OLYMPIAN

ORACLE

October 28, 2000

Wingers Jordan and Jamie repeatedly took the ball down the sidelines and deep into Tiger territory and the strikers continually hammered the ball on goal.   The Olympians' efforts were quickly rewarded when only a few minutes into the match a pass from winger Jamie to Sarah resulted in the first Olympian goal.  Then only a couple of minutes later, the Olympians exploded for a second score, this time with a series of passes from Erikka to Jamie to Tiffany that resulted in a goal.  Meanwhile rock solid defense from the Olympian stopper Casey, backs Nora and Emily and sweeper Juliette thwarted almost every Tiger challenge, with first half keepers Amanda and Erikka capably taking care of the few shots on goal that the Tigers were able to manage.                                                                                                                                                     

About midway into the second quarter the Olympians connected for their third goal of the day, this time with Sarah scoring off an assist from striker Colette.  As the first half ended the game looked well in hand with the Olympians having by far the better of the play and holding a commanding 3-0 lead.

The third quarter got off to a good start too.  Even with the wind now in their faces, the Olympians played a pretty good quarter   Nora, Tiffany and Jamie in the midfield did a good job of feeding the ball to the forwards and also providing assistance when needed on defense.  And although the Tigers did manage to score a goal in this quarter, given the quality of the Olympian offensive and defensive play, the game still seemed to be well under control.

Maybe it was the wind in their faces,  the lack of substitutes or something else, but in the fourth quarter things started to unravel.  About five minutes into the final quarter the Tigers got their second goal of the game.  After that, the Olympian defense and offense tried to hold on, but their play became uncertain and tentative, while the Tigers kept getting to the ball first and continuing the attack.    With about three minutes left the Tigers scored for the third time to tie the match.  And finally, with less than a minute left in the game, the Tigers found the Olympian net once again and for the first time in the match, the Tigers took the lead.   Unfortunately for the Olympians, this was how it ended, with a crushing 3-4 loss.

Plays of the Day

The Olympian plays of the day would have to be those two rapid fire goals in the first quarter by Sarah and Tiffany, with assists from Jamie and Erikka.  In the final weeks, let's see if we can keep the scoring going strong, hopefully with some help from some of the Olympians who have yet to score.

Coaches' Commentary

Despite the disappointing loss, there was several good things about today's game.   First, the first half had to be the best 25 minutes of soccer that the Olympians have played all year.   You were constantly hustling to the ball, winning the majority of loose balls, passing well, dribbling well and playing smart -- the first half was nothing short of awesome.   Second, the two week old Olympian scoring drought is now officially over; now if we can just end our losing streak...   :-)

But as baseball legend Yogi Berra used to say, "It ain't over til it's over".   And the same holds true for soccer.  You have to remember to play hard the entire game and never let up or a good team may capitalize on your lax play.  To their credit, even when down 0-3, the Tigers kept trying and did not give up.  And today their efforts were rewarded with a come-from-behind victory.

Also thanks to this week's goal-keepers Amanda, Erikka, Jordan and  Sarah.

The Olympians missed Simone and Devon and look forward to their return next week.

Next week's game is at 2:20pm  against the Green Demons, the only team that we have yet to play.