Princesses of ties, Lobos 2-2 tie, Jan. 20

Third place in the Ultimate Soccer Session 1 league slipped away, but when you are undefeated who cares?

The Force girls tied Lobos 00 2-2 this afternoon to finish off one league and continue their, well, streak of ties.

This game, like the AM effort, felt like a win in part because the girls seemed to lack a little pep in their step, worn down from the game this morning. Their skill kept them in the game and gave them a good chance to win.

Lobos scored early off a weird angle. The ball sneaked by Kate from the corner and rolled along the goal line til it bounced in. The Force recovered quickly, however, when Zoe made an outstanding individual effort from midfield. She trapped a ball from the air on the ground, pushed it up, won it back from a defender, and then dribbled to space before sending a perfect left footed cross to Sawyer in front of the net. 1-1 Force. Lobos came back a few minutes later when the Force failed to keep the ball in the offensive end and drilled a hard shot off Kate's hands to go back up a goal. Within a few minutes, though, Rhea -- playing another nice couple of shifts at middle defender -- sent a beautiful ball down the middle to Christina who netted her third of the day with a terrific blast just under the crossbar.

We rarely see 4 goals in one half. Both teams had their chances in the second half. In what may have been the defensive play of the season Annabelle got caught 1 v 1 against a very skilled LOBOS forward some 25 feet out. Rather than fall for the offensive player's deft fake Annabelle gave a fake of her own -- backing off the ball to lure the attacker in before snaking her right foot out to take the ball away.

Near the end of the game a hand ball call against the LOBOS gave the Force their second PK of the day and of the season (don't look for pks in the league!). The Force rightly went back to power striker Lauren who just missed the top of the net. Sports can be excruciating psychologically (says the guy who gave up a Big Ten football scholarship!). And the player who can walk away from bad luck like today with a smile is a player who play a long time -- and someone you want on your team in a pinch.

Welcome back Cookie, by the way. We are all anxious to hear about some of the seminars in Kansas City.