Game Reports 2006

Organized confusion comes to mind when I replay the East York game in my

mind. It's not that our girls didn't try hard, they certainly did, but as a team they just didn't have together. Some looked confused, some looked unsure of their role, some playing out of position, creating havoc with some playing out of

position, creating havoc with other players. Can we blame players, coaches, the fact that our team hasn't practiced or played as a team for nine days or is it back to school stuff, who knows, just learn from it and move on.

We are all subject to circumstances and outside influences that affect our daily lives, why would our girls be any different. With good communication, support and encouragement our young ladies will be back on track on Wednesday night.

Oh Y e a h ! I almost forgot, this is a GAME report, every now and then I feel the need to spout off at the mouth, Sorry ! Now , having said all that stuff above, their was some great moments for Barrie. Being up 2-0 was a confidence booster. While East York tried to clear their goal area, Courtney.P. blocked it, took her shot, deflected off the keeper into the back of the net, and Kamiya's nice nodd in from Kristin's free kick and then, I said and then East York came back with two quick goals leaving the Barrie team bewildered. In the second half another two from East York, one called offside, left Barrie even more bewildered. " We best our ?? together" was the expression on the Barrie team's faces, they did, enough to create many shots on net with Mackie eventually finding home with one her shots, giving us at least a tie. Thank you girls for stepping it up in the last minutes of the game, a lesson possibly learned from past games, where the opposing team fought till the last. "EXPERIENCE, THE GREAT

What a great night for a soccer game, at least that was what the spectators and players thought. Apparently the Newmarket coaching staff didn't think so with all their whining and complaining about unsafe fields etc! etc! Even the referee succumbed to their ridiculous demands until our very own Kamiya

suggested the other field, which was deemed safe, all be it reluctantly by the Referee, the spectators and players were delighted, what a great bunch. Oh! It looks like I have forgotten the game again, oh no I have not, and what a game it was. Newmarket hasn't beat the Barrie team this year but what a great game they provide. I was particularly impressed the way Barrie's midfield and forwards worked together to control and maintain their system of play, creating so many chances at goal. Given the slippery conditions the goal scorers did well to score as many as they did. Lindsay's nicely controlled touch over the attacking keeper made it 1-0 in the first half. Now that the mosquito's had taken their pound of flesh and the rain had turned everyone into mush, amazingly, players and fans were up for a second half. Macky set up Rebecca.M. so score the second goal almost identical to Lindsay's goal. One of Newmarket's dangerous breakaway's proved to be threat when Emily made a solid tackle inside the 18yd box, yeah you got it, penalty kick for Newmarket, it was a nice shot, almost stopped by Lauren's long reach. Oh yeah here she comes, with a force yet to be reckoned with, Courtney.P. weaves up the left wing, strikes effortlessly to the back of the net to make it 3-1. Newmarket returned the favour with a bullet, slipping through Lauren's hands. Unstoppable Courtney.P. looked to be setting up Macky up front but instead scored in the bottom right corner, leaving the keeper stunned. The Newmarket team shook hands with the Barrie team against the instructions of their coaches. Those Players showed great sportsmanship and skill considering loosing half of their team mates to the Aurora team. Good luck girls.

Our Barrie Spirit players were caught by surprise by this fast Newmarket team. Barrie’s Cortney M. scored early in first half, apparently allowing the Barrie team relax , which turned out to be a mistake, when Newmarket came on strong to tie the game.

The game continued into the second half, 1-1 when Brenna.B. crossed to the goal mouth where Cortney M. tapped the ball home making it 2-1 for Barrie. It wasn’t a pretty game with lots of clearing and chasing. Barrie will be prepared for this team next time round, say the coaching staff, when the Barrie side will out in full force.

Heart is the word as the Barrie Spirit played Scarborough. The score was high in favour of Barrie, but the Scarborough team never gave up, playing their hearts out till the final whistle blew. This situation gave the Barrie coaching staff the opportunity to move players to different positions, to the point of pulling Lauren ( the goalie ) to a striker position, scoring four goals . Courtney.P. (midfielder) played in net and still seen lots of action.

I think I speak for most people attending the game the, mosquito’s were terrible. Seriously, we wish the Scarborough Team better results for the rest of the season.

The first game against the newly formed Aurora team ( Former players from Newmarket and some of last year’s Aurora team) with their aggressive style play, overpowering Barrie, leaving them reacting to play rather than controlling play. Aurora took an early lead after penetrating Barrie’s defence with a shot from 18 yards striking high in the net.

The second goal, Meghan. V. APPARENTLY ( according to officials ) fell while retrieving the ball deep in her defence, leaving the Aurora striker with only the goalie to beat, Hmmm!. For the second half Barrie came back looking more in control, creating more scoring opportunities but just couldn’t finish.

Hey! Next time!.

There was no lack of skill and determination in this exciting game. Barrie proved to be a good match for this fast and physical Unionville team. Kamiya’s cool and controlled touch over the keepers head gave Barrie their early lead, the battle continued. Unionville’s strikers, especially #4 and #17, although fast and skilful, rarely penetrated Barrie’s strong defence, but when they did, Lauren made some spectacular saves to keep Barrie ahead. From one of the many scoring opportunities created from midfield, Brittany scored a nice goal on the bounce to give Barrie a 2-0 lead, the fans are going mad. In the second half Barrie continued their strong work ethic, chasing down every 50/50 ball and keeping pressure on the Unionville defence and then suddenly Unionville took possession, pressurizing Barrie’s defence when Emily ’s hand accidentally touched the ball as she fell to the ground, Unionville was awarded a penalty kick to make the score 2-1. Time to break out the defibrillator and Valium for this over stimulated fan base. With Barrie fighting to keep their lead and Unionville desperate to equalize, this game stepped up another notch, when all of a sudden joy and jubilation engulfed the fans when Claire performed the strike of the game from outside the 18 yd box where the Unionville keeper made a bold but futile attempt to save it, 3-1 for Barrie. For the remaining ten minutes Unionville fought to last kick but just couldn’t penetrate. WOW! What a game. I congratulate each and every player on that field for a hard fought game.

Both teams seem to enjoy the same mixture of aggressive and tactical play. Although Barrie ramped up slowly, they seemed to get it in gear five minutes into the game. Once in gear, both teams moved the ball well, challenging every free ball. Barrie’s midfield looked strong, creating many opportunities for

Alana.M. and Rebecca.M. who chased down every through ball and cross. Looked like it was just a matter of time before Barrie was up 1-0.

In the second half Woodbridge played a new team from another planet ( some eccentric experiment ). During the World Cup, FIFA displays possession percentages in its transmissions, wonder why! Barrie was determined to keep their percentages down, giving away almost every goal kick, free kick, throw in and 50/50 balls etc, etc, etc. “What happened”. Oh yes defense had their share of mistakes, but that because they were constantly bombarded. Thanks to Lauren.M. in goal and our defenders we managed to stay in the game. To be fair the Crumble Factor can happen to the best of teams from time to time. Thank goodness the Alien Abduction was only temporary.

Lets hope the Woodbridge player who was carried off will soon be back, playing the game she loves.

The East York team last year was a tough opponent, and for this game it was no different. The first half ended scoreless. Although both teams had scoring opportunities, Barrie seemed to dominate control of the game. Coach Naim

( Barrie’s Head Coach ) played a big part in Barrie’s success, making Some

unorthodox tactical moves. The ability to move players forward, from left to right, right to left etc, etc, only proves how versatile this team can be. In the second half the cheers were loud and clear as Brittany.C’s pass found it’s way to Courtney.M. striking the ball home only to be called offside. Confusion and Disappointment spread over the Barrie fans. With only 10 minutes to go this game looked like it would end scoreless, until Brenna.B , now playing striker, took the ball into the danger zone, striking from just outside the 18 yard box, scored a beautiful goal leaving the very capable East York goalie bewildered. Often in games like this with equally skilled teams, the difference between winning and losing, is simply, DESIRE. Barrie wanted it more.

Darlington have taken the gold from Barrie, two years in a row at the Spiritfest, first with penalty kicks and the second time, well I think we all know what happened the second time when we were plagued by red cards, awarded penalty kicks, disallowed goals etc,.

Now! The Barrie team is revelling in their glory. HA!

Oh yeah right, the game. This game lived up to everyone's expectations to be an exciting challenge. Barrie looked confident to start, both teams feeling each other out, Darlington becoming more physical. Barrie wouldn't give an inch, frustrating the Darlington side. Barrie's midfield with their new system of play proved to be effective, maintaining possession and providing many scoring opportunities. Darlington had their fair share of shots on net, but nothing too threatening to our goalie Lauren.

Still no score in the second half, it seemed most of the pressure was on the Darlington goal. Even so, Barrie just couldn't find the target. With a change of direction, Darlington's #77 weaved her way through the Barrie defence for a strike on net, close but no cigar. Positional changes were made to the Barrie side with Kamaya on the right wing. With Cortney.Macs beautiful through ball to the right to set up a strike for Kamaya who smashed the ball off the crossbar, lots of "exclamations" from the fans, and then another from Mac to Kamiya, this time over the crossbar, wow too much. Again Mac beautiful through ball to the right Kamiya cut in to the middle, beating the fast #17shot with the left to score a sweet goal in the bottom right corner, the keeper was left frozen in the net. Darlington didn't take this lying down, they came back with full force. On a breakaway Darlington attacked creating mayhem in the Barrie goalmouth, Lauren lost grip on the ball, Kristen tried franticly to clear, attackers trying to score, finally cleared by Lauren still recovering from the save WHEW! The fragrance of fear was among the Barrie fans and coaches. Minutes before the final whistle, Rebecca.M. set up Alana.M. with a shot off the bar to end this fierce competition.

Yawn! Yawn! Snore! Snore! seem to be the sentiments of the onlookers to this game, Barrie never brought their game with them, they assumed Scarboro's. I wonder if Joanne maybe taped our Barrie players ankle's too tight or maybe even together or have the aliens returned and erased any memory of soccer.

They looked like a bunch of constipated ballet dancers. Just maybe I have been too harsh, Barrie's memory returned on occasion with some nice give and go's, a beautiful goal by Megan.R., a well fought goal by Alana.M.,Kristine's nice breakaway's resulting in a goal, Kaitlyns touch in the left corner of the net and our two Courtney's with a goal each. When Scarboro's striker scored ( a nice goal by the way ) the ball seemed to have a mind of it's own dribbling its way through every white uniformed player on the field. I did see the Scarboro coach playing with a remote control, I wonder. Hmmm! I think this is a good game, for the Barrie team to completely erase from their minds.

“Plop Plop Fiz Fiz Oh what a relief it is” to see this game end before Aurora came back to bite our butts, the pain was too much to take. A great beginning to this game with Barrie showing Aurora who’s boss. With Barrie on the attack most of the time, Brittany set the play for Courtney.P. to send a longshot to the

net, giving Barrie an early lead. Shortly after this Kristen gave Mackie her chance, she took it, a nice touch over the keeper’s head, 2-0. We are all feeling pretty comfortable now, the game is not over till the big boned, slightly overweight lady sings, yes you guessed it , Aurora came back fighting and scored their first goal, 2-1.

Barrie came back admirably in the second half, reacting to Aurora’s aggressive come back. Again, like in the first half Barrie came on strong , although the play was not particularly pretty they began to eat away at Aurora’s defense, starting with Shannon’s throw-in to Kristen, who scored to make it 3-1, yes, back in the comfort zone, let’s not get too comfortable now. Claire, who played a solid game set up Courtney.P. to score her second goal, 4-1. Mackie scored the fifth from a well placed pass from Shannon, 5-1. I turned to Steve O’Reilly and proclaimed “ Can this be true “. Now I’m feeling slightly embarrassed for the Aurora crowd, ever so slightly. Still on the attack Brittany received a ball, was shut down quickly but managed to get to Jenn who quickly beat a defender, took her shot, scored a nice goal to make it 6-1. This, in my eyes was not a pretty game, dare I say it, the score did not reflect the game. The signal was sent to all on the field when Lauren was replaced by Courtney.P. “ we can relax now, no danger “ ……. WRONG!!!!!

This Aurora team continued to fight coming back with goal after goal. This Aurora team, who although don’t have the advantage of a coaching staff like Barrie’s are aggressive and quick to the ball, stunned Barrie with their tenacity, teaching Barrie a lesson in perseverance. Parents, coaches, and players are welcome to comment on this reporters opinions.

strengthen our position, but it was not to be, so lets get over it. As long as I can

As friends, parents, players and coaches leave the field, shoulders slumped, heads hung low, stricken with grief on this damp rainy night, I think to myself, all is not lost, we are still top of the heap. Yes, it would have been nice to strengthen our position, but it was not to be, so lets get over it. As long as I can remember, teams everywhere, win AND lose, why, you may ask, because all teams have good days AND bad days. Doesn't this sound familiar, yes Life itself.

The Barrie team started off well, winning most balls, constantly pushing the Unvl/Mill defence and looking well organized. As the first half progressed, domination switched to Unvl/Mill finishing the first half scoreless.

The second half as described by one parent, who wished to remain anonymous,

looked like a game of Ping Pong, Unvl/mill being the Ping and Barrie being the Pong leaving Barrie with a 3-0 loss.

The key is in how we react. Do we feel sorry for ourselves and blame it on this or on that, or, do we regroup, continue to work hard together, focusing on our goals (pardon the pun) and most importantly, believe in ourselves. This team consists of players, coaching staff and parents who are of strong character and determined and who will bounce back as we have seen in the past.

Barrie was forced to step up their own brand of physicality to compete with this violent style Woodbridge team. The game from beginning to end was more about physical and mental toughness than skill, technique and strategy. Twenty minutes into the game, from a corner kick by Jenn, the ball deflected

from a Woodbridge player into the Woodbridge goal making the score 1-0 for Barrie. To their credit, Woodbridge came back with even more intensity, winning more balls and laying the pressure on Barrie's defence.

Both teams needed the win at this crucial time of the season where time to gain points is running low. In a game like this one, where emotions run high, things tend to get out of control, this is where the referee steps in. A Woodbridge attacker, frustrated by Emily's solid defending, lost it, throwing punches at Emily's head, was then red carded, stalled the game for at least five minutes while she lethargically removed herself from the field. I just hope she doesn't get a pat in the back for this display.Emily received a yellow card for, I'm not sure what. Meghan.V. was awarded a yellow, which wasn't too bad considering how many times she saved our butts, even Mackie got one. This game could have gone either way. I'm sure both teams learned something from this competition. Woodbridge learning, you can't always win by intimidation alone and Barrie gaining more experience, playing teams of this type. With "Time and Experience" the Barrie team will learn to better deal with this style of play.

A quick thank you to our goalie and defenders who played a particularly awesome game.

Down in a hole that resembled an asteroid site on a freezing night, our Barrie players probably played the most important game of the season, if not their whole soccer lives. Nerves played a big part of this game, game readiness was key, pre-game rituals are important to bring players into focus.

Most high level sports figures have their rituals and most would admit, this being disrupted could cost them their game. During pre-game warm-ups, Barrie players were asked to remove their leotards (tights), deemed by the Pickering referee and coach to be an unfair advantage, disrupting the pre-game warm-ups, sending players running to the washroom to change etc etc. The Barrie players were dressed just in

time for the kick-off. Barrie fans and spectators looked on as the game began, harbouring their own brand of nerves knowing what this game meant to players and team officials.

Pickering came on strong in the beginning leaving the Barrie side mostly defending. About 30 min into the game a Pickering midfielder scored a long shot, surprising Lauren giving Pickering a 1-0 lead. Barrie players left the bench for the second half looking more confident and ready as a result of some encouraging words from the coaching staff, every ball was challenged and scoring opportunities were created. A corner kick from Jenn sent Kamaya flying through the air heading it home, Oh mama mia, the crowd went mad and then, Mackie literally pushed the ball into the net ( not with her hands of coarse ) for a second goal, the crowd looked the Scots in the Braveheart movie when they were mooning the English, Barrie hung on, not only to win the game, but also the league and to Qualify for a promotion to the O.Y.S.L. which is the Highest Level Youth Competitive Soccer League in Ontario. Congratulations Girls, your hard work and determination has paid off, possibly giving you an opportunity that most girls your age can only dream of.

This game attracted, not just the usual crowd, you know, moms, dads, brothers, sisters, grandfathers, grandmothers, cousins, long lost cousins, friends, long lost friends, dogs and cats, I think you know what I mean, anyway, we had coaches from other teams and all the Brass from the club to see this team who won a league with so many talented teams. The Barrie Spirit90 are all on a Victory High, a wonderful experience to be savoured. This team is in the building process and as in any building project, care, must be taken.

For this game the bulk of the pressure was off, but this was no time to compromise the competitive nature of this team. With the pressure tweaked downward Barrie looked more focused and controlled. There were times of greatness and times of ping pong. Barrie started strong, applying lots of pressure, working hard to penetrate Pickering's strong and fast defence.

The Pickering goal area was packed with Pickering defenders and Barrie strikers, working franticly to push the ball in their respective directions, until eventually Lindsay got her head to the ball to give Barrie a 1-0 lead to end the first half. Stringing two passes together was not something Barrie had achieved much of up until this point. More and more plays between defence, midfield and forwards were being executed which was nice to see. Brenna took control on the left wing, beat a defender, switched a long ball to meet Kamiya making a run on the right, who beat a defender, crossed it in front of the net for a well timed touch by Alana to the back of the net, what a beautiful play.

I sense our players being more and more in tune with each other, anticipating each others moves, recognising plays and positioning themselves accordingly.

The game ended with cheers, photographs and confetti, what a great night.