bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

1-0 win v. Hollister



finally, a league victory, and against a tough opponent. We set up for a shutout as 1 point was all that was required to take us up to 4th in the table. Last time against Hollister we could tell within 5 minutes of the start that the girls were not going to perform well. This time it was the opposite - we could tell from the start that Sporting were going to play much better. In fact, this was not a sneaky 1-0 vistory, Sporting dominated this game and won the territorial advantage about 60:40 in both halves. We had multiple breaks through the center of the Hollister defence whereas our opposition were restricted to punts into our penalty box which were cleared by our defence.

The plan for 0-0 was going well until Andrea made another break through the Hollister center backs and hit a speculative shot from the edge of the box which eluded the keeper and rolled into the corner to give Sporting a 1-0 lead. I had to leave at this point to check in TopGun for their final game so coach Mark took over. Apparently the ball hit our post and we had another couple of chances to score and Sporting held out for a deserved victory and 4th place.

so bloomin close

0-0 v. MVLA

we shoulda coulda woulda won. The ball trickled past the keeper and onto the post with less than 5 minutes remaining. MVLA didn't get a chance on us all game with Sophie mopping up any threats as sweeper and for a while it looked like we wouldn't even have a team for this game as a lorry fire on I280 kept some families stuck far from the field. Only Andrea got stuck for the whole game !

Big shout for the girls for this game. 1st, they played their best for a while and really put pressure on MVLA for the whole game. 2nd they did it on the worst field I have seen for a long time. The combination of long grass, mud patches, and big potholes made it almost impossible to walk, never mind run with the ball.

I reckon we can win the final game in Hollister next week if the girls repeat the effort they put in against MVLA

A weekend without losing

Actually it was a lot better than that. 98Gwhite dominated against MTH on saturday and against MVLA on sunday.

0-0 v. MTH

I don't think MTH had a real chance on our goal, but their keeper was certainly busy for the whole game. One save in particular from an Eva rocket shot was quite amazing. We all thought that was a game winner. The team played well... but yet again, the shooting practice drills were not really utilised when we got in front of goal.


1-1 v. MVLA

The girls played even better in this game and were unlucky to concede a goal after going ahead in a league game for the 1st time this season. From the kick off Sporting were attacking down the left side with Allanah pushing crosses into the box from a new starting position at left forward. This forced a series of corners which Kim kicked well into the danger area but no clean cut chances would fall our way. Fay was working hard as center mid in a 4-3-3 formation and the ball was kept on the MVLA side for long periods. Eva broke through the middle and was one v. one with the MVLA keeper but shot straight at her... but then another 1v1 was created : Fay passed the ball between the MVLA center backs with the outside of her foot; Allanah accelerated between them, took the ball to the penalty spot and passed a careful shot into the corner of the net. MVLA were really not threatening us apart from some missed clearances from our defence, but then scored on us... a free kick into our box was repelled by Marina but the ball rolled out perfectly for MVLA to hit a high ball into our net. Soon after Bri had a similar chance from the right at the other end but her shot hit the side netting with the keeper beaten.

The second half was similar with little threat to the Sporting Goal. Bri and Adriana were played through a number of times but couldn't get shots on the MVLA goal

..... same opposition for us next saturday.... a win would send us clear of the bottom of the table.

Medina Classic Tournament

it was a weird bracketing system that sees teams play 2 games, and then #1 of 3 goes to a semi final.

Anyway, on friday night at check, the tourney reps said "any guest players ?". "No", I said.

Saturday morning arrives and we losr 4 players to flu and other things. So 11 players available for game 1. We played a lot of soccer in the opposition half but got caught out on the break. It was a risk we had to take after going 1-0 down in the first half. I have no idea what the final score was.

Saturday afternoon.... still only 11 players. They are looking a little tired for game 2, but were very dominant in a 2-1 win over the SASC Blades. Special mention for Eva who dived at the feet of a Blades player in what was a very brave piece of goalkeeping. Also we hit the post twice and missed a bunch of scoring chances.

One win and one loss meant we got to play in the premier consolation game on sunday. We had subs... 2 of them. Fortunately the coaches were able to remember how to handle this unusual situation. Playing for 5th place in this game, the players were told to enjoy themselves and play free flowing soccer. They did, and won 2-0, but the conversion rate was about 2%. Shooting practice to follow. In the second half we played a 3-4-3 formation and really kept the ball in the attacking half. Kudos to Marina for staying awake and performing the one piece of defence required in the 2nd half very efficiently.


Big weekend coming up. MTH and MVLA in a couple of 6-pointers. Hopefully the flu will be gone for good

Big Improvement

OK, so we didn't win against the top 2 sides this weekend, but the girls showed all the heart and effort that was missing last week against Hollister. In fact, we had the Devils scared on many occassions and I don't think they got a shot on us in the second half. As for the Wildcats, we matched them and should have been ahead in the first half.

Congrats to the girls for coming back after a bad result.

4-1 loss to Hollister

can't write about this one. Fay and Vaeda were out sick.... and it seems many of the rest of the team were sick as well. The symptoms included :

• standing around doing nothing
• avoiding the ball
• backing out of tackles
• forgetting basics

I'll submit these symptoms to the CDC and eagerly await their response as to whether we should be isolated and treated.

At least we scored a goal from open play !!, and MTH lost worse than we did

0-0 tie v MTH Lightning

apparently this was a game of two halves. I have to take this on trust as I missed the 1st half due to TopGun duties.

The half that I saw was played almost entirely in the Lightning half of the field, but Sporting struggled to get a decent shot on goal. With about 10 minutes remaining we noticed that Fay was actually sat down in the penalty box. Coach Mark suggested she stand up again... which was just as well as she needed to pick the ball up and kick it at least once towards the end of the game. A packed Lightning defence kept the ball away from goal, although Lexie did manage a shot just wide of the post.

Zero goals scored this weekend, but only 1 against us. We have a good idea on where to focus practices. Conditioning is still not quite as good as it should be, and some basics have to be reinforced

Looks like being a very very tight division, but I'm going to place a bet now that the Devils will win this bracket

1-0 to Devils

I can't bring myself to write about this one. Try here http://devils98.blogspot.com

There are pictures too

Sporting 98 White to field synchronized diving team

At the recent team party and parents meeting, an undiscovered talent emerged as the girls showed off their prowess at team synchronized diving.

"Football is for hooligans," says coach Jon Terrett. "These girls have what it takes for London 2012. Olympic acquatics, prepare to be taken by storm."

Thaks to the Cioths for hosting the party this evening!

More pictures from the party can be found on our picture site.

Home opener, Delgado opener ends in 1-1 draw

Under cloudy, grey skies the Sporting girls took their field in the first Delgado match of the season. It was great to have the whole roster present, and every player healthy enough to play. (It might also be noted that the field lines were highly visible and precise for all weekend games due to the efforts of parents on this team)

Following the opening kickoff, Sporting moved the ball towards the southern goal defended by the opponents, Los Gatos Wildcats, and kept possession there for the first ten minutes of the game. But the Cats held tough, and with the leg strength of their backfield, they moved the ball back into our half of the pitch and kept it there for quite some time. The offensive attack was continuous, though not particularly potent, but one Wildcat shot took an awkward bounce on the sparse turf and dribbled into the goal to send the Cats into halftime with a 1-nil lead.

Coach T made some half time lineup changes that yielded a more successful Sporting offense in the second half. The hoopsters charged northward several times, sending a half dozen shots toward the LG keeper. LG responded with several panic-inducing, though ultimately unsuccessful counterattack campaigns. Finally, in the 44th minute, the Sporting pressure forced a mistake by the Cats as they were called for a hand ball in the box. From the parent sideline, the infraction looked inadvertent, but the CR, nonetheless awarded a PK, which was sent beautifully over the left shoulder of the Cats keeper by a Sporting forward.

From this point on, Sporting was clearly on the attack as the defense moved to midfield to support the onslaught. Numerous campaigns down the left side of the offense were turned back by a resilient LG defense. Despite a number of shots into the box, Sporting could not connect to score and ended up settling for a 1-1 draw.

Another scrimmage defeat

this time to the MP Strikers - who we nearly played in the 3/4 play off at SBTB. They beat us 2-1 but Sporting had more shots on goal and at least 5 one on one chances against their GK

Interesting game. The Strikers are a skilful team employing lots of cuts. They move the ball wide and put crosses into the box. Very little play goes down the center of the field. Sporting had an off day that is for sure. Lots of sleepiness and forgetting some basics. But I take a lot of heart from the fact we can play badly and still have chances to win a game against a team who were offered a spot in class 1 but turned it down. The Spring standings for the Strikers are below. This is Redwood league class 3A. Interesting to see the other teams in this bracket, some of whom we recently defeated at SBTB.

The season starts this saturday 9/12 ve LG Wildcats

Narrow loss to Top U12 team

0-4 v. TopGun97

Despite dominating the entire game with shot after shot at the opposition goal, 98GWhite went down 4-0 to four lucky break away fluke goals..... kind of.

On average, 98GW gave about 6inches in height to TopGun97 who clearly have been on the Miracle Grow (TM). We fought hard but the extra pace and power of TG was too much for our girls to keep out. 3-0 at half time, but only 1-0 in the second half. The second half was indeed much better. The girls played tougher, attacked harder and showed more skill and passing than TG - and these were responses to instructions from the coaches at half time - its so great when they listen and implement instructions.

It was a solid performance against a team who almost won "soccer by the bay". TopGun lost on PKs in the final against MVLA Cobras, the current U12 3A champions.

1-0 loss to Rampage

friday 28th August

98G white got their first outing as a team on turf. Rampage brought their usual big girls game and pushed the ball into our half consistently with big boots upfield. Our girls struggled with the ball running fast on the turf and neither side was able to put a passing game together.

Rampage scored through a breakout where our defence stood a little flat, and also forgot to kick the ball... so as usual, that goal didn't really count.

For the second half, Sporting produced a defensive and goal tending master class. The wind kept the ball at our end of the field for most of the half but strong defence and aggressive goalkeeping from Adriana kept the Rampage out. We managed a couple of really nice breaks resulting is some shots on the Rampage goal .

It was very useful to be able to try some players in different positions. The coaches and the girls learn what will and won't work. Hopefully we'll have most of this sorted before the season starts.

0-1 versus a class 1B team is a decent result. We'd have beaten them on grass anyway

Soccer By The Bay

Our 1st real competitive games as a team at the "Soccer by the Bay" tournament resulted in a 4 and 0 record.... and 3rd place - yeh, go figure. GF = 12, GA = 2.

SuperFan Franklin in Sporting Colors

Game 1 v. Peninsula Storm

We started with a hard fought 1-0 victory over Peninsula Storm. Monica passed one into the net in the 1st few minutes, but after an early period of domination, Peninsula came back into the game. A key moment followed when after a perfectly fair hockey tackle by Andrea, Peninsula were awarded a PK ( something of a theme for us this weekend ) - Fay stuck out a leg and made a fine save from a strong kick. The game was then pretty even until the end and 98GWhite secured their 1st competitive victory. Another point to note was how strong our players were in the tackle against some monstrous opposition.

Game 2 v. Stanford Avalanche ( 7-2 win )

After a sluggish start, Sporting took control of this game after about 10 minutes and eased into a 1-0 lead ( might have been Monica again - she got 5 this tournament so there's a good chance it was her ). Then, horror of horrors, a PK against us, this time against Fay for kicking the soccer ball whilst wearing cleats. Andrea could do nothing against a sweet shot into the corner : 1-1. Then the blitz started. Can't remember the order of events but we went 6-1 ahead by half time. Taylor scored one and Lexie and Fay scored 50 yard touchdowns. For the second half the girls were told not to score unless Stanford scored... and both teams scored 1 goal in the second half. Considering how bad the pitch (field) was, there was some awesome passing from Sporting in this game (actually, in all games this weekend).

Game 3 v. San Carlos Blaze ( 2-0 win )

Its all a bit of a blur now but I do remember one thing...a PK against us. This time for the ball brushing against Marina's arm from a throw in. No worries, Fay made her second PK save of the tournament.

It was tense going into the 2nd half at 0-0 knowing we needed to win to have a chance of making the championship game.... but then 2 goals within a few minutes in the second half calmed everyones nerves and we coasted to our 3rd victory in 3 games. 3 and 0 during qualifying is usually enough to get a spot in the championship game, but due to some mathematical anomaly (2 other teams scored more 3 goal victories) we ended up having to play the consolation game. ( In the U12 group, only one team had 3 victories in qualifying ).

Game 4, 3rd v 4th. 2-0 win over San Mateo Blue Crush

A game we dominated from the start. Our team is certainly fitter than anyone we played against this weekend as evidenced by us finishing every game much stronger than the opposition. This was even more apparent in this consolation game. This time Vaeda got the 50 yard touchdown. Andrea tried her best to make sure the Crush were awarded a PK, but just missed with a leg sweep. Then, to add insult to injury over PKs, Fay was tripped about 3 yards inside the Crush penalty box. Both players ended up lying down totally within the penalty box. The AR flagged the foul and indicated a kick to us. The referee came over, spoke to the AR and we were awarded a free-kick some where near the touchline of a field in the next town. Justice was served though as we scored from the melee that followed the kick into the box, Fay lifting the ball over their GK and it nestling in the far corner. We lined up the subs ready for the final whistle and the players gathered to celebrate and awesome tournament.