It was a late afternoon Sunday game. Strong winds out of the South and fairly warm. Everything was feeling out of sorts – wrong field, wrong side, bench falling over, change kits from Red to White. But we won the toss, got the wind to our backs and away we went.

Same lineup as on Saturday. Same mentality. Lee’s Summit had only lost 1 so far and the boys were ready. 5 minutes into the game and Hunter bangs it home. Two minutes later, Alex scores a big goal. They were down 2 to 0 in 7 minutes and it became panic time on the Lee’s Summit side. The game was physical and both teams were playing hard with both goalies making some good saves. There were some not so great tackles, some pushing and shoving. After some bizarre moments where the other coach took his team off the field and ranted at the refs, we finally resumed play. And in the 19th minute, Hunter scored the third goal of the match to put the game away. Halftime – Sedalia 3 – Lee’s Summit 0.

The 2nd half settled down a little bit with both teams making a good effort. Inferno scored in the 10th minute in one of their few shots in the second half. Hunter scored in the 12th on a nice assist from Dylan. We had quite a few chances and in the 16th Alex got his brace scoring his second goal of the match. Riley was there to make sure it hit the back of the net, but goal ALEX! With a couple minutes to go, Riley scored to make it 6 to 1 and then Lee’s Summit got a goal in the last minute for a final score of 6 to 2.

Not one of my favorite days. The other coachwas definitely not a good loser and was quite dramatic at times. The boys handled it all in stride- winning the game ON THE FIELD. On the way home, Riley and Trenton Willis watched Kicking and Screaming and I just had to laugh.

Great work everybody – what a great weekend. We are on a roll.

U10 had the afternoon game at WMSL on a beatiful, actually very warm (89 degrees) afternoon. After two really tough games that saw us outshoot the opponent but coming out on the losing side of goals scored, the boys were up for a good game.

We had worked at practice on a new lineup and we rolled it out against the strong Legends club. Again, armed with the Wembley attitude, the boys took the game to them immediately and Hunter worked in a great goal only 3 minutes in. Both teams played hard all over the pitch and we were awared a direct kick from about 20 yards out. Tanner took it and lasered it over the goalies head into the back of the net. We ended the half up 2 to 0.

Dylan had some good saves and our new lineup had Tanner working end to end in the middle, Ian playing sweep, Hunter playing the true English striker role and Alex holding strong on the right and Trenton Willis blazing up and down the left side. I really enjoyed watching this group work up and down the field. I had to keep reminding myself that these boys are just U10.

In the second half, we mixed up the lineup to put Ian back in goal. We were wearing them down a bit and started to dominate getting several chances on goal. Zachary Allison worked hard as our utility player and Riley and Trenten who had played a lot earlier, helped give the boys a break when they needed it.

Hunter put us up 3 to 0. Legends got a goal to make it 3 to 1. We had a couple corners and had come close. Tanner sent another corner into the box and Hunter got his head to it and beautifully directed the ball into the net. Just like we had practiced. Lovely. Trenton Willis had been working hard the entire game and towards the end of the game raced down the field to put their defenders and slotted it home for his first goal of the season. Very nice.

So a great win for u10 against a good team. You can really see these boys coming together.

The 26th saw us flipflop the weekend before with a U9 morning game at RSC and the U10 going to WMSL at 1:15. We were on our favorite field and up against an undefeated Lee’s Summit Rush team.

The boys had a good week of practice and were in Wembley mode. We were looking for an early goal and Trenten Leary worked the ball into shooting range in the 5th minute and we wer up 1 to 0. Then for the next 18 minutes it was an end to end contest with Sedalia leading in shot attempts. with 2 minutes to go, Riley and Trenten combined on a nice give and go, give and go and Trenten easily slid the ball past the keeper. Andrew had played brilliantly all half but had picked up a knee injury on a save and bravely hung in there the last couple of minutes before half. Rush beat our backline with just seconds to go in the half and we went in leading 2 to 1.

In the Raytown tournament, we had seen Rush down 5 to 0 at half time come out and score 6 goals in the 2nd half, so we knew they were definitely coming out hard. They scored in the 3rd minute to tie it up. Once again, the boys dug in and in less than a minute, came back and put in the go ahead goal (Trenten). Riley put in two more – one in the 13th and another in the 14th and then Trenten put in two more – one in the 16th and another in the 18th.

We coasted home to our fourth win out of four league games with a 7 to 2 win. While in my mind, I always have a man of the match, I usually don’t share it as we seem to have a good team effort every game. But with this game, credit has got to go to Trey Beerman, our youngest player – who worked his tail off for 50 minutes. He played the middle-middle role up and down the field and side to side, possessing and dis-possessing like an Alan Smith. Nice work Trey.

Games this Weekend:
Sept 26 – Saturday
U9 Boys – RSC field 9B – LSS RUSH (they are also undefeated) They were in the tournament with us
Game Time 10:45
Be There – 10:00am
We are the Home team – Wear RED (bring white for backup)

U10 boys – WMSL field 4 – NKS LEGENDS
Game Time 1:15PM
Be There – 12:30 – note – we will be rushing to get from the U9 game at RSC to WMSL – please be there and be ready – give yourself plenty of time to get to WMSL – both for the drive and for parking
Wear White – we are the away team (bring red for backup)

Sept 27 – Sunday
U10 Boys – RSC 9B – Lee’s Summit Blackfire Inferno
Game Time 4:45pm (I know this game is late but it was originally at 6:30pm……)
Be there 4:15
Wear Red – we are the home team (bring white for backup)

Wizards – the Wizards play the Colorado Rapids on Saturday at 7:30 at CAB. We have and can get tickets – we just need to know for sure if you are going to go by Thursday Practice (I have to make arrangements before noon on Friday for any extra tickets). Tickets are $10.00. We will head to CAB after the u10 game and tailgate from about 4 to 6:45.

We wrapped up a fun day of soccer at Community America Ballpark for the Wizards v FC Dallas. When the Wizards visited Dallas a few weeks ago they ended up on the wrong end of a 6 to 0 shelling. None of us could remember the last home win by the Wizards and the last home goal was the 60 yard bomb from Lopez against the Galaxy. The Wizards had just signed Kamara from Dynamo and spirits were high.

It turned out to be a fun game. The wizards took an early lead thanks to Hirsig’s first goal on a nice assist from Lopez. But FC Dallas got one in before half. FCD went up 2 to 1 in the 2nd half but Josh Wolf equalized in the 77th minute. The Wizards were throwing everyone forward with Lopez, Wolf, Zoltan and Kamara all on the pitch. But it was Defender Jimmy Conrad that did a diving/sliding header into the back of the net in the 80th minute to put the Wizards ahead and give us a 3 to 2 win.

The U9 Boys visited WMSL for a 1:15 game against the WMSL Warriors. The temperature was in the 80′s and with the mild weather we have had since August, the boys thought it was pretty warm out.

We got the game off on the right foot with some nice team play setting Colby up in the box and he finished with a nice shot into the back of the net at five minutes. The Warriors struck back at 10 minutes with a goal and tied it up.

We had a few chances must miss and than Tucker got a goal at the 15 minute mark to put us up 2 to 1. The warriors got a controversial goal when their number 8 slid into Andrew in goal who had the ball and then kicked the ball out of Andrew’s hands while on the goal. The boys bounced back and within a few minutes took it down and scored to go back up 3 to 2.

In the second half, we had several chances on goal as the game got fairly physical. Trenten netted one more and the Warriors got one more and we ended up on top 4 to 3.

Great battling – good heart – nice win.

We returned to league play with a match against first place Futura. It was an early 9:30am start at RSC. We started a little sluggish, but held our own until the 5th minute when Futura scored a good goal to open scoring. We had several chances but couldn’t find the net. At half time, we were down 3 to 0.

We started the second half strong and were keeping the ball on our half. Riley and Hunter combined with Riley popping the ball over the defender and Hunter sending it home.

We had a several more opportunities in a pretty physical game. Hunter found the net once more and the final score ended Futura 5, Sedalia 2.

In our first two league games, we have had some pretty good competition. This is helping us improve as a team and improve individually as players. Our shot count is good and we are improving with each match. Great job!

Thanks, Deidre and Amanda G

It was a nice cool, but foggy morning when we stepped on field 9A for the playoff with the Blue Valley Soccer Club Stars Nationals. We had won our group and while normally you would play the 2nd best team of the other group – we played the best team since they had allowed one more goal then Lee’s Summit Rush. So the stage was set for a challenging and exciting match.

We kicked off at 8:05am and BVSC did not disappoint, taking the ball down on their first possession and making it 0 to 1 in the first minute. But the boys shook it off and got their game going. There were terrific battles on the pitch and both teams were testing both keepers. In the 17th minute, Hunter drew us level with a killer shot in the back of the net. GAME ON!

5 minutes later with some good play all over the field and both teams opening the game up, Hunter hit again giving us a 2 to 1 lead. Both teams were playing with confidence and our boys were really giving BVSC a great game. With 4 minutes to go in the half, BVSC equalized and we went to half 2 to 2.

I was so excited at halftime that we were even and knew we would have a tough battle to go ahead. But everyone of our players were determined to stay in mix and battle. We did our usual goalie switch with Dylan coming out and Ian going in and away we went for 25 more minutes of fast paced soccer.

BVSC brought in their best players (77 anyone?) and went for the win. We held them off as well as  created several good chances of our own for 18 minutes of the half before BVSC found the net and went up 2 to 3. With five minutes to go, we had a throw in our end close to the endline, Riley had just come in on the left, Hunter took the ball on the throw and put a ball with pace across the goalie and Riley directed it past the goalie. 3 to 3, less than five minutes to go and a shirtless Riley signaled we were in this match for real.

BVSC pushed everyone up and while we held them off best we could, they were able to work in the game winner with only 2 minutes to go. The boys had worked hard for the entire game and had battled a good team. 3 to 4 was the final score as BVSC advanced to the final.

If you would have asked me last week if I thought we would win our group with 18 points and then play BVSC Stars National U10 to a 3 to 4 score, I would have thought you were very optimistic. But watching our boys play and the way the parents got behind them, I believe anything is possible with these hard working soccer players.

Congratulations!!

Our second game of the day did not get started until 5:00 – nearly 30 minutes late. I was concerned the guys may have lost some edge, but it turned out they had plenty to give. Topeka Select was the favored team in our group and we had plenty of work to do. But in typical Wembley fashion – our boys went out and took it to em.

Our scorekeeper did not get all the goals – I think the parents were having too much fun!! But here is what notes we have: – In the 5th minute, we got that crucial early goal with Hunter burying one into the back of the net. Great team play and fantastic pressure on the ball. This team has two tremoundous qualities – pressuring with and without the ball and great shape – we rarely get bunched in the middle and everyone worked hard to get the ball back and move it down the outside.

Topeka equalized in the 15th minute to make it 1 to 1. Two minutes later Hunter hit the net again and we were off. About 2 minutes later, Riley looped one into Hunter and he made no doubt about it – GOOOAALL. And in the 20th, Hunter again for 4 lead off goals. Trenten Leary picked up a nice cross from Hunter in the 23rd minute and that took us into half leading 5 to 1.

We knew they were going to throw everything at us in the 2nd half and they did. The guys worked hard and Tanner and Trenton Willis were busting up some great efforts. Dylan had held them to 1 goal in the first and Ian was doing some great work in the goal in the 2nd half as we held off some stiff challenges.

Riley changed that with a goal in the 10th minute and that was all the boys needed to open up the floodgates. We ended up scoring 6 goals in the 2nd half to win 11 to 2. Sorry that our scorekeeper did not get all the goals – she did notice that Riley scored again and Trenten Leary put the final goal away with 1:30 to go. If somebody knows who scored the other 3 goals – let me know and I will get this updated.

We ended up winning our group with 18 points, Topeka had 11 and BVSC had 5.

In the other group – Lee’s Summit Rush tied with BVSC Stars Nationals 15 points each and somehow win the group – even though BVSC won their other game 9 to 1 while Rush only won 2 to 0??? Very strange. RSC says it was goals allowed (0 vs 1) that clinched it for Rush.

So we will play BVSC Stars Nationals – the favorite team going into the tournament, at 8:05 am on Sunday morning.

An amazing day with an amazing bunch of boys. It was so much fun to work with them and be a part of their huge success. Everyone including alternate Colby Edgar contributed and did their part.

JOB WELL DONE! – I could not be more proud of this team- players and parents.