Both Josh and Jake played for competitive town soccer teams this spring - Josh on a U14 team and Jake in the U12 league.
Josh’s team was made up exclusively of seventh graders in a league dominated by the noticeably larger eighth graders. Nonetheless, his team played in a very challenging division and more than held their own. Though they finished the season at 4-4-1 and were disappointed with their mid-pack standing, they really played very well and are excited about their prospects for next year! Josh has pretty much specialized at goalkeeper these days, started most games there, and only had a few game minutes as a fullback. He’s fun to watch!
Jake’s team also was comprised of first year U12 players. His team, however, had a little more success and finished their regular season games at 7-1-1 - good enough to gain them entry into the Commissioner’s Cup tournament.
On Father’s Day weekend, they played a three game round-robin format among the #1 and #2 teams from two divisions of their league. Game one was a close game that they lost 2-0. It’s closer than the score indicates as the second goal for the other team included a bank shot off a chair in the gallery - the ref kinda blew that call. The second game, in pouring rain, saw the Hornets come out flat and fall to a 3-0 deficit at the half. The other team only had about four shots on goal but seemed to be getting the breaks. We won the second half 1-0 but still lost the game. We salvaged a 1-0 victory in the finial game - a good back and forth battle on a muddy field.
Jake bounced back and forth between playing center fullback, where he directed the defense, gave the goalkeepers confidence, and used his speed to run down breakaways, and forward or attacking midfielder where again his speed paid off!
We’re very proud of both of our boys and their soccer achievements!! The play hard and have fun!!
