President's Cup Tournament Wrap Up

When last I left you, our FCCA boys had won their first tournament game in Oklahoma and were resting between games.  The rest must have done them good because that afternoon, they won their second game against the other NC team in the tournament.   They'd already defeated this team twice, including the last time they played them for the NC State Championship. They were prepared for a tough game but ended up winning by a wide margin, 4-0.

Some pretty happy guys, postgame!

We had a celebratory meal at Macaroni Grill that night and then an early bedtime for the guys.  The next game was on Saturday at 12:30 against the third team in our bracket, the Harpeth Hurricanes from near Nashville.  Hard to say just what happened in the game - overconfidence, weariness, the realization that the outcome of the game had no bearing on moving into the semifinals (we were already in), just a bad game.  Whatever it was, the guys lost 1-4.  Yikes!  They were NOT the same team that had showed up winning two games on Friday.

Back to the hotel for food and rest in the air-conditioning and then back to the fields for a 6:30 semi-final game.  As we sat waiting for the game to start we realized that the bleacher behind us was filling up.  It turned out that the NC team we had defeated showed up to cheer our guys on in the semifinal match.  Very, very classy.

 One of the many shots on goal

Our FCCA guys played their hearts out in the semi-final.  They played incredibly well.  They must have had 25-30 shots on goal.  But they lost!  0-1 to a team from Arkansas.  It was pretty heartbreaking.

A very disappointed bunch of players made their way back to the bus....

Kind words from the bus driver who was with us all weekend, encouraging words from the coaches, and a pizza party at the hotel that night helped to lift spirits and put the weekend in perspective.  This was a group of young men from two clubs that merged last summer.  They had to learn to play as a team and get to know a new coach. Over the course of a season, until their last two tournament games, they had an undefeated record, placing  them in the top 16 teams in US Youth Soccer for their division.  Really, quite a season!