Sodium plays up, and plays very well!

The lady warriors have chosen to play the U13 Gold bracket for the Spring '08 portion of the season. A move we all agree is going to be nothing short of fantastic for the girls as everything from this point on is in preparation for the second half of State Cup. Playing up allows the girls to play against U13 Premiere Gold opponents who are bigger, often faster and have an additional year of experience.
Sodium played its first game last weekend against Atletica, an FC Willamette team. They played very well despite the 3-0 loss. This weekend Sodium split against rival LOSC Dynamite and OSA Milan. In the 2-1 loss to LOSC the girls played hard physical ball all game, ending the first half locked at 0-0. The second half was just as rough as Sodium adjusted to the age and height differential. Nearing the half-way mark Jadyn McMillan took a cross and found the back of the net for the go ahead goal. Fatigue took its toll late in the second half. Sodium could only field 11 players Saturday and it proved to be there downfall as the fresher legged Dynamite scored twice at the end of the second half to take home the victory. The score was no indication of how good Sodium played. All game long the play centered in the Dynamite end of the field.
It turned out that Saturday's game was just a warm up. Sunday Sodium faced OSA Milan, a bigger more experienced team. Right out of the gate you could see Sodium, having two games against U13 opponents, knew exactly what it would need to do take home a victory. Crisp passing, communication and a strong defensive effort proved too much for OSA. The play all game was centered around the Milan goal. The Milan goalie played a great game, deflecting and grabbing shot after shot. Finally, just passed the midway point in the second half, on a Bailey Hall corner kick, Payten Sonnen rocked the goalie. The ball deflected off and Emmy Owens was there to fire it into the net. The defense held as the score remained 1-0 at the final whistle, solidifying a Sodium win.

Playing against these older, more experienced teams will prove to be a great tool in developing Sodiums skills. Add to that a confidence boost by beating these teams and it will prove to be an invaluable experience as we prep for State Cup.

Next up: Blue Mountain Exchange - Feb 29 thru Mar 2 in Richland, WA.
(I will try to post the background on the teams we play)

GO SODIUM!