Placer U10B Premier Play Well in Tiburon
Posted On September 8, 2011 by PUSC
The U10B Premier team spent the weekend competing at the Fall Kickoff Tournament in the beautiful setting of Tiburon, California.
The first game versus Palo Alto didn’t start as planned and we lost a goal within two minutes of the start. It turned out to be only a minor set-back as the boys responded with three quick goals from Elvis Aviles, Marcus Tovar and Caiden Macktinger; and eventually won the game convincingly 6-1. In the second game, four first half goals were enough to see off Mustang. They did get one back late in the game but the result was never in danger. Placer won 4-1.
On Sunday in an early game versus East Bay Eclipse, the boys knew a win would put them through to the final and they didn’t disappoint. Good work by Crew Nottingham and Kyle Wesolowski ensured a solid defensive display and three goals either side of halftime were enough to produce a comfortable 6-1 win with Hunter Romine getting a goal and Christopher Cutright scoring a cracker from distance to complete the rout.
In the final, Placer faced Briceno SC Gladiators who had been equally impressive in their bracket play. Placer had a lot of the ball in the first half but were undone by a magnificent shot from outside the area to give Gladiators the lead 1-0 at halftime. Into the second half and an early second goal; again, a fantastic shot from well outside the area left Placer 2-0 behind and an uphill struggle. Placer got a goal back with 10 minutes remaining through Dylan Wilson who bundled the ball home after a goalkeeping error which set up a tense finale. Placer applied lots of pressure but had to be careful of any counter attack. With seconds remaining Kyle Schell’s quick thinking throw-in allowed Alex Schott to drive into the area and score from a tight angle to tie the game 2-2, and crazy scenes of jubilation ensued courtesy of parents, players and coach alike. On to two, five minute halves of overtime.
With nine minutes of stalemate and both teams cancelling each other out, in the final minute of overtime the referee awarded Placer a penalty. Delaying tactics from the Briceno coach in entering the field and trying to change his goalkeeper before the PK took its toll as the keeper saved the penalty and after kicking it upfield, the Briceno forward raced away with seconds remaining to smash the ball in and gave Gladiators a devasting 3-2 win.
The defeat was harsh on Placer. The boys were distraught at the end but they should all be very proud of their efforts and fighting spirit to overcome a 2-0 deficit in the final. In addition, they played some very good soccer and dominated bracket play. The game we love so much frequently has a habit of being so cruel…
Well done boys!
Kevin Unsworth
Coach