Fall '17 Soccer Yearbook

Playoffs?!?!  Yes indeed, the theme of the Fall ’17 season was to punch our ticket to the inaugural Frisco Soccer Association playoffs and win the tournament.  The top 2 teams from each U11 division would make the 4 team spectacle in November.  We have finished in either first or second place the past 3 seasons so clearly a top 2 finish would be “easy”.  The season started very early for much of the team as 7 returning players started “Peter Luccin Academy”program – the creme de la creme of soccer camps, in July.  Throw in 20 hours at DX3 and lots of weekend work and by the time the smoke cleared on the season the girls had > 115 hours of training under their belts.  As far as the quest for the playoffs…

Week 1 vs. Sweet Tarts

This one is touted as the biggest rivalry rarely played.  Despite season-over-season posturing against the Tarts, the fact is we had not played them in over 2 years.  Our opponents moved up to the Gold division this season and had no choice but to face the music and dance with the Dolphins.  A midday kickoff and high 90s temperatures brought the anticipation to a boil.  Despite our confidence coming in, our opponents played hard and in the first half took advantage of a bad Goal Kick and led at the half.  A second Dolphins mistake in the Goalie Box would lead to a 2 goal deficit after surrendering a Penalty Kick. Despite Jordan connecting on a late score, the coaching staff would suffer the rest of the weekend under the soul crushing weight of their failure to get this victory.

Purefoy rivals pose after the game

Week 2 vs. Pink Panthers

Another local rival, the Silver division defending champion, were next up.  Never fear, as the Dolphins have not lost 2 games in a row under current leadership and tend to bounce back after losses.  The 8am start time helped keep the temperature conditions reasonable and the Dolphins would explode out of the gates on the Panthers - Jordan led the charge with an opening score on a breakaway play.  We would pile on 3 more scores in the first half including Taylor connecting on a Penalty Kick.  Second half garbage time would cause us to give up a few scores with our back-up Goalie but not before J&T each notched Assists to teammates in the 7-4 win.

Jordan gets after the ball

Taylor lines up for a Penalty Kick - she would connect and give us a 3 goal first half lead...

...and celebrated by strutting up the field

More Taylor - attacking the ball,

inbounding a Throw-In,

hustling,

stealing Lucky Stars & Stripes ball (8-0-2 lifetime record) from her friend Campbell,

and heading towards the Goal!

Week 3 vs. Earthquakes

Now back on track we welcomed an unfamiliar team for a second consecutive 8am start.  It was Picture Day where we are 6-0 so all arrows were pointing up.  Once again we were out of the gates strong, this time Jordan notched an Assist one minute into the game when her Corner Kick was put into the goal.  Jordan would score later in the first half off a pass from Taylor.  Despite these early heroics, we were tied at halftime.  Our opponents had one of the best individual players we would see all season (#14) and she was knifing through our defense all game.  It takes a village however to topple the mighty Dolphins and we would pull away in the second half where Jordan would score 2 more times for a hat-trick.  Despite the strong 8-4 win the coaches agreed we would need a better plan to control #14 in our season ending contest down the road.

Taylor lines up for her only Corner Kick of the game which would result in an Assist

Week 4 vs. Texas Stars

This game was a Dolphins party.  Taylor’s “pivot and shoot” never looked better as she scored the games opening two goals off Assists from Jordan & Addison.  The beat would go on as multiple players scored until we piled on a 6-0 halftime lead.  Early in the second half we had flipped our defenders to offense and played our emergency 3rd Goalie.  The defense would hold, Jordan would score late in the game to extend her streak to 4 consecutive games, and the Dolphins crushed the outmatched Stars 10-0.  The team had scored 25 goals in the past 3 games.

Coaches kids led the way as the Dolphins scored 10 goals in a game for the first time in 3 seasons 

Double-digit victories mean team photos + a stray Sweet Tart

Week 5 vs. Diamonds

There is history between these two teams and unfortunately tends to go against the Dolphins.  Ever since we derailed a Diamonds undefeated season in Spring '15, we have yet to net a victory in our past three match-ups.  A heat wave lasting late into October put the afternoon kickoff in the mid 90's. The Dolphins came out strong looking to buck the trend and carried a one goal edge into the half after Taylor delivered a goal off a brilliant center pass from her sister.  Taylor continued to have a stand out game, blasting shot after shot at the goal, only to be turned away when she hit the top and side cross bars multiple times.  The lead was not sustainable as we suffered multiple defensive breakdowns and conceded three goals en route to a 1-3 loss - fortunately we have no photos from this disappointing game.

Week 6 vs. Sweet Tarts

The winner of this game would have the inside track to a playoff birth.  Determined to not suffer a second loss against our rivals, we would add a third practice for good measure preparing for the game.  Despite the mid October date, temperatures continued to soar into the 90s with little wind at this afternoon kickoff.  The Dolphins opened strong and kept the action on their opponents side of the field for much of the first half, eventually taking a two goal lead.  The script flipped in the second half and after a bad Goal Kick the lead would cut to 1.  The Dolphins clung to the slim lead before suffering a monumental defensive breakdown late to concede a tie.  The disappointing outcome felt like the sting of a loss.

Jordan found little space against a tough defense

Heading back to midfield after taking a two goal lead

Week 7 vs. Pink Panthers

It's hard to beat good team twice in a season and this game would epitomize that.  We appreciated a break in the heat and the The Dolphins looked alive once again and raced to a lead taking 3-1 advantage into halftime.  The Panthers countered in the second half using their size and aggressive play to cut the lead to a goal.  The Dolphins escaped with a win when our All Pro Goalie, Emme, would stop a 1 on 1 break-away to close the game. 

Taylor launches a Throw-In

Taylor attacks the ball as Jordan looks on 

More Taylor - she took over Goal Kicks full time - the problem was that she had to do about 20 in the game

Scouting downfield...

...bombs away

Jordan goes coast-to-coast 

Modest size difference

Week 8 vs. Earthquakes

The final game of the regular season brought plenty of intrigue:  We needed to win & a little help to make the FSA playoffs.  The heat wave had passed and we found ourselves suddenly in Fall where the midday kickoff brought modest temperatures struggling to hit 50 degrees.  We also were playing against one of the best individual players in our league, the infamous #14.  With everything to play for, the Dolphins came out strong and delivered a consistent barrage of shots on our opponents, controlled # 14, and took a 3 goal edge into halftime.  Jordan would add two goals in the second half and we coasted to a 5-0 win.  

Jordan passes a ball to Taylor while she plays "on her toes" - Addison blanketed #14 the entire game shutting down the entire Earthquake offense  

Jordan commits a turnover when her back foot goes off the ground and Taylor dances as the team concludes it's typical strong finish, winning the final two games for the third consecutive season.  Later that day the Diamonds tied the Sweet Tarts so the Dolphins finished in second and in the playoffs!

FSA Playoffs vs. Storm

After punching our ticket as the two seed in the Fall Qualifier, the Dolphins had two weeks to prepare.  The road would not be easy as we faced the undefeated Silver Division champion in the opening game.  Kickoff would be at 8am and the backdrop would be our coldest game of the season.  Jordan showed up big and blasted an early goal to give us a lead.  The lead would not hold when we made a bad play in the box and surrendered a Penalty Kick.  Things looked grim in the second half when the Dolphins went down by 2 goals with only ten minutes left.  The Coaches would get aggressive and pull forward a defender to offense to keep the ball on our opponents side.  The adjustment would work when Jordan scored her second goal of the game and we would later tie the contest with just a minute left.  Playoffs mean no ties so after regulation we would go to Penalty Kicks.  The moment would be too big for the offense and after 5 rounds of PK's we would be at another stalemate of 1-1 (Red hot Jordan connected on hers).  We would go 8 deep when a Dolphins defender would sneak in the winning score.  The intensity & excitement of this game cannot be overstated.  

Dolphins gather awaiting a Goal Kick  

Coaches try to keep warm on the sidelines

Jordan celebrates after her opening score

More Jordan - she tends to have her biggest games against the best competition...

...and changed field position when she took this ball coast-to-coast

Penalty Kicks - Jordan shoots...

..and scores!

Playoff Championship vs. Diamonds

We had a 90 minute break between games so after a brief stint at home we were back to the park where the wind had picked up significantly and was going to be a factor in the game.  We came out looking flat & tired missing some golden scoring opportunities early.  We paid for it when we had some bad defensive plays leading to opposing scores.  We trailed by two but had the wind at our backs for the second half - Jordan crushed a shot and scored her 4th goal of the tournament cutting the deficit to one.  We kept the ball on our opponents side and despite significantly out-shooting them we just could never close the gap and eventually conceded the game 1-2.

Coach Brian tries to pump up a exhausted & cold team at halftime

End of Season Party

All good things must come to an end and despite extending the season 2 extra weeks we found ourselves handing out Silver Medallions & certificates at Braum's punctuating the close of our Fall campaign.  J&T (among others) will move on to basketball before coming back for the Spring. 

 Dad is in it for the hugs and Taylor (Designated Kicker), Emme(Team MVP), and Jordan (Top Scorer) show off their medallions and awards.

 Sky's the limit for the Dolphins Spring '18 where the team is 16-1-3 the past two seasons.