Monday, July 25, 2005 Posted: 14:30AM PDT

Stupendous… Absolutely stupendous!!!

Hollister United traveled to Moraga this past weekend to participate in the annual St. Mary’s Cup.  The weather was very hot and humid for this all day event.  The girls did extremely well in playing in a format that they have not encountered before.

The Tournament was a 6v6 on a smaller field with three 25 minute games to be played.  There was a Bracket A consisting of 4 teams and a Bracket B consisting of 4 teams.  The teams that won there respective places (4^th vs. 4^th, 2^nd vs. 2^nd and so on) in their bracket were to face each other in the finals.   

United’s first game was at 10am against the LMSC United Blue (hosting team).  The girls definitely came to play for this tournament; they came out and adjusted quickly to the game format.  There were many goals for this game which would help us in the end.  We beat the United Blue in an 8 – 4 victory.

The team got an hour and half break between games to get re-hydrated and a bit of rest in the rising heat.  He girls had a good time relaxing before the next game.

At 12pm United faced off against the Montclair Clippers and right off the bat on a fluke goal the Clippers were able to score.  This would be the only goal for this hard fought second game.  Hollister was controlling the ball well and took shot after shot on goal only to be repelled back by some outstanding goalie work.  The victory would go to Clippers 1-0.

During this next break the team was able to grab a bite to eat and get some needed rest as United was going to be facing the hardest team in their bracket and who were undefeated in their morning games.

United was well rested and ready to face the Danville Mustang Mayhem.  Boy, were they ready!!!  United played a hard fought game against the Mustangs, but United would prevail over the Mustangs in the end with a 3-2 win.

After United completed their final game there was one more game to be played before the team placements for the finals were posted.  By all calculations Hollister United was in first place for Bracket B.  By the end of the last game with the final postings up for our bracket, indeed Hollister would be going into the finals as calculated.  United was set to play The Sting the undefeated first place team from Bracket A.  United and The Sting were now set to play each other to determine the day’s champion.  The Sting had played tough all day and everyone was expecting a hard fought final game.

I’m not quite sure what the coaches did to fire up the team during warm-ups, but whatever it was, I’m sure they would be able to market it. As soon as the final game horn and whistle blew United was like a lighting bolt quickly striking three times before The Sting even moved from their starting points.  The game was very exciting to watch and capped day off with a 10-3 victory against The Sting and a well deserved first place victory for the tournament to become the U10 Girls St. Mary’s Cup 2005 Champions.  It was an awesome day for the girls.  They made both the coaches and parents pound of the work the girls had accomplished.  These victories were led by Coach Adolfo and Coach Brent.  Congratulations go out to the coaches who were very into the games and kept the pulse on some very exciting play.  They also did an outstanding job of subbing players at the right times.

The young ladies who attended gave their all to walk away champions.  This will be a moment to savor for all time!

As a little side note: I have not lost my mind, just my camera. So I apologize for the lack of photos.  I promise to make that up during the next tournament and the regular season.

Rankings – Final U10 Girls

1^st   Hollister United
2^nd  The Sting
3^rd   Mustang Mayhem
4^th   LMSC United Red
5^th   Montclair Clippers
6^th   FC Fremont Flames
7^th   Piedmont Highlanders
8^th   LMSC United Blue