Junior Girls Soccer

SG Soccer White... vs Red: All Guts

By Erik Van Dyke
I’ve been coaching a long time. I’ve seen a lot. But I don’t know if I’ve ever witnessed a gutsier performance than this past Tuesday’s game vs SC Red. I honestly don’t think you girls could’ve given any more than you did.
 
The Stakes:  If we lose, we essentially lose any chance to finish first place in the league and win the coveted ETIAC Regular Season Banner. If we tie, same thing. It had to be an outright win.
 
The Opponent:  The “other” Stanstead College soccer team. The younger team. So good that, despite being junior age and mostly Grade 9, they were competing as seniors in ETIAC. Not just competing, but dominating. Easily. No losses or ties. Just wins. We scrimmaged them a few weeks ago. They beat us, too.
 
The Game:  I was nervous all day. We were going to try a brand new formation – with no practice – to try to deal with their ball skill, their passing, their speed, their endless waves of offense. The players bought in right away. No questioning. Complete trust. All business. Steely-eyed. A good warmup. Captains to the middle. Opening whistle.
 
And for the next 80 minutes, you girls left every ounce of your sweat and effort and will on that patch of grass out back. Playing SC Red is like trying to hang onto an angry crocodile. Lose focus for an instant and you’ve lost them. Let up for a second and you’re picking the ball out of your net.
 
Our defenders were unbelievable. Krystine Breton. Mariana Coronel. Charlotte Dube. Avah St-Pierre. Sara Paquette. Tasked with stopping opposing strikers who were faster and more talented, they bent and bent and bent some more, but didn’t break. It is so hard to commit to the challenge when you know you are one slick move away from giving up a breakaway. The only chance – trust. The only hope for success – supporting each other.
 
Maddie Lippmann was a beast. The best game I’ve seen her play. Ever. At least 20 shots on goal, including a rocket labelled for the top corner in the second half that I legit don’t understand how she stopped. Saved the game RIGHT THERE. Knees hurt so bad afterwards she could barely walk.
 
The wings. Ana Nieto. Siena Webster. Lana Peasley. And Jimena Sanchez, who set up the first goal of the game with a perfect through ball before being carried off the field with an ankle injury later in the game. Utterly exhausted every time they subbed off. Join the offense. Support on defense. Chase. Fight. Backcheck. Chase some more. Do NOT stop. Do NOT give up.
 
Camryn Moore, playing on a strained groin. No complaints. No subbing off. Half speed is better than no speed. Organizing the team shape. And when called upon to take the go-ahead penalty shot with 10 minutes left? She ice-water-in-the-veins buries it. That’s what captains do.
 
Gloria Riddell. Full game – no subs – at offensive mid. On shin splints. Try walking on shin splints for 10 seconds. Then try playing on them for an hour and a half. Gloria may not look tough, but she’s tougher than you.
 
Charlotte Hughes and Sofia Martinez at defensive striker, a position created just for this game. A position almost entirely devoted to chasing. No glory there. Just frustration at never having the ball. Frustration and fatigue.
 
And finally, Player Of The Game Bernadette von Campenhausen. The lone striker. The “wrecking ball warrior”. Basically played 1 vs 4, and through sheer willpower and determination somehow won that matchup(!). Played so well and so hard that she 1) scored the opening goal on a dirty move that you have to see on TwitterSnap to truly appreciate how filthy it was, 2) got taken down in the box with time running out to set up Camryn’s game-winning PK, and 3) immediately cramped up after that play and had to be helped off the field. She wanted to keep going, but her body wouldn’t let her.
 
The Aftermath:  It was up to Bernie’s teammates to take it home, and they did, despite the 3 minutes of extra time that felt like 15 minutes! When those three whistles finally blew, the girls erupted. The injured ones. The exhausted ones. The ones who didn’t play at all. Every player was 100% invested in the game, and in each other.
 
In the post-match huddle, I had tears in the backs of my eyes (waaayy back, but they were there!). Because I couldn’t believe how hard you had worked, how far you had come. Not so much as soccer players, but as teammates. Three weeks ago you barely knew each other. And now you’re in a huddle, arm in arm, screaming “OUR HOUSE!” at the top of your lungs.
 
Never forget how you felt this game. What it felt like to give THAT MUCH, and to be rewarded for it. Yes, it’s intense, it’s exhausting, even painful. But if there’s a better feeling in the world than celebrating in that huddle TOGETHER after the game, I don’t know what it is.
 
I could not be prouder, ladies. You should be, too.
Coaches Van Dyke & Kirby
 
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