Wow!!! We had a great Memorial Day Weekend on the sports fields!!
It all started at 7:30 AM on Saturday morning with Jake’s first soccer game of the Danvers Invitational Tournament (aka: DIT). Both boys were playing on “composite teams” made up of interested players pulled from multiple town teams. The first game was a blowout. Jake’s team won 8-1 and didn’t sweat. The one goal was a fluke.
After some breakfast, it was Jake’s second game and his team won 3-0. Nobody came close to our goal and that was in a big part due to Jake’s play as center fullback for which he was awarded the MVP/Sportsmanship medal for the game!!
We finished Saturday with Josh’s first game. It didn’t go quite as well. On the uneven field, North Reading started with the downhill goal and the wind in our faces and the opposition took a 3-0 lead to the half. We won the second half 1-0 but netted a 1-3 loss for the game. Tough luck.
On Sunday, Josh had the first game at 1 PM and it was a fine back and forth match! We scored off the bat to take a 1-0 lead. The opponents scored twice to take a 2-1 lead and then we tied it up. With only two minutes left, our opponents got the winning goal just past Josh’s highlight reel dive. But… For his setup punts and numerous saves, Josh took home the MVP/Sportsmanship medal!
Then it was off to the baseball field for a great back and forth game for Jake’s team! Jake went 2 for 3 with a walk, a single and a nice triple to deep left field!! His team was down by one run going into the bottom of the last but rallied to win it 8-7!! Too cool!
A few hours later, Josh’s team would play their final game and salvage some pride with a 3-1 win and Josh again making numerous killer saves! Their weekend ended with a disappointing 1-2 record but they had a lot of fun!
Jake’s team would finish the first round play with a tight game against their eventual finals opponent. Jake atypically played right wing for this game and scored his team’s first goal! They played to a 2-2- tie - good enough to get both teams into the Monday finals and a perfect setup!
The big final game was quite the event! The two teams were very evenly matched and played to a 1-1 tie in regulation time. Two scoreless overtime periods followed and finally penalty kicks!! Jake’s team finally had to settle for 3-2 loss and the runner-up trophy but it was a fantastic showing and great fun!!
Jake, congrats on the tournament. It was a lot of fun watching you. You are so fast on the feet, just like your dad, and very gifted, almost naturally as you take the ball from defensive position, turn on the afterburners, and dribble the ball by all the other team members. It was fun to watch. In fact, you’re so speedy that the opposition has such a hard time catching you when you were dribbling the ball. Now that is something, because most people slow down a great deal when dribbling. Not you. You are speed fast. Great game. Glad I was able to be there for it.