard as the boys.