Burlington Results in Heartbreak

Early this morning, just as the fog was lifting over the 16 fields of Skagit River Park, you could see a group of players striding confidently towards field #4. Once they got to the sidelines they dropped their bags, grabbed their soccer balls and went to work. They knew there was no more preparation, there was no more studying, there was only the task at hand; beating the defending US Club Regional Champions, Crossfire Premiere G95A. This one single objective was the goal on every players mind as they methodically and thoroughly began their preparation.
They got there by beating Washington's State Champion (who hadn't had a goal scored on them) and by beating Washington's Challenge Cup Champion. Not bad for a team that didn't make the quarter finals in Oregon.
As the players lined the field to march to midfield you could see determination in their eyes.
The whistle blew and the battle was on. The Crossfire was big, fast and physical. Their mids were lightening fast and you could tell that this was going to be the battle royal for Sodium. As with the last two games, and much to the surprise of the Sodium faithful, they came out and just pounded the Crossfire keeper. Within the first 5 minutes Sodium had pile up in the Premiere box. The ball squirted to Dani Brown who one touch turned and fired a rip past the far post for a goal! The crowed cheered, the Eastside fans cheered! Everybody cheered! The Premiere squad raced back to midfield, they would not go down without a fight. With just minutes left in the half Crossfire penetrated deep into Sodium territory down the right side. They flooded the box which brought our mids down. They lofted a cross to a pretty much wide open forward camped outside the far post and the match tied 1-1 going into half-time.
Crossfire had never been here. They had never been scored on, they had never been behind, they had never been tied until today. Was this team from Oregon for real? They would find out in the second half.
The second half was just as fast and furious as the first. Bodies hit the turf and the blood flowed. Keepers on both ends made spectacular saves and the mids battled and battled. With just under 6 minutes left Crossfire had penetrated deep and crossed a shot in front of the goal. Taylor Luty extended out sideways, caught the ball and hit the ground as she brought it in. A Premiere forward crashed into her and kicked the ball out of her hands and into the goal. Everyone stood there. Then the unthinkable, the ref called a goal! Obviously she kicked the ball out of the keepers hands which is against the rules but he called it anyway. As any great defender would do both Erika Cook and Taylor Coon were immediately in the face of the ref explaining to him what happened [because he obviously missed it]. His response; "I make the calls", their response; "Then make the correct one!" [More on this later] The Crossfire fans went nuts as their team took a 2-1 lead with under 5 minutes left. Sodium would not let down, they had come too far now. They marched up to the line with a look of a platoon of soldiers who had fought long and hard but had one more hill to conquer. The whistle blew and the attack was on! Tom had pulled Lexi Frey up front to add to the firepower. They play was confined to the Crossfire end as Sodium would not go down with out a fight. Lexi had the ball down the right side deep. She ripped a cross into the crowed where Mac Kearney came flying in to get a foot on it and slam the back of the net! The crowed went wild, the fans went wild, the Eastside Red fans and players went wild! [Yes Mr. Geist, they were rooting against a team from their own state! It's called rivalry, can you believe it!]
The score was tied in regulation and we were heading into OT! In the 2 x 10 minute overtimes the play was brutal. More bodies on the turf, more elbows, more blood. I thought a Greko Roman wrestling match was going to break out! At the end of the 2 OT's the match was deadlocked. On to PK's!
Taylor Luty had had a great tournament thus far and she was ready put it all on the line. In all the excitement I don't even recall who shot the PK's for Sodium but it went something like this;
Crossfire scored 0-1
Sodium stopped 0-1
Crossfire Scored 0-2
Sodium stopped 0-2
Crossfire stopped 0-2
Sodium scored 1-2
Crossfire stopped 1-2
Sodium scored 2-2
Crossfire scored 2-3 for the win

Rightly deserving the Crossfire Premiere team and fans screamed and mobbed the field. Sodium cried in frustration and defeat.

Do not hang your heads Sodium, look at the run you've had over the last several months;

Nomad Finalists
BME Champions
Beat WSA Courage [Clash at the Border Champions]
United Cup Champions
US Club Regioanls Finalists [Beating the Washington State Champions, Challenge Cup Champions and losing to the defending US Club Regional Champion in PK's]

And in a side note, this is the first loss since the new squad has taken the field. The first time we took the field with a full roster [only missing 3 players] we beat Black Hills U15 team in the CFC Timbers Friendly up in Vancouver and never lost since. A pretty impressive statistic I might say.

Notes from the sidelines
First, Tom mentioned a couple very important points after the game. He mentioned Sodium needed to pay more attention to details and he also mentioned developing attitude. I am sure the coaches will address the the first point, I would like to address the second, attitude.
Lady warriors, you work too hard, sacrifice too much and are too talented to not walk on the field each and every game with the attitude you are going to dominate the opposition. Attitude is when mental and physical preparation collide. When you have worked your butt off physically and you know the game inside and out. That is when attitude happens.
If I were to ask you all before the game if you were going to go out and beat the pants off of Crossfire, I guarantee the majority would have responded "Um, I guess so." The 5 or 6 that possess the attitude of a champion would have yelled; "Dang right!" And you know who those 5 or 6 are. You see them every practice. They hustle, they work hard, they push themselves and their teammates to be the best. And who do you think the team relies on most on the field? Those same players. Look at the track record listed above! Can you name another Oregon team who made it to the finals in a Regional event? I can. Can you name another Oregon team that made it to the finals in a California tournament? I can, and that's because there is only one, Sodium. And THAT is why you need to work harder, sacrifice more both on and off the field, to be the best. I would put our team against any in the state right now, hands down. No LO, no OR Rush, no Keizer or FC can hold a candle to you right now. But you need to take all the hard work you put in and take it to the field. Have fun, cop an attitude! You have the talent to back it up!
Secondly, the officiating in Washington has always been horrible. With the exception of the SSC Elite game, this tournament was no exception. Now, I don't whine about officials because games are won by putting the ball in the net. Period. But even for me to say this in light of the fact we won all our games? Has got to say something. Case in point; finals game. We are on the sidelines and this guy is standing next to us. We yell something about the call. The guy turns around and says; "Your right, it should have been blah, blah" [he explained it]. Turns out, he is an official in Washington. He even pointed out several instances where the official on the field missed calls that we didn't even catch! And when the ball was kicked from our keepers hands he said that the official totally missed the call and it should NOT have been a goal. Funniest thing was he was wearing a CROSSFIRE JACKET!!! So that means he should have been biased for Crossfire but totally agreed the official missed it! Anyway, thought I would share that story for a laugh.

As kind of a recap of the coming weeks we have girls guest playing in Cascade Cup & Beaverton Cup. Then we have Lake Oswego Cup, PQT's then off to Mustang Stampede in Danville, CA.

Keep the fire Sodium, take this time to reflect and adjust the attitude. Take the time Tom has given you and work on nutrition, go for a run or two. Rest the bruises and ice the injuries. Get plenty of sleep because we have scores to settle in the near future.

A very large thanks goes out to Dani for playing with us this weekend. You are a very special player who will always have a place in our memories and on our roster.

GO SODIUM!!