l-i-v-i-n': Vipers Game #6: Good Guys Win 10-1!!!

Game Summary

The Vipers were undefeated entering the 6th game of the season and faced the orange Crushers. Brody missed last week, but he got back into it like white on rice. Brody opened the game with a goal in the 4th minute and followed it with 3 more in the first half.

The Crushers had two players that created a lot of action, #6 (Zach) and #9 (Beaux). Those guys peppered us hard on offense and proved to be very tough when in the goal too. The Crushers were as active as the Red Rockets, our closest game yet (4-2), on offense (with 6 shots), but our defense and goal keepers proved too strong for Crushers to really overcome our line of defense.

The Vipers led 4-0 going into halftime.

Ethan was hot coming out of halftime. He scored 2 goals in the first 8 minutes of the 2nd half. Both goals were setup with an assist by Brody.

For the Vipers, Matthew participated in his first game of the season and looked incredibly strong after so many weeks without any action because of his broken elbow He had his first shot on goal and proved to be very tenacious on the field. With Matthew back in the line-up, the Vipers are looking even stronger as we ramp up to the end of season tournament.

Matt's first game time of the season and he's attracting a lot of attention from the Bad Guys - that's a good sign!

The Vipers continued to demonstrate better field awareness and passing to setup goals. They are spreading the field better with each game and it's just more than their opponents can handle. The video below is a great example of the Vipers new found ability to move the ball around the field and work as a team. Connor sends the ball up the right-side of the field. The outside pass gets around the defense and allows Trey and Drew to work together and setup Drew to score our 7th goal of the game.

Zach excelled in defense for this game. He had the most saves (2) and played really strong to not let the bad guys break our line and get shots on goal. It goes with out saying, but Tenacious "C", Connor, was in the thick of it for the whole game. His defense and passing are outstanding. He finished the game with an assist on one of our goals...and was a key contributor to the best ball movement we've seen on the field.

Gavin had another strong game today. No goal or victory dance, but he was in the mix and even fought through a couple of battles where he ended up on the ground. Never complained once, and was a big contributor to the Viper win on the day.

In the end, the Vipers won 8-1 and maintained their unblemished record with only 2 weeks left in the regular season. There is talk about the Vipers being one of the best U-7 teams to come out of PQ Rec in recent years.

Player of the Game - Trey

With the Vipers playing so strong on both sides of the ball, it's very difficult to identify which player deserves Play of the Game. But against the Crushers, Trey really stood out. He showed an unprecedented level of hustle and proved just how FAST he really is by winning balls on both sides of the field. This was the first game where I was really taken back by his speed as he ran to cover balls and create opportunities for the Vipers. He showed a level of hustle that I don't think we've seen from any player this season - it was truly commendable.

Beyond the hustle, Trey scored a goal and got an assist on another Viper goal.

Trey in Action

The sequence below is just 1 minute of game time. Trey sprints up the field to almost beat Beaux, their goalie, and score a goal. Then Trey hustles to get back on defense. He intercepts a pass and works the ball up the field and is challenged by Beaux again. They wrap it up and both go to the ground. These kids are tough and don't miss a beat to get back up and get to the ball...and Trey is the first one back to his feet to fight for the ball. Incredible effort...Trey has some wheels!

Trey's first trip up the fild

Back on defense

Trey hustles to create an opportunity.

On the same play, Trey gets tangled up with their goalie as he advanced the ball into their goalie box...but Trey is incredibly quick to get back to his feet and back into the mix! Great effort by a tough athlete!

Great contributions from everybody on the team...

Ethan winning a battle for the ball

He doesn't have possession...yet...

We see this move from Ethan a couple of times a game. I'm going to name it the "Slice and Dice. This is Slice and Dice to the left.

Slice and Dice to the right!

With a Rocket Launcher finish!!!

Brody sending one in...and this one is looking for a high corner!

This picture is out of focus, but I think that Ethan's form on his shots (not just this one) is just awesome. I love how he stretches his arms so wide so that he can let the rocket launcher go BIG!!!