THUNDER 2 - CV UNITED 2

The VV Thunder played in a beautiful, sunny, but cool morning in our home field against the Capital Valley United team. It was the type of game in which our team was so close to pulling a victory; however, the opponent capitalized on a moment where our defenders lost the concentration on the game, to equalize the score and steal a sure win from our hands. Today we celebrated Kat's birthday.

It seems like because the field conditions were wet with a slippery grass, it damped  our girls' desire to play a strong game. However, with the "never give up" attitude, our girls remained strong after the opponents initial goal, to even be ahead in the score, and most important, to remain undefeated in the Metro league play. The whole game was a see-saw battle with both teams having their chances. On the other hand, the main referee missed a clear penalty in our favor, and even when the Assistant referee saw it and it was pointed out to him during the action, he did not want to call the hand ball of the visitor's goalie. The goalie kept the ball on her hands after securing it, then as she run to punt it, lost control of the ball and grabbed the ball again inside the penalty box before releasing it to her team mates. This action is an automatic penalty kick from a hand ball inside the box that the referee did not see or did not have the ability to recognize it.

The whole game was a balanced match between both teams, with a series of alternating runs going back and forth for each team. Beanie continued with the "talking" giving commands to her defenders. Ashley P again played another awesome game, sweeping across the Thunder box. Tiger is playing stronger and growing with each game. Valerie continues to provide the speed to contain and neutralize the opponent attack. Kat enjoyed and played a strong game while celebrating her birthday. Kat's strong shot allows her to clear the ball from the danger zone. Karina is also improving in her style of play, with a better sense of location and with more determination to fight the ball.

Our midfielders tried hard to control the ball in spite of field conditions, may be it was the slippery ball or the dampness of the socks that prevented a better passing and control of the ball. But, they played hard enough to block the opponents attack and kept sending the ball forward to our strikers. Ashley Y continued to control the ball and improve the passing. It was great to see Rummit run and chase the opponent, moreover, it is a joy to see her celebrate when her team mates score for our team. It is also nice to see Erica and Lexi work so hard on defending and passing the ball at midfield and at front. Melinda also continues to be the heart of our defending line, either playing as stopper or as a defensive midfielder. Melinda's unique and strong style of play, sends a warning signal early on in the game to the opponents, that they will encounter a tough defensive Thunder line.

Macy and Courtney gave headaches to the opponent's defensive line on the right side of the field. Courtney's size is the secret weapon she has to fool anybody. The opponent usually underestimates her ability to face tall and strong players, control the ball and do her faking moves surprising her assigned defender. Macy continues to improve in her play, sending and crossing the ball with strength.

Hazel played another great game, always running and fighting for the ball, getting the ball from midfield and creating scoring opportunities for our team. It was Bethany's time to assist in the first goal when she got a rebound ball near midfield, Katie was open in the left channel and Bethany sent her a nice pass to the open. Katie outrun her defender and with a cross shot scored the first goal of our team.

Again, in a series of back and forth rebounds at the mouth of CVU penalty area, Bethany took possession of the ball and scored a beautiful personal goal by faking the first defender and then dribbling two more that were on her way. Bethany pushed the ball with a self pass to her left, peeked where the goalie was located and finally sent a chipped ball that sailed on top of the defenders and the goalie, to score the second goal for our team.

The VV Thunder came close to score the final goal near the end of the second half. Hazel took the ball on a breakaway, and being in front of the goalie, fired a shot that was not wide enough to score. The whistle blew with the game as a draw 2-2. The VV Thunder is still undefeated in league play.

Good job Thunder !!!

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