Xtreme Opens the Season with Solid Play; Loses Home Opener in 60th Minute

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 2^nd 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 60^th 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.

Xtreme 98 Red Dominates at Liberty Cup

The Xtreme 98 Red squad took the field four times the weekend of March 27-28 and demonstrated consistently that they were ready to pick up the Spring season exactly where they left off in the Fall season.

Xtreme let their opponents score first in three of the four games, but rather than get knocked back on their heels, it fired the squad up.

First up was a team from rival club, FASA. (Recall a FASA squad beat Xtreme Red in the Championship game of the VIP Tournament in Fall 2009.) This was a different FASA team, but the black uniform still made our girls see red. They controlled the ball and punished the FASA keepers, punding in 6 unanswered goals to win the game 6-1. (Goals from Reina and Belle were pulled back across the goal line by the FASA keeper, but the referee was too far away to see them, so she called no-goals.)

Next up was one of the host teams, FPYC Flying Monkeys. A team we faced off against indoors this winter. The first half was a back and forth affair with the teams trading goals and swapping the lead, but with hat tricks from Belle and Emma, the game was placed out of reach for the Monkeys and the final recorded score was 7-3.

Sunday morning saw what was correctly predicted as Xtreme's toughest game. The girls faced off against a Vienna team we've seen in both the regular season and off season winter program. Like in the two previous games, Xtreme controlled the flow of this game with good passing and poise. The girls showed patience, testing the Vienna defense from all sides, breaking through several times and peppering the goal keeper with shots. The teams were well-matched and traded socring chances and goals, until finally Belle put Xtreme up 2-1, where it remained for much of the game. But the Vienna team rallied late in the second half and were able to put together a three goal run late in the game to take the lead. Xtreme pressured until the very end, sending 4 or 5 shots on net in the final minute of the game, but it would not be enough, and it would be Xtreme's only loss of the tournament.

The final game of the tournament pitted Xtreme against old frenemies, Team America United. Xtreme bounced back from the earlier defeat and came out owning the field. The controlled the ball and put on a passing clinic for all in attendance - breaking the tradition of the tournament and scoring first. But then TA scored two lucky goals to go into half time leading 2-1. As one official remarked during the break, "Why is Xtreme controlling the ball for 80% of the game but down 2-1?" Xtreme would answer with their feet, scoring two quick goals to take the lead back. But Team America wasn't done yet. They would tie the game mid-way through the second half.
But finally, Xtreme took final control of the game, going ahead 4-3 and staying there. They would add an insurance goal that was disallowed on a questionable offsides call and bear the physical abuse of a frustrated TA team, but in the end, Xtreme prevailed, winning 4-3.

Xtreme's excellent record of 3 wins, 1 loss, and no ties put the club in a three-way tie for second place, but with the most explosive offense of the tournament by far, we assumed we were guaranteed at least second place and a trophy, with a shot at first place if Team America Freedom could knock off VYS Vienna.

First of all, TA Freedom could not knock off Vienna. Vienna won 2-1 to go undefeated in the tournament. Secondly, we learned later that ties in the standings would not be broken by straight goal differential. The first tie-breaker would be Goals Allowed. The next tie-breaker would be Goal For. So, Xtreme with 19 goals for but 11 against, was pushed from the podium by host team FPYC Jaguars that had an idential record and 10 goals for, but only 2 goals against (3 shut outs).

Despite not receiving a physical trophy from the Liberty Cup, the girls have much to be proud of. They truly controlled all their games, showed great passing skills, and were able to practically execute the things Coach Lance has been teaching them for the last year. Every single player contributed, from Kendall running down countless breakaways; to the tic-tac-toe passing in the box from Laura, Reina, Aiden, and Hannah; from the giant boot of Caitlin keeping the offense attacking, to the smart, heads-up play of Anna and Erin G.; and from Amalia controbuting at both ends -making saves and scoring goals, to newcomer Megan cutting her teeth in travel admirably and fitting seemlessly into the line-up, these girls worked their hearts out. They had fun, they demonstrated that they are learning and growing, and that they can run with any opponent as long as they play their game.

Xtreme heads into the Spring 2010 season warmed up and hopefully hungry - the schedule is out and we'll be sending it around shortly. Good work, Xtreme! Shoot it!

Winter Practice Program Announced

Xtreme 98 Red's Coach, Lance Sherry has released the winter training program for the remainder of the off-season. Coach Sherry has designed a "Fast Feet/Fast Decisions Clinic."

Featuring speed and flexibility drills, ball skills, and then 2v3 and 5v5 futsal games, the 6-week program will be both physically challenging and mentally demanding.

Coach K and some of his players from another team have been invited to particpate, and the sessions will be open to new prospective Xtreme players.

The clinics will run for 6 Saturdays beginning on January 30 from 4:30 to 5:30 pm at the JCC facility in Fairfax. For more information, contact Michael Klein or Lance Sherry at xtreme98red@gmail.com.

Xtreme Falls to LMVSA, 6-5

Indoor Xtreme 98 headed into Sunday's game with former outdoor rival LMVSA Patriots 98 with high hopes, and although both teams delivered exciting soccer, it was LMVSA that emerged victorious.

Once again Xtreme let their opponents strike first, but the girls answered quickly with a tying tally. But the Patriots seemed to be hungrier, breaking the tie and pulling ahead - a lead they would never relinquish.

Xtreme delivered another thrilling game - applying great pressure on the Patriot keeper who made a dozen great saves in the final minutes of the game. Xtreme scored twice in the final 50 seconds to pull within one, but ran out of time before they could mount a final attack, hoping to pull out a tie.

Three games remain on the schedule. Next up, Alexandria Revolution on December 13 at 3pm.

Xtreme Tops Team America, Improves to 2-1-0

Indoor Xtreme took on indoor rival Team America in a Thanksgiving Weekend thriller. Once again, Xtreme let their opponents jump out to an early lead, but playing from behind is becoming an Xtreme specialty.

The teams traded multiple goals during the first 25 minutes and went into half time tied at 5 goals a piece. Inconsistent was the best word to describe Xtreme in the first half.

But Xtreme made several mental adjustments during the break and came out determined to own the field. And own it they did. The offensive lines kept pressure on the TA keepers and the defensive lines offered great support at midfield to keep Xtreme on offense for most of the second half.

Multiple Xtreme players scored - and frankly it was too quick and frequent for this cub reporter to keep up. The final score was Xtreme 98 - 12, Team America 6.

Next weekend Xtreme will take on outdoor rivals from the 2007-08 season, LMVSA Patriots.

Indoor Xtreme 1-1 on the Season

After an season opening loss to Alexandria, Xtreme 98 rebounded with an unbelievably exciting come-from-behind win against the VYS Firehawks on Sunday.

After much of the team stayed up ALL NIGHT at the Red squad's end of season party and sleepover, fans were uneasy going into Sunday's game. Xtreme fell behind 2-0 in the opening minutes, but dug deep and by halftime, the game was tied. The Taxman scored on a penalty kick, a result of multiple handballs, the last one inside the box, and Meg scored a blistering goal from the right wing.

The teams took the field in the second half determined to break the tie - and VYS opened the scoring. But Xtreme wouldn't give up, and actually controlled the ball and pace of the game nicely. Xtreme communicated very well and the lines Coach Summer developed synched up beautifully, backing each other up and feeding each other to test the Firehawk keeper.

Consistent with Coach Summer's belief that everyone should get a taste of goalkeeping duties, Xtreme rotated through six keepers. This game saw Kendall, Emma, Madison, Myriam, Meg, and The Hammer in goal.

Caitlin tied the game again with a thunderous shot from twenty feet that had so much boot on it, even if the goalie had gotten her hands on it, was going to carry her into the net with it.

Once again VYS broke the tie going up 4-3, but it was all Xtreme from that point on.

Backed by a solid defense of Kendall and Space Ghost, the offensive line of Elizabeth, Sunshine, and Caitlin peppered the VYS keeper and defense with an uninterrupted 5 minutes of pressure. Xtreme took at least 15 shots during the span that were saved or went just wide or were deflected. VYS was unable to make defensive changes and finally the shell-shocked keeper was able to deflect a ball into the Xtreme half, and all players on both teams changed.

With The Hammer in goal and Madison and Meg on defense, Xtreme's offense kept the pressure on. Taxman, Reina, and Laura continued to test the keeper until Laura found the back of the net to tie the game with less than 3 minutes to play.

The Xtreme line continued to dominate the exhausted VYS squad that lost two players to injury during the match, and Meg and Reina repeatedly tested the keeper, until finally, with less than 12 seconds left in the game, Reina found the back of the net from point blank range to send Xtreme up 5-4.

It was a thrilling match, both teams played well, but apparently working on no sleep seemed to work for Xtreme. Next up, a surprise Thanksgiving weekend game against TA Freedom 98.

Xtreme Ends Regular Season with a Win

Xtreme 98 Red ended the regular season with a solid 1-0 win against Chantilly 98 Freedom. The girls played a great game - their game - and really controlled the tempo of the game. The possession game that Coach Lance has been working on with the girls, and that is going to be the future of the squad, came into focus, particularly with passes back to the keeper to facilitate field changes.

Also of note, the girls finally exceeded 100 quality passes during a game, notching a 47 pass first half and a 54 pass second half. As Lance has said to them over and over, "when you pass, you win," and that was well on display on Sunday.

A more detailed Coach's report is coming, but congratulations to the girls of Xtreme 98 Red and all the fans thank them for closing out the season in such a composed and dominant way.