Despite tryouts and the best efforts to distribute talent, our experience with fall soccer, particularly Andrew's four years, has been up and down. In kindergarten, he was on a team that almost always outscored the opposition; in first grade I don't think that his team ever won and rarely scored more than once in a game; in second grade (see first blog post from 2007) they won most of the time. So it might have been expected that 3rd grade would be another low-scoring team which often got to benefit from the "extra player" rule (getting to play 5 on 4 when down by 5 points).
In hopes of being able to have teammates from school or Scouts, we decided to sign up for Upward Soccer at South Hills Church in Kennewick instead of Bethel Church in Richland. At the beginning of the season, Gilbert thought the team might be better than average because a one player had missed the evals and another appeared to have been scored lower than his ability (probably hadn't woken up yet that morning).
However, once the season started, there were frequent defensive lapses but also usually one or two outstanding players on the other team that would get multiple scores while our team, the Hurricanes, didn't have any super scoring threats or the teamwork in passing to overcome it. Coach Gilbert stressed keeping one person forward and one back in the 4 vs 4 team situations, with two halfbacks running each side playing offense and defense, so theoretically there should be three people with the ball on offense and three defending if the other team brings it up slowly. Instead, we would see a couple of times a week where after not scoring, the two forwards from the other team would go upfield with our halfs shadowing them at half-speed instead of trying to get around them or cutting off the passing lane. If we were lucky, the opponents would miss the shot in the 2-on-1. A few other teams would also bring three players forward, but several teams only brought two forward to ensure there would be two defenders.
After an 0-6 start (one game canceled by weather), it all seemed to click on the last Saturday of the season. Our halfs went aggressively after the ball so the defender would not have to commit too early and leave the goal open, and they kicked the ball upfield to the forward earlier rather than dribble it and let the opponents catch up. By halftime the Hurricanes were up 3-1, probably the highest scoring game so far. They were excited but easily reminded not to be boastful with memories of other teams shaking hands after the game and telling each other (and sometimes our players) how easy it was. The second half was more good defense and a couple of goals to end the 2008 season on a high note.
