GOAL!!!

Sam had an awesome soccer game on Saturday. He was in the zone, and stayed with the ball for most of the game. This level plays 6 on 6, and we have 7 players. But one got sent home for having metal cleats on (only plastic are allowed). That meant we had no subs, and each player had to play the entire game. They did some switching back and forth with defense and offense, which helped the boys rest a little bit, but they were still exhausted by the end of the game.

Sam was in the mood to play. I'm guessing the 10:45 game time helped - our other two games have been at 8:45 and I have to wake Sam up to go to soccer. This week we had a lazy morning before the game. The weather was also perfect - a little cool if you were sitting and watching, but perfect if you were running around the whole game.

So here's the highlights of the game (please remember I have limited knowledge of the game of soccer and pretty much any other sport).

The teams were fairly evenly matched, but our team kept the ball on their half of the field for most of the game. We had several shots that just didn't go in. The score was still 0-0 in the middle of the third quarter when one of their players broke away form the pack and scored a goal. I was afraid our team would become discouraged since they had played so well but just hadn't managed to score. Soon one of our players (and one who usually does not score and can't really run) put a shot in and tied the game 1-1. Then the third quarter ended.

Sam was on offense again during the 4th quarter, and he and all of our boys were looking pretty tired. But the ball still stayed down at their end most of the time, and mid-way through the 4th quarter Sam took a shot and it went in the goal. There was much cheering since this goal caused the blue team (who had yet to win a game) to pull ahead. Sam was pretty pleased with himself, and as always, looked to the sideline to make sure we were watching. Then soon after the kick-off, Sam pulled away from the pack, handled the ball down the field himself (there weren't any other blue players caught up to him yet) and scored again. It was awesome. Now we had a more comfortable lead (3-1), and the game was almost over.

The final score was 3-1, and our Blue Team won their first game. It was pretty exciting, and we were pretty proud parents (and sister). Now let's see if he can keep it up.