What a Weekend!!

What a Weekend!!!

This picture pretty much sums it up!

Ethan and Kyler had a soccer tournament in Lacey this past weekend, and man was it EXCITING!!

The tournament started with a game Friday night, WOW our team was on FIRE!! They have a very dedicated coach who has taught them the right way to play soccer, and they used every skill they have that night!! It is so impressive to watch them play!! They won this game 6-2! A great way to go into Saturdays games!!

Saturday we were back at the field bright and early for an 8am game! I should have blogged about this earlier....dang it I cant remember much about the Saturday games:( I guess the most important thing is they won both of their Saturday games, the scores were 11-4 and 6-0!! AND the most EXCITING thing for us is Kyler scored his very first goal of the season!!! I wish I could have captured the look of pure JOY on his face when he scored!! He is very rarely in a position to score. He is a great left and right mid, so that's where he spends most of his time. Ethan has much more opportunity to score, he is usually playing forward, with the exception being when we are playing more difficult teams, he gets moved to defender...So Our boys were definitely on a high going into Sunday's game!! Which is a good thing because we played the SHARKS...

I have to do a little back story here....The Sharks are a very good team, and our boys for some reason don't think they can beat them, so each time we have faced them the boys are already beaten...its so sad because I believe we are a much better team!! The Sharks rely alot on pushing and shoving...which is a huge part of soccer, but I also think if you rely on your skills, there isn't as much need for the pushy stuff. Our boys DEFINITELY out play them based on skills alone...but that's just my opinion:) SO anyway....Saturday night I went on line to look at the stats from the tournament....I was BLOWN AWAY!!! Our boys had scored 23 points in 3 games!! The Sharks were no where near us!! They had like 9. I couldn't help it, I had to show my boys..if for no other reason than to prove to them they COULD beat the Sharks!!

Sunday morning we headed back to the field. There was a definite excitement in the air!! For the first time my boys were excited to play the Sharks...and I was excited for them!! I knew it was going to be an AWESOME game and it was!!!! CHEHALIS LEAL beat the SHARKS 6-1!!!!!!! It was just great for all the boys to realize once and for all that they are just as good, or better than the Sharks!! So now it was on to the finals!!! WHOOP WHOOP!!!

When we left for lunch we still went completely sure who we would be playing in the final game....we were pretty sure it would be the Sharks, but it depended on the outcome of a game that was still going on. When we got back to the field we found out we would be playing the Sharks again. The final game was a NAIL BITTER to say the least!! I don't know what their coach said to them but the Sharks came back with a vengeance!!! It was a fight to the bitter end!! The score was tied 5-5 so we went into a five minute overtime, still tied. So we went to another 5 minute overtime...STILL TIED...So here comes the dreaded shoot out! I would never want to be a goalie, or a shooter in a game like this!!! SO MUCH  PRESSURE!! Our poor goalie Alex didn't get any kind of break, because our other goalie wasn't able to play Sunday! Anyway...the shootout was intense!! BUT....We ended up making 4 out of 5 attempts and BEATING the Sharks to WIN the MLS CUP!!!!

That's where the picture above comes from, right after the big WIN!! To take the whole tournament is a huge accomplishment!! I am so proud of this team! They play together like pro's and it is so fun to watch!! I think every kid on that team has a genuine love for the game and it show every time they play.

So a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Chehalis Leal!! You boys rock and I am so sad we have to say goodbye to this fantastic group of boys and their parents! Its been a great 3 seasons:) We will miss all of them terribly!!!!

I have to add some things here, I'm not sure which game it happened in but Ethan has been dying to score a goal with a header and he finally did!!! It was AWESOME!!

Also I love when Ethan and Kyler work together and so effortlessly score, and in one game there was a play where Kyler ran up, touched the ball and jumped over it and Ethan ran in, shot and scored!! It was BEAUTIFUL!!! The way they play together is really something amazing to watch! They both just love the game and it really shows in how they play!! I know its because they have such an amazing coach who challenges them to be the best they can be ALL THE TIME!! To him there is no reason to not play your best at all times and he expects the best from them, so they try their hardest to deliver.

Ethan and Kylers next coach has some HUGE shoes to fill, which I'm not sure will even be possible. I can just hear Kyler now..."that's not what Luis told us" or "Luis said do this"  I just hope we can find a team that will keep challenging them to be the best they can be....Because I see both my boys going far in soccer and I would hate to see them go backwards!!