Congratulations to the U-12 Girls Thunder for being a finalist in the 2009 Lazers Cup.  The girls went 3-0 in their first three games by beating the Glory United in the first game 2-0.  Then they played Tophat Blue, beating them 2-1 in a very close game that went down to the wire.  In the third game, they played on Sunday morning, in a win or go match, they held on to beat Tophat Navy 2-1 to make it to the championship game on Sunday afternoon.  The championship game was a rematch of against Tophat Blue, who won their final game to advance to the finals.  In a back and fourth match, the score was 0-0 at half time.  The girls from both teams fought hard for the next 25 minutes, but neither team could break the other team’s defense and at the end of regulation the score was still 0-0.  Two 5 minute over times ensued and a possible game winning goal for the Thunder sailed just barely wide, which kept the score at 0-0.  In keeping with a very even game, the teams were tied 4-4 in penalty kicks after the first round and went into sudden death penalty kicks.  Both teams scored on their sixth penalty kick so it continued into the seventh round.  Tophat Blue made their seventh kick and won after their goalie was able to stop the Thunder’s seventh kick.

 

While the score card said they lost, no one was the loser in this type of game.  All the girls fought hard this weekend playing 4 games and only giving up 2 goals while scoring 6.  They will use the lessons learned in Peachtree City to prepare them for the Academy Cup in May where they plan to come out on top this time.

 

Players

 

Julia Brown, Paula Cantillo, Hailey Collins, Lauren Drinkard, Dale Franks, Hayley Hall, Arlena Joyner, Sam Lloyd, Kelcy O’Barr, Lili Posso, Emily Taylor, Maria Thomas, Alex Travis

 

Coach

 

Brian Esarove