Last weekend, Lyla’s team kicked off their spring season by participating in the Amanda Post Memorial Tournament in Columbia, MD. They played some good competition, but ended up strongly with a confident win in the first morning game.
We camped out in a sunny spot with the back of the car open for Lyla and some other team mates to relax and refuel with food before game 2!
Game two was a little tougher, but they still ended up with a win. Lyla played defender this tournament and did a great job. Most of her soccer time up till a part of last season has been in offense, so this has been a big switch for her to play defender. Even though it’s a little stressful to watch at times, I really think she does a great job in the back, and we’ve enjoyed watching her develop in this new position. Her coach still likes the fact that she can play either, so we’ll see where she ends up at mostly this upcoming season, but she seems to enjoy both, so we’re happy to see her doing her best and having fun.
Nina had a mandatory cheer practice to attend on Saturday, so Mark headed back home after the second game to get Nina and take care of Cayenne, and Lyla and I stayed over in a nearby hotel for the night. The next day was Daylight Savings, and with her team having the early game, and the fields being 1.5 hours away, it made sense to stay over. Several other girls did the same, so they had a blast swimming in the hotel pool, then we all ate dinner together, got some rest, and breakfast together the next morning. It was a lot of fun for Lyla. Mark and Nina joined back up with us the next morning.
The first game of day 2 was early and chilly, but we had less wind on the second day, and the sun was out, so it was rather comfortable. They won their third game and got ready to play another undefeated team from the other bracket for the championship.
The championship game against Baltimore Celtic was quite an even match. Both teams played to a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation, and the rules of this tournament were to go straight into penalty kicks with no overtime minutes. Lyla’s team has made it to the finals of a tournament 4 or 5 times and 4 have come down to penalty kicks, and they’ve won once. They were so hopeful to get another win here, but it didn’t happen. They ended up losing in penalty kicks. While the other team had a girl in goal who seemed like she played there as her permanent position, our team rotates girls in goal, and that can sometimes make it hard in situations like this. The girls and the one playing in goal did their best, so they should be proud even though they didn’t come out on top this time.
They did get second place medals and some encouraging words from their coach, then we headed home to enjoy the rest of our day. We enjoyed this first weekend of soccer and are looking forward to the spring season ahead with this great group of girls.
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