2007 Season
San Juan Shows in Spring League
June 24, 2007, Norther California - The mighty upstarts that are the San Juan Spirits of '94 placed third at the end of its first league play, the Nor Cal Premier Spring League. Spirits' sister team, San Juan Acadamy of Solano placed first in the league.
The Spirits of '94 White's showing in this league is important for several reasons. First, as an expansion team, many of the '94 White team are playing together for the first time. Under the instruction and inspiration from coaches, Curtis Holmes, and Assistant Coach, David Bragg, the team has congealed to form a true force with which to be reconned.
But this doesn't tell the whole story.
Mathmatically, the difference between third and first for the Spirits was the matter of ties v. wins. Indeed, during the short Spring league play, the formidable Spirits ammassed an astounding 32 goals over the 12 games of league play - a whopping 15% more goals scored than first place Solano, and 23% more goals scored than 2nd-place Novato; and 2.6 goals/game, on average. More to the point, the crushing Spirit's defense kept the team in the top 25% of Fewest-goals-given in the league. A tip of the hat, to be sure, to Spirits defense and, especially, outstanding stewardship of the Spirits' formidable goalies, Ashley and Krista. All of this is truly spectaculary when considering last year's '94 team, who scored but 6 goals for the entire season.
At the end of league play, the Spirits tied 4 of their 12 games, which brought its league points to 22; not enough to tip the Spring League this year. Mathmetically, if two of their ties were wins, Spirits would be duly crowned league champs. This is a poignant lesson for the young team: every goal counts - not just for the game at hand, but for overall results. Often, its not the points, but the craftsmanship and strategy of the game - as Solano duly pointed out in Nor Cal this season: fewer points scored; comparable points given. But Solano triumphed in 2 games more than Spirits and brought home the crown.
Congratulations to Spirit's of '94 White, and to San Juan Academy for demonstrating, once again, why San Juan is one of the top clubs in youth soccer.
Spirits Crush Vintage
June 9, 2007, Lodi, California - First, it has to be said that the good people of Lodi, California presented some of the most polite parents, referees, and families experienced by the Spirits this season. They were very good sports, and were complimentary of both their own players and that of their formidable foe. Yet, pleasantries aside, mere soccer-etiquite was simply not enough to save the Vintage '94 for team from the hideous tumult of poisonous darts that the upstart San Juan team relentlessly jabbed and jolted throughout the Central Valley this Saturday morning (and again later in this same afternoon).
Vintage's long day began early enough, with Nicki taking full advantage of a long forward ball, served up nicely from the left side by Lia deadly to the center of the wide open Vintage real estate. The ball was sent well in front of all players, leaving Nicki ample room to ignite after-burners and torch the sod all the way to the net, where she did serious damage to equipment and ego alike with a nuclear blast to the back of the orange barrier.
Not satisfied with her first goal, Nick came out for an immediate re-play with her second stab, which was nearly identical to her first lance: right to the back of the net, acoompanied by an audible thud-whoosh sound plaintively blurted from the hapless goalie (rather than the ball/net) unaware she was within earshot. Nick had several looks this morning, and with each one the Lodi families were heard to exclaim, plaintively, "Here we go again!" - Indeed.
Later, in the second half, Allie arrived in a big way. She had been toying with a particular run - a sprint down the right side - as if she were a musician with her ear to her instrument, working to tune her instrument to the perfect key - ultimately finding it at the perfect moment in perfect pitch. Blazing past the defenders, Allie punched a beautiful right-cross that stuck convincingly to the back of the net as with so much Velcro.
One must appreciate Allie's tenacity. She had taken the same route down the right side three times earlier, each time a bit closer, but not close enough. Finally, Al dot's the i with some micro-surgery. Very exciting for the visiting crowd.
For the coup de gras, Ashley S. demostrated her pro-soccer thinking when a penalty was called on the down-trodden Vintage, just a couple yards outside the 18-yard box. Well-versed in the rules of the game, the elusive and notably cheerful Center-mid did not wait for the Vintage team to compose themselves. Noooo. Rather, she immediatly positioned her ball and fired the shot - kablooey! By the time Vintage was done with their hair and makeup, Spirits were already back in position for the next kick-off. So nonplussed was Vintage Fan by this brazen act of sheer-impolitenes that all Greater Lodi and some parts of Galt were left in this morose, heaping state of greyish dejectedness of which they may never recover.
Well...okay. Maybe some of that was actually going on before Spirits even arrived*. But nonetheless, Ashley's was a great demonstration of poise, confidence, and skill.
4 -1, Spirits.
From a technical side, the girls have begun triangulating one-touch passes like the pros. A skill that would prove deadly for their next oponent.
Next up: Manteca Mania! Oh...the humanity!
* Humor aside, sincere kudos to the Central Valley towns of Lodi and Galt, Market Basket to the World, and its fine denizens. Humor kindly expressed with utmost appreciation for the towns, teams, and their reknown historical contribution to the Golden State. Their players put in a hard-day's work and played great and very physical game.
Beautiful morning spoiled for Boca
May 20, 2007, Larchmont Field, Sacramento - Boca didn't have to travel far to have an otherwise gorgeous Saturday morning turned upside down. Indeed, the scrappy Boca '93 team brought plenty of energy to their home-field crowd, a full roster, perfect weather - and no shortage of loud parents. But such was not sufficient to put a dent in in San Juan's formidable defense.
San Juan's layered defense, including a full-span of mids and the ultra-talented backfield, was just too much for Boca. While on the other side of the field, San Juan's offense threw a constant spate of volleys at the beleagured Boca goalie, with Nicki pounding home the team's two winning goals. Needless to say, the Boca goalie had a long day at the office, and was likely happy to finally punch the clock and call it a day.
Danni and Cierra were notable in their repeated rebuffing of the Boca 93 offense, which was repeatedly fended off. As always, Ashly M. was outstanding as San Juan's only goalie for the match.
Vacaville Brings Best Game to Tie Spirits
May 12, 2007, Natomas High School, Sacramento - San Juan showed serious tenacity and were able to save a tie in the final minutes against the determined, if not beleagured, Vacaville Thunderbirds.
Playing a physical game, the team was able to draw the T-Bird goalie out left in the final minutes of the game, leaving room for a beautifully placed cross to Nicki for the goal- a powerful laser, straight to the back of the net. To its deserved credit, Vacaville brought sheer will and plenty of determination to their game, and it was enough to send them home elated with the tie - proving once and for all that sometimes all it takes is all you've got.
Chelsea and Tess scored in the first half in the see-saw battle. Cristina and Colby brought their game, successfully turning away repeated T-bird onslaughts.
Back-to-Back Wins In Chilly Double-header
May 5, 2007, Natomas High School, Sacramento - Not even Mother Nature could stop momentum of the upstart expansion team, San Juan Spirits of '94 White. Frosty 40-mile per Sierra gusts seemed to be deliberately channelled to the freshly mowed grounds of Natamos High School. But this chilly reception was exclusively reserved for San Juan's hapless opponents as the Spirits applied layers of cascading defense to fend off attackers, while sharp shooting forwards capitalized, both with and against the wind.
The San Mateo Fury were likely to be happy to resign to the friendlier warmth of their automobiles, left with a two and a half hour ride back to the South Bay to consider a 6-1 drubbing. For answers, Fury families and players alike need look no further than the Spirits' backfield of Colby, Ashley S., Cierra, Olivia, Maddy, Danni, and middies, Danielle, Lia, Krista, and Tess. Time and time again, any attempt to close into Spirit territory was soundly thwarted by impressive layering defense, where if the Fury player were to squeek by one Spirit, she was immediatly confronted - and confounded - by the next. If she were to get by that Spirit, there was the first one to deal with all over again.
Chelsea and Midea contributed to the score, with two each, with Ashley S. and Nicki rounding out the day.
Later in the day, the gusts continued; as did the Spirits formidable defense. The Delta Storm is an impressively-sized lot, very skilled, and they brought a tough game. Having lost the coin-toss, the Spirits found themselves with a furious upwind battle the entire first half. The Fury, though, were unable to convert Mother Nature's advantage to a score, as, once again, the Spirit defense was just too deep, too strong, and too skilled to allow even taste-test for the Delta shooters. We ended the first half tied with zeros - and a confidence that playing with the wind at their backs in the second half would hand the team all the opportunity it needed to finish the day positively. Such was the case as San Juan handily constructed a 3-0 win.
One wonders if the Storm pondered the irony: Thwarted by its namesake, gail force winds.
For the Spirit's last goal, Tess took every advantage to get herself in position to deflect into the net an expert cross from Chelsea, who dished from the left-side near-post. To challenge Chelsea, The Fury goalie had actually stepped out of the middle of the box for the first time in the contest. Although probably the correct action, it was ultimately her undoing, as both Tess and Nicki stood in the hole she had left, giving Tess the opportunity for the tap-in.
Nick's Hat-Trick Leads Spirits to 5 -2 Victory Over Tough EDH
May 2, 2007, Oakridge High School, Eldorado Hills - It took less than 13-minutes of a chilly spring evening for the Spirits of '94 White to pull together the first of 5 spectacular goals for a convincing win over the EDH Eclipse. Landing the first of her three goals, Nicki used a brilliant "slight of foot" hesitation glance-up maneuver to momentarily fake EDH's R-Back and goalie, miliseconds before lasering the ball across the front of the goalie and to the back right corner of the net. Nick's next goal was equally devestating, coming just 5-minutes later off a nicely arched lob to the center from Allie.
But, Spirit Fan had a brief moment of concern when the scrappy Eclipse came back to tie the game with two quick goals early in the second half. Undaunted, the team took this gesture as a dose of motivation and redoubled their strength and effort. Nick scored again, which lead to two more unanswered points from Chelsea and Lia: Chelsea showing tenacity (after several earlier unlucky stabs) by finally driving the 4th goal right through several Eclipsians (Ecliptites?); literally powering her entire self over, into, and through about a third of the field's opponents and right into our 4th the goal.
Later in the game, Lia drew a small crowd of white jerseys by running the guantlet from the muddy center-left to the left corner of the 18-yard box, surgically stitching the final blow right down a straight rail, just inches between the goalie's lunging fingers and the left-side near post.
Most impressive was the absolutely jaw-dropping stops that our goalies brought to the contest. The Eclipse had several good looks throughout the game but failed to capitalize, largely due to the impenetrable steel curtain put up by Ashley and Krista. Over and over again, one could hear the collective gasp of both Spirit Fan and Eclipse Fan as our G's dashed one EDH shot after another to the groung like so much hope. In one particular example, Ashley was literally airborne, horizontal, and roughly 18.5-inches off the ground, in a spectacularly lunging dive to the right post to deflect an otherwise certain goal.
To their credit, EDH played a very tough and physical game, showing that they were no stranger to organized ball, all the while keeping relentless and intense pressure on our team throughout the game. But Gabby and Ashley S. showed up huge in the middle to take the hits - and give them right back. Christina was also a notable force as a last-line of defense.
All-in-all it was an exciting game where a highly skilled and experience EDH team brought a real-world opportunity for our players to learn of their own strengths and weaknesses, both individually and as a team. Coaches Curtis and David left Spirit families with a great sense of confidence in their ability to construct a winning season.
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