The Kickers Academy teams played host to VA Rush and McLean over the weekend. The U16 Team produced two strong performances defeating Rush 2-0 and McLean 1-0, to record their third shut-out win in a row. The three goals they scored were of the highest quality; Carrabotta clinically finishing two goals from inch perfect crosses from Fracassa and Humphries while Hallinan produced a great solo effort by dribbling past several defenders before sliding the ball past the goalkeeper into the far corner of the net.
Coach Cowlishaw comments, “I am very proud of the way our squad continues to battle every minute of every game. We have spent long hours improving our possession and offensive qualities and although we still have plenty of room for improvement, I know that paid dividends in these two games.”
The U18 Academy games followed a familiar theme as they produced more inconsistent play with moments of brilliance and despair. On Saturday the U18’s were defeated by VA Rush, with the team playing poorly but goals from Foglesong and Luxner had the game tied at 2-2 with only twenty minutes to go. Just as it seemed the momentum had shifted to the Kickers, they conceded a late goal for the 3-2 loss.
On Sunday the Kickers improved their play with a strong showing against a McLean team that had thumped the Strikers 4-1 the day before. Lewis scored early before McLean responded with the equalizing goal. Yancy hit a rocket free kick from 20 yards out to give the Kickers the lead again. As the game progressed McLean continued to press but the Kickers held on with a combination of luck and excellent defense. Just when it seemed the 18’s had done enough to preserve the win, McLean demonstrated their never-say-die-attitude by scoring late into injury time . The game ended 20 seconds later with the score line of Kickers 2, McLean 2.
Coach Myers comments, “The weekend was a disappointment as we threw away four valuable home points and that is unacceptable. We have plenty of work ahead if we are to generate the type of performance this squad is clearly capable of producing”.
