Game 1 - Shoals Futbol Club vs. Xtreme- September 9, 2006

The Kicks 93 Xtreme opened its regular season with a road trip to Florence today. The Shoals Soccer Club "Swampers" hosted the Xtreme on the UNA Soccer Team’s practice field. The field was in pretty good condition but the weather looked like it may put a damper on game.

With clouds rolling in and the temperature right for soccer, the game got stated on time and so did the Xtreme. The team wasted no time and looked to have not missed a beat from the Auburn tournament. Led by captains Will Teachey and Ryan “Spike” Countess the team immediately put pressure on the Swampers and was looking to get on the scoreboard first.

Just 5 minutes in to the game the Xtreme was awarded a corner kick and didn’t let this scoring opportunity go to waste. Evan Moore served the ball short to an open run from Reid Allen and Reid was able to serve the ball beautifully in to the box. Spike made a determined run in to the box and put his head on the ball redirecting it to the back corner of the net. What a pretty goal, and that’s what I call an “EPL Goal”.

The Xtreme continued the pressure and the team was able to push further and further up into the Swampers end of the field. Evan again got into mix and had the ball deep in the corner. He played the ball back to on overlapping defenseman, Nick “Nickelblack” Black. Nick received the ball and turned it into the middle to find one of his other defense mates on an offensive run. Cody “C.J” Johnson found an open lane and was heading for the goal when Nickelblack made the beautiful feed. C.J. only needed two touches with the ball, one to settle and one to finish. C.J. put the ball in the back corner of the net; the goalie never had a chance. Just in case you didn’t know, C.J. has a broken toe.

The rest of the first half went scoreless but the Xtreme still maintained control and dominated the game. The defense was once again a brick wall. Goalie Ben “Oreck” Munger has not allowed more than 1 goal in any game this season and again today was as stingy as ever. Drew “Nitro” McCrary, C.J., Nickelblack, Robert “Peanut” Walker and Kurt “40” McLaughlin faced a speedy frontline from the Swampers but again held strong and answered the challenge and led the team to halftime up 2-0.

The second half started but didn’t last very long. Less the 2 minutes in to the second half the referee delayed the game due to lightning. The lightning was not too close but the referee was not going to take any chances. The weather pushed through quickly and we were able to get the game going again in only 30 minutes.

The rain delay may have cooled the temperature a few degrees but it didn’t cool off the Xtreme. The team’s dominance continued and put the Swampers on their heals as soon as the game got started again. The midfield really took control of the game and the team’s possession was in top form. Turtle, Spike, Evan, Taylor, Reid, Teachey, T.J. and Devin all had time in the midfield and all played a key role in the team’s dominance. Devin and T.J. are both new to the midfield role but you wouldn’t have known it by the way they contributed today.

The game continued to be played deep on the Swampers end and the Xtreme once again was able to capitalize on a corner kick. Turtle took the corner and played a dangerous ball into the box. The ball flew through the middle and just missed a couple of Xtreme players trying to put it in the net. After the ball went past the front of the goal, 40 was there waiting to clean up the mess and he hammered it in the net.

The Xtreme looked to be in full control but they sure didn’t act like it. The dominance continued and the strikers were relentless on the goal. Michael, Trevor, Jake, Devin and T.J. were all able to contribute and keep the Swampers on their heals. The defense was flustered and the strikers were able to force them in to a critical mistake. The Swampers defense was trying to keep the ball away from our strikers and played the ball back to their goalie who picked up the ball. This is a penalty and results in an indirect kick. The indirect kick was placed just out side of the goal box and was a great chance for the team to put another one in. Will Teachey touched the ball softly to Evan who somehow got the ball up an over the human wall that filled the entire goal. The team now had the game in control and was now up 4-0.

Later in the half the Xtreme forced the Swampers into another mistake and was awarded a direct kick just outside of the penalty area, about 20 yards out. Spike took the kick and played the ball to the far post and in the goal; that’s 2 for Spike.

The Swampers played well and had a lot of talent on their team. They never gave up and played hard until the final whistle blew. They only had a few good looks all game but did get their best player loose in front of the net late in the game. He single handedly beat the entire defense and they put it past Oreck who almost got a hand on it.

The Xtreme beat the Swamper 5-1 and are off to a great start to the regular season. The team really took advantage of the set pieces today and is looking better every time they step on to the field.

Well done boys!   Goals of the week - Spike