3-0 Loss against Menlo Park Strikers

The girls came out a little flat, maybe not used to the pace and footskills of a Silver Elite level team. But still, after two quick goals and a questionable PK made it 3-0 in the first fifteen minutess, the newness wore off and Sporting played good defense and held the rest of the way. Not much happened on offense all day due to the strong Striker defense with the exception of a decent attempt by Preeya. Nothing to be ashamed of in a loss to the Strikers, they are currently in 1st place in Silver Elite league and it is good experience for our team to play against them.

2-1 Win Over MVLA Typhoons

October 16 (Saturday)--Finally, a game with the Typhoons that didn't end in a tie (I think the last 4 have been ties!). After a scoreless 1st half, Sporting started to gain momentum in the second, with several shots just missing. Sophie almost had a running header go in after arching it over the goalie only to miss a few feet wide of the open net. Kristen finally broke the deadlock midway through the second half with hard low shot that got by the keepers fingers into the right side of the goal. MVLA got the equalizer on a shot from the right that rebounded off the left post and barely got by Marina F. With time running out, George moved everybody up into the box for a Katie corner kick, and after touching several Sporting players (and Daniella's header), left defender Rebecca got a clean look and scored from the edge of the penalty area on a lob over the keeper's head. Both teams played well, with Sporting doing the best passing and ball movement of the season. Fun to watch Katie as dominating mid fielder late in the game.

Sophie lofts a header that just misses wide right.















Kristen scores on a hard, low shot.














Sporting celebrates after Rebecca's goal.

0-0 Tie against San Benito Spirit

October 10th (Sunday)-San Benito didn't allow us many chances, with their sweeper, #18 able to stop anybody who got near the goal. We were able to get off a few shots, but nothing really close to the keeper. Kristen stopped the only good chance of the game on a break away down the right side for the Spirit. Otherwise, our defense was very solid as usual. We will need to move the ball better in the future to get around good defense like we faced today.

Kristen saves a break-away attempt.

Moni gets a little room by #18 and fires a shot wide.

0-0 Tie Against Quicksilver

October 9th-Sporting played well, and was so close to scoring on several plays it was hard to believe the ball didn't go in. As always, the solid defense of Daniella, Rebecca, Katie and Celine made it difficult for Quicksilver to get the ball close for a good shot, and the keepers stopped the one or two reasonable shot attempts. Quicksilver played better than our first match against them, with former Sporting player Andrea G. doing a good job on sweeper for Quicksilver in the first half. Sporting had their chances though. Rebecca lofted a beautiful shot from about 22 yards that bounced off the upper right corner of the goal. In the second half, Sophie had two chances from in front of the goal after beating the defense. One was stopped by a diving keeper, and the next one beat the keeper but banged off the left upright. In the end, nothing would go in and Sporting ran out of time.

Rebecca's first half shot rebounds over the keeper.

Sophie's toe poke gets stopped by a diving keeper.

Sophie tries the left side but bangs it off the post.

2-0 loss to Palo Alto 99G Hurricanes

Saturday 10/2. The pink jerseys returned on Saturday but it did not bring Sporting much luck. Neither team had much offense going in the first half, but PA managed a score on beautiful DFK from #19 from about 30 yards. Not much Kristen could do as it sailed over her head into the top of the goal. Sporting offense sputtered all day although there were a few chances. Most attempts were stopped near midfield with numerous offside calls from PA's trapping defense. PA scored again midway through the second half when Sporting failed to clear the ball from in front of the goal and eventually PA took a shot from about 10 yards out of the center of the goal. Sporting will have to wait until November 6th to try and even things up.

Pink Jerseys return for October.

Morgan tries a tough angle in the 1st half.

1-0 Win over Orchard Valley Fusion

Closely contested match in which both teams played well but our defense stepped up the intensity after Saturday's loss and managed a shutout. Moni scored the game's only goal by converting a PK midway through the second half after she was knocked down from behind in the box. New defender Daniella did a great job harrassing anyone trying to come up the left side. Both keepers played flawlessly with Marina making some clutch saves down the stretch to preserve the victory.

Moni sends her PK to the lower left side of the goal.

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Marina makes a save late in the second half.

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After the game.