Sunday, May 06, 2007

State Tournament Update 2

We did it. A 3-0 victory in the finals today. We have successfully won the state championship 2 years in a row. I'm not sure what to say about the game...the guys played well and for some periods were simply dominant. The other team definitely had heart and played to the final whistle. Beyond our seemingly standard 5 minute opening slump (gotta fix that), I felt we had the game under control. Our road to the cup mirrored last year. We played the exact same teams in the quarters and the semi's. We played a weaker team than what we faced in the previous two games in the final (also mirroring last year). It was the same 3-0 victory to win it all. I think it takes a lot of character to repeat a title against some of the competition we faced this weekend. I am proud of the team.

After the water bucket over the head, the trophy ceremony, and the team photo, Carlee and I raced back to Lafayette to play in the final game of the co-ed season. Winner of that game would win the league. We rolled up at halftime and our team was up 1-0. In the second half we went down 2-1. The heat was brutal. We fought back to 2-2. With about 45 seconds left our center mid hit a shot from almost no angle into the far corner, giving the adult team the title with a 3-2 victory.

Two championships in one day. Correction. Two repeat championships in one day - both teams successfully defended their title. After the co-ed game, I raced off the airport. I pity the poor soul sitting next to the sweaty coach/center-mid on the flight to Houston and then DC.

P.S. With the state cup in hand we head to regionals on June 8th-10th. Next stop Tampa. Let the preparation begin.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you need proof of how eerily similar the two weekends were to each other, check out last year's post... http://bladesofblue.blogspot.com/2006/05/champions.html

And by the way, the spaghetti dinner was a repeat as well. If life is going to repeat itself, this is a plot line I can live with...

Unknown said...

Congratulations! If I had a coach of the year ballot I would cast for one Mr. Wilablog. So at what point does coaching become a full-time career?

Anonymous said...

nice...where's the photo???
congrats man....you work hard...
you deserve it...

rc said...

Are you getting your USSF licences? I would think an A license would be in your reach...

rc said...

One question, are the regional tournaments anything like the ones we are used to? Are they more of a production now? Your guys are 16 now? College coaches start looking? Sending any talent up to RPI?

Jim said...

Congrats on the Repeat Repeat!!!

Unknown said...

Thanks everyone! It was an awesome weekend. The guys deserved the victory - they have worked really hard.