Xtreme 98 Red arrived at the VSA Haymarket Complex ready for Day 2 of the Bull Run Tournament with so many mathematical outs for all the teams that it was anybody's tournament. The Black Stallions were 2-0, Freedom was 1-1, 98 Red and White Stallions were both 0-1-1, and Stafford Revolution Gold was 0-2. Red took the pitch against Stafford first, an ODSL Division 1 team, and immediately welcomed them to the show. Just five minutes in, Big Foot took the ball from a charging Revolution player and sent Happy Feet streaking down the left side. She expertly crossed the ball to the Taxman who, as she does, made the Revolution pay. It was her team-leading 6th goal of the season and second of the tournament, and for the second time in three games, Xtreme was out to an early lead.
Having scouted the Revolution through their earlier games, the Red defense, led, brilliantly and as usual, by Hollywood, was able to completely shut down their attack, which relied on two key players. Sharky would only be asked to make one save in the first half. Which she did.
Red's precision pin-point passing terrorized the Stafford defense and keeper – they knew the shot was coming, but they weren't sure from where. Late in the first half it was Space Ghost and the Sledgehammer knocking on the door. Space Ghost charged into the box as the keeper came out; SG got the shot away, colliding with the keeper as she made an impressive save. But she couldn't hold on to the rebound, and the quick thinking Sledgehammer, who had brilliantly followed the play into the box was waiting to easily tap the ball across the goal line. But wait – there was that waving flag sound. The linesmen determined the keeper had been fouled – no goal. And Space Ghost limped off the field as the half ended.
The second half looked much like the first – Red controlling the ball and shooting on the keeper at will. For the first time all season every single Red player recorded at least one shot on goal – even keeper Sharky whose punts are like rocket propelled grenades.
Just two minutes into the second half the Taxman would return Maria's generousity from the day before, feeding her a ball that the young impact player would bury deep in the back of the net.
Feeling more comfortable with a 2-0 lead against a team that was having trouble getting their offense started, Red would begin to get creative. Corner kicks were played long and short, attacks were begun and pulled back, and Red simply dominated the Stafford team. Another Red goal would be pulled back for an offsides call, and Sharky would be asked to make four saves in the half.
Late in the game, Space Ghost told Coach Lance she thought she could go back in. And she went in hard – receiving a pass from the Sledgehammer in our zone and charging the length of the field to ice the cake with a goal at 58 minutes.
It was an impressive Red performance from start to finish: the girls tallied 10 corners and surrendered one, suffered and committed five fouls, notched 126 passes, and logged 45 shots – 30 of them on target.
Earlier in the day, Freedom had beaten the White Stallions 3-1 to secure 6 points in the standings to Red's 4. The Black Stallions had also won their earlier game, so they were a lock for first place. But second place remained open. A Freedom win would guarantee them second place. A Freedom-Red tie and White win against Black – however unlikely – would put Freedom and White in a goal differential race. However, a Red win against Freedom would give them seven points and put them in second place all by themselves.
The interclub rivals took to the pitch for the final and decisive game of the tournament – just two weeks after two Red players guested with Freedom in a WAGS Annandale win.
The two teams play very different styles – and they clashed early. Red's slow possession game came up against Freedom's hard-charging aggressive game and it was intense. Red had the upper hand on scoring chances in the first half – asking the Freedom keeper to make several exciting saves – which she did. Sharky turned away the three quality chances from Freedom – one of which had resulted in an apparent Freedom goal and left her on the ground – the wind knocked soundly out of her. But the linesman determined Sharky had possession of the ball and the Freedom player had kicked it out of her hands – no goal.
Freedom players were called for four fouls in the first half, but Red was unable to convert them, and we went into the halftime tied at nil.
The battle continued in the second half, but Red would strike first. A Taxman throw-in (erroneously credited to Big Foot at first) found Maria in the box all alone – she'd bury it for her second goal of the tournament and fourth point.
Red began to feel confident, moving the ball well and making Freedom chase – but chase they did. And Freedom began to get frustrated and the fouling increased. Freedom received 9 fouls in the second half and one player was shown a yellow card – not for a foul, but for "Dissent." Red, too, became more physical in this half, earning The Hammer a stern verbal warning from the referee as he awarded Freedom their first of two direct kicks from inside the Red half. Red built a wall as the Freedom specialist, Elizabeth, trotted up to take the kick. Red was anxious, having watched her score on this exact opportunity in her previous game against the White Stallions – but Sharky saw that play and she knew where the ball was going – upper right hand corner – and she was there to make the save of the tournament on a brilliant shot from Freedom.
But Maria was having her game of the tournament as well, and when First Aid dribbled around and through the Freedom defense and fed the ball to Taxman, who drew a defender to her and scootched a perfect ball to Maria – the young guest drilled it into the back of the net with extreme prejudice. Red was up 2-0 with 12 minutes to go.
The game took on a fever pitch and tension was high on the sidelines. Red was happy to play keep away and make Freedom chase the ball – and Freedom's finesse players tried to mount an attack – but they were running out of time. Freedom was awarded another direct kick, but the blast was sent high and the game would end 2-0 for Red.
Xtreme's girls were thrilled with the win and the perfect DAY turned in by Sharky – 5 goals for and none against – and they didn't even realize their hard work had earned them hardware. But it had, and the girls and their parents climbed the hill to pick up their second tournament trophy and secure more positive press for the club.
Over the four games Xtreme scored 8 goals and gave up 7, Xtreme keepers made 44 saves on 51 shots (86%) and notched two shut outs. The team took 129 shots – 84 of them on target (65%) and recorded 443 precision passes – averaging more than 100 per game.
Player milestones included Taxman with 2 goals and 4 assists for 6 points, Maria with 3 goals and 2 assists for 5 points, and Space Ghost with two goals. Taxman was the shot leader with 24 shots, 16 on target; Big Foot had 23 shots with 10 on target; First Aid had 14 shots with 10 on target; and Sunshine also had 14 shots with 9 on target. Hollywood notched 11 blocked shots and the Professor recorded six.
The girls will have a fantastic and well-deserved Memorial Day break and look forward to closing out the WAGS season with a way away game in Maryland next weekend.
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