Ocoee Cup, Cleveland TN - September 23-24, 2006

The Xtreme headed to Cleveland Tennessee this weekend to participate in the 10th Annual Ocoee Cup. Cleveland is famous for its camping, hiking and most of all its white water rafting. With severe weather in the forecast the Ocoee River was not the only thing in town that was going to get everyone wet.

The clouds were gray and threat of severe weather in the forecast the tournament got underway and the Xtreme had probably it toughest match up of the year. The Nike Impact is nation wide club and has many competitive teams and the club had sent one of their good ones to play in this tournament.

The game went back and fourth from the moment the first whistle blew. Each team possessed the ball well and put themselves in good positions to score but it was the Impact that was able to draw first blood in the 10th minute of the game. The Impact played a ball wide to a midfielder and was able to serve a ball beautifully across the pitch to find an overlapping run from the opposite midfielder. The run enabled the midfielder to get past the defense and one on one against the goalie. Ben did everything he could to stop the shot but the Impact was able to go up 1-0.

The Xtreme didn’t let the goal get them down. They continued to play well and created several chances for scores. It only took the Xtreme 8 minutes to even the score. The team got the ball wide and Taylor was able to get the ball in the box and was looking to score. He had an open shot and took it. The ball deflected off a defender but took a fortuitous bounce and ended up at Spikes foot. Spike didn’t waste this chance, he one timed the ball to the opposite corner of the goal and the goalie didn’t even know what happened. The game was now tied at one and went to half time that way.

The second half was much like the first, back and fourth. The first game of a tournament, both teams fighting for points and we were in for a great second half. The Impact again was the first to score in the half and it looked to be a controversial goal. With the defense pushed up, Ben played a goal kick over the first line of defense. The ball bounced to an Impact player who played the ball to another player who was already on the other side of the defense. This put our goalie in another tough one on one situation and he almost stopped the ball. It appeared to be offsides on the through ball but the call stood and the Impact was now up 2-1.

The game was intense and both teams battled hard. Time was running out and the Impact was starting to smell victory. The Xtreme was no going to go away quietly. The team continued to push and got several scoring opportunities, including one off the crossbar from Taylor. But it was in the final minute of the game that the Xtreme finally drew even. Off of a corner kick from Turtle, Spike played a beautiful head ball in to the net. It was a big time goal and was a well deserved goal for the team.

The team showed resilience and never quit until the final whistle. This is a sign of a good team, always giving 100% and never quitting. I wish the second game could have gone as well.

The Xtreme faced the East Ridge Soccer Association (ERSA) White team in their second game. The ERSA White had already won their first game 5-0 and was going to be another tough match for the Xtreme. I don’t know if it was playing an early game, the time zone change or a combination of the two but the Xtreme looked tired and flat. Although the team looked tired the game went to halftime tied at zero.

The second half started promising and Xtreme got just what they needed to get them going. Taylor had made a great run in to the box and was tripped by a defender. The team was awarded a penalty kick and it was Spike that was going to try and put us on top. This game was not meant to be ours; Spike is usually on the money with his PKs but today he had a rare miss, right to the keeper.

The team never woke up from their slumber but still had some opportunities to score. The team just didn’t go to the ball like they usually do. They were just out hustled and other team wanted it more. The ERSA were able to get two scrappy goals and beat the Xtreme 2-0. This was not a great moment for the Xtreme but I can only hope that the boys can learn something from this loss. Always give 100% in every minute of every game.

The tournament was lucky on that Saturday and was able to avoid the storms but Saturday evening the skies opened up. It rained from Saturday evening at 9 PM all the way through Sunday morning. The tournament officials delayed the Sunday morning games to try and get the games going but the weather was just too much. The rest of the tournament was cancelled and the Xtreme was going to have to wait until next weekend to get on the field again.