NewsAthleticsUpper SchoolStudent LifeFaculty/StaffPre-K to 8Service
Soccer Academy takes second place at McDonald's Invitational
Apr 18, 2005 3:36 PM
By Tannika King - Faculty
Darlington School Soccer Academy Director Chad Liddle sums up the team's performance at last weekend's McDonald's Invitational:
This weekend was a great success for our team, considering our players had an average age of 15 1/2 in a U17 bracket. The Soccer Academy took second place, and with one or two more players I think they would have won the entire tournament.
Our semi-final match was tremendous and sparked a great deal of interest among parents and players from other teams. During the course of the game, approximately 15 people came up and asked to know more about Darlington School and the Soccer Academy. I had time to answer their inquiries, as I had been "sent off" by the referee after the third or fourth bad call ... more on that later.
In our first game of the tournament versus Michigan United 89 from Westland, Mich. three advantages were taken away from us as sophomore German Ospina was dragged down in the box. Three times, the referee blew the whistle as Ospina released a shot that went in the goal (in the midst of having his shirt removed by an opponent). Three times, we got a penatly kick, but were only able to convert one of them. We won the game with a final score of 4-1.
Our second opponent was the West Virginia Rowdies. We tied them 1-1, missing the goal by inches several times in the last 10 minutes, and with Ospina blasting a 25-yard rocket that hit both the crossbar and upright. Our defense was tested throughout the first 60 minutes of play, but sophmore Alex Milhous showed tremendous leadership in organizing guest players in our backline, and played with confidence alongside junior J.D. Babb.
It got really interesting with one minute remaining, when one of their players took one of our forwards down in a breakaway foul outside of the box. After the foul was called, the player threw a "fit," kicked the ball 30 yards off the field and was written up. The referee took more than two miniutes of time to issue the yellow card and book the offense. Just as the referee finished booking the player and we were about to take our free kick, he blew the whistle to signal the end of the game.
The last two minutes of playing time had been essentially wasted while the ref wrote up the card. I hit the roof! He had just given our opponent's tactic of kicking away the ball the greatest of all advantages by not allowing us one last free kick into the box. After witnessing this decision by the referee to end the game prior to our restart, tournament officials apologized to me for the blatent lack of knowledge and use of judgement by the referee.
We played the third game against the West Virginia United Soccer Club from Morganton, W.V., U17 state champs. Right away, the referee forced eighth-grader Collie Powers off the field for wearing a Nike bracelet as he set up to take a corner. He took it off and was ready to take the kick, but instead the ref sent him off the field. Meanwhile, three opposing players brought jewelry to the sidelines so they did not get caught. We had to play short a man for four to five minutes before the ball went out of bounds for our throw-in.
The straw that broke the camel's back came five minutes later when we were called for a penalty kick. Babb had pushed another player down, so no argument on the PK. He lined up for the kick and took responsibility, making a once-in-a-lifetime world-cup level save. The referee then blew his whistle and pointed to Baret (one of our guest defenders), who was still standing at the top of the box with no involvement in the play, yelling "Your foot is on the line! Retake the kick!" Once again, to defend the tremendous save Babb just made, I went ballistic and, as a motivational tactic, got myself thrown out of the game!
The boys took over the game in my absence and showed incredible maturity, determination and leadership. That along with the incentive plan of "Three goals or three assists and I buy lunch" sent them into a level of play I have never seen them at to date.
Eighth-grader Sharpe Sablon and Powers were abusing players with combinations. Powers had three assists in one half, and was a larger-than-life work horse in the middle of the field. Ospina also showed his stuff, ending the game with four goals - one of which I watched from afar, rolling in laughter as he completely undressed not one, not two, not three, but four field players. Following Ospina’s incredible goal, the quote of the match came from the opposing coach who yelled to his players, “…I told you at half time, two players are on him at all times and now four of you can’t stop him? That’s embarrassing!”
Alex Lawson also showed tremendous poise with one of the best, most composed finishes I have ever seen from him. He finished with two great goals, the second being a text book header off of a tremendous service from Powers.
In the finals against Durham/Chapel Hill Arsenal, state U17 semi-finalists, the Soccer Academy lost 2-1. In summary, for year one I am extremely happy. We are not only competing at older age group levels and against colleges, we are often beating them.
The Soccer Academy recently played Reinhardt College, a top 25 nationally ranked NAIA team in 2003, and Shorter College. Darlington lost to Reinhardt 2-0, but beat Shorter 7-2.
This weekend was a great success for our team, considering our players had an average age of 15 1/2 in a U17 bracket. The Soccer Academy took second place, and with one or two more players I think they would have won the entire tournament.
Our semi-final match was tremendous and sparked a great deal of interest among parents and players from other teams. During the course of the game, approximately 15 people came up and asked to know more about Darlington School and the Soccer Academy. I had time to answer their inquiries, as I had been "sent off" by the referee after the third or fourth bad call ... more on that later.
In our first game of the tournament versus Michigan United 89 from Westland, Mich. three advantages were taken away from us as sophomore German Ospina was dragged down in the box. Three times, the referee blew the whistle as Ospina released a shot that went in the goal (in the midst of having his shirt removed by an opponent). Three times, we got a penatly kick, but were only able to convert one of them. We won the game with a final score of 4-1.
Our second opponent was the West Virginia Rowdies. We tied them 1-1, missing the goal by inches several times in the last 10 minutes, and with Ospina blasting a 25-yard rocket that hit both the crossbar and upright. Our defense was tested throughout the first 60 minutes of play, but sophmore Alex Milhous showed tremendous leadership in organizing guest players in our backline, and played with confidence alongside junior J.D. Babb.
It got really interesting with one minute remaining, when one of their players took one of our forwards down in a breakaway foul outside of the box. After the foul was called, the player threw a "fit," kicked the ball 30 yards off the field and was written up. The referee took more than two miniutes of time to issue the yellow card and book the offense. Just as the referee finished booking the player and we were about to take our free kick, he blew the whistle to signal the end of the game.
The last two minutes of playing time had been essentially wasted while the ref wrote up the card. I hit the roof! He had just given our opponent's tactic of kicking away the ball the greatest of all advantages by not allowing us one last free kick into the box. After witnessing this decision by the referee to end the game prior to our restart, tournament officials apologized to me for the blatent lack of knowledge and use of judgement by the referee.
We played the third game against the West Virginia United Soccer Club from Morganton, W.V., U17 state champs. Right away, the referee forced eighth-grader Collie Powers off the field for wearing a Nike bracelet as he set up to take a corner. He took it off and was ready to take the kick, but instead the ref sent him off the field. Meanwhile, three opposing players brought jewelry to the sidelines so they did not get caught. We had to play short a man for four to five minutes before the ball went out of bounds for our throw-in.
The straw that broke the camel's back came five minutes later when we were called for a penalty kick. Babb had pushed another player down, so no argument on the PK. He lined up for the kick and took responsibility, making a once-in-a-lifetime world-cup level save. The referee then blew his whistle and pointed to Baret (one of our guest defenders), who was still standing at the top of the box with no involvement in the play, yelling "Your foot is on the line! Retake the kick!" Once again, to defend the tremendous save Babb just made, I went ballistic and, as a motivational tactic, got myself thrown out of the game!
The boys took over the game in my absence and showed incredible maturity, determination and leadership. That along with the incentive plan of "Three goals or three assists and I buy lunch" sent them into a level of play I have never seen them at to date.
Eighth-grader Sharpe Sablon and Powers were abusing players with combinations. Powers had three assists in one half, and was a larger-than-life work horse in the middle of the field. Ospina also showed his stuff, ending the game with four goals - one of which I watched from afar, rolling in laughter as he completely undressed not one, not two, not three, but four field players. Following Ospina’s incredible goal, the quote of the match came from the opposing coach who yelled to his players, “…I told you at half time, two players are on him at all times and now four of you can’t stop him? That’s embarrassing!”
Alex Lawson also showed tremendous poise with one of the best, most composed finishes I have ever seen from him. He finished with two great goals, the second being a text book header off of a tremendous service from Powers.
In the finals against Durham/Chapel Hill Arsenal, state U17 semi-finalists, the Soccer Academy lost 2-1. In summary, for year one I am extremely happy. We are not only competing at older age group levels and against colleges, we are often beating them.
The Soccer Academy recently played Reinhardt College, a top 25 nationally ranked NAIA team in 2003, and Shorter College. Darlington lost to Reinhardt 2-0, but beat Shorter 7-2.
