Portland Cup
SJSC94w travelled to Portland, OR for the annual Portland Cup tournament. While the actual games were in Hillsboro, the team stayed in beautiful Lake Owsego, an upscale enclave about 15-miles south of Portland.
Game 1: Dos 93 Red. Arguably, if the team had brought their play from game 4 to Dos (’09 US Club NW Regional Champs), it would have been an incredible contest. To their credit, Dos – a highly skilled and disciplined squad – brought their A game and did a good job controlling tempo and possession.
Game 2: FC Portland Yellow. SJSC94w, having been duly acclimated to the tournament environment, brought a physical game to FC Portland; a formidable and worthy competitor . Unfortunately, the center ref – apparently new to the game of soccer – did not appreciate big girls’ physicality and set out to do something about it. Early in the game, he offered a PK to FC Portland on a questionable call within our box.. The game progressed with similar quality officiating, awarding FC Portland another unearned opportunity for PK. SJSC94w then scored a real goal, with Ali offering a beautiful serve to Ashley M. But, this was not enough to overcome the the inexperienced and determined center ref.
Game 3: West Side Inferno (Lake Oswego): Now it’s on. The team, ostensibly irritated with the day’s earlier outcome, brought a brand new attitude to Game 3. Dominating field play, possession, and foot skills, the afternoon proved too arduous for the spunky Inferno (unbelievably loud team families unable to make up the difference – but not for the lack of trying).
Game 4: Lake Oswego Hurricanes: This was the team. If only we could re-do, with this dominant force facing Dos. The low score belies the fact that the game was 100% SJSC94w from opening whistle to final whistle. Most play was punctuated by the team simply owning the entire field, offensively, defensively, passing, possession, etc.
It bears mention that this LOSC Hurricane team was exceedingly polite all around the field. Parents were complimentary of players on both teams. The team reported that the Lake Oswego players were friendly and were extremely courteous throughout the game; even chatty. Being from the host-area, Portland Cup can be proud of the Lake Oswego White providing a friendly competitive environment for their California visitors.
At the end of the day, SCJC 2-2-0. But, more importantly, finding their tempo and ready to apply that sense to the next contest.
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