The Red girls took the field in the season opener determined to keep up the momentum from the Liberty Cup. The first opponent was the Jr. Majestics 98 Blue squad – a club and program steeped in discipline and success. Xtreme had fallen to sister Majestic teams in years past – but this is a new Red squad.
True to form, Red came out and immediately took control of the game with accurate passing and heads up play. At about the five minute mark Erin The Hammer sent Emma Sunshine surging ahead down the left side. She crossed a nice pass to Belle, who powered past two defenders to blast the ball into the back of the net.
And then the defense took over. Caitlin, Kendall, and The Hammer built a wall near the midline and rarely let any Majestics through. But one of their players was itching for a breakaway – and with her impressive speed, she did manage to get some, shooting wide a few times, and then right on target several times, turned away by Erin The Taxman who made 6 tremendous saves in the half – each worthy of a highlight reel. But the Majestic's #22 could only be thwarted so many times, eventually she found the back of the net to tie the score as the first half wound down.
The Majestics made some adjustments for the 2nd half and they applied more pressure, actually adding a goal to take the lead. But Xtreme rallied, and with The Taxman on defense, and largely glued to #22, the Red squad punished the Majestics with our physical game that makes the opposing team sacrifice their body to get through.
Caitlin challenged a Majestic attacker and took the ball from her in the near corner, then controlled the ball the length of the field, piercing the Majestics zone defense to fire from the right corner. The shot was blocked, but Caitlin grabbed her own rebound and crossed it brilliantly to Aiden – our own Menacing #22 – who buried the ball into the net to tie the game.
Newcomer, Megan, nursing an injured ankle, saw limited game time, but enough to record her first Shot on Goal. Audrey and Ally took turns rattling the Majestic keeper with 5 combined shots on goal, and Madison also got comfortable in the penalty box and put one hard on goal that the keeper got a hand on.
The teams then battled back and forth for the remainder of the game – both teams completing nice passing sequences. The game looked to be ending in a tie when, in the 60th minute, the Majestics caught Xtreme slightly flat-footed with a quick throw-in from the far corner. The ball bounced its way into the box and ricocheted around off players from both teams, finally taking an unlucky high bounce and beating the Xtreme keeper.
The referee afforded Xtreme one final opportunity to tie the score, the kick off as time expired led to a shot that went wide and the game ended. Majestics 3, Xtreme 2.
However, Xtreme played a great game, notching 156 quality passes that translated to a Slurpee courtesy of Coach Lance. Players are circling their calendars – Xtreme will play the Majestics again on April 17, this time at the Majestics home field.
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