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 Lightning Flashes |
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Two more Lightning Players move on to play classic level soccer
June 2005 - Our most recent Lightning moves to Classic Soccer include Ben and Sean.
Ben was selected to play with the CASL United White team on June 3, 2005. He joins former Lightning player Rick K who has played for that team since June of 2004.
Sean was selected to play for TFC Navy. He is the first and only Lightning player to play for TFC. Good Luck Sean!
Congratulations Lightning! You continue to develop and grow. We are so proud of you.
Another Lightning Alumni selected for CASL Classic
In December of 2004, Brian #24 was asked to move up to the CASL United Black team as a goalkeeper. Way to go Brian!
Wednesday, June 9
Lightning disbanded for 19 GREAT Reasons.......
Due to the great amount of talent displayed by the Lightning players over the past two years, the Lightning roster saw nine players leave during the past two weeks due to classic tryouts, as well as decisions to play other sports, not to mention losing two coaches. Now it is time to say goodbye to the rest of the team as the decision was made today to disband the U-12 Lightning team. The following note is from Coach John Dalpe:
Dear Lightning Players and Parents:
As you have all heard by now, the CASL Men's U-12 Lightning has been dissolved. How did this happen and who gets the credit for making it happen? Answer: the players made it happen with the single goal we set for ourselves 2 years ago : Develop Players
As you may have noticed, our goal made no mention of winning games, although we did play to win. I believe that because we focused on development we were able to win more games than we lost... a lot more games than we lost. As a matter of fact, we lost no regular season games in our last 3 seasons. WOW!!
Next question, did we develop players? Answer: Absolutely!! Look at the following:- Over the last 2 years we have had 19 players wear the Lightning Jersey.
- 10 of those players have gone on to play Classic Soccer
- 1 player moved out of the area and 1 player chose to pursue another sport full time.
- 7 players have been asked to play for other Challenge teams within CASL, without having to try out again.
- All 19 players have either scored a goal or prevented a goal from being scored.
- All 19 players have played in the Final Four of the State Cup.
- All 19 players are some of the finest young men I have ever known!!!
All of you should be very proud of who you are. All of you should be very proud for what you have individually and collectively accomplished. For my part, I am proud to have been a part of the Lightning and I am truly honored to have been your coach.
In the famous words of Burnie Simpson: I love you Lightning!!
Coach John
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As we say goodbye, we want to wish all Lightning players good luck as they continue their individual pursuits. Good luck to the following players:
CASL
Scorpions |  |  | | Ben | Brian |
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CASL
Earthquakes |  |  | | Adam | Taylor |
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CASL
Tsunami |  |  |  | | Sean | Michael C. | Chris |
| Going to play
basketball... |  |
| Connor |
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Lightning Players Selected for Classic
Tryout season is over and Lightning is proud to announce that the following players have been selected for play at the classic level for the upcoming season 2004-2005:
'91 CASL
United Black |
 |  |  |  | | Ali | Ameer | Ethan | Jimmy |
| '92 CASL
United |  | | Andrew |
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'91 FVAA
Flash Red |  | | Daniel |
| '91 CASL
United White |  |  | | Mike S. | Rick |
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Former Lightning Players Selected for Classic (Again)
Congratulations to former Lightning players Alex Long and Ryan Hanson for being reselected for play at the classic level, the highest level of play available in the state of North Carolina:
Alex Long, who left Lightning in Fall 2003 for the '90 age group CASL Premier team as their starting goalkeeper has returned to his correct age group and has been selected as a goalkeeper for the '91 CASL Elite team in the 2004-2005 season, to join another Honorary Lightning, Jordan Rouse. Good Luck Alex!!!
Ryan Hanson, who left Lightning in Spring 2004 for the '91 age group CASL Premier team has been re-selected as the goalkeeper for that team for the upcoming 2004-2005 season. Good Luck Ryan!!!
Lightning shares love of soccer with area kids
The Capital Area Soccer League's monthly magazine, "The Goal" included a story in the March edition about Lightning's end of season "party" from Fall of 2003, which shows us that being a team means being a team player off the field, not just to your teammates, but to your community.
CASL 91 Lightning Shares Love of Soccer with Area Underprivileged Children
U-12 CASL Lightning boys challenge carries their money can to every game and tournament. For every goal scored, the can is passed down the sidelines, and each Lightning family in attendance puts $1 in the can. In past seasons, this money has been used to fund the teams end-of-season party.
The fall 2003 record-breaking season produced over $750 in the money can, more than double what had been collected in previous seasons. Lightning Head Coach John Dalpe, and the parents and players on the team decided this was too much money to spend on an end-of-season party. They wanted to do something with the extra funds, but what? As a group, they decided on two criteria: They wanted to do something charitable, and they wanted the Lightning players to actively participate. A five person planning committee was formed to come up with a proposal.
On December 14, the Lightning team hosted a soccer clinic for 18 underprivileged children, identified by YMCA director, Tim Joyce. The Lightning players donated their certificates for free soccer balls from Tire Merchant so that each guest could have his own soccer ball. Area Tire Merchant stores donated an additional 25 balls to support our event. Dicks Clothing and Sporting Goods store in Cary gave shin guards and soccer socks at cost to support the event. CASL contributed T-shirts for the new soccer protegees, and finally, the YMCA donated the use of the Ten-Ten Road facility in Apex for six hours in support of the event.
CASL players met their guest counterparts as they entered the building with a head-to-toe outfitting for a day of soccer. Lightning coaches, John Dalpe, Kevin Kocher and Rhonda Zillmer ran a two-hour soccer clinic, complete with soccer games designed to get everyone acquainted and produce giggles and smiles. After the clinic, guests joined the 16 Lightning families for a food feast and end-of-season celebration in typical Lightning style, ending with a competitive soccer shoot out to burst a piñata filled with treats for everyone.
Because of the generosity of CASL, the YMCA, Tire Merchants and Dicks, there was still over $200 left after all was said and done. Lightning decided to donate the remaining money to the Mary Myers Memorial, in honor of Mrs. Diane Corwin, a Lightning mom who is currently winning her battle with cancer.
This event was an excellent example of CASL kids contributing to the community and offering soccer learning opportunities to individuals who might not otherwise have the chance to pursue the sport. Hats off to the Lightning players, coaches and families for a job well done! |
Lightning is Greensboro Bound!
Lightning has earned a berth to the State Challenge Cup Final Four in Greensboro, NC next weekend after an absolutely fantastic weekend of soccer.
On Saturday morning, Lightning found themselves up against divisional opponents the Scorpions. Lightning took little time to find the goal with goals by Jimmy, Jimmy again, Adam, Ameer, Sean, Ameer again. Scorpions found their feet a little and scored 2 goals, but in the end, Ali put in another one and Lightning took the victory 7-2.
On Saturday afternoon, Lightning faced the South Charlotte Calvary Champs. Jimmy started the scoring early with a goal in the 6th minute. Lightning continued to pressure the goal, but couldn't find another goal until the 25th minute when Jimmy again put one home. In the second half, Lightning pressured, but found nothing going in the net. The Champs found an opportunity to put one in the back of the net to tighten the score at 2-1. Lightning responded almost immediately with 2 more goals by Jimmy to secure a 4-1 win.
On Sunday morning, Lightning faced the Union County Dragons. The Dragons had won their 2 games on Saturday as well, so the winner of this game would advance to the quarterfinals on Sunday afternoon as the division winner. Lightning had trouble early with the speed of the Dragons offensive attack as well as the big kicks of their defensive line. Although Lightning got some shots off early, the Dragons struck first in the 12th minute to go up 1-0. Lightning pressured for the rest of the half, but couldn't put any away. Ali finally struck gold in the 2nd half on a great set of passes by Chris and Daniel to even the score at 1-1. Lightning pressure continued, but found the Dragons defense unrelenting. The game ended in a 1-1 tie and Lightning advanced to the afternoon quarterfinal as division champs based on goal differential from Saturday's games. The USA Dragons also advanced to the quarterfinals as a wildcard, and won that match, so the Lightning will face them again in Greensboro next weekend.
Sunday afternoon's quarterfinal matchup was against division rivals, the Carolina Celtic. In 5 previous meetings of these teams, two of the games ended in 1 goal wins (1 for Lightning, 1 for Carolina Celtic), and 3 ended in ties. This was an elimination game, so the game would not be able to end in a tie. The Lightning attack started early with combinations by Jimmy and Ali, but Carolina Celtic hit first in the 12th minute to go up 1-0. Throughout the game, Lightning had opportunities for free kicks from 20-30 yards, but couldn't land any in the back of the net. The equalizer finally came in the 2nd half when a Lightning player was fouled in the opposing penalty box. Ameer took the penalty kick and landed it perfectly in the upper left corner of the goal. Although both teams continued to attack, nothing went before the final whistle and regulation ended at a 1-1 tie. Now, the game went to two 10 minute overtime periods. In the first overtime period, Lightning went immediately to the attack with shots by Ethan and Andrew, but Lightning broke the tie 4 minutes into the overtime when Daniel served an awesome ball from the left side to the chest of Chris on the right side of the goal, who deflected it in to make it 2-1. Lightning and Carolina Celtic continued to battle through the rest of the overtime periods, but couldn't put anything away, and Lightning secured the 2-1 win.
With the quarterfinal win, Lightning advanced to the Final Four in Greensboro for the second consecutive year. Lightning will compete next weekend in Greensboro against the other semifinal winners, the Chapel Hill United Celtic, the USA Dragons, and the Greensboro Gunners. Lightning would also like to congratulate their divisional opponents, the CASL Earthquakes for making it to one of the other quarterfinal matches.
Go Lightning!!!!!!!
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