U12 Red Girls began their pre-season play this past weekend winning the Elgin Back-to-School Tournament.

After a 5 hour game delay, the girls played their opening game against Rockford Raptors.  Ela lead with a single goal until the final minutes when Rockford scored with a fluke corner kick to tie the game 1-1. Sophia Starkis commanded the defense with goalkeeping and defensive direction. 

Game 2 posted a victory for the U12 Red Girls 3-0 against the Synergy Green.  exceptional defensive play by Grace Kinsey, Molly Machala and goalkeeper Emma Daleske kept the opponents scoreless. 

Ela needed a shutout to win the tiebreaker to advance to the finals entering Game 3 vs. Crossfire U12.  After leading 2-0 well into the second half, Crossfire scored on a penalty kick deep inside the goal.  Ela scored again with a final score of 3-1. 

Immediately following this victory, Ela and Rockford went head-to-head in a tiebreaker shootout:  Rockford miss, Ela score(Brousseau), Rockford miss, Ela score(Kamins), Rockford score, Ela miss, Rockford miss, ELA SCORE(Daleske) TO WIN and advance to final playoff game vs. Elgin Kickers.

Championship game against the Kickers United FC ended in another impressive shutout by the U12 Red with a final score of 4-0.

Overall, the defensive was impressive, shielding 30 total tournament attempts on goal and shutting out 2 opponents entirely. Scoring spread amongst numerous forward and midfield players including Brousseau, Stomberg, Kamins, Stieb, McCoy and Daleske.

Kee, Peldiak, Everhart, and Riekki kept the pressure on the opponents consistently thorughout the tournament.

This team won their division in the Spring 2011 and indoor championship winter 2011.  The team moved from a B division to AB division beginning this Fall 2011.  "We should expect some losses this season" Coach Jason Braznell told the team parents, "this new division will challenge them and improve their game."  Apparently they are up for the challenge.

TOURNAMENT STATS

            GOALS SCORED      GOALS ALLOWED

games                11                          2

shootout             3                           1

totals                 14                          3                      

"Kickin' more than grass out there!"

- Teresa Kee