Placer Girls Gold 97 Crowned Davis Legacy College Showcase Champs
Posted On July 15, 2010 by PUSC
The numbers – 5 games played, 16 goals for, 1 goal against, 3 days, 100+ degrees heat – gives a glimpse of the weekend, but doesn’t tell the entire story. This cohesive team has endured a great deal of hardship in the past couple of months – 3 friends/teammates down due to serious injury and a loss of a long-term coach. There’s one thing however, that this team did not lose – their drive and will.
In the first game against an old foe, the 97 girls took down Davis 7-0. The following game, versus EG Illusion was tight for the first half, but under the great direction of coach Ron Benjamin, the girls unleashed four unanswered goals to take the game 4-0. The following day brought old rival SRU. The girls pushed hard all game long and had several opportunities, but with about 15 minutes left in regulation, finished with the game winning goal. The perfect bracket record took the girls to the semi-final game and a meeting with the U14 Placer Blues. The Blues came out to play and the game was extremely physical, but the 97 girls prevailed with a 2-0 victory. The win however came with a hefty price – another precious teammate lost to injury.
This injury along with those sustained in the two prior tournaments brought the total on the injured reserve list to four. In addition, for the finals match, the team lost two more teammates to a well–deserved Regional ODP camp trip. Down six teammates in the championship game, you’d think going against cross-town rival and State Cup finalists Elk Grove Everton would mean certain defeat; well… you’d be wrong.
The girls came out with one thing on their minds – victory; and they never looked back. The game was well played by both squads and as always, like two heavyweight boxers, the punches kept coming. Placer struck first in the first half with a well shot free kick that squirted into the left corner of the net. Elk Grove came back with a PK in the middle of the second half. With the game tied, the Placer girls pushed themselves into overdrive and scored the game winning goal on a beautifully set and finished corner kick. EG did not relent and continued to push for a comeback, but as had been the case throughout the tournament, the defense bent but did not break.
A great and inspiring weekend by all the girls – Chloe Breckenridge, Makenzie Brito, Destiny Butcher, Gretchen Goyette, Anna , Ashari Hines, Kelsey Ito, Tamren Johnk, Carly Olcomendy, Sydney Pagador, Carlie Reader, Jessie Raybe, Savannah Schultz, Sydney Talmi, Sara Wagner… and a special thank you to our guest players: Emily Bringgold (U14 Black) Kamari Hines and Lindsey Erl (U13 Gold), as well as Stephanie Zuniga and Haley Crook. The weekend would not have been a success without you.