The Colorado Edge U18 girls (Black) soccer team won the Steamboat Mountain Tournament for the second year in a row last July 19th. As coaches Allan Reid and Mark Johnson remarked - "Perhaps the only reason we didn't win it three years in a row was we were in San Diego two summers ago."
This is the same team that won the Front Range Invitational Tournament in Colorado Springs for three years in a row until they moved to Premier and were not allowed to continue playing in that tournament.
The team, made up mainly of graduating high school seniors, had played their last league game together in November of 2008, but during the spring of this year some of the players approached the coaches and said they would like to play one last tournament together before they went off to college. They picked the Steamboat Mountain Tournament since it conflicts the least with graduations, work, trips etc. Even so, three players were unable to attend, so guest players were invited. Two of the guest players (Marcy Humphrey & Rachael SaBell) had played previously for this team, so it was an easy transition for them to come back. The third, Kelsey Grant, was from the Storm soccer club. The coaches had watched her play in a tournament earlier this year and believed she would fit in with their team - even though she was a year younger.
The coaches knew in late spring that this team was on a mission to win. The girls complained that they were not practicing enough or with enough practice days. If they were to miss practice, the coaches received apologetic text messages or phone calls.
The team exuded a quiet confidence all tournament weekend. Four of the players (Corey LaMoureaux, Aubrey Fondy, Lindsey Pfenninger, Devin Barth) had signed earlier this year to play college soccer on scholarships starting in August of this year, and a fifth (Danielle Madonia) signed over the weekend during the tournament. A sixth player (Caitlin O'Connor) intends to sign in the next couple of weeks to play when she attends college in the fall of 2010.
We lost Aubrey Fondy to a red card in the last playoff game on Saturday of the tournament, which also meant under soccer rules she had to sit out the championship game the next day. Being 'unbiased' coaches we can state it was a 'bum rap'. Until her sending off, Aubrey is a devastating player and had scored all of our goals up to that point. Many teams would have folded, losing a star player at this point in a tournament. The Edge girls shrugged it off and said they would have to prove they were better than the opposition even without a key player. To emphasize that point, Hannah Kenyon scored a goal while we played the last 15 minutes of the Saturday match a player down. Edge won 2-0.
The Championship game was played on the Sunday in hot conditions. We dominated the first half. At half-time, Katy Elliott pulled her sock off - her foot was covered in blood from a broken blister. She walked over to the on-site trainer and told him to fix it now - she was going back in. Even playing hurt, she outplayed her opponents.
As they say - offense wins games and defense wins championships. Of the 5 Edge defensive players, 4 will be playing college soccer and the 5 th chose to turn down several offers to focus on academics. Stephanie Hehir played rock solid in the back, shutting down any attacks that got through the defense in front of her. Corey LaMoureaux gave up two goals over the four games played that weekend - both goals very fluky. Lindsey Pfenninger & Devin Barth made coming down the outside very frustrating to all of the opponents. Caitlin O'Connor shut down attacks from Grand Junction in the finals to the point that the other team was showing angry frustration at her determination.
Missy Yorchak hustled all over the field, setting up attack after attack from mid-field and as a striker and just missing a goal that would have put the game out of reach for the opponents. The Edge mid-field, made up of rotating players Hannah Kenyon, Lauren McVey, Mallory Lizza, Danielle Madonia dominated the opposition and created numerous opportunities for our attackers to exploit. Two of our goals that weekend were scored by mid-fielders. Mallory and Hannah played inside and outside mid-field with equal, devastating effect.
Our guest players, Marcy, Rachael and Kelsey, played stellar time on the field. The coaches saw no drop off in effort or impact when they played the guests. Kelsey scored the first of the 2 goals we needed to win the finals.
At the final whistle, Edge had won 2-1. Lauren McVey scored the winning goal from some 30 yards out - a wonderful birthday present to herself as she turned 18 that day. Following the match the referees had nothing but praise for the girls' efforts. As the center referee from Texas said "That was a college team playing against a club team - it was no contest." A college coach at the tournament simply agreed - "They are college level players. They would win my division", he said.
Coaches Reid and Johnson had coached this team and several of these girls for more than 5 years, but could not recall a more complete "team effort" over a tournament weekend. There were some moist eyes as they all realized it was finally over. It was their last game together and a new chapter for most of them would start in just a few weeks.