The Storm girls had a terrific weekend at NSC Cup, finishing 4-0-2 and outscoring their opponents 10-2 on the weekend.  In group play, the girls drew with Dakota Gold, defeated the 2008 Minnesota State Cup Champions from Bangu 1-0 and beat Edina 2-0 (nice shot, Britta!).  The girls drew Eau Claire in the A bracket quarterfinal and scored two great goals before the weather closed in, forcing everyone to run for cover for about 90 minutes before play resumed.  On a sloppy, wet field, the girls held on for a 3-1 win and a birth in the semi-finals (Natalie's late goal sealed the victory - way to go, Killer!).

In the semi-final, the Storm played Toro courage, which had thumped Ankeny in their quarterfinal match.  Behind a post-ringing goal from Natalie and two pretty finishes from Alyssa, the girls exploded to a 3-1 half-time lead, and Natalie's second-half finish again put the game out of reach.

In the championship game, the girls played Bangu's 14P girls.  The girls started well, and produced a lot of pressure early on, but then had some difficulty in transition in particular late in the half as Bangu was able to hold the ball in our end of the field for several stretches.  At half-time, we emphasized getting forward as a group and also pinning the ball to one side of the field when we lost possession, and we played a very good second half.  Alyssa had two great looks at goal, with the goalkeeper making two very good saves (particularly on one shot that rattled off of the bar after she parried it), but we were unable to put one away and the game went to overtime.  In the overtime, both teams produced a couple of decent looks, but the deadlock continued and a penalty-kick shootout was required to break the tie.  In the shootout, Lauren made a terrific save (and played a very good game), and Jackie and Grace converted, but we were not able to convert on our other kicks, and the result was that we will have to settle for being Finalists this year.

This was a great experience for the team. The back line of Caitlin, Sam, Poytee and Ranke (and Hannah, too) was tremendous throughout the tournament.  Jackie, Maggie, Grace, Britta and Hannah were also tough in the midfield all weekend.  Alyssa and Natalie scored several highlight-reel caliber goals.  Haley's hard running on the flank caused problems for every team we faced, and her defensive efforts in the final were impressive.  Erin, Belle, Alison and Raven all did great work in providing consistent pressure and service up top, and Bekka's tireless pressure on opposing defenders made transition difficult for our opponents.

Overall, the girls beat the State Cup champions from Minnesota, drew with the top team out of South Dakota, drew with the other MN State Cup finalist (the team is 2-0-1 vs. Bangu this year), and beat quality opponents from Eau Claire, WI (East District favorites), and Nebraska.  Congrats on a great weekend!

We want to welcome Grace and Erin, who tried out with the team last week and agreed to join us a day later.  The team now has a full roster of 18 players, and we will focus in the next two months on intensive technical and fitness training in particular and also finding some 11v11 scrimmages. 

The Black Storm went 4-0 and outscored their opponents 30-2 in capturing the 2007 Holiday Blast U13/U14 championship on Friday.

In the final, the girls edged Lakeville Synergy U14C1 in a shootout.  Lakeville struck first, but the Storm battled back and managed to tie the score and take the lead on goals by Belle and Haley.  After halftime, Lakeville earned the equalizer and the score remained knotted through the end of regulation.  In the overtime, both teams had good scoring chances but were unable to convert.  In the shoot-out, Alyssa and Poyty scored on blistering shots, and Lauren stone-walled the Lakeville shooters, turning away all four breakaways she faced.

In group play, the girls defeated Prior Lake (12-0), Faribault (8-0) and Hopkins (8-0).  Congrats on a successful and long day of soccer!