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Courage Make Finals of 2007 Virginian

May 28, 2007
The FC Virginia Courage U-12 girls team capped a 3-day weekend in the Virginian with a heartbreaking loss in overtime of the Finals. After taking first place in their group even after a surprising and disappointing loss to Alexandria on Saturday, the Courage girls advanced to the final match on penalties due to a rain-out semi-final Sunday night.

The final game featured a rematch of the first group game from Sunday, which the Courage won 1:0. The spunky Courage team focused on repeating that performance and then some and pressed early to threaten the Olney goal. The pressure paid off quickly with a penalty award for a hand ball in the box, only to see the Courage's top scorer miss just wide after picking her corner.

The penalty miss didn't dampen the Courage attack however, as they continually applied pressure and controlled the ball in the opponents half, earning several corner kicks, and missing narrowly on several occasions. Onley generated some tense moments at the other end, but a majority of the play was certain in the Courage's offense half. Half time score 0:0

The 2nd half started in the searing heat just after 12 noon with an immediate return to the intensity of the first half that only a finals could bring. After 2 and half days of pure soccer, both teams were running on pure adrenalin and desire. The half brought more of the same - Courage possession and pressure in the offensive half, and several quality counter attacks and high caliber midfield play by Olney - who's central midfielder seemed to be everywhere the ball was and then some. The Courage saw some promising attacks on goal thwarted by last second tackles, near misses, and fatigue-related mistakes, but the games intensity made for an exciting time to be spectator.

At the end of regulation, the teams were no further along than they had been an hour prior, with 20 minutes of overtime in 90-degree weather now standing between them and a championship. The first 10 minutes was littered with chances for both teams, but ended up even, but fatigue clearly setting in. With about 6 minutes remaining in the 2nd overtime, and the coaches about to make substitutions with penalties in mind, Olney put a quality ball into the Courage box with several players scrambling to get a foot on the ball. The scrum ended up in their favor with a firm ball in the left side of the net, 1:0 Olney.

The score was hard to take, but only doubled the first year FC Virginia club's determination as they pulled a defender and went for broke to get the tying goal. The final 6 minutes were interrupted several times the typical abuse use of the free substitution rule for time wasting, but that's part of the game. The game was iced by Olney with two minutes left by through a spectacular 20-yard free kick by the same midfielder who had been the key to just about every attack generated for her Maryland team.

After 3 days of nothing but soccer, sun, and storms, only holding up a championship trophy could make the Courage feel better than what they already did about their weekend. No including an inexplicable loss in group play, the entire weekend saw a renewed Courage team that had been in a slump and struggling to overcome injuries to key players for several weeks. With more players healthy, and other players wholly seizing their opportunity to impress to play their best soccer ever, this team has proven yet AGAIN, that soccer is a team sport and where it's more important to play together for your teammates than anything else. It was a great final that could have gone either way against a team we're sure to see again in the future. Great job girls!

Tournament Results:
Saturday, 2:0 win vs Wyckoff Torpedoes Red
Saturday, 0:2 loss vs Alexandria Titans
Sunday, 1:0 win vs Olney Shooting Stars
First place finish after group play
Sunday/Monday, 4:2 penalty kick win vs SYA Arsenal
Monday, 0:2 loss in final to Onley Shooting Stars