Xtreme Looks Great, Loses Opener

Soccer can be a cruel mistress – dominate your opponent for an entire half, and then an unlucky bounce, and suddenly you're on the wrong end of the score sheet. Xtreme 98 Red has had their share of those games – and the Fall 2010 Season Opener was a classic example.

Xtreme traveled to Springfield to open the season where they closed last season, Hooes Road. The opponent was SYC Stampede, who were knocked back on their heels for much of the first half as the Xtreme girls played their possession game that quickly frustrates opponents. Red possessed the ball for about 70% of the first half, only to give up the lead during a corner kick (one of only two Stampede mustered) towards the end of the half. Stampede was well-positioned and executed an excellent set play, while Xtreme was caught flat-footed and Stampede found the back of the net.

Their confidence restored, Stampede then added another goal on a freak play. A direct kick was awarded to Stampede, and though the Xtreme keeper made the initial save, the slippery ball took a strange bounce off her hands and squeaked into the goal.

Down 2-0 at the half, Xtreme made adjustments to try to break the scoring drought. But Stampede made adjustments too. Xtreme tested the Stampede keeper several times, but emboldened by their lead, Stampede took some chances, which unfortunately for Xtreme, paid off. A questionable non-call in an otherwise solidly officiated game led to a Stampede breakaway for their third goal. And finally a miscommunication between the Xtreme keeper and one of her defenders led to a fourth and final goal on what would have been a routine stop.

Despite the loss, the Xtreme girls showed that their hard work is paying off. They communicate well on the field, work as a unit, backing each other up and keeping the other team "predictable" as Coach Lance says. While the end result of the game was not what the fans hoped for, the squad showed that Red Soccer is still moving in the right direction. The girls look ahead to next week, when they will take on a powerful PWSI team on the road.

Fall Schedules Are Out – Somebody Likes Xtreme 98 Red

When the front office first saw Xtreme 98 Red's WAGS Division (Q), much thought was given to the long road trips into Maryland that threatened. However, the schedule is now out, and there is no need for player's drivers to invest in new GPS hardware. We'll play 2 games each at Sprague and Baileys, 1 game at Holmes. Three of our 4 road games will be on familiar Virginia fields: Howison, Hooes, and Spring Hill Rec Center, and we'll take one trip out to Crownsville, Maryland on October 17 for a noon game. Five of our 10 games kick off at noon. Three games start at 1:00 or 1:30, and one game is at 4:30, (on October 3 at Baileys). We have one weekend of a double header with games on both Saturday, September 25 and Sunday, September 26.

All in all, a very decent schedule that hopefully the girls can use to their advantage to notch some wins.

The full schedule has been posted to the Team Snap website and will be distributed to team members via email shortly.

Go Xtreme!

Xtreme Fall Practice Schedule Announced

Initial field assignments have been made and Xtreme received our first choices all around. Our two main practices will be Tuesdays at 6:30 pm at Sprague Center and Thursdays at 6:30 pm at Holmes MS Front. As we get later in the year it will get darker earlier and our practice start time will begin shifting earlier in 15 minute increments accordingly. We will begin using these assignments with the August 17 practice.

On Tuesdays our new sister team, the Vipers, will be practicing alongside us; on Thursdays, White will be practicing alongside us. The coaching staffs plan on integrating practices as appropriate. Additionally, we are working with Coach Germain on creating an optional third club practice – stay tuned for details.

Another exciting season approaches – get ready, get psyched, get Xtreme!

Fall 2010 Divisions Announced

WAGS has announced the divisions for the Fall 2010 season and we're going to see some old "friends" and several new ones. WAGS welcomed 14 all new teams into the U12 Division, and it looks like we'll be playing some of them.

Xtreme 98 Red will play in Division Q with McLean Spirit White (they fell to 98 White last season 3-1), PWSI Courage 98 Black (they fell to 98 White last season 2-1), and SYC Stampede (who tied 98 White last year 1-1). New opponents include Chantilly's Cesena 98 (formerly CYA Freedom Black), and four Maryland teams: Arundel Attack, CSA Power, Potomac Red, and DCST Metros Red 98. We've never played any of them, but we did post an almost identical record with Metros Red 98 in the 2009 Arlington Invitational. We never played each other, but we beat the same opponents and fell to the same opponents.

We now await the schedule to see how many times we'll be driving to Annapolis, Columbia, and other points in the Free State.

 

Welcome Another New Xtreme Member

We're happy to introduce another new Xtreme 98 Red face picked up from the try-out process last week. Cameron joins us from another Annandale team and loves playing forward. Cam is not only excited and proud to join Red, she's also proud and excited to have just earned her black belt in Tae Kwon Do this past week! When Cam isn't playing soccer or practicing martial arts, she's either reading, studying, kayaking on the lake, or playing with friends, or her German Shepherd, Phoenix.

Cam brings the same energy and excitement that she brings to soccer to climbing rock walls, swimming, reading, and flexing her imagination – inventing things in her spare time.

We are happy Cam has accepted a position with the Red squad, and I know you join us in welcoming her and her family to ours.

The Newest 98 Red Team Member

More than 40 aspiring Xtreme girls spent two weeks trying out for a limited number of spots on the ABGC's three rising U12 teams. Xtreme 98 Red has extended roster positions to three new faces. Here's the first – we're happy to introduce Kate to the squad and welcome her to the family. Kate comes from the Falls Church rec league and loves playing soccer, as either a keeper or forward. When she's not playing soccer she's playing with her friends – probably football.

Though Kate doesn't have any pets, she does love to go horseback riding, and looks for opportunities to house sit pets for friends, family, and neighbors.

Kate will be a student at Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School next year where she will continue to play the trumpet! Kate tells the front office her nickname is "Kate." But surely, First Aid, Space Ghost, Big Foot, Sunshine, The Taxman, The Hammer, and the rest of the crew will help her with an Xtreme nickname soon!

Welcome to Xtreme, Kate!

Xtreme Ends Spring Season with Two Strong Performances

The Xtreme girls finally got a crack at SYA Storm Black after the pre-Memorial Day rainout. And what a game it was. Xtreme gave up a goal 2 minutes into the game, and then settled down and really controlled the pace and tempo of the game. Megan and Teah led an aggressive pursuit of the ball, often driving Storm defenders deep into their zone, and thanks to Xtreme's swarming defense of Caitlin, Kendall, Erin L, and Erin G, Storm and her fast cherry pickers would muster only 7 more shots on Xtreme keepers, whereas the Xtreme offense sent 17 shots at the Storm keeper. One, from Belle, would find the back of the net with about 15 minutes to go in the game. Aiden and Audrey combined for 6 quality scoring chances; Emily sent two rockets towards the net; and with time winding down, Erin G - The Hammer, made everyone gasp when she rocked one off the crossbar. The ensuing corner kick was taken by Emma, but the Storm defense sent it out, asking her to try again. Emma launched a nice ball into the box where three Xtreme players hacked away at it, but were unable to buy a goal as time ran out.

The second game of the weekend found Xtreme facing the very strong SYC Tigers who only 4 weeks earlier had blanked Xtreme 6-0. It was certainly a different game this time around with Xtreme putting together long periods of ball control and accurate passes. In fact, as time wound down, Xtreme notched its 100^th pass of the game – something that only last year seemed a pipe dream, but now is closer to the norm for Xtreme. The three Xtreme keepers stopped an unprecedented 22 shots, giving up 7 goals (including one penalty kick). But our offense would not go home empty handed as Amalia stole the ball in our own end from a hot-dogging Tiger, brought the ball out of our zone, sent Audrey up the side, who crossed a pretty ball to Erin L who would put it away, highlight reel-style around a sprawling Tiger keeper at the 43 minute mark.

The Xtreme girls ended the game and season in typical Red fashion – with smiles on their faces, knowing they gave it their all, and had succeeded in turning in a better performance against a very strong team than they had a few weeks earlier.

The squad now looks forward to tryouts, summer fun, the World Cup, and…new uniforms!