TNT -- October 1

And then they were tied -- for last place. Coach Cookie had promised playing 11 v 11 would be tough.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQlImg2bm28
He was true to his word.


The Force girls took on TNT this afternoon on a chilly and extraordinarily bright Saturday afternoon in East Lansing. TNT had yet to win a game in the division and the Force had won only one. At the end, TNT came out on top 2-1, getting goals with 20 seconds left in the first half and two minutes left at the end of the game.


Things could have been much, much worse.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn9V3gtwMrc&feature=related

The Force played well enough early on showing good ball movement and control. Christina made a spectacular individual effort to drill one in from the lest side some 15 minutes in. Sidney, playing alongside her Purple clubmates after a White team match, added some offensive creativity and speed up the left side. Kate played tough as always in net.

But with 20 seconds left TNT tied things up and the game went downhill from there. The Force managed to cross midfield precisely 4 times in the next half and had no real opportunities. Kate was unusually good, fending off corner and free kicks routinely. At one point she almost snagged a nose high corner that a 16 year old boy would have had to punch away. The ball dropped from her hands though and TNT had three shots on an open net. Sophia, as she has done in earlier games, got herself positioned on the goal line to keep out what looked like a sure goal. And Kyra showed good energy and hustle covering a remarkable number of yards from her forward spot.

The rest of the time, however, was a Sisyphean punting ritual by Kate as ball after ball was snagged by TNT at midfield and returned to the keeper.

  Parents thought we would be lucky to pull out a tie. Yet a great run by a TNT forward late in the game ended that dim hope.