I cannot imagine a better way to have a soccer season unfold than this one did. Every fall when Samantha is assigned to a new team and coach there is a level of apprehension about what the season will be like, but this one turned out perfect - literally, based on their 8-0 record.

    The season got off to a great start, with an 11-0 win on Saturday, September 11th appropriately enough. Sam was still suffering the effects of the sprained ankle/foot that she had suffered less than two weeks earlier (we weren't even sure she would be able to play in this game, but she toughed it out). She was visibly limping throughout the game, which obviously affected her play greatly. She still almost scored a goal right at the beginning of the game while playing offense, but the ball rolled straight through the goal mouth. She also played in goal (allowing no goals on only one shot faced) and two quarters of defense.

    Although I missed game #2, on September 18th, due to a conflict with Tyler's football game, I was told that Sam had a great game. Sam's team held the lead in a tight game at halftime, by a score of 1-0. Tara said that Samantha was "playing an awesome game and kept four goals away" while playing goalie this half. Things heated up in the second half, and Sam went on a scoring spree. Tara first notified me on the phone that "your daughter scored the best freaking goal!" after her first score, and then she told me that Sam had "two others with help from her teammates." When I got home and was able to talk to Sam for the first time she told be that she had gone on to score one more, for a total of four. After struggling through last weeks game with a sprained foot, Tara closed her updates to me with "I think her foot has healed. This has been a great game for her." The final result: a 6-1 win.

    Game #3 was the team's only weeknight game of the year, played on Wednesday, September 22nd. Sam was named team captain for tonight's game after scoring four goals last week. She starting the scoring spree tonight as well, getting her first and only goal of the game early in the first quarter. She had a few more chances to score again, but couldn't quite get another one. The rest of the game she played on the defensive side of the field, getting one quarter each in goal, at mid-field, and on defense. Her team didn't need any more goals from Sam tonight anyway, as they went on to win by a score of 15-0!

    Neither Tara or I were able to attend the fourth game of the year (football for me once again, a prior commitment to a mom-to-mom sale for Tara) on Saturday, September 25th. Tara's mom was able to take our place rooting Sam and her teammates on, though. Since neither of us were there personally I don't have much to comment on for this game. I do know that Sam scored once again, giving her six goals through her first four games. She also played a lot on the defensive side of the ball thanks in large part to the 9-1 score that resulted in their fourth victory of the season.

    Samantha was feeling under the weather thanks to a battle with the flu for her teams fifth game of the season on Saturday, October 2nd. She was feeling well enough to play, but it was obvious that she wasn't feeling 100% as she was sluggish throughout. Thankfully her team didn't really need her, as they scored another easy 9-1 victory today. The only drawback to Sam playing ill was that she was the one playing goal when the other team scored their lone goal.

    Game #6 was played on a nice sunny day on Saturday, October 9th. Even though the weather was different than what we had been experiencing lately, the result was the same: a 6-1 victory. Sam got to play a full half on offense, although she was unable to score any goals. The remainder of her time on the field was played on the defensive side of the field. She was on offense during the fourth quarter when it looked like they were trying to take it easy on the opposition. She probably could have scored at least one goal during this quarter, but the entire team appeared to not be hustling towards the goal. They may have been told to back off a bit once they got ahead. We know that there had been some complaining throughout the season from the opponents parents about our scores, but the teams are supposed to be matched evenly by player ability by the league itself, so it isn't like Samantha is playing on a stacked team. At least not one stacked by the coach.

    The weather held out once again for Samantha's 7th soccer game of the season on Saturday, October 16th. This game was a rematch of Game #6, but the result was the same - another easy victory for Sam's team, this time by an 11-0 margin. Sam played goalie in the first period today and made one nice save before all of the action moved to the other end of the field. Quarter two was spent playing offense, and Sam scored two goals before the coach told her not to score any more. We are confident that this was a direct result of the complaining to the league by the opponents parents about our scores. Regardless, Sam has now scored 8 goals this season. Sam spent the rest of the game playing defense and midfield, and by this point the game was out of hand so there was no need for her to try to score again anyway.

    Game #8, the final on of the fall AYSO session, was played on a very rainy Saturday, October 23rd. This game wound up being the closest of the year for Sam's team, despite the fact that they had previously beaten them by scores of 15-0 and 9-1. Sam only played one quarter on offense (the first quarter) and she didn't score. It looked as though her team was told not to be aggressive when the ball was in the large goalie area. Once again it appears that parent complaining has paid off. She had some good looks at the net, but once the ball entered that zone it was if the whole team slowed to let the goalie make the save. She played goal in the second quarter, and made a nice save on the one and only shot she faced. The third quarter was on defense, and she sat out the fourth quarter (the other team only had six players show up).

    In total, Samantha's team scored a total of 70 goals in their 8 games, for an average of close to 9 goals per game. Sam scored 8 goals this season, which was a little over 11% of her teams points and an average of one per game. The team gave up only 4 goals all season long, for an average of 0.5 goals against per game. Great job girls on an excellent fall session! We look forward to seeing you all again in the spring!